The volume of wine exports fell to 724 million litres in the 12 months to the end of May this year, the AWBC says, while the value of overall wine exports dropped seven per cent to $2.8 billion, in the same period.
Lawrie Stanford from the AWBC says while bulk shipments have declined, the rate of bottled shipments has also slowed in recent months as they grew only 1%, by 8 million litres.
Bulk wine decline took place primarily in the US, China, Germany, New Zealand and the UK.
AWBC blames the high Australian dollar exchange rate for making it harder for the wine industry to achieve its goal of more bottled wine sales by 2025.
The BBR Future Report has predicted a dark future for the Australian exports barring Tasmania, a cooler region. However, at the present time, not much export takes place from Tasmania. So the local producers are largely shielded from the rising dollar.
"South Australia and Victoria and Western Australia do have a very strong export focus, and there are a couple of brands here in Tasmania that do as well, but probably not to the same degree as other mainland states," says Stuart Nettlefold belonging to the main body representing Tasmania's wine producers, according to a related report in ABC.
AWBC produce monthly export reports designed to assist industry in monitoring the latest trends and changes in Australian export performances.
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