Southern elves?

[Thinlómien]

I was reading The Hobbit and the following passage caught my eye:

The wine, and other goods, were brought from far away, from their kinsfolk in the South, or the vineyards of Men in distant lands.

(This is about Thranduil's wood elves, as you might know or guess.)

What is that "their kinsfolk in the South"? Does it refer to the elves of Lórien, for they are the only elves I know that live in South from Mirkwood's point of view. Or was this something Tolkien later didn't remember, and these Elves never came to his mythologies? Or can men be called Elves' kinsfolk? (I wouldn't say so.) Or are there some kind of Southern Elves mentioned in the HoME (sounds odd...)?

I'm quite puzzled. Does anyone have any ideas on this?