Chile wine exports up 10 pct but strong peso weighs http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=economicNews&storyID=2007-02-02T164452Z_01_N02423679_RTRIDST_0_CHILE-WINE-EXPORTS.XML
Fri Feb 2, 2007
SANTIAGO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Chilean wine sales abroad rose nearly 10 percent in 2006 compared with a year earlier, but business would have been better were it not for the peso's strength against the U.S. dollar, the country's leading wine promoter said on Friday.
In volume terms, Chile exported 13.4 percent more wine last year than in 2005, but its average price fell 3.3 percent, said Wines of Chile, a promotional group.
"The level of exports was pretty good ... but it terms of income, the exchange rate had a big impact." said Ricardo Letelier, general manager of Wines of Chile.
The peso <CLP=> has strengthened significantly in recent years, from 600 pesos per dollar in late 2004 to 530 pesos in late 2006. Exporters have complained that the currency's relative strength has hit their business.
Chilean wine exports were worth $962.5 million last year, 9.7 percent higher than in 2005, said Wines of Chile, which represents 90 Chilean wineries. The biggest markets were the United States and Britain, which each accounted for about 20 percent of Chile's wine exports.
The Concha y Toro (CHT.SN: Quote, Profile , Research) winery was by far the biggest exporter, with sales of bottled wine abroad worth $175.6 million, 14 percent higher than in 2005.
Bottled exports from the San Pedro (SPD.SN: Quote, Profile , Research) winery were worth $44.5 million and those from the Santa Rita (RIT.SN: Quote, Profile , Research) winery totaled $40.2 million.
Wines of Chile said it aimed to boost export revenue from Chilean wine to $1.2 billion by 2010, which would entail annual growth of between five and six percent between now and then.
"Chile has the productive capacity to reach this goal," Letelier said. "What is needed is investment in markets."
He said Wines of Chile wanted to boost Chilean sales in the United States, where they grew just 0.7 percent last year.
Chilean wines account for just 2 percent of the U.S. market, which is dominated by local wines.
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