Chilean Earthquake – News of Society Growers

We send our condolences to all victims of the earthquake. The epicentre of Chile’s powerful earthquake was close to Concepción, Chile’s second city. The wine regions most severely affected will be Bío-Bío and Maule, those closest to the epicentre, and we are still awaiting news of the damage in these regions.

We can happily report that there has been no loss of life amongst the employees of the companies we deal with. Our supplier closest to the earthquake, Valdivieso in Lontué, has survived reasonably well; it has no water but has its own generator for power.

However, there has been significant damage to many wineries even around Santiago, 235km from the epicentre, which is still being assessed. The estimated damage to the wine sector is 125 million litres (including bulk, bottled, and aging wine), valued at US $250 million, (or about 12.5% of the estimated 2009 vintage). The total damage of the earthquake to the country has been estimated as US $30 billion. Modern buildings are constructed to survive earthquakes, but the old buildings made from adobe are likely to be damaged.

The earthquake occurred during the 2010 harvest, which takes place between February and April, and will obviously be severely affected.

Regarding infrastructure it appears that the main ports and Santiago’s international airport are now open again, but not at full capacity. Some bridges and roads have been destroyed. However Chile’s economy is heavily dependent on exports so it will be doing all it can to recover quickly.