Business and community leaders from across Alabama are traveling in Australia and New Zealand this week, seeking to boost exports and strengthen trade ties in the region.
The 17-member delegation kicked off a series of briefings with U.S. Commercial Service officials in Sydney, as well as appointments with area companies.
Later in the week, the group will travel to Auckland, New Zealand’s primary commercial hub for a similar slate of meetings.
“Alabama has strong, and growing, relationships with both Australia and New Zealand, and we want to build on those bonds,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, who is leading the delegation.
“This trade mission is about helping our state companies find new markets for their goods and services, so they can create jobs and make new investments in their communities back home,” he said.
Alabama exports to Australia reached nearly $298 million in 2016, rising 11.6 percent from the previous year, according to Commerce Department data. Top exports included transportation equipment as well as paper, chemicals, machinery (except electrical), and computer and electrical products.
Motor vehicles were by far the largest export shipped to Australia in the transportation equipment category.
Meanwhile, state exports to New Zealand last year totaled $68.7 million, jumping 63.6 percent from 2015. Transportation equipment also led the way here, but in a change from previous years, aerospace products and parts, instead of motor vehicles, constituted the largest transportation equipment category.
Other top Alabama exports to New Zealand included chemicals, paper, plastics and rubber parts; and machinery (except electrical).
‘International footprint’
Hilda Lockhart, director of the Department of Commerce’s Office of International Trade, said Australia and Alabama have a strong relationship in both trade and investment. The free trade agreement with Australia allows Alabama companies to be competitive in this far-reaching market, she said.Members of a trade delegation visit Sydney, Australia, in search of more business for Alabama companies. (Made in Alabama)
In addition, New Zealand is a natural fit for Alabama exporters as some distributors cover both countries.
“As our companies say, it only takes one strong partner to do business here,” Lockhart said.
Alabama companies represented in the delegation include Atlas RFID Solutions, Warren Manufacturing and Regions Bank, all of Birmingham; Irrigation Components of Daphne; PowerSouth Energy Cooperative of Andalusia; MechOptix of Madison; Pinnacle Solutions Inc. of Huntsville; and Quality Valve Inc. of Mobile.
Also part of the group are representatives from the University of Alabama, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce.
“This trade mission is comprised of multi-industry companies ranging from automotive, aerospace and high-tech equipment, which are among some of the best industry sectors for both Australia and New Zealand,” Lockhart said. “Both countries are very receptive to U.S.-made products because of quality and service.”
As on all trade missions, the Commerce Department has partnered with the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign Commercial Service to set up prequalified appointments to identify potential buyers and distributors.
“The companies with us are working to grow their international footprint in new markets, and we feel very positive that they will be successful on this trip in doing so,” Lockhart said.
Strengthening business
Irrigation Components is changing its distribution model and looking for new distributors after many years of operating in Australia and New Zealand, said Ramsay Geha, vice president of international sales and a member of the trade mission delegation.
The company provides irrigation parts for gear boxes, center drives, sprinkler packages and alignment controls, and it is the world’s leader in center pivot spare parts sales. Irrigation Components operates in more than 40 countries, all major agricultural areas.
“Export sales are about 40 percent of our business,” Geha said. “Export was what established our company, and we are seeking to revitalize and strengthen this portion of our business.”
Atlas RFID Solutions sees tremendous opportunity for its business in Australia and New Zealand.
“Despite having worked on very large industrial construction projects in Australia, we have done so on behalf of U.S.-based contractors and have never worked directly with any Australian or New Zealand-based companies,” said Robert Fuqua, the company’s president and CEO. “We believe that having a more established presence in the region will open doors for more opportunities to provide value to local construction contractors.”
Kevin Bube, vice president of client operations, and Ben Whipple, program manager, are representing the company in the trade mission delegation.
“We are always looking for innovative industrial construction companies to whom we can deliver value through our proprietary materials readiness solution, Jovix,” Fuqua continued. “Companies who are prone to technology adoption are prime for our solution, which focuses on increasing craft productivity and schedule adherence through material readiness.”
Presently, Jovix is deployed in four countries, and exports account for more than 65 percent of Atlas RFID’s annual revenue.
“We have previously participated in trade missions to China, Hong Kong, Norway and Sweden. These trips have provided great value by aiding us in learning about the local business ecosystems and allowing us to create lasting relationships within those markets,” Fuqua said.Austal USA launches the future USS Omaha from its shipbuilding facility in Mobile. The Australia-based company is one of south Alabama’s largest employers. (Austal USA)
Trading partners
In addition to business meetings, delegation members also will attend networking receptions hosted by Consul General Valerie Crites Fowler of the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney and Acting Consul General Craig Halbmaier of the U.S. Consulate General in Auckland.
Among the 50 states last year, Alabama was Australia’s No. 2 trading partner in exports of pulp, paper and paperboard mill products and its No. 4 trading partner in motor vehicle exports.
Meanwhile, the state imported $106.5 million of goods from Australia in 2016.
Other key ties between the state and the country include Australian shipbuilder Austal USA, which has a major manufacturing operation in Mobile.
For New Zealand, Alabama ranked as the No. 1 trading partner in exports of pulp, paper and paperboard mill products, and the state was No. 2 for exports of resin, synthetic rubber, artificial and synthetic fibers, and filament.
Alabama’s 2016 imports from New Zealand totaled $10.1 million.
This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.
| AnAlabamaNews release || September 12, 2017 |||
Manufacturers are important employers in New Zealand creating many opportunities for skilled and unskilled labour.
As released in ManufacturingNZ’s election manifesto, the sector employs 250,000 people and accounts for 14% of all jobs.
In the current skills shortage environment, the sector needs the incoming government to have a cohesive strategy for addressing growing the workforce of today and in the future.
In the EMA Election Manifesto, it outlined several recommendations to close the skills and training gaps. These included:
- Applying more funding to fill the skills gaps in the trade sector and incorporate an employer-based approach - Policies need to reflect lifelong career development, including a continuation of funding and support for workplace literacy programmes; and an co-ordinated approach to managing an ageing workforce - Ensuring the immigration process is less complicated, having a greater emphasis on the points system to meet the required skills required by employers. Automatic extension of temporary work visas for sectors placed on the skills shortages list
"Our manufacturing sector is an integral part of New Zealand’s economy. It produces around 50% of our exports, makes a significant contribution to the regions, invests in plant and machinery along with investing about $450 million in research and development," says Kim Campbell, CEO, EMA.
"While automation and developments in technology have enhanced the manufacturing sector, there is a worsening labour shortage - 65% of employers say there is, or soon will be, a skills shortage in their sector. The next government needs to address this."
Another key challenge for manufacturers is transport and infrastructure. In the EMA Election Manifesto, it outlined several areas that business wants addressed in this regard. These range from expediting critical national infrastructure, easing congestion particularly in Auckland through to reforming the resource management system.
"We need to keep ahead of the demand curve to ensure our manufacturers remain competitive. This impacts their entire supply chain, from sourcing of materials through to getting goods to market - and everything in between," says Mr Campbell.
| AnEMA release || September, 2017 |||
What business needs from the incoming government is continuity around the current employment and labour relations framework, says EMA.
“Many members are raising their concerns about what will happen to workplace relations if there is a change as outlined in Labour’s Fair Pay Agreements policy,” says Kim Campbell, CEO, EMA.
“I urge all employers to take a good look at this policy. Within it are plans for significant change to the enterprise-level bargaining framework that has been in place for many years.”
Under the Employment Relations Act (2000) there is a clear framework for how employers and employees negotiate in good faith.
“This approach gives companies the flexibility to negotiate agreements with their workers to best meet the needs of the operation. Don’t forget, with this comes responsibilities that the employer must abide by too. If they don’t, they can find themselves facing hefty penalties along with irreparable reputational damage.
“We want a system which enables New Zealand business to remain competitive, now and into the future,” says Mr Campbell.
The EMA Election Manifesto highlighted the key areas its members wanted addressed by an incoming government. Some of the points highlighted were the need to address the Holidays Act and to ensure the principles and framework developed by the Pay Equity Working group were enshrined in the new legislation.
It also raised the need for a cohesive strategy on addressing the dynamic of the country’s ageing workforce along with closing the gap on skills and training, to help employers recruit and retain their workforce.
| An EMA release || September12, 2017 |||
FreshPlaza | The link between weather and the price of vegetables has become all too apparent for shoppers in recent months. Grocery prices across New Zealand skyrocketed after back-to-back storms wiped out entire crops.
In our household, we swapped kumara for potatoes, after prices nudged $9/kg. Kumara was just $3.12/kg in July 2016, according to Statistics New Zealand.
It's been a terrible growing season for vegetable producers. This year's kumara crop was just one of the casualties. Planting was delayed by unfavourable weather conditions. The seedlings then struggled through a dry summer.
The country's commercial crop is grown in Dargaville and Ruawai in Northland. Record-breaking rain drenched the region just before the harvest was due to start. Mechanical harvesters couldn't get onto the waterlogged paddocks.
I've seen photos of workers trudging through mud, trying to salvage what they could of the crop.
Further south, the fertile dark brown soils of Pukekohe are used to grow everything from onions, to lettuces, squash and broccoli. Vegetables are a big earner for the region.
But Pukekohe wasn't spared when ex Tropical Cyclone Debbie pounded parts of the country. Figures from NIWA show on April 4, Pukekohe received 84mm of rain. It was one of numerous areas to experience their wettest April day on record.
The deluge wiped out entire crops of green vegetablesThe storms triggered supply shortages. It was reported that some supermarkets in the North Island were left with empty shelves. Lettuce hit $10.56 a kilogram in May, up from $4.23 a year earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand.
Vegetable growers did an excellent job explaining the flow-on effects of miserable weather. Hopefully it meant shoppers pushing trolleys around the fruit and vegetable section of supermarkets at least knew why prices had spiked.
That's why I was surprised to see an Auckland restaurant owner in the media complaining about the hike in vegetable prices. Tobias Roebuck-Ward labelled the high prices "ridiculous" and "absurd". His Ponsonby restaurant had reportedly spent 42 per cent of its weekly food sales in early June on produce. Typically, that figure was between 30 and 35 per cent.
Roebuck-Ward said the rise in prices was difficult for his trendy eatery because it had a no freezer philosophy and bought fresh produce daily. We've had breakfast at his restaurant. It was amazing. But his comments left me feeling like he was out of touch with the daily challenges faced by growers.
I'd hate to think what we would have done if we'd had to rely solely on our vege patch last summer. The tomato crop was a failure. The capsicums grew to the size of a golf ball, then stalled. The perpetual spinach, snow peas and butter beans were the only things that thrived. In fact, the snow pea crop was probably a record one.
Other Taranaki green thumbs were in a similar predicament. Slavko Nikolovski's prized vegetable plot was a mass of rotted fruit and leaves when Stuff spoke to him in mid-April. It was usually brimming with ripe capsicums, verdant sweetcorn and dark juicy grapes.
The fact that some consumers are still grumbling about the record-high cost of vegetables highlights the disconnect between shoppers and reality. If you've ever tried growing broccoli, cauliflower and kumara in your backyard, you'll know they take months to grow - not days. Those storms may seem like a lifetime ago, but it's only been a few months. That's why the flow-on effects are still being felt at the checkout.
In many cases, entire rotting crops had to be replanted. That couldn't happen until sodden soils had dried out enough for tractors to get on them.
I spent a number of years working as a reporter in Orange, which is about four hours inland from Sydney. At the time, the region was gripped by a prolonged drought. Rain would bring hope to weary sheep and cattle farmers, but it could often be a curse for orchardists. A hail storm at Christmas would split cherries, wiping millions from the crop's value. That's why it's important people always try to understand the connection between the weather and their food.
| A FreshPlaza release || September 12, 2017 |||
FreshPlaza | A tech company that helps farmers improve crop yields will list on the Australian Securities Exchange today.
CropLogic has raised the $8 million it sought in an IPO, and said it was even offered $1 million on top of that during the offer period. Forty million ordinary shares will be issued at 20 cents each, and the business will have a market cap of $25 million.
The New Zealand “internet of things” agriculture tech company, established in 2010, uses on-field sensors connected via wireless and satellite channels to collect data such as soil moisture and temperature, and rainfall, alongside other information to give farmers a predictive analysis of their efforts.
CropLogic’s current client base is predominantly potato farmers in the Pacific northwest region of the USA after the startup’s June acquisition of US agronomy services provider Professional Ag Services Inc.
The first seven years have been a hard slog financially, with the prospectus showing just $124,906 in revenue and $1.34 million net loss for the year ending March 2017 and similar numbers seen the previous year.
The $8 million raised in the IPO – which added to $3 million already secured in the past 12 months — would be used for business growth, market development, research and to “provide a healthy level of working capital”, according to CropLogic managing director Jamie Cairns.
| A FreshPlaza release || September 12, 2017 |||
Tattoos and piercings are emblems of tribal allegiances
The re-emergence of the North-South divide in the United States supplies further evidence of the way in which the English-speaking zone is being overtaken by tribalism.
This fresh evidence of tribal divergence follows on the heels of the determination of the previous United States presidential dynasties to fight their supplanter, President Donald Trump.
The continuing politicking of the Clinton, Bush and Obama families campaigning seamlessly against the victorious candidate is classic tribal activity in that it cuts across constitutional political transitional processes, writes our roving reporter National Press Club president Peter Isaac.
The advent too of the presidency as a presidential family collective is still further evidence of this tribal drift.
The magnetic pull of tribal resurgence though is most evident now in the United Kingdom..
There the continuing Scottish secession agitation seeking to break away from England remains the most obvious example in the English-speaking zone.
The UK tribal factor became more evident now that any remaining economic underpinning of this breakaway movement has evaporated with Scotland’s bankrupt banks now being controlled from London.
The retribalizing of the English-speaking zone is taking place through stealth, and very largely because the institutions that exist to monitor such a development remaining mute about it.
University socio-political faculties deliberately choose to ignore this increasingly manifest development for fear of upsetting politicians and thus their own funding..
Universities refuse to see such every day and human evidence of tribalisation as the tattooing and other examples of self-adornment and self-mutilation of the entire socio-economic spectrum from show-biz types (pictured) to the industrial and administrative middle class.
This practice once confined to practitioners of virile callings, notably sailors, is now exploding into the elites, notably females whose tattoos are now so much bolder than those once displayed by sea farers, and those in other such danger-prone occupations..
Only Australia according to a covert European evaluation of tribally-inspired fractionalisaton possesses the equivalent of the United States 19th century melting pot, and was thus free of the threat of this resurgence.
New Zealand in contrast has deliberately nurtured tribalism through its parliamentary electoral system, a state of affairs now being actively challenged by the New Zealand First Party and also by Dr Don Brash’s Hobson’s Pledge movement
Official action within New Zealand to curb its tribally-based gangs is deliberately muted in order to appease an elitist political class.
This views and even encourages these anti-social collectives replete with their tribal markings and paraphernalia as evidence of repression inflicted on adherents during and after the imperial era, and thus living emblems of a collective guilt.
Canada is another example.
The largest English-speaking nation geographically must appease its French-speaking minority regions, and must do so with increasing emphasis and intensity.
Tribalisation in this English-speaking zone is now taking the form of a pulling away from a concerted national collective direction and instead reverting to an atavistic romantic blend centred on a notion of an oppression-stoked grandeur of times past.
Another element pointing to the institutionalised pandering to tribalism in the English –speaking zone remains the Westminster Green Paper on broadcasting and its stated need for mass access i.e. customisation to cater to these sectorised and evolving tribal patterns.
In other words Whitehall is accommodating and acknowledging this accelerating tribalisation drift and is accordingly setting about installing the policies needed to appease it.
Universities and other publicly-funded institutions indicate a deliberate and harmonised complicity in ignoring in spite of the evidence this gathering tribal momentum
Indeed, academic institutions supposed to measure the growth of the practical expression of the tribal instinct are often filled with individuals themselves emblematically part of it.
These are their operatives consciously or unconsciously succumbing to the resurgent tribal pull in the form of neck and sleeve arm tattoos and expandable ear lobe insertion devices among the other physical adornments associated with traditional tribal allegiances.
| From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk || Wednesday 13 September 2017 |||
New studies find microplastics in salt from the US, Europe and China, adding to evidence that plastic pollution is pervasive in the environment
Sea salt around the world has been contaminated by plastic pollution, adding to experts’ fears that microplastics are becoming ubiquitous in the environment and finding their way into the food chain via the salt in our diets.
Following this week’s revelations in the Guardian about levels of plastic contamination in tap water, new studies have shown that tiny particles have been found in sea salt in the UK, France and Spain, as well as China and now the US.
Researchers believe the majority of the contamination comes from microfibres and single-use plastics such as water bottles, items that comprise the majority of plastic waste. Up to 12.7m tonnes of plastic enters the world’s oceans every year, equivalent to dumping one garbage truck of plastic per minute into the world’s oceans, according to the United Nations.
“Not only are plastics pervasive in our society in terms of daily use, but they are pervasive in the environment,” said Sherri Mason, a professor at the State University of New York at Fredonia, who led the latest research into plastic contamination in salt. Plastics are “ubiquitous, in the air, water, the seafood we eat, the beer we drink, the salt we use – plastics are just everywhere”.
Continue here to read the full article and supporting material . . .
| A TheGuardian release || September 8, 2017 |||
Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee has welcomed the prompt and unanimous United Nations Security Council Resolution imposing additional sanctions on North Korea.
Resolution 2375 was adopted by the Security Council earlier today, following North Korea’s sixth nuclear test on 3 September.
It is the ninth Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on North Korea, whose nuclear and ballistic missile tests violate previous Security Council directives. It follows Resolution 2371, which was agreed in early August.
“North Korea has shown, time and again, that it poses a real and immediate threat to both regional and international security,” Mr Brownlee says.
New Zealand continues to condemn its provocative actions in the strongest possible terms.”
The resolution adopted today will significantly reduce North Korea’s oil imports, bans North Korea from importing natural gas and exporting textiles, and restricts the number of labourers from North Korea that will be able to work overseas and generate income for the regime. It also allows states to inspect vessels on the high seas suspected of carrying items prohibited by the sanctions regime.
The measures contained in the resolution are estimated to diminish North Korea’s export earnings by as much as USD $1.3 billion.
“This is money that North Korea will not be able to put towards its illegal nuclear and missile programmes,” Mr Brownlee says.
“These new sanctions send a loud and clear message to North Korea that its behaviour will not be tolerated by the international community and will be met with significant consequences.”
“New Zealand has identified the support that we can provide on sanctions implementation in the Pacific. We will also be undertaking prompt steps to implement the new resolution and the measures it contains.”
“New Zealand, once again, joins the international community in calling on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and turn away from its current course,” Mr Brownlee says.
| A Beehive release || September 12, 2017 |||
Sponsors provide massive boost for supercross series
New $29 million funding fuels hybrid-electric jet engine and other research projects
New Zealand multi-million dollar cheese exports to China avoid chop
Dave Taylor steps down after 8 years as CEO of Steel & Tube
Sea salt around the world is contaminated by plastic, studies show
Apple today announced the release of a new generation of iPhone: iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
Fiscal realism message from Joyce on govt debt
The acquisition of a computer vision startup speeds the company’s goal of helping farmers grow enough food for an exploding global population.
On a block in San Francisco’s SoMa district, near LinkedIn’s headquarters and dozens of startups, a 180-year-old company best-known for making tractors has a gleaming new Silicon Valley office. But inside, instead of building the latest app, John Deere is focused on how to use artificial intelligence to make farming equipment that can meet modern sustainability and food production challenges.
John Deere Labs, which opened its doors in the spring, made its first major deal on September 6. The company spent $305 million to acquire Blue River Technology, a startup with computer vision and machine learning technology that can identify weeds–making it possible to spray herbicides only where they’re needed. The technology reduces chemical use by about 95%, while also improving yield.
“What Blue River Technology allows us to do is move to the plant level, and start managing at that plant level.” [Photo: courtesy Deere & Company]It’s one step in John Deere’s embrace of “precision agriculture,” the use of technology to target crops and soil for optimum productivity and health. The manufacturer began incorporating aspects of precision agriculture more than two decades ago, building self-driving technology into tractors long before it started showing up in cars. But advances in AI mean that farm equipment can change more significantly now.
“What Blue River Technology allows us to do is move to the plant level, and start managing at that plant level,” says Alex Purdy, director of John Deere Labs. “That’s going to have transformative power in agriculture both in terms of yield but also in terms of cost for growers.”
Continue to read the full article here . . .
| A Fastcompany release || September 12, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242