Virtual Export Seminar – Getting Your Goods to China

26 May 2020

The Australia China Business Council Victoria would like to thank industry leaders Dianne Tipping (Export Council Australia), Brendan Bourke (Port of Melbourne), Bill Cole (BDO) and Richard Zhang (Rex Services) for leading this online export seminar.

Key takeaways from our four panellists included:

  • Three key export market packages provided by the Australian federal government.
  • Sea freight outlook:
    • Since mid-March, the situation has continued to improve.
    • Factories and offices are opening again in China (over 90% of normal levels).
    • Currently strong vessel bookings into at least the next month.
  • Air freight outlook:
    • 35% of global trade travels by air freight – COVID-19 has seen a big hit to revenues.
    • Air freight outlook heavily linked to restarting of international passenger flights.
  • What can exporters do now?
    • Carry out an evaluation of your supply chain network. Identify every point in the chain and which party is responsible for each stage.
    • Any lack of transparency should be viewed as an opportunity to improve.
    • Chances to aggregate with other exporters to get your goods moving.
  • Around 40% of Australia’s imports are sourced from China and 25% of our exports are destined for China.
  • 4 waves of the impact of the COVID-19-19 virus from a supply chain perspective:
    • Supply constraints
    • Returned Supply
    • Suppressed Demand
    • Recovery
  • Current trade hot zones to be aware of:
    • Coronavirus (global)
    • Iran
    • Brexit, EU FTA, WTO
    • US-China Trade Wars
  • Trade is an instrument of diplomacy and policy for China and is part of a bigger picture.
  • Compliance needs to be considered as an equal part of the equation when trading with China. There can be no inaccuracies in your paperwork or gaps in your logistics processes.
  • China Market Update:
    • Milk powder and health supplements are in great demand.
    • Meat, seafood and lobster importers face low demand.
    • Cross border ecommerce has held up strongly.
    • Parcels from Australia to China face a delay of 4-6 weeks.
    • Impacts on KOL & daigou markets.
    • eCommerce – businesses placing orders based on the previous month’s data can have problems.
  • China Supply Chain Issues:
    • Commodity based anti-dumping duty – eg. barley at +80%
    • Dishonouring of certification documents
    • FTW/Rules of Origin issues
  • Goods have already been affected by these measures include:
    • Barley
    • Chilled meat
    • Coal