The shift in China’s economy from the manufacturing sector to the services sector could see a major resurgence of Australia’s manufacturing sector according to a report released by ANZ.
Australia’s manufacturing sector could generate an additional $75 billion worth of exports by 2030 according to the report titled Australian Made.
The report found subsectors emerging as top performers included food and beverage manufacturing, a subsector that is now Australia’s largest, reaching $25 billion in value alone in 2016.
By 2030, ANZ predicts, manufactured exports to China will increase across the full range of goods, including by $1.7 billion - a 55 per cent increase - in processed primary goods, such as food, fibres and minerals.
“To realise this growth opportunity Australian manufacturing must build efficiency through technology and scale, integrate itself in the regional Asia supply chain and use Australia’s intellectual property as a competitive advantage,” ANZ general manager regional business banking, Christine Linden said.
“Market access and speed to market are just a couple of the real competitive advantages Australian manufacturing possesses. Like our agriculture and education sectors, Australian manufacturing also has a strong brand reputation overseas steeped in quality and innovation,” Linden said.
Linden noted that a large portion of the growth in food and beverage manufacturing had been driven by demand from China.
“Export destinations of Australian manufactured goods haven’t changed dramatically since 1990 - Asia’s still our top market. What we have seen however, is the sharp rise in manufactured goods heading to China driven by the demand from the emerging middle class for high quality goods.
“This has seen our manufactured exports to China rise in value from $1.4 billion in 2000 to more than $8 billion in 2015,” she said.
