The Chinese Communist Party has explicitly banned all Australian wines from entering customs, and Australian bulk wines that were not previously subject to high tariffs have been intercepted. Penfolds, a well-known Australian brand, has begun laying off staff in China; some winery owners have stressed that Chinese importers are actually keen to buy Australian wine, but they are concerned about the risks.
The Chinese Communist Party has imposed high tariffs of up to 200 percent or more on Australian bottled wine since last year, but bulk wine is not included. Australia exported 50 million Australian dollars worth of bulk wine to China last year. The bulk wine was exported to China in 24,000-liter capsules, which were then bottled and sold by local Chinese brand owners, with some of the top wines selling for up to A$400 per bottle.
Seppeltsfield, Australia’s oldest winery, is one of the leading exporters of top-quality bulk wines to China. Winery owner Warren Randall says his winery has lost A$15 million since China banned Australian wines from entering the country last month.
Randall told The Advertiser that after the Communist Party imposed high tariffs on Australian bottled wine, Australian bulk wine could still enter China through Shandong ports, but last month, Chinese customs refused to give Australian wine a release.
“It’s not that the Chinese don’t want our wine, they would love to buy Australian wine,” Randall said, “but they are worried about the consequences of importing Australian wine because the (Communist) central government has made it clear that Australian wine will not be cleared from Chinese ports. “
He also said that in January, Schaap Winery had a container of teal port wine stopped at a Chinese port, but the Chinese side eventually released it. Since then, Schaap Winery has been looking for other export markets.
Fognac Wines (TWE), which is owned by the well-known Australian brand Penfolds, has begun laying off staff in China. Last month, more than 3,000 liters of Penfolds wine were intercepted at Chinese customs. The Chinese Communist Party has imposed a high tariff of 169% on Penfolds wines.
According to the Financial Review, the Cognac wine group is restructuring in China and about 50 to 60 people have been laid off, mostly from the sales and marketing departments.
Cognac originally said in mid-February that it was not abandoning the Chinese market, where there is still demand for Penfolds despite the high tariffs.
Two weeks ago, the group had released a California version of the wine, with the top wine priced at 950 Australian dollars a bottle.
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