What happened? We have received the latest Cognac shipment data from BNIC for December 2024. While we make our usual caution on not reading too much into short-term trends (which can be very volatile), our key takeaways are below. BNPP Exane View: Cognac shipment volumes out of the Cognac region grew by +22% in December (vs. November -13%) to leave Q424 at +9% (cf. Q3 +2%, Q2 -16%). Looking at trends relative to a pre-pandemic (2019) base, December shipments were -2% below to leave Q424 at -14% (cf. Q3 -29%, Q2 -34%). Global Cognac shipments YoY (HL/%) / Source: BNIC, BNP Paribas Exane NAFTA Cognac shipments to the NAFTA region grew by +54% in December to leave Q424 at +37% (cf. Q3 +4%, Q2 +20%). Compared with 2019 levels, NAFTA December shipments grew by +21% to leave Q424 at -2% (cf. Q3 -48%, Q2 -46%). NAFTA Cognac shipments YoY (HL/%) / Source: BNIC, BNP Paribas Exane Far East Cognac shipments to the Far East region declined by -29% in the month (vs. November -57%) to leave Q424 at -31% (cf. Q3 -12%, Q2 -41%). Compared with 2019 levels, Far East December shipments were -36% below to leave Q424 at -44% (cf. Q3 -16%, Q2 -31%). Far East Cognac shipments YoY (HL/%) / Source: BNIC, BNP Paribas Exane Europe Cognac shipments to the Europe region grew by +17% in December to leave Q424 at +4% (cf. Q3 +15%, Q2 -22%). Compared with 2019 levels, Europe shipments declined by -16% this month, in line with November, leaving Q424 at -13% (cf. Q3 -10%, Q2 -25%). By Quality By quality level, VS shipments out of the Cognac region grew by +34% YoY in December to leave Q424 at +23% (cf. Q3 +24%, Q2 +2%). VSOP shipments returned to growth +11% to leave Q424 at -8% (cf. Q3 -13%, Q2 -26%). Finally, XO shipments grew by +1% this month to leave Q424 at -9% (cf. Q3 -25%, Q2 -47%).