SCLAA Chairman - Amanda O'Brien
Amanda O'Brien is the Chairman of the SCLAA. Amanda is a Transport & Logistics Professional and the CEO and Managing Director of Australian Worldwide Logistics Pty Ltd trading as Xtreme Freight with head office based in Melbourne.
There are only 8 weeks until Christmas, and the Supply Chain & Logiistics Association of Australia is working on several events in the lead up. It has been a very busy period for the Board and its Committees. The Association continues to strive ahead with its new Strategic Vision which ensures we drive Competitive Advantage to both our valued members and the wider industry. One of the events that has been publicised widely after a very successful day is the Women in Logistics Lunch held in Melbourne on 20 October. What made this event different is that a number of men attended this event to collaborate - an important and essential variation to other events in the market-place. There can be no change in diversity if there is no collaboration with what has been a male dominated space, particularly in transport and logistics. It is remarkable that in 2017 the wage gap is still 16.1% in this industry and there is a growing consensus that this is still an issue that needs further focus from Government and industry. In other news, I attended the Australasia China Cities Summit & Business Forum as a guest at Victoria Parliament House. In attendance were over 200 major Chinese businesses, industry associations, mayors and ministers in attendance. SMEs, economic trade departments, trade representative and industry professionals from 40 Chinese organizations cities and provinces were present. Australia China Cities Summit & Business Forum was opened on 21 October, receiving support from governments, associations and enterprises in China. Covering Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific area, it attracted culture exchanges as well as economic and trade cooperation between China and South Pacific Countries. This event was a major platform between Australasia and China to promote multilateral communication, cultural exchange, sister-city relationships and business cooperation at all levels. It was interesting to see that the regional cities are taking up this alliance with aplomb and the Mayor of Shepparton signed an MOU with China 2
SCLAA Newsletter October 2017
to develop the growing trade between cities, particularly in the Agriculture sector. Over the last decade the importance of trade between China and Australia has grown four-fold. Australia now buys more manufactured goods from China while we also export much larger volumes of raw materials. This has had a big benefit for our resource companies and it has been one factor in the rise of the Australian dollar China has developed very quickly. Urbanisation and industrialisation has seen millions of workers leave rural areas and move to jobs in the fast growing cities. This has propelled demand for steel to build houses, factories and infrastructure. This development is likely to continue at pace for some time as living standards continue to increase and the Chinese government invests heavily in infrastructure projects such as railways. In the next four years, for example, China plans to build a further 35,000 kilometres of high-speed railway. There are two key reasons why China’s development has had such a powerful impact on Australia. The first is distance. In the global iron ore market, Brazil is the world’s other major supplier. Australia is closer to China and can deliver iron ore more quickly and more cheaply. Australia enjoys a price advantage estimated at $12 US dollars per tonne. The second reason is that Australia’s coking coal, used for the manufacturing of steel, is of a very high and desirable grade – substitution is not easy. That said, this is gradually changing with the development of high-grade deposits in Africa. Based on these advantages, and the likely course of economic development in China, it is clear that China will remain a very important trading partner for Australia in the coming decades. Continued strong demand for resources is good news for Australia’s resource companies. Resource and Energy companies make up 38% of the S&P/ASX 300 Index. Income produced by these companies trickles down into the rest of the economy and benefits other sectors. The stronger Australian dollar makes our imports cheaper. This puts downward pressure on inflation, allowing the Reserve Bank of Australia more leeway with how they