Big rise for Chile

THE LATEST wine export figures from Chile have several reasons for winemakers west of the Andes to be breaking open the Champagne

THE LATEST wine export figures from Chile have several reasons for winemakers west of the Andes to be breaking open the Champagne.

A global growth of 18% by volume and 24% by value is a success in anybody’s book.  And though the UK cemented its position as number one market, we suspect that the real rejoicing in Santiago will be in seeing the double-digit growth in second-tier markets with higher per-litre prices, such as Belgium, Ireland and Brazil.

There will probably be much happiness, too, at seeing a fall in the influence of bulk. It still remains a huge part of the Chilean industry, but big bulk markets such as China and Germany were paying more for it last year than in 2003, while the big increase in the UK is almost totally accounted for by Tesco’s decision to ship all its own-label in bulk rather than bottle.

Rising average per-litre prices suggest that Chile’s oversupply is not so acute as it once was, and it’s likely that as supply and demand come closer to equilibrium the bulk market will start to fall back, while bottled sales continue to grow.