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Total exports, which accounted for the only a third
of total shipments in the early eighties, has tripled in volume since,
reaching 45% of the total shipments, says the Release.
British are more than ever the best customers with an
import of 39 m bottles. Among the top 10 markets are the United States
(21.7 m) , Germany (12.9 m), Italy (10.3m) Belgium , Switzerland, Spain
,Netherlands, Japan and Australia.
The European Union alone absorbs 61% of exports with
91.4 million bottles representing an increase of 9% over 2006. The most
significant increases in 2007 were for countries recently joining the
European Union, such as Romania with a growth of 129%.
Since their integration, Cyprus, Poland and Bulgaria
have doubled their consumption while the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia had increased three times. Lithuania
market has grown by seven times and that of Slovakia by eleven.
Export to Russia continued to soar at over a million
bottles, showing an increase of 41%.
The breakthrough extends eastward. The Asian continent,
2% of exports thirty years ago, now accounts for 9%. The Japan (9.2 m)
is the flagship of course, even though the market is relatively young
compared to Singapore (1.1 m) and Hong Kong (0.9 m).
The Chinese market has grown up nine times in 5 years
with an import of the modest 656,208 bottles.
The report indicates that the export to India was less
strong than previous year when some reports had attributed over 100% growth
than 2005. According to Ashwin Deo, Managing Director of Moet Hennessey
India about 25,000 cases of Champagne were imported in 2007.
Even at the conservative end of the figures, India imported
about 20,000 cases which means Champagne alone accounted for over 10%
of the total wine import, estimated at 200,000 cases.
The report puts the consumption in India, Thailand, South
Korea and Taiwan at 0.2m – 0.3 m. bottles each.
The biggest surprise comes from UAE which is not a traditional
alcohol consuming country. It imported almost a million bottles with an
increase of 18% compared to 2006, probably due to the development of international-
styled luxury hotels.
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