South African wine makers are promoting higher-priced product to boost exports in established European import markets. They are also trying to establish export business in the US and Asia, where they hardly have a presence.
Wine exports fell to 422.7 million litres last year from 525.6 million litres in 2013, according to the Wines of South Africa trade body.
Exports in 2015 may be on par with last year’s or rise just above that, with packaged-wine exports expected to increase as much as 5 percent. Bulk export shipments are expected to fall by about the same amount, Wines of South Africa Chief Executive Officer Siobhan Thompson said in an interview in Cape Town.