Local wine industry blooms as more of the world seeks SA’s wines
The bureau’s annual report‚ produced by researchers from the Universities of Pretoria and Stellenbosch as well as the Western Cape Department of Agriculture‚ says wine exports reached 313-million litres in 2015‚ up from 122-million litres in 2000.The Western Cape produces more than 50% of SA’s agricultural exports‚ with the EU being the wine industry’s biggest export destination — it accounts for almost 75% of annual offshore sales volumes‚ worth R5bn.SA’s nearly 100‚000ha of vineyards‚ mostly in the Western Cape‚ generate about 3% of the world’s wine production. Other major export markets include the US and China.Western Cape economic opportunities MEC Alan Winde said on Wednesday that exports to key markets in the rest of Africa‚ the US and China were growing.South African wine sales to China rose almost 30% in 2015‚ according to statistics from South African Wine Industry Information and Systems.Read the full story in Business Day..
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