NEWS
HONG KONG IMPORTED 41% MORE WINES IN 2021, AUSSIE WINE IMPORTS UP 131%
By Susan Lewis
4-2-2022
Credit: David Mathews
Hong Kong’s wine imports increased by 41 percent in 2021, partly due to a whopping 131 percent increase of Australia wine imports, analysts said Hong Kong has been used as a backdoor to circumvent the punitive tariffs imposed on Australia by China.
According to data from the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong, the city has imported a total of HKD10.6 billion (USD1.3b) worth of wines in 2021, among them HKD1.9b worth of wines came from Australia, more than doubled the value achieved in 2020.
Media reports said some importers have used Hong Kong as a mid-way port to the Chinese market to avoid the crippling tariffs slapped on Australian wines by Chinese authorities.
China announced anti-dumping and anti-subsidies investigations on imported Australian wines in August 2020. A preliminary tariff of up to 212 percent was announced in November that year. A final verdict was decided in March last year which said a tariff of up to 218 percent will be levied for a period of five years.
Despite a steep increase in their wine exports to Hong Kong, Australia failed to beat France as Hong Kong’s top source of wine imports in 2021.
Hong Kong imported 34 percent more wines from France in 2021 worth a total of HKD6.5b, more than 3 times that of Australian wine imports.
Wine imports from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong’s third most popular source of wines, also increased substantially by 24 percent at HKD849 million.
Wine imports from Italy, Hong Kong’s fifth most popular wine source, also increase by 34 percent to HKD280m.
However wines from USA, Hong Kong’s fourth most popular source of wines, declined by 15 percent in 2021 to HKD335m.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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