SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's wine export growth slowed last year and could take another hit in 2020 from the coronavirus outbreak if China, its biggest market, orders fewer crates, a report by an industry body said on Wednesday.

The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has severely impacted food and beverage businesses in mainland China with many global companies including McDonald's and Starbucks Corp temporarily shutting stores in the country as a precaution.

"Looking ahead into 2020, we anticipate that coronavirus will have an impact on sales, particularly to China, but at this stage it is difficult to predict the degree of that impact," said industry body Wine Australia in its 2019 export report.

Australia's total global wine exports rose just 3% to A$2.91 billion ($1.96 billion) in 2019, compared with 10% growth recorded in 2018, the report said.

Wine exports to China, which is Australia's top market by value, rose 12% to A$1.3 billion last year although the pace of growth slowed from 18% recorded in 2018.

The total value of wine exports was the second highest for a calendar year, however, the volume fell for the first time in seven years, the report showed.

"The volume of exports was down, with the decline heavily weighted toward lower price segments," Wine Australia Chief Executive Officer Andreas Clark said.

"The lower vintages in 2018 and 2019, together with lower inventory levels, meant that there was less wine available for export in 2019."

On Jan. 29, Australia's biggest winemaker Treasury Wine Estates Ltd , which generates a significant portion of its sales from exports to China, said it was too early to say what the effects of coronavirus would be. However, it cut its 2020 earnings outlook citing weakness in its U.S. operations.

冠状病毒或影响澳葡萄酒出口

如果冠状病毒爆发导致中国订购的澳洲葡萄酒数量下降，澳大利亚对其最大葡萄酒市场的出口将在去年增长放缓的基础上再次受到打击。

这一起源于中国武汉的病毒，已严重影响了中国的食品和饮料企业，包括麦当劳和星巴克在内的许多全球性公司为预防起见，暂时关闭了中国的门店。

行业机构澳大利亚葡萄酒管理局在其2019年度出口报告中表示：“展望2020年，我们预计冠状病毒将对销售，特别是对中国的销售产生影响，但目前尚无法预测这种影响的程度。”

报告称，2019年澳大利亚对全球葡萄酒出口总额仅增长3%，达29.1亿澳元，而2018年录得10%的增长。

按金额计算，中国目前是澳大利亚葡萄酒的最大出口市场。2019年，澳大利亚对中国的葡萄酒出口额增长了12%，达到13亿澳元，但增速较2018年的18%有所放缓。

报告显示，2019年澳大利亚葡萄酒出口总值为历年第二高，但出口量7年来首次下降。

“出口量出现下降，主要集中在价位较低的区间。” 澳大利亚葡萄酒管理局首席执行官Andreas Clark说，“ 2018年和2019年连续两个小年份，加上较低的库存水平，意味着2019年可供出口的葡萄酒较少。”

富邑葡萄酒集团是澳大利亚最大葡萄酒生产商，其销售的相当一部分来自于中国市场。该集团于1月29日表示，目前谈论冠状病毒的影响还为时过早。然而，由于美国市场业务疲软，该集团下调了2020年的盈利预期。

原载：路透社

编译：徐菲远