Total wine inventories in South Africa grew by almost half in 2020 and reached new record levels. Rosé stocks, compared to 2019, have increased by 75%, while white wine stocks have increased by 56% and red wines by 37%. As of December 2020, South African wine stocks stand at 645 million liters, of which 300 million liters are not yet under contract, posing a significant challenge to storage and processing capacity for the upcoming 2021 harvest.
4 
Image from: Discretionary Pope Commune
Kleine Kalze, head of marketing and sales, said yesterday at Wine Futures 2021 that the oversupply is the result of a combination of factors, pointing to a short-term increase in production in 2020, a 6.7% increase in production, and weak purchasing power Sales restrictions during prohibition.
Starting last September, raw wine prices fell to 2018 levels or even lower due to slow trading. By November, prices for bulk white wines were down 7.2% compared to the same month in 2019, and prices for bulk red wines were down 12% over the same period.
