Maritime
Australia Exports to China Still Firing
SYDNEY – Australia’s exports of commodities are charging ahead, despite weaker growth in China’s economy.
A slowdown in Chinese growth – to 7.7% in 2013 from double-digits in recent years – has hurt Australia’s economy. The country expanded its mining capacity as Chinese growth rocketed. As China’s expansion slowed, global commodity prices fell and Australia’s economy also began to grow at a slower pace as mining investment crumpled.
The outlook for commodity prices remains weak, in part because of huge new supply coming online in the years ahead from Australia and other producers.
But that doesn’t mean Australian exports to China have fallen. China’s economy is much larger than a few years ago and needs huge new amounts of commodities for its infrastructure projects and to build houses.
On Thursday, Australia posted a A$468 million trade surplus for December, in contrast to the small deficit forecast by economists. That built on a surplus in November of A$83 million dollars, the first trade surplus in two years.
The value of exports rose 4% on-month in December, thanks to solid gains in sales of coal and iron ore, largely to China. Imports rose 2% on-month.With a decade-long boom in mining investment fading, there’s less need to import expensive capital equipment. Imports grew just 6.4% in 2013, versus 15.1% annual growth in exports.
Prices for many commodities remain weak as China’s growth cools and new supply becomes available. But China’s demand for commodities is still increasing, albeit at a slower pace. The country’s iron ore imports hit a record in November, up a fifth from the start of 2013.
And Australian producers also have benefited from a weaker Australian dollar, which has fallen 15% from its peak last year, boosting export values in local currency terms.
Exports to China, Australia’s largest trading partner, totaled a record A$95 billion in 2013, up sharply from A$73 billion in 2012. China took almost 40% of Australia’s goods exports in December, and supplied 18% of its imports. By comparison, the United States took 5% of Australian goods exports and supplied 10% of the country’s imports.
As more Australian mining projects near completion and begin production, the export volumes are likely to rise, analysts say.
“It will be truly staggering just how much income will be generated from our largest trading partner when all the major resource projects are operating at full capacity,” said Craig James, chief economist at Commsec brokerage.
Still, the export surge will only go part of the way to offsetting the mining investment drop in the medium term, economists say. Australia’s economy grew 2.3% on year in the third quarter much lower than quarterly rates as high as 4% in 2012.Resources investment peaked at around 8% of gross domestic product in 2013 and is expected to fall by around 3 percentage points over the next two and a half years, according to forecasts by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The decline will accelerate in 2015 when large gas projects across the country’s north are completed.
Australia’s economy is expected to grow a sub-par 2.75% this year, with unemployment likely to rise as workers who were employed building mining projects in the Outback stream back to the cities. It takes far more workers to build a mine – or an export terminal, say – than to operate it.
Still, the outlook for Australia’s trade accounts is robust.
Michael Blythe, chief economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, predicts that strong mining exports will help Australia make the jump from being a current-account deficit nation to a surplus nation within five years.
That would mark a historic shift, considering that Australia has run current-account deficits in 128 of the past 150 or so years. Australia has had to borrow from the world to meet the gap between its savings rates and its investment needs.
That’s changing and implies a stronger Australian dollar and lower borrowing costs in the future.
“A sharp rise in resource export volumes and a marked reduction in resource-related capital goods imports as the mining construction boom winds down will drive the move into trade surplus,” Mr. Blythe said.
– WALLSTREET JOURNAL
The management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has advised International Oil Companies, terminal and jetty operators, and all other companies involved in stevedoring in the country to refrain from engaging unregistered dockworkers.
The information was contained in a statement made available to Biztellers by the Head, Public Relations, NIMASA, Osagie Edward.
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According to the statement, all stakeholders, including dock labour employers and stevedoring companies, are encouraged to apply for new operating licenses or renew expired ones within a 30-day moratorium period.
“This requirement,” it added, “is stipulated by the NIMASA Act of 2007 and outlined in the NIMASA Stevedoring Regulations of 2014, which mandates strict compliance from all maritime operators.”
Osagie cited the Director General, NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola as laying emphasis on the need for stakeholders to comply with extant laws and regulations.
Dr Mobereola said, “No terminal or company shall continue to engage the services of unregistered dockworkers for cargo handling at their work locations.
“This move is part of our broader effort to ensure safe and regulated operations within Nigeria’s maritime industry. Compliance with these regulations will enhance our ability to maintain an up-to-date database of dockworkers operating in the country. It also improves our planning processes, as we are committed to developing their capacity to meet globally accepted standards for dockworkers in Nigeria. We intend to enforce full compliance after the moratorium period.”
It was gathered that the NIMASA Act, 2007, Part IX, Section 27, addressed the registration of Dockworkers with focus on Maritime Labour.
“It ensures the Registration, Regulation, and control of Maritime Labour, including dockworkers. The Act assigns the Agency the responsibility of maintaining standards in accordance with international best practices,” Osagie added.
Nigeria has expressed a strong desire to seek election into Category “C” of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council.
The Honorable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, made the disclosure at the 2024 World Maritime Day parallel event in Barcelona, Spain.
Oyetola noted that Nigeria has put in place the basic needs for the development of her maritime industry in line with recognized global best practices.
In his words, “our active participation in upholding key conventions, such as the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, reflects our dedication to ensuring the safety of international shipping.
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There have been no incidents of piracy in the last three years, as confirmed by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). By deploying resources to provide maritime security assets, Nigeria has solidified its role as a key guardian of maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
Nigeria remains a valuable source of manpower for the industry. I therefore urge our partners to explore this potential and assist where possible in the best interest of all. Our Maritime Academy has adequate resources and facilities to support this development.
“I am pleased to announce Nigeria’s resolve to seek a Category “C” membership on the Council.
On his part, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, assured that no stone will be left unturned to ensure success in the quest for IMO Category C membership at the next elections.
According to him, “We at NIMASA have met with the IMO technical team and have commenced work on all identified grey areas so that Nigeria can address the gaps identified during the last audit by the IMO.
”We have also commenced the process of effective communication with other member states using the IMO GSIS platform, among others. While we at NIMASA focus on the technical aspects of the preparations, our supervising Ministry will provide the political will to guide Nigeria back to the Council at the IMO.”
Oyetola, who held engagement sessions with the IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez and other diplomats, was accompanied on the working tour by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olufemi Oloruntola; the Director General of the NIMASA; the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho; the Managing Director of NIWA, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji; and the Director of Maritime Safety and Security Services, Mr. Babatunde Bombata.
This year’s parallel event with the theme: Navigating the Future: Safety First, brought together international maritime leaders and experts to discuss future challenges and opportunities, with the aim of ensuring that safety is prioritized in the day-to-day operations of the global maritime sector.
The adoption of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model is essential for the infrastructural development of Nigeria’s maritime sector.
This is the view of the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola.
The DG, shared his views while hosting the Director General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh.
He emphasized the importance of the Commission’s increased involvement in attracting private investors to develop infrastructural capacity in Nigeria’s maritime sector.
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Dr. Mobereola said, “We appreciate the Management of the ICRC for being responsive. However, you know that the maritime sector is capital intensive and government funds cannot solely put in place the required infrastructure. We need the ICRC to develop PPP based business models that will be attractive to the private sector both from within and outside the country.
“There is the need to streamline processes by the use of technology, as we will continue to count on the support of ICRC to help drive the Agency’s PPP projects for effective and efficient service delivery to our stakeholders”.
Lending support to Dr. Mobereola’s views, Dr. Ewalefoh, underscored the significance of the maritime sector to Nigeria’s economy.
He noted that the PPP model would facilitate increased funding and expertise from the private sector, thereby accelerating the growth and development of the Nigerian maritime sector. Additionally, he stated that the ICRC is prepared to engage with the Agency on its projects and ensure timely execution.
“There is no time to waste; our country needs lots of funding for infrastructure and we need to create an enabling environment for activities to thrive. First, is service delivery, not revenue generation, and people will be willing to pay if they get the right services”, the ICRC boss noted.
The PPP model has proven to be the most viable approach worldwide for driving government policies that promote development and economic growth.
Biztellers reports that as a regulatory agency and Nigeria’s Maritime Administrator, the NIMASA has consistently embraced collaboration and partnership through the PPP initiative to ensure the growth and development of the maritime sector.
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