SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's wine export growth slowed last year and could take another hit in 2020 from the coronavirus outbreak if China, its biggest market, orders fewer crates, a report by an industry body said on Wednesday.
The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has severely impacted food and beverage businesses in mainland China with many global companies including McDonald's and Starbucks Corp temporarily shutting stores in the country as a precaution.
"Looking ahead into 2020, we anticipate that coronavirus will have an impact on sales, particularly to China, but at this stage it is difficult to predict the degree of that impact," said industry body Wine Australia in its 2019 export report.
Australia's total global wine exports rose just 3% to A$2.91 billion ($1.96 billion) in 2019, compared with 10% growth recorded in 2018, the report said.
Wine exports to China, which is Australia's top market by value, rose 12% to A$1.3 billion last year although the pace of growth slowed from 18% recorded in 2018.
The total value of wine exports was the second highest for a calendar year, however, the volume fell for the first time in seven years, the report showed.
"The volume of exports was down, with the decline heavily weighted toward lower price segments," Wine Australia Chief Executive Officer Andreas Clark said.
"The lower vintages in 2018 and 2019, together with lower inventory levels, meant that there was less wine available for export in 2019."
On Jan. 29, Australia's biggest winemaker Treasury Wine Estates Ltd , which generates a significant portion of its sales from exports to China, said it was too early to say what the effects of coronavirus would be. However, it cut its 2020 earnings outlook citing weakness in its U.S. operations.
冠狀病毒或影響澳葡萄酒出口
如果冠狀病毒爆發導致中國訂購的澳洲葡萄酒數量下降,澳大利亞對其最大葡萄酒市場的出口將在去年增長放緩的基礎上再次受到打擊。
這一起源于中國武漢的病毒,已嚴重影響了中國的食品和飲料企業,包括麥當勞和星巴克在內的許多全球性公司為預防起見,暫時關閉了中國的門店。
行業機構澳大利亞葡萄酒管理局在其2019年度出口報告中表示:“展望2020年,我們預計冠狀病毒將對銷售,特別是對中國的銷售產生影響,但目前尚無法預測這種影響的程度。”
報告稱,2019年澳大利亞對全球葡萄酒出口總額僅增長3%,達29.1億澳元,而2018年錄得10%的增長。
按金額計算,中國目前是澳大利亞葡萄酒的最大出口市場。2019年,澳大利亞對中國的葡萄酒出口額增長了12%,達到13億澳元,但增速較2018年的18%有所放緩。
報告顯示,2019年澳大利亞葡萄酒出口總值為歷年第二高,但出口量7年來首次下降。
“出口量出現下降,主要集中在價位較低的區間。” 澳大利亞葡萄酒管理局首席執行官Andreas Clark說,“ 2018年和2019年連續兩個小年份,加上較低的庫存水平,意味著2019年可供出口的葡萄酒較少。”
富邑葡萄酒集團是澳大利亞最大葡萄酒生產商,其銷售的相當一部分來自于中國市場。該集團于1月29日表示,目前談論冠狀病毒的影響還為時過早。然而,由于美國市場業務疲軟,該集團下調了2020年的盈利預期。
原載:路透社
編譯:徐菲遠