By AFP
February 22, 2025
French cognac makers rely on exports for 98 percent of their sales with cognac making up the vast majority of EU brandy exports to China - Copyright AFP/File
GEORGES GOBET
The French cognac industry said Friday it was losing 50 million euros ($50 million) per month since the imposition of antidumping duties by China and appealed for government help.
Since October 11, European exports of brandy to China have been hit with duties after the EU imposed tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on Chinese electric vehicles over claims of unfair competition.
The measure has been painful for French cognac makers who rely on exports for 98 percent of their sales with cognac making up the vast majority of EU brandy exports to China.
“These punitive measures have already caused a 50 percent drop in our monthly shipments,” the association of cognac and armagnac producers said in a statement.
“We’re starting to see an impact on jobs,” said Florent Morillon of the BNIC association of cognac producers and traders.
“We have an industry that functions very well, that supports more than 70,000 jobs and today it is weighed down by European political decisions,” he added.
The statement comes ahead of the opening Saturday of France’s annual agricultural fair in Paris, a key event for politicians and the industry to meet.
The BNIC called on French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to travel to China to attempt to resolve the dispute.
“It’s an entirely political issue and it can only be resolved politically,” it added.
An executive of one cognac producer said they had been received by French government leaders but “we have the impression of being sacrificed”.
The executive said there was no possibility of replacing the lost business in China, the top market in terms of value and second in terms of volume behind the United States.
With the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who carried out an aggressive trade policy in his first term that included a stiff 25 percent tariff on cognac, the industry faces additional uncertainty.
“We hope we’ll be spared on that side,” BNIC’s Morillon said.
Bordeaux wine harvest drops to lowest level since 1991
By AFP
February 14, 2025
The Bordeaux region produces some of the world's most famous wines
The French cognac industry said Friday it was losing 50 million euros ($50 million) per month since the imposition of antidumping duties by China and appealed for government help.
Since October 11, European exports of brandy to China have been hit with duties after the EU imposed tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on Chinese electric vehicles over claims of unfair competition.
The measure has been painful for French cognac makers who rely on exports for 98 percent of their sales with cognac making up the vast majority of EU brandy exports to China.
“These punitive measures have already caused a 50 percent drop in our monthly shipments,” the association of cognac and armagnac producers said in a statement.
“We’re starting to see an impact on jobs,” said Florent Morillon of the BNIC association of cognac producers and traders.
“We have an industry that functions very well, that supports more than 70,000 jobs and today it is weighed down by European political decisions,” he added.
The statement comes ahead of the opening Saturday of France’s annual agricultural fair in Paris, a key event for politicians and the industry to meet.
The BNIC called on French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to travel to China to attempt to resolve the dispute.
“It’s an entirely political issue and it can only be resolved politically,” it added.
An executive of one cognac producer said they had been received by French government leaders but “we have the impression of being sacrificed”.
The executive said there was no possibility of replacing the lost business in China, the top market in terms of value and second in terms of volume behind the United States.
With the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who carried out an aggressive trade policy in his first term that included a stiff 25 percent tariff on cognac, the industry faces additional uncertainty.
“We hope we’ll be spared on that side,” BNIC’s Morillon said.
Bordeaux wine harvest drops to lowest level since 1991
By AFP
February 14, 2025
The Bordeaux region produces some of the world's most famous wines
- Copyright AFP/File
Philippe LOPEZ
Cold weather, disease and capacity cuts pushed wine production in France’s Bordeaux region last year to a low not seen in three-and-a-half decades, the local industry body said Friday.
Often called the world’s most famous wine country, Bordeaux — France’s biggest wine region — produces the iconic Medoc, Saint-Emilion, and Pomerol high-end wines, as well as larger quantities of lower-priced produce.
In total, Bordeaux winemakers produced 3.3 million hectolitres of wine last year, after 3.8 million in 2023, a drop of 14 percent.
Unfavourable weather, especially episodes of frost, weighed on production, while a high level of rainfall in the spring favoured the spread of disease, notably mildew.
Another major factor was a government-subsidised reduction in the size of vineyards amid efforts to curb over-production.
Just 95,000 hectares of Bordeaux wine country was cultivated in 2024, down from 103,000 the year before.
But wine professionals detected a silver lining. They say low output would cause prices to rise, and demand to soak up stocks built up in years of excess production.
“This will happen over the coming months or years,” said Christophe Chateau, a spokesman for the CIVB wine sector association, saying that wine sales had already outstripped current production last year.
“If you sell more than you produce, then you not only meet demand, you can dip into your stocks and, arithmetically, prices will rise,” he told AFP.
Meanwhile, Bordeaux winemakers are concerned about the impact of any new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The United States is the Bordeaux region’s top export market with wine worth 340 million euros ($355 million) shipped to the US last year.
“We’re not sure what this will mean for sales,” said Chateau. “If Trump slaps a 25-percent tax on French wines in the US, sales there will fall and the imbalances will continue.”
Trump on Thursday unveiled a plan for “reciprocal tariffs” that could affect both allies and competitors, in an escalation of trade tensions since the start of his term.
burs/jh/sjw/jj
Cold weather, disease and capacity cuts pushed wine production in France’s Bordeaux region last year to a low not seen in three-and-a-half decades, the local industry body said Friday.
Often called the world’s most famous wine country, Bordeaux — France’s biggest wine region — produces the iconic Medoc, Saint-Emilion, and Pomerol high-end wines, as well as larger quantities of lower-priced produce.
In total, Bordeaux winemakers produced 3.3 million hectolitres of wine last year, after 3.8 million in 2023, a drop of 14 percent.
Unfavourable weather, especially episodes of frost, weighed on production, while a high level of rainfall in the spring favoured the spread of disease, notably mildew.
Another major factor was a government-subsidised reduction in the size of vineyards amid efforts to curb over-production.
Just 95,000 hectares of Bordeaux wine country was cultivated in 2024, down from 103,000 the year before.
But wine professionals detected a silver lining. They say low output would cause prices to rise, and demand to soak up stocks built up in years of excess production.
“This will happen over the coming months or years,” said Christophe Chateau, a spokesman for the CIVB wine sector association, saying that wine sales had already outstripped current production last year.
“If you sell more than you produce, then you not only meet demand, you can dip into your stocks and, arithmetically, prices will rise,” he told AFP.
Meanwhile, Bordeaux winemakers are concerned about the impact of any new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The United States is the Bordeaux region’s top export market with wine worth 340 million euros ($355 million) shipped to the US last year.
“We’re not sure what this will mean for sales,” said Chateau. “If Trump slaps a 25-percent tax on French wines in the US, sales there will fall and the imbalances will continue.”
Trump on Thursday unveiled a plan for “reciprocal tariffs” that could affect both allies and competitors, in an escalation of trade tensions since the start of his term.
burs/jh/sjw/jj
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