Australian beef, cotton exporters brace for slowdown

Planned industrial action at major ports around Australia could interrupt the export of agricultural produce,reported the Australian Broadcasting Corpn.


The Maritime Union of Australia has won the right for its members to take "protected industrial action" following a breakdown in enterprise bargaining negotiations with major stevedoring company Patrick.


The MUA has been granted approval for rolling action from industrial relations regulator Fair Work Australia.


At this stage the strike could delay the loading of 35,000 containers at the Port of Melbourne, Botany Bay in Sydney, Fremantle and Brisbane from this Saturday.


Employees at Patricks Fishermens Island loading facility in Brisbane will stop work for 24 hours on Monday night, preventing 2,500 containers from moving.


Brisbane is Australia's most important beef export port, as well as handling cotton.


John Berry, from Australia's largest meat processing company JBS Swift, says he hope the strikes don't escalate.


"I think all of us in the export processing industry would be concerned about strikes at port and clearly would have major disruptive effects on the industry," he says.


"We would ship several hundred thousand tonnes of beef per year through Brisbane and Melbourne ports each year."


"Brisbane Port has operated very well over the past few years, so we don't want to see disruptions."


"We all know there are challenges in the international marketplace at the moment and this situation is just going to be another hurdle in the export business."


"We've got a lot at stake here and we need continuity out of the port of Brisbane. It's as simple as that".


The cotton industry's also watching the port dispute closely.
Cotton picking has just begun and Queensland is set to bale its best cotton crop for a decade after years of drought.


Richard Haire, CEO of ginning and marketing compan Queensland Cotton, says port strikes are the last thing they need.
"We're anxious about it because we're on the eve of a very significant and critical shipping period for the Australian cotton industry generally and Brisbane is a significant port," he says.


"I'd estimate about 40 per cent of the Australian crop would go out of Brisbane, but we're talking about Sydney and Melbourne ports being affected as well".


Haire says cotton has already begun to be shipped to export customers but will increase in coming weeks.


"The season's just started but within the space of a month we'll be running at full tilt. With what's looking like a record crop, it's critical we get cotton out in an efficient and timely manner."


He says part of the reason export customers pay a premium for Australian cotton is because of our reliability.
And cotton prices are very healthy this year as well.


"This cotton has been sold at very good prices and we don't want our customers to look elsewhere to fill their needs," he says.
Haire says Queensland Cotton bears the cost of loading and shipping delays, but reputation and reliability is more of an issue.


He says although the industrial dispute may be solved quickly but if it drags on export sales could be put at risk.


"There's a risk that our customers, if they can't rely on supply of our cotton, will look elsewhere and if we're unable to meet delivery timetables then who knows, it may be possible for them to look at alternative sources."
(Source:http://www.cargonewsasia.com)