“In the autumn there will be 200 thousand tons missing” – Corriere.it

This autumn there will be between 150 and 200 thousand tons of glass bottles missing. The shortage is having repercussions on various sectors, starting with that of wine. The risk that between December and January we find ourselves not having enough bottles to cover the orders, which are already very far ahead, especially for exports. Prosecco, for example, at the moment has almost more orders than wine: on the production front there are no problems, but we cannot say the same for what concerns the packaging. There are over 700 million bottles already sold, but if there is no glass there is a risk that not all of them will be delivered, explains Vittorio Cino, general manager of Federvini. The problem of the lack of glass bottles is hitting wine producers across the board, but the smallest ones who have less armored contracts with bottle suppliers and fewer opportunities to stock are those who suffer the most, adds Cino.

Dependence on Ukraine

At the origin of the problem there are several factors: the expensive energy, the delays in the supply chain, the increase in the prices of raw materials, the logistics crisis. For example, soda, essential in the production of glass, was imported from Donbass, a region at the center of the war between Russia and Ukraine. While it is true that the expensive raw materials and the bottlenecks caused by the conflict are affecting all EU countries, the difficulties linked to the lack of glass have a heavier effect on the Italian wine sector than in France or Spain. This is due to the different structure of the supply chains – explains the director of Federvini – France has more ovens and therefore a greater national production. The French and Spanish are also less dependent on Ukraine and have other sources of supply. So the prices of glass from them are lower than in Italy.

One in five bottles imported

Of the roughly 5 million tons of glass bottles produced each year, 200,000 were produced in Ukraine, Assovetro explains. One in five bottles was imported, not only from Ukraine or Russia but also from countries such as Portugal and Turkey – says Marco Ravasi, president of Assovetro – The difficulties related to the war were added to the problems related to the costs of transport and logistics that they have product delays in supplies and bottlenecks in the supply chain. And Italian producers have struggled to make up for this lack. Furthermore, for fear of the increase in the cost of raw materials – continues Ravasi – Many large producers have started stocking bottles. Those who moved late or did not have a purchasing chain that allowed them to do the same found themselves in difficulty.

Price increases of 6.6% for wine bottles

According to a survey by the Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory, the surplus of energy costs alone (+425 million euros) and, consequently, of dry raw materials (over 1 billion more for glass, paper, cardboard, caps, aluminum) are worth alone an 83% increase compared to the budgets of the beginning of 2022 for the production of wine. To these are added other items on the rise that lead to an increase in total costs this year of 28%. The increase in the price lists estimated by the Observatory in the first 9 months of this year was in fact by 6.6%, a positive figure but insufficient to cover an increase in prices that companies requested in the order of 11%. The equivalent gap of € 600 million of costs not covered by revenues that Italian wine is forced to sustain in order to remain on the market.