More than 23,000 liters (over 6,000 U.S. gallons) of Australian wine was turned away at the Chinese border last month, latest government data shows, as an import ban sparked by political differences enters its fourth month.
In January, border officers detained 20,000 liters of wine from Badger's Brook Estate and more than 3,000 liters of Penfolds' 2018 Bin 128 and Bin 28 wines over labeling issues, China's customs agency said.
This time last year, China made up roughly half of Australia's wine exports. The figure has since fallen to just 1% after months of trade barriers and costly taxes.
In response to Australian criticism over China's treatment of ethnic minorities, the Ministry of Commerce applied provisional tariffs on wine from Australia in late November last year which will be effective at least until the end of March 2021.
In Australia, "some people have stigmatized the normal economic and trade cooperation," Chinese commerce vice-minister Wang Shouwen said this week.
Trade between the two countries, worth roughly $191 billion, is unlikely to pick up anytime soon. So for now, Australian wineries are looking elsewhere for customers.
Wine exports to the United Kingdom rose 206.7% year on year in January to reach $1.04 billion last month alone, the nation's bureau of statistics announced Tuesday, while exports to France have grown 519%.
Penfolds owner Treasury Wine Australia predicted a 43% decrease in its first half profit this month as the company reels from the loss of a market that had previously supplied a third of its profits.
Local wineries have attempted to fill the gap, selling fake bottles of the well-known Penfolds wine under names like "Benfords" and "Penfunils."
Chinese counterfeiters are also doing great business: in January police shut down an inter-provincial network that manufactured fake Penfolds wine.
