TRADE NEWS

Steering the right course in South Korea

SYDNEY’S BISHOP Steering Technology has become the first Australian company to enter into a joint venture with a Korean automotive parts manufacturer.

The company has signed an agreement with Hando Machinery Co Ltd South Korea to manufacture and supply hydraulic power steering valve components.

The joint venture facility has a planned production capacity of up to one million sleeves, torsion bars, input shafts and pinions per year, which will be sold internationally as well as to Korean auto-makers.

This latter market is an especially significant aspect of the deal, as Australian companies have traditionally struggled to win orders from Korean auto-makers, whose products are popular throughout Asia and, increasingly, the rest of the world too. Bishop, whose steering technology can be found in 20% of the world’s new cars, will now have a chance for further market penetration worldwide.

Bruce Grey, Managing Director of the Bishop Technology Group Limited, said assistance from Austrade was important in negotiating the joint venture agreement in Korea, adding that his company’s ability to manage IP in joint ventures was another critical factor in securing the deal."

Bishop's strength in Intellectual Property management allows us to expand our business worldwide and this is another significant step for Bishop to grow and expand in the Asian Region,” Grey said. “In Korea, we will make use of our strong portfolio of special purpose machine tools as well as our expertise in steering valve design and manufacturing to produce cost competitive components together with Hando Machinery Co Ltd. With this Korea-based joint venture, Bishop now plans to develop a strong position as a supplier of power steering valve components.”

 AWB scandal not tainting other exporters

ALLEGATIONS ABOUT the Australian Wheat Board’s (AWB’s) payment of kickbacks to the government of Saddam Hussein have not impacted Australian exporters’ reputations or prospects overseas for other Australian goods and service.

“Most of our markets are in Asia and they are amused by the affair,” says Max Summers of the AustralianHorticultural Exporters Association. “They know this is how you do business in other parts of the world and that in places like Iraq you do not set the rules, they do. If you do not play by their rules, you do not get into the market.” A representative of the Wine and Brandy Corporation told export his industry was completely unaffected. “We have not heard anything at all,” he said. “We are unaware of any negativity regarding wine exports.”

Export also spoke with representatives of the Meat and Livestock Corporation, who said that they have received “no public comments” from offshore buyers of Australian meat products expressing concern about the AWB situation.“Our setup is nothing like the AWB because we do not sell product on behalf of farmers” commented a spokesman.

FTA needed to crack China’s agriculture market

CHANGING EATING patterns in China are creating new opportunities for agricultural exports, according to a new report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. But those opportunities will not be easy to grasp unless Australia can negotiate a free trade agreement or other deals with China to make our goods more competitively priced.

The report, Agriculture in China, Developments and Significance for Australia, finds that “The increasing affluence of China’s urban consumers has meant that they are moving away from starchy staples toward more varied diets, including increased quantities of meat, dairy and seafood products,” according to Dr Brian Fisher, ABARE’s Executive Director.

These changes are creating opportunities for Australian exporters of these commodities, and others. Increased Chinese meat consumption, for example, is likely to stimulate demand for Australian meat but also improve the prospects for growers of feed grains such as barley and sorghum. Canola growers can also expect renewed demand, both as a source of animal feed and as a supplier for China’s increased appetite for vegetable oil. For many other commodities, however, the report says that reduction in trade barriers will be needed to assist Australian exporters to reach the Chinese market.

Seafood, wine, meat and even fruit juice – which is rapidly becoming popular in China – are all mentioned as commodities that would benefit from the advent of a China/Australia Free Trade Agreement and the lower tariffs that would result.

read more