Prices for wine grapes are expected to hit "rock bottom" next year, the Wine Grape Growers Australia (WGGA) has warned. As part of a fresh call for growers to severely cut back their vineyard production, WGGA executive director Mark McKenzie is quoted by the Australian newspaper, The Advertiser, as saying that growers without a viable market for the 2007 vintage should consider whether they should grow a crop at all this year.

"In all likelihood, spot market prices of only A$100 to A$150 per tonne will be offered, well short of their growing costs," he said. It typically costs growers between A$200 and A$800 to produce a tonne of wine grapes, he said.

McKenzie said winemakers at this month's National Wine Grape Summit in Melbourne had stated "very clearly" that they only needed a 1.5-million-tonne intake in 2007.

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( Hyperlink: http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19537202%255E913,00.html )