SAWIS, the South African Wine Industry Information & Systems, reports that domestic sales of natural wine in South Africa for the 12-month period to October 2010 increased by 1.6% whilst exports decreased by 3.3%.
Below is an extract from the SAWIS press release.
“Domestic sales of natural wine for the 12-month period November 2009 to October 2010 indicate that the market increased by 1.6% to 299 million litres, compared to the corresponding period the previous year. Exports of natural wine during the same period decreased by 3.3%, with both packaged and bulk wine showing negative growth trends.
“The strong exchange rate, the economic turmoil in South Africa’s main export markets, and the non-profitability of our wines in a key market such as the UK will be determining factors in future wine exports and make sales forecasts almost impossible.
“The stock level on 31 December 2011 at producer and private cellars is expected to increase to 393.4 million litres, compared to 348.8 million litres on 31 December 2010.”