The jerez maintains his idyll with UK. Exports, in general, and the British market, in particular, were decisive in cushioning the fall in total sales of Jerez wines in 2020, the year of the start of the pandemic that the Marco wineries closed with a decrease of 8%, well below the 30% initially expected by the sector and half of the decline experienced by Spanish wines.
The Regulatory Council already pointed out then that, apart from the provisioning by British importers to circumvent the effects of Brexit, there was also a increase in household consumption, fueled by mobility restrictions for British ‘sherry lovers’ who are used to visiting Spain and, consequently, to consuming these wines in their holiday destinations.
After more than two decades of sharp decline in the UK, the sherry saved the year with a increase of their departures to 17% UK market and 9.5 million liters in volume, a trend that has exploded in the start of 2021, in which the sherry sales to the UK up 46% until February in front of 20% collapse of global wine imports registered in this country until January, up to 73.8 million liters.
According to data from British customs, analyzed by the Spanish Wine Market Observatory (OeMv), UK established the last year a new wine import record after an increase of 4.1%, until reaching 1,457.5 million liters (57.4 million more), ranking as the main world importer ahead of Germany, although far from spending by the United States, the country that reports the highest added value.
The importation of Bag in Box falls by 11% in 2020 compared to the slight increase of 1% in bottled wine
Despite the complications arising from the pandemic and the uncertainty generated by leaving the European Union, UK imported more wine than ever, surpassing the maximum to date, which dated from 2015 with just over 1,400 million liters. The bulk, with a 11% increase, supports the ceiling of imports last year, compared to the descenso del 11,5% del Bag in Box, Meanwhile he packed wine remains stable with just a 1% growth.
The sales evolution on the UK market in January, the worst month natural since February 2006, makes the OeMv think that 2020 rise It was due to a provisioning before possible trade barriers as a consequence of Brexes, in force since January of this year.
This increase in British purchases may be due to a supply before the fear of about possible tariffs and other obstacles commercial by 2021, derived from the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the Observatory points out in its report.
