French and Spanish export wines grow

A thirst for wine in emerging markets has helped give French and Spanish wine exports a 20 per cent boost in the first three months of 2011. “For many exporters, growth is coming not from the major markets such as the UK and the US but rather from secondary markets such as Canada; emerging markets such as China, Brazil and South Korea; or from regional markets such as Mexico in the case of Argentina, or Kenya and Nigeria for South Africa,” Other countries such as Italy, Chile and Argentina also enjoyed double digit growth.

Despite the positive global picture, there were some notable exceptions. South Africa, Australia and New Zealand all experienced substantial declines in export volumes in the first quarter. The strength of their domestic currencies played a big role in depressing the export numbers.

And bad weather in many important wine producing countries has also limited any supply growth. This year, low rainfall in Europe and extreme weather conditions in the US are likely to constrain supply from these big producer regions.