40% of Oz wineries are losing money

The sun may be shining in Australia but there’s a big black cloud over its wine industry as the oversupply of grapes and price-squeezing by powerful retailers take their toll. More than 40 per cent of Australian wineries are losing money and wine export prices have dropped by a third since 2002, according to the 2005 Deloitte wine survey reported last week. Deloitte partner Gary Doran said that the financial problems of many wineries were so deep-rooted that only industry-wide changes could save them.