Catalan wine exports increased in 2010, but are still far from 2007 and 2008 levels

Barcelona (ACN).-  Catalan wine is recovering from the export crisis of 2009, which was provoked by the global recession, which led to a reduction of wine sales all over the world, especially in Western markets. Wine exports from Catalonia increased in 2010, although the figures did not reach the excellent results of 2007 and 2008. Catalan exports grew in 2010 but at a lower rate than other Spanish wine producing areas. According to a study published by the Spanish Observatory of the Wine Market, requested by the Catalan Institute for Wine and Vineyards (INCAVI), wine exports for Spain as a whole increased by 10% on average when it comes to revenues. However, Catalan exports increased by 8.8%. Regarding absolute figures, 209.2 million litres of Catalan wine were sold abroad last year, with the global amount being 523.8 million euros. This means an average price of 2.50 euros per litre.

According to the study compiled by the Spanish Observatory of the Wine Market on request of the Catalan Institute for Wine and Vineyards (INCAVI), Spanish wine exports have increased even more in terms of volume. Compared to 2009 figures, in 2010, there were 15.6% more litres of Spanish wine sold abroad. However, Catalan wine exports only increased 5.1% in terms of volume.

When it comes to price, Catalan wines saw their prices increase by 3.6% abroad in 2010. Simultaneously, the average price for Spanish wine dropped 4.9%. Catalan wines had an average price of 2.50 euros per litre while the average Spanish wine price per litre was set at 1.09 euros. The large difference is due to the high proportion in Catalonia’s exports of quality wines, such as cava and Protected Geographical Indication wines. This data appears to indicate that foreign customers recognise the quality of Catalan wine and are willing to pay a bit more for it.

Catalan Cava brings most of the revenue

Of the global amount of 523.8 million euros of sales abroad, 317.8 million euros (61% of the total) corresponds to cava and fizzy wines. 188 million euros come from the so-called ‘quiet wines’ (those without bubbles) and represent 36% of the total. 131.2 million euros of the ‘quiet wines’ (25% of the total) correspond to wines with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), while 56.5 million euros (11% of the total) are for wines without PGI.

Analysing the volume, cava and fizzy wines are also the sales champions with 102.5 million litres sold in 2010, 49% of the total volume exported (209.2 million litres). 91.3 million litres of Catalan ‘quiet wines’ (44% of the total) were sold, from which 49.2 million litres correspond to wines without PGI. In fact, Catalan PGI wine only represented 20% of the exports in terms of volume, with 42.2 million litres.

Germany is Catalonia’s top client

Finally, the study ranks the main markets of wine exports. For Catalan wine, the German market was the first client abroad in 2010, with 121 million euros in sales and 50 million litres of wine bought. 23% of all the exported volume was bought by German customers. They are followed by the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the United States. All these countries bought between 20 and 22 million litres of Catalan wine each, representing around 10% each of the exported volume. However, not all markets reacted in the same way to the 2010 economic recovery. Catalan wine sales increased by 28.5% in France and 10.4% in Belgium, while they dropped by 6.4% in the UK and by 3.8% in the United States.