After the US president, Donald Trump, initiated the so-called trade war with China, a positive window opened for Chilean wines. This is because Chilean wine producers have detected an opportunity. And is that in this scenario seek to expand their shipments to China, which is already the largest export market for Chilean wines, after the authorities of the Asian giant imposed in April an additional 15% tax on American wines in retaliation for US tariffs on steel and aluminum.
The trade dispute has drastically reduced the price of copper, which represents just over half of Chilean exports and billions of dollars a year in foreign investment. Wine producers want to replace most of the US $ 75.6 million that their counterparts in the United States exported to China last year, part of it in premium wines, which adds to the growing demand of the Asian nation.
Importers will wonder where they can get premium wines at a lower price and Chile is prepared to meet that demand.
Economists are optimistic about the prospects for higher growth as a weaker currency drives corporate income in dollars.
China surpassed the US in 2016 as the largest market for Chilean wines, increasing imports by 27.5% to US $ 267 million.
The Chinese wine market is expanding rapidly. In the 1990s, China experienced a wine boom with consumption growth of 20% per year for more than a decade. This comes hand in hand with China’s growing middle class began to drink more wine, and consumption is expected to increase by more than a third to US $ 23,000 million over the next five years.
Real opportunity for Chilean wines
Chile has seen the opportunity and has become the third largest supplier in the market after France and Australia. Now, China is the opportunity for Chile to position itself as a premium producer.
The current average price of a nine-liter box of US wine imported by China is US $ 70, compared to only US $ 32 for Chilean wine, according to Intelvid, a wine export database. The objective of the producers for 2025 is to focus on premium wines for a value of US $ 60 or more per box.
At cortahojas.com we are working to consolidate Chile as the number one producer of premium, sustainable and diverse wines in the new world.