Spanish wine exports increase again

Export sales of Spanish wine grew by 5.8 per cent in the first nine months of the year to just over €1 billion, but a steady fall in prices meant that this fell far short of the 26.9 per cent increase in volumes to 917.4 million litres over the same period.

According to the Federacion Espanola del Vino (FEV), the average price per litre fell by 16.6 per cent during the nine month period to just €1.1, resulting in the differential between volume and value growth.

This decline also led to a greater increase in sales of low-priced wines, FEV said.

Sales of denomination of origin (DO) wines remained unchanged in value terms and rose by just 4.1 per cent in volume, with the average price per litre dropping 3.27 per cent.

In contrast, table wine sales increased by 30.8 per cent in value terms on the back of a 45 per cent volume increase, while the average price per litre fell by 9.8 per cent. This performance was driven by a surge in exports of bulk table wines, which rose by 66.3 per cent in value and 68.3 per cent in volume.

As for sparkling wine, value sales remained virtually unchanged, but export volumes were 20.4 per cent higher. Sales of grape must also increased on export markets, rising 61.7 per cent in value and 70.5 per cent in volume.

Germany and the UK remained the biggest markets for Spanish wine exports in value terms, accounting for 19.4 per cent and 14.1 per cent of total sales respectively. In volume terms it was France and Germany which topped the list, with 19 per cent and 16.1 per cent respectively.

But the most impressive gains this year have come from Italy, where value sales have rocketed 371.2 per cent and volumes have increased by 495 per cent, driven mainly by significant increases in bulk wine and must sales.