United States, in the first 6 months of 2018 Italian wine is up +11.5%, reports ICE data

Italian wine exports to the US, over all, are growing, though more in value than in volume, on the number one market for Italian wineries, where wine imports are increasing in value, but decreasing in quantity. This is the picture of the first 6 months of 2018 that the Italian foreign trade institute, ICE, has communicated to WineNews. In the meantime, between the end of April and July, ICE launched the first phase of its "Italian Wine - Taste the Passion" campaign, as part of the "Progetto Vino Usa", the most important institutional project on the promotion of Italian wine ever created. According to data from the US Department of Commerce analyzed by ICE, in the first half of 2018, Italy has exported wine for a total value of just over 1 billion US dollars (almost 40% of all the Italian agri-food exports to the States, totaling 2.5 billion dollars), registering +11.5% growth in value, and 171.3 million liters overall in volume, +2.5%. Italian wine exports is composed of 34% red wine, 33% white wine and 20% sparkling wines. This, then, is the framework in which total imports in the US reached 3.075 billion dollars (+8.5%) in the first half of the year, but quantity fell to 587 million liters (-5%). To explain it more in detail, clarified ICE, in the first 6 months of this year, even though through diverse dynamics, Italy has increased sales in all categories: white wines +0.5% (341 million US dollars), red wines +12% (348 million US dollars), and sparkling wines jumped to +28.5% (210 million US dollars). Despite these increases though, Italy’s position as absolute leader of the market share in value has suffered a very slight loss, pointed out ICE, which has gone all to the benefit of France, at 1.013 billion US dollars, 18% growth (thanks especially to the Provence rosés) and 33% market share in value of foreign wines. Another very interesting aspect worthy of mention, revealed ICE, is the increase in “average prices, which are the highest Italian wines have ever achieved, in all categories: 5.1 US dollars per liter for whites, 6.6 US dollars for reds and 5.6 US dollars for sparkling wines, for an average of 5.8 US dollars per liter”.