In 2016, the value of New Zealand imports into the US totaled US$400million, having steadily increased over the past five years, as US imports shift toward more premium offerings.

In comparison, the value of Australian wine imports into the US has been on a steady decline since 2012, dropping to around $350m in 2016, placing the value of NZ imports into the US ahead of Australia for the first time.

In 2016, the value of imports from New Zealand to the US grew by 11% to reach $US399.8million ($NZ570million) while imports of Australian wine fell by 9% to $US351.7million, Rabobank’s latest Wine Quarterly report said.

By volume, imports of Australian wine decreased by 11% to 16.7m cases, while imports from New Zealand rose by 14% to 7.3m cases.

“The trends for each country couldn’t be more different, and while the US still imports more than twice the volume of Australian wine, New Zealand wine on average commands over two-and- a-half times the price of Australian wine at the border”, it read.

Globally, total export volumes of New Zealand wine increased by 10% to 232.1ML in 2016, and in value by 5% to $NZ1.6billion.

In comparison, Australian wine exports saw their value increase by 7.2% to AUD 2.2 billion, with volumes up a steady 0.8% to 750m litres. Of that total, bottled wine exports rose by 4% in volume, and 10% in value, led in particular by stronger demand for more premium bottled red wines in the Chinese market.

Read more at Source: The Drinks Business