According to the BNIC, volumes in NAFTA (US, Canada and Mexico) rose 14.2% in volume (77.3 million bottles) and 14.3% in value. The US was the destination for 74.1m bottles in 2016.
The Far East has rebounded, with volumes up 1.0% to 51.1 million bottles and value up 3.0%. The BNIC said a stabilising Chinese market “remains an important factor in levelling regional results”.
Rest of the World (ROW) also saw growth in volume (+ 5.4%) and value (+ 5.1%). Together, ROW markets (including Africa and the Caribbean) account for more than 6.3% of global exports, or 11.3 million bottles.
But Europe saw a slight decline in total shipments to 39.4 million bottles. Volumes and value were down 1.2% and 1.0% respectively due to “a difficult economic climate”.
Growth in the US has contributed to a rise in VS-quality volumes (+ 9.6%) and value (+ 13.0%), with VS now accounting for half of all cognac exports.
At around 40% of total volumes, VSOP exports remained stable in 2016, with volumes + 0.4% and value + 0.3%. Meanwhile, ‘old quality’ cognac exports experienced a revival, with an 11.7% increase in volumes and value up 8.3%.
