China gobbles up Australia's export markets

The Chinese export vegetable market has grown 150% in the past 10 years -- mostly in cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli -- and sells for about a third the cost of Australian product.
Australia's vegetable exports have fallen 50% since 2003 and now represent less than 10% of the industry's gross value of production, while China's vegetable export industry has grown from $US2 billion to $US5 billion in the past decade.
The effect of the cheap Chinese produce has been felt around the world as countries displaced from their traditional markets scramble to compete for new ones.

In Western Australia, displaced broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage growers have been forced to try to sell their produce in the eastern states, driving down prices. Australian fresh and frozen produce has faced increased pressure from New Zealand product as they too have lost some markets to the Chinese.

But Australian Vegetable Industry Development Group chairman Richard Bovill said the low Chinese prices were possible because the industry got so much help from government, had access to very cheap labour, fertiliser and fuel and did not adhere to the same production and environmental standards as Australian growers.
"We enter agreements where we force our industries to compete with overseas industries that don't play by our values or rules," Mr Bovill said.

Source : www.ahea.com.au