China-Australia relations: as wine exports continue piling up at Chinese ports, Australian officials explore options
- While Australia’s wine exports to China have plummeted, those to Britain surged by 33 per cent in the 12-month period to March
- Australia’s wine industry association says just A$12 million (US$9.3 million) worth of wine cleared Chinese customs from December to March, versus A$325 million from the same period a year prior
Chinese customs officials have continued to detain more Australian wine at ports of entry this year, while sales to China have plunged as Australian trade authorities consider ways to negotiate the release of shipments.
Last month, more than 8,000 litres of red and moscato wines from Australia were detained in Shenzhen alone – on the grounds of inadequate labelling and the excessive use of additives. That came after more than 23,000 litres of wine, including popular Penfolds wines, were similarly detained there in January. A further 11,000 litres were then detained in February.
Upon concluding its investigation in March, China imposed anti-dumping duties of between 116.2 per cent and 218.4 per cent on Australian wines in containers of up to two litres.
The combined impact of these two measures has crushed Australia’s wine exports to China.
Australia’s wine industry association, Wine Australia, said in a new export report on Thursday that the total value of wine that had managed to clear Chinese customs between December and March was A$12 million (US$9.3 million) – a fraction of the A$325 million total from the same period a year prior.