China anti-dumping disputes push Australian exporters to alternative markets

Australian food exporters traditionally relying heavily on China should be looking for alternative markets.

Australian wine producers could soon be slapped with Chinese anti-dumping tariffs.

AUSTRALIAN agriculture needs to continually look for alternative markets for its produce to counter trade losses with China following political stoushes between the two countries.

Trade barriers being imposed by China have disrupted markets, with cotton and wine some of the latest to be threatened.

Winemaker Doug Rathbone claimed China could impose temporary tariffs on Australian wine imports within days after claiming the produce was being dumped into the Chinese market.

Mr Rathbone told the Global Food Forum he was confident the Australian wine industry would be able to make a strong case it was not dumping produce into China.

“It’s pretty obvious this is political,” he said.

“As a consequence, it will be a bit like the barley which was purely political.”

RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness head in Australia Tim Hunt told the forum said China had become unique in the past decade in its willingness to pay good prices because it recognised the quality of Australian product.

“They accept and value the provenance of our product in a way that US and European markets never have and they will pay for value adding of food in Australia in a way no market ever has before,” Mr Hunt said.

But he said the latest conflicts with China meant Australia had to put more effort into new markets.

“Our challenge is to maintain a place in China and open up new markets where we can unlock the value going forward,” he said.

Mr Hunt’s view was shared by Coca Cola Amatil group managing director Alison Watkins, who said Australian exporters should take a pragmatic approach by searching for new markets.

“Demand for food globally is going to grow 70 per cent to 2050 and about 70 per cent of that is going to come from the Asian markets,” Ms Watkins said.

“The weight of population is going to come from China.

“So the Chinese market is going to be an important one for us.

“We have developed a relationship very good relationships with China in a two-way mutual benefit.

“It is really unfortunate if that benefit gets caught up in other issues.”

Ms Watkins said Australian food producers should concentrate on its food safety and sustainability credentials and use that to boost exports to nearby markets.

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