Aussie dollar drops but so do wine exports

Although there has been a rise in white wine exports from Australia, total wine exports have fallen due to a drop in red wine exports.

The presence of free trade agreements (FTAS) between competing nations like Chile and important export markets such as the European Union and China were singled out by the report as a contributing factor to the decline in exports. The report says these FTAs are an exacerbating factor in the drop in bulk red wine exports. Wine Australia has said they need to work harder to build Australia's wine brand image on the global market. With a weakening dollar it will be interesting to see where they position the Australian Brand - it will be hard to ignore the fact that Australian wines will be 22% cheaper to import now than a year ago.

The Aussie dollar has fallen in value vs the pound from 1.47 dollars this time last year to 1.87. 5 years ago it was at 2.1 dollars to the pound and before the financial crisis was often bouncing around 2.5 dollars to the pound.

Watch this space!