Despite what was clearly a challenging year for the wine export industry, the value of exports increased by 7.7% to R9.1 billion, with packaged wine export value growing by 8.3%, according to latest stats released by Wines of SA (WoSA).
Countries which showed good growth in value include the United Kingdom (28%), The Netherlands (19%), the USA (12%) and Sweden (17%).
“2020 export volumes, at 319.2 million litres, echo those of a challenging 2019, despite a five-week-long ban on exports and huge challenges at the Cape Town Port terminal due to Covid-19. This follows a good 2020 harvest and vineyard recovery after the drought experienced in the South African winegrowing regions from 2015-2018,” said communications manager Maryna Calow.
Despite this, overall
bulk wine has also seen positive trading, with value increasing 5% to R1.9 billion and volume increasing by 3.7% to 181.5 million litres. The UK saw value growth of 13% while Denmark and Finland grew by an impressive 27% and 29% respectively. There was also growth in the USA and Canada.
“Despite a drop in volume at lower price points, it is heartening to see continued growth in the premium segment, with wines over the R40-per-litre price point growing steadily in value and volume. While still a relatively small volume segment for South Africa, the super-premium segment showed growth of 37% in volume,” said Calow.
“The year 2020 will probably go down in history books as one of the most challenging years for the industry,” said WoSA CEO Siobhan Thompson. “However, despite this, we have learnt to adapt and have explored creative ways of engaging with our partners. Through extensive online and social media campaigns such as #SpectacularSouthAfrica, our ‘Insider Sessions’ virtual seminars, the advent of the Cape Export Network platform alongside our partners at Wesgro, and the externally run #SaveSAWine, we managed to draw a lot of awareness to the plight of the South African wine industry and garnered incredible support from the trade, importers and consumers across the globe.”
