CANBERRA: Australia’s wine exports increased in value but dropped in volume, according to Rabobank’s latest quarterly report into the industry. The bank’s Wine Quarterly report shows Australian wine exports fell by 1.6 per cent during the first three months of this year but their value rose by 13.1 per cent. “The volume decline was driven by a decline in bulk wine shipments, though these were largely compensated by improving trends in bottled shipments, which helped drive value growth,” Rabobank said. “Shipments to the UK were the biggest drag on overall volumes, but these were largely compensated by improving trends in bottled shipments to China and bulk shipments to the US.”
Australian bulk wine shipments to the US rose a massive 150 per cent, while bottled exports fell 15 per cent. Rabobank said the European Union remained the key wine region in the world, accounting for two thirds of global production, 57 per cent of consumption and about 70 per cent of global exports.