Ag in the Asian Century upbeat: InterFinancial

ANALYSIS of Australia’s agribusiness sector, reinforced by the mood at the recent Ag in the Asian Century conference, is upbeat “and not surprisingly” according to mergers and acquisition specialists for the sector, InterFinancial.

InterFinancial’s food and agribusiness sector director David Hassum reported that Australian agriculture producers had already honed in on a few key advantages the national sector holds and were “bearing fruit already”. 

Facilitated by Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE), with the support of the Regional Council, the conference succeeded in delivering practical knowledge to participants on innovation and export opportunities in the food and agribusiness (F&A) sector, Mr Hassum said.

“For us, a few key themes emerged from the insightful and diverse array of speakers,” he said. These backed up predictive reports InterFinancial had been distributing to its clients for several years.

“Australian food exporters should define where and how they can be most competitive,” Mr Hassum said. InterFinancial has recently produced information charts – drawn from information published by FAOSTAT, World Bank, United Nations and NAB – that show China’s population “already receives a relatively high percentage of its calorie intake from meat”, he said.

“As per capita income increases, meat consumption won’t increase, rather people will substitute for higher grades of meat, nuts, fresh fruit and milk.

“So the opportunity in China is for branded and niche markets. There are still opportunities in other Asian countries for volume exporters, though.”

Mr Hassum said another strong message from the conference was that “exporters need to do their homework, looking at individual markets and products rather than just targeting ‘Asia’”.

“Of course that’s no different than any other market, and we are more than accustomed to dealing with red tape,” Mr Hassum said.

A key message was that Australia is already seen in China and across Asia as a reliable source of clean, high quality produce.

“We need to do all we can to improve our logistics networks and use our technology expertise in order to satisfy increased demand and maintain our position as a preferred trading partner,” Mr Hassum said.

One of the most interesting aspects of the conference was that “the general vibe in the region was surprisingly upbeat”.

“On an earlier visit this year the atmosphere was notably sombre, with business owners strapping themselves in for a tough year following the conclusion of the construction stage of large scale oil and gas projects,” Mr Hassum said.

“While uncertainty still exists in the oil and gas sector, opportunities in other sectors such as agribusiness seem to be driving optimism across the board. Perhaps this optimism emanates from the ‘can do’ attitude of the community, of which there’s no better example than the Wellcamp Airport, the first greenfield public airport built in Australian in 50 years and the first to be privately funded.

“This is a true ‘build it and they will come’ project, and once other key infrastructure planks are in place we see this as being a real catalyst for growth in the area, particularly in the agri sector.

“With that said, investment is also about timing. The F&A sector has been hot for a few years now, and for good reason,” Mr Hassum said.

“However, sectors inevitably swing in and out of favour, and it’s always better sell on a positive trend rather than trying to pick the peak of the market.

“Overall, the event was well organised, relevant and insightful, and we highly recommend that those in the sector attend in future years.”

www.agintheasiancentury.com.au

www.tr.qldgov.au

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