Murcia holds fifth position in the ranking of exporting provinces in Spain, behind Barcelona, Ciudad Real, La Rioja and Valencia.

Murcia 14th Sept.- Exports of Spanish wine during the first semester increased 15% in value compared with the same period in 2011, reaching 1,136 million euros, as a result of reduced supply in the market. The Region of Murcia consolidated itself as one of the top exporting autonomous communities at almost 71 million euros.

The Spanish Wine Market Observatory -OeMv- has pointed out that the geographical areas which lead bulk sale of wine at competitive prices have enjoyed a substantial increase in exports over the past few months. The lack of availability has led to sharp increases in prices (29%), but has generated increased sales in euros. On the other hand, moderating prices for bottled wines have enabled a 10% increase in sales of products with designation of origin and 20% for wines without.

With regards to the autonomous communities, Castilla-La Mancha continues to lead export sales holding 50% of all Spanish exports for the semester, whilst Extremadura registered the largest increases ¿ both in terms of value and in terms of volume ¿ and has become the second region with the greatest number of sales to international markets.

According to OeMv, and analysing quantities, values and increases with regards to the same period in the previous year, Catalonia sold 105.02 million litres (+1.3%) for 259.99 million euros (+4%); La Rioja, 41.44 million litres (-2.5%) for 135.17 million euros (+4.9%); the Valencian Community, 119.67 million litres (-0.5%) for 103.98 million euros (+21.9%) and Murcia, 91 million litres (+0.8%) for 89.72 million euros (+33.3%).

Domestic wine consumption data is also positive for the first semester, presenting an increase of 3.5% in volume (205 million litres), keeping sales stable.

This increase is due, to a large extent, to the 23.3% volume and 5.6% value increase in the month of June as a result of the substantial development of wines with no designation of origin. Sangrías and summer fizzy reds continue to show excellent growth rates.

Source: International Information Dept. - INFO