Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said his government will develop a plan to uncork freight and supply chain blockages that threaten to prevent local exporters from capitalising on Asia’s diningboom.
Australia is one the world’s largest agricultural exporters, with shipments hitting a record A$44.5bn ($32.83bn) last year, according to government statistics.
But high supply costs and the difficulty in finding space on air freight means producers are struggling to meet growingAsian demand – undermining the country’s ambition to boost rural exports to soften the impact of a slowdown in its mining sector – a so-called “mining to dining boom”.