Statistical Report: Chilean Wine Exports March 2007 - February 2008

It’s another case of “good news and bad news” when it comes to reviewing the financial results that Vinos de Chile released today on the exports of Chilean wine over the 12-month period from March 2007 to February 2008.

On the one hand, exports are up in both volume and value, which is always good news, but on the other, the declining dollar is wreaking havoc on the long-term picture. “Just the fact that the dollar has dropped 89.36 pesos over the last 12 months represents a 17% loss in income,” emphasized Vinos de Chile president René Merino. “We will need to work harder to promote higher-end wines in international markets to compensate for the decrease in profitability.”

According to Vinos de Chile figures for the period, total wine exports were just under US$1.3 billion and topped 622 million liters, which reflects a 22.7% increase in volume and 29.1% in value over the same period a year ago. Exports of bottled wine rose to 358 million liters (a 30% increase) at a value of $US1.1 billion (up 21.9%). Exports of bulk wine also rose 25.1% to 238 million liters at US$134 million, a 21.5% increase.


Exports of bottled wine to key markets

Bottled wine, which represents 58% of the total volume and 86% of the value, has experienced dynamic growth across the board in every market in both volume and value over the past 12 months. And at $US3.1/liter, the average price of bottled wine was 5.4 times higher than bulk wine, which averages US$0.57/liter.


The top three markets for Chilean wine:
Together, England, the United States, and Canada markets receive nearly half of Chile’s exported wine:

England: Chile’s top export market, with 19.5% of the total value and 22.6% of total volume. Exports to England reached nearly 9 million cases valued at US$216 million, for an average price of US$24.04/case. This represents an impressive 41.1% accumulated growth in value and 26.1% in volume over the last 12 months.

United States, Chile’s second largest market represents 17.1% of the total value and 17.2% of total volume. Total exports to the US during this period reached 7 million cases and US$190 million ($US27.82/case).

Canada, in a distant third place, represents 5.7% of the total exports in value and 4.2% in volume. Exports to Canada reached 1.7 million cases at a value of US$64 million, which represents an increase of 26% and 17.8%, respectively, over the previous 12-month period. At an average of $US37.63 Canada has the highest price per case of all of Chile’s export markets.