French wine and spirits exports fell for a second consecutive year in 2024, hit by weaker demand for premium vintages as the industry grapples with lower prices, a softer Chinese market and tariff threats, industry group FEVS reported.
Exports of French wines and spirits totalled 15.6 billion euros ($A27.9 billion) last year, a four per cent decline from 2023, despite stable volumes at 174 million cases of 12 bottles, the Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters said.
China led the drop in value, with its imports down 20 per cent year-on-year, while smaller markets Singapore and Hong Kong also recorded falls of 25 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. With exports totalling 2.1 billion euros, the three accounted for 90 per cent of last year’s fall.
French spirits exports were hardest hit last year, falling 6.5 per cent to 4.5 billion euros, largely due to China’s economic struggles and Beijing’s anti-dumping measures on European brandy, chiefly French cognac.
Cognac sales dropped 11 per cent in value. However, volume dipped just one per cent, supported by restocking in the United States and precautionary purchases amid fears of new US tariffs on French wine, FEVS Chairman Gabriel Picard told Reuters.
Producers have also attributed the gap between value and volume to a shift toward younger, cheaper Cognac.
Wine and spirits shipments to the US, France’s largest export market, rose five per cent to 3.8 billion euros.
In the wine sector, volumes edged 0.7 per cent higher, but revenue dropped three per cent to 10.9 billion euros, weighed down by an eight per cent decline in Champagne sales.
“For the coming year, we face two major uncertainties: China and the United States. However, there is a feeling that the worst is never certain,” Picard said.
“In the United States if we set aside the risk of possible taxes, there are still relatively reassuring economic fundamentals,” he said.
On China, he praised France’s efforts to defend the Cognac sector but called for “concrete action” ahead of an expected visit by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to ease trade tensions.
Sybille de La Hamaide
(Australian Associated Press)
