UK scotch industry in high spirits as India demands more

One of the UK's top exporting industries, the global whisky shipments for the year were 3.45 billion pounds -- a 10 per cent increase on previous year and the equivalent of 109 pounds a second, according to the figures released by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).

Exports to India were up by 46 per cent and worth 41 million pounds, it said. The SWA has been campaigning for India to reduce import tariffs.

The SWA said the BRIC markets continued to develop, with growing exports to Brazil (12 per cent to 67 million pounds), China (24 per cent to 55 million pounds) and Russia (61 per cent to 31 million pounds).

The US remained scotch’s largest export market by value, registering an increase of 19 per cent to 499 million pounds.

Scotch Whisky exports increased by 60 per cent since the turn of the century, adding an extra 1.29 billion pounds in value.

During 2010, Single Malt exports increased by 18 per cent (to 577 million pounds) and bottled Blended Scotch Whisky shipments rose by 5 per cent (to 2.6 billion).

Gavin Hewitt, Chief Executive of the SWA, said: "This year we look to the successful conclusion of the EU-India free trade negotiations to deliver major improvements in the tariff and trading conditions for our members’ brands in India, a market offering significant future potential."

Scotch Whisky is a world class industry that consistently delivers for the UK, he said.

"Global exports increased for the sixth consecutive year and are now 60 per cent higher in value than in 2000. This year’s strong performance -– contributing 109 pounds a second to UK exports -- demonstrates that distillers are playing a key role in export-led recovery."