Wine Monitor: Italy top performer in China, BRIC countries export increase

Bologna - The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are following diverse paths in a global wine market that alternates between lights and shadows. In 2016, China reported a 16 percent increase in exports compared to the previous year. Russia's figures appear to be unvaried still (if not lower). Brazil closed the year with a negative in terms of value (minus 3 percent) but positive in terms of volume (plus 12 percent) in light of the drop in premium range imports (especially Champagne, whose imports have dropped by more than 40 percent in terms of quantity last year and by 70 percent compared to 5 years ago). The picture is completed by India, which is still a 'marginal' market, with less than 20 million euros of wine imports (slightly over 41,000 hectolitres). These figures have been reported by Nomisma's Wine Monitor, which is dedicated to wine imports in BRIC countries. Italy appears to be performing better than competitors in China, but loses in terms of market share in Russia and Brazil.

The Nomisma Report underlined that in 2016 Italy's exports to China had the highest value compared to the major competitors, reaching a +39 percent in the bottled still wines segment, which means almost 93 percent of total imports. This is an impressive performance considering the average of the industry (+17 percent) and that of direct competitors such as Spain (+27 percent), Australia and Chile (+24 percent) or a market leader like France (+12 percent). Spain reported major growth (over 15 percent) in Russia while Brazil favoured Chilean wines, supported by the free trade agreements involving the Mercosur countries. In fact, Chilean wines have become a market leader in Brazil, consolidating their exports with a 14 percent increase. All in all, prospects for the BRICs in the current year are expected to be positive, according to Nomisma. The Nomisma report also emphasized that BRICs "could be affected by the unpredictability of U.S. President Trump's policies in the upcoming months, which if implemented could mean an expected potentially stronger U.S. dollar and 'protectionist' risks. These events could be detrimental to potential growth.