Italy extends lead over Australia and France - After breaking the $1-billion threshold in 2006, Italian wine exports to the United States had another record year in 2007 thanks to increases of 9% for both volume and value, according to the Italian Wine and Food Institute (IWFI).
The increase allowed Italy to maintain its position as the number one exporter of wine to the USA and increase its lead over second-placed Australia, which in 2007 saw a 3.5% decline in the volume of its export while value rose 3.2%.
Based on data updated to the end of November, the IWFI made a projection that Italian wine exports to the USA in 2007 will total more than 2.3 million hectoliters while value will climb to $1.12 million.
''This achievement is even more significant when one considers the fact that Italy, as opposed to Australia, was penalised by the euro rising on the dollar which made Italian wines less competitive,'' observed IWFI President Lucio Caputo.
Italian wine exports to the USA were more than double those of French exports. France is third in wine exports to the USA.
According to the IWFI, American wine imports in 2007 totalled 7.594 billion hectoliters for a value of $3.75 billion, compared to 6.060 billion hectoliters and $3.19 billion on 2006.
This represented a 9.6% increase in volume and 12.1% jump in value.
Australian wine exports to the USA in 2007 totalled some 1.937 billion hectoliters for a value of $681.44 million, while France exported 1.05 billion hectoliters for a value of $864.1 million.
Argentina boosted its exports to the USA last year by 75.8%, to over 600,000 hectoliters for a value of $120 million.
This because to its wine costs an average of $1.97 a liter compared to $3.51 for Australian wine, $4.86 for Italian wine and $8.23 for French wine.
