U.S. MARKET FORECASTS - THE NEW YORK ICE OFFICE HAS NO DOUBTS: “2007 WAS A RECORD BREAKING YEAR FOR WINE”. BUT THE STRONG EURO COULD BE A TOUGH HURDLE FOR CONTINUED COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN ITALIAN PRODUCERS AND U.S. IMPORTERS

The export of Italian wine to the U.S. couldn’t be going better. In fact, 2007 will most probably have registered record breaking volumes reaching a total worth of 1.3 billion dollars. These are what the predictions are from the ICE offices in New York, which are based on the exchange between the two countries in the period between January – February 2007.

The United States has imported over 1.063 billion dollars worth of wine that rises to 1.17 billion with sparkling wine imports included.

“With an increase of 9.5%” – noted the director of the ICE office of New York, Aniello Musella – “our wine has signaled an important increase: and if it is also considered that in recent months the euro/dollar exchange has remained at 1.4-1.5 dollars, this means it is a more than positive result”.
The strength of the euro, however, could create some long term problems for the collaboration between Italian wine producers and American importers.
Until now, the overall market quota of Italian wines in the U.S. is 30%, with over 207 million liters imported. There is also a boom in sparkling wine sales, which grew 16% in total volume, with over 15 million liters imported.