"Huaxia Wine News" reporter Liu Xuexia
Recently, the Liquor Importer and Exporters Branch of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal Husbandry announced the import and export of China's liquor in the first quarter of 2024. The total import volume was 146 million liters, down 26.25% year-on-year, and the total import value was 774 million US dollars, down 13.65% year-on-year. Among them, the volume growth of spirits throughout last year reversed, the number of wines stopped falling slightly, and the volume of beer decreased sharply.
According to the data on alcohol exports, from January to March, the mainland's exports of alcohol products continued to grow last year, with a total export volume of 181 million liters and a total export value of 407 million US dollars, an increase of 21.78% and 19.02% respectively. According to industry analysis, under the tide of going to sea, domestic alcohol exports are expected to continue to rise in the future.
Whisky imports fell 38.2%, but the liquor giants are still confident?
In terms of spirits, from January to March, spirits failed to continue last year's rally, and the number plummeted, and the market share fell from 60% last year to 54%. The import volume was 18.69 million liters, down 25.92 percent, and the import value was 419 million US dollars, down 5.19 percent.
Specifically, the number of brandies fell slightly. The import volume was 6.606 million liters, down 6.95 percent, and the import value was 252 million US dollars, a slight increase of 0.8 percent, accounting for 60.1 percent of the total spirits imports.
In terms of production areas, the import volume of France, the main source of brandy, was 6.27 million liters, down 6.57% year-on-year, and the import value was 250 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.31%.
On January 5, the Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement to conduct an anti-dumping investigation on spirits (commonly known as brandy) imported from distilled wine in containers of less than 200 liters originating in the European Union. However, it can be seen from the import data in the first quarter that French brandy has not been significantly impacted.
As an important category among spirits, the performance of imported whisky declined significantly in the first quarter. The import volume was 4.418 million liters, down 38.21%, and the import value was 90 million US dollars, down 18.45%, accounting for 21.5% of the total imports of spirits.
Specifically, the three major sources of imported whisky have all declined to varying degrees. The import volume of British whisky represented by Solvay was 3.626 million liters, down 30.57% year-on-year, and the import value was 79.68 million US dollars, down 11.8% year-on-year, the import volume of Japanese whisky was 173,000 liters, down 60.12% year-on-year, and the import value was 4.266 million US dollars, down 56.67% year-on-year, and the import volume of American whisky was 275,300 liters, down 76.46% year-on-year, and the import value was 2.277 million US dollars, down 63.14% year-on-year.
Although the import volume has fallen, in the face of the growth stage of China's whisky consumption market, the foreign wine giants are very confident. Pernod Ricard China CEO Guo Binchen said in an interview on the sidelines of the recent China International Consumer Products Expo that the slowdown in import data is due to the rapid development of whisky in China in the past, and its sustainability has been frustrated in the short term. In addition, the channel's inventory in the past year or two may be too high and take some time to digest. He believes that the demand for whisky from Chinese consumers continues to increase.
The decline in wine has slowed sharply, and Australian wine imports have soared
In terms of wine, in the first quarter, the decline of wine slowed down, combined with the cumulative data from January to March and the single-month data in March, it can be seen that this is mainly due to the explosion of the growth of large bottled wine in March, the good rise of bulk wine, and the termination of the "double anti-dumping" measures for Australian bottled wine. The import volume in the quarter was 59.73 million liters, a slight increase of 3.66%, and the import value was 246 million US dollars, the decline narrowed to 11%, accounting for 31.7% of the total wine imports. Among them, the volume of bottled wine decreased at a faster rate, with a significant decline compared with last year, accounting for about 91.4% of the total wine imports, and the volume of bulk wine increased significantly, accounting for 8.6% of the total wine imports.
In the first quarter, the main sources of imported wine showed signs of improvement to varying degrees, and the return of Australian wine became the biggest market variable in the whole season. France had an unfavorable start, with volume and volume falling by more than 20 percent, and its market share falling by nearly 4 points compared with last year; Chile and the United States hedged the rise and fall of volume and price, with the former basically the same amount and the latter falling in amount, and both of them expanded their market share; Italy and Italy had little fluctuation in volume and price, and its performance was stable, still ranking third; Spain had a large decline in volume, and its share shrank slightly and was surpassed by the United States, falling to fifth place.
It is worth mentioning that with the lifting of the "double anti-dumping" measures at the end of March, Australian wine has returned strongly with a high volume growth, with its market share soaring from less than 0.3% to 2.4% in one fell swoop, and its market ranking has jumped from 14th to 7th.
In terms of beer, the volume of beer in the first quarter of the year showed a swooping posture. The import volume was 60.69 million liters, down 44.09%, and the import value was 88.16 million US dollars, down 41.35%, accounting for 11.4% of the total wine imports.
From the perspective of the source of beer imports, except for Singapore, which bucked the trend, the overall operation of the main sources of beer was bleak. In the case of a general sharp decline, the Netherlands volume fell relatively modestly and took advantage of the momentum to win the championship, while Germany and Belgium fell sharply and their shares shrank.
Liquor exports opened slightly lower, and exports from the United States, Singapore and France rose sharply
From January to March, the export of alcoholic products from mainland China continued to grow last year. The total export volume was 180 million liters, and the total export value was 407 million US dollars, with a volume increase of 21.78% and 19.02% respectively, and the volume growth rate was lower than that of last year.
In the first quarter, mainland liquor exports opened slightly lower, with a total of 3.56 million liters and a total of 1.578 billion US dollars exported to 62 countries and regions. The performance of destinations was not very stable: Hong Kong and Macau were the top two, with the former both declining in volume and the latter increasing in price and slightly declining in volume. During the same period, the export price to the United States, Singapore and France rose sharply or even dramatically, especially France, with a year-on-year increase of 2436.63%.
According to industry analysis, under the tide of going to sea, domestic alcohol exports are expected to continue to rise in the future.
In 2024, leading wine companies will accelerate their "going global" and seek a new direction for international development. Moutai, Wuliangye, Yanghe, Luzhou Laojiao, Fenjiu and other brands collectively appeared on the international stage to expand their influence through brand marketing. Wine companies showcase their brand strength and culture through high-end platform activities and international sports events, while exploring new paths and models of "going global".
There is a view that accelerating the "going overseas" at the beginning of 2024 and promoting the common development of the domestic market and the international market may be an important consideration for leading wine companies to seek market increment and become an international brand.