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Current Fuel Surcharge

CURRENT DOMESTIC FUEL SURCHARGE TASMANIA: 4.51 - 6.93% March 2009

Monday, October 29, 2007

AUD Surges above 0.92

The Australian dollar remained around levels not seen in 23-years at noon, after surging above 92 US cents for the first time since 1984.
The domestic currency's rise is linked to expectations that Australian interest rates will go up in November, after the central bank holds its next board meeting.
At 1200 AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.9209/15, up from Friday's close of 0.9117/22.
During the morning session it traded between a low of $US0.9189 and a high of 0.9218 that was reached just before noon.
That was its highest level since May 4, 1984, when it traded around 0.9270, according to central bank data.
The currency had pushed through 92 US cents at 0817 AEDT after opening the day at 91.84 US cents. Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief currency strategist Richard Grace said the local unit has been boosted by favourable sentiment offshroe toward high-yielding currencies.
''The majority of the story is just an adjustment to the fundamentals of the strong Australian economy - interest rates are likely to go up, commodity prices are high and Australia's terms of trade are high,'' he said.
''We have the Australian currency adjusting to a combination of these factors.''
The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to raise official interest rates by 25 basis points to 6.75 per cent in November, to head off inflationary pressures in the economy.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy setting arm, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), is expected to cut the federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent, when it announces its decision on October 31.
''The relative interest rate differential between Australia and the United States continues to widen in Australia's favour,'' Mr Grace said.
The Australian dollar is tipped to end the local session around $US0.9215 today, Mr Grace said.
He predictedthe currency could fall to 0.9180 if traders talk profits.
At 1200 AEDT, the Reserve Bank of Australia's trade weighted index (TWI) was at 72.3, up from Friday's close of 71.7.
This is the highest TWI since February 28, 1985, when it closed at the same level.
Meanwhile, the Australian bond market was weaker at noon.
At 1200 AEDT, the yield on the Commonwealth Government February 2017 bond was at 6.128 per cent, up from Friday's close of 6.073 per cent, while the August 2010 bond was at 6.600 per cent, up from 6.560 per cent.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December 10-year bond futures contract price was at 93.865, down from Friday's close of
93.920, while the December three-year contract price was at 93.425, down from 93.470.
Soruce: AAP

Fuel prices at 3-month high

The national average petrol price is hovering at a three-month high of $1.26 a litre. (File photo) (Timothy Marshall)
Petrol prices have hit a three-month high in Australia as the price of oil exceeds $US92 a barrel.
Oil prices have increased around the world because of supply concerns and geopolitical tensions.
In Australia, the national average petrol price is hovering at a three-month high of $1.26 a litre.
Commsec Equities economist Martin Arnold says petrol may get even more expensive.
"We are seeing the price of petrol obviously on the rise and it's likely to rise by another five cents per litre, so edging up to $1.30 per litre in the coming week or so," he said.
"It's really in response to a sharp rise in global oil prices."
(ABC News Webpage)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Congrats to Australian Honey Products


The winner of the 2007 Regional Exporter of the Year Award is –

Australian Honey Products
Debi and I a pleased to be able to ship Tasmania's honey around the world and offer our sincere congratulations to Lindsay and Yeonsoon for not only winning this years Regional Exporter of the Year Award, but also for what we thought was the best speech of the evening.
The following is from the Economic Development Nessletter:

Australian Honey Products produce a superb range of honey and related products, including the multi-award winning Cradle Mountain Leatherwood Honey.

From pollination and harvesting through to processing, packaging and marketing, this Launceston-based company has made its mark. Milestones along the road to export success include breaking into the difficult Korean market, which has stringent quota limits on imported honey, and gaining a firm foothold in premium level markets in Japan, where consumers are renowned for their highly discerning tastes and insistence on quality.

This forward thinking company has made substantial investments to ensure that it builds on its success. Today it owns an impressive 1200 hives, strategically placed in Tasmania’s pristine cool climate rainforests. And its use of cutting-edge heat exchange equipment has strengthened its position as one of the state’s leading honey producers.

Lindsay and Yeonsoon Bourke, Australian Honey Products accept their award from Paul Delaney, Senior Manager, Trade and Working Capital Finance, Commonwealth Bank

More container vessel space than meets the eye, say analysts

CLAIMS by ocean carriers that there is barely enough capacity to meet shipper demand are being disputed by maritime analysts at AXS Marine, a Paris-based think tank, which says capacity has been "understated."
These views are being reported by Logistics Management magazine, of Newton Massachusetts, which quoted the AXS analysts saying: "Times when carriers were proud of new orders for big ships are over. This renders difficult the reliable assessment of the future supply, especially for years as far away as 2010 or 2011."
The analyst added that by keeping "a veil of secrecy on orders" carriers keep forecast figures dense, thereby creating problems for shippers devising long-term distribution strategies.
But London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants are telling cold storage shippers that reefer space may continue to be expensive. In a recent report, Drewry analysts forecast a decline in fleet size of specialised vessels.
The specialised reefer fleet above 100,000 cubic feet has declined in number from 878 vessels in 1999 to just 786 vessels in 2007," said Drewry.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Average Rates

2007 AUD vrs USD Average Rates To Date

January

0.782835 USD (23 days average)

February

0.78316 USD (20 days average)

March

0.793168 USD (22 days average)

April

0.827325 USD (21 days average)

May

0.82514 USD (23 days average)

June

0.842348 USD (21 days average)

July

0.867046 USD (22 days average)

August

0.829078 USD (23 days average)

September

0.846084 USD (20 days average)

October

0.894977 USD (9 days average)

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Panama Canal beats last year's total throughput in September

THE Panama Canal has already passed the 296.1 million tonnes mark achieved in 2006 by surpassing 300 million tonnes this year, announced the Panama Canal Authority.
The authority also said that on September 19 the canal broke its daily record for the transit of Panamax vessels to 25, surpassing the 24 vessels that transited in July 2003.
The canal also tied its record for transiting so-called super ships, vessels measuring more than 91 foot abeam.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Australian dollar hits 23-year high against US

By Virginia Marsh in Sydney
Quoted
Published: October 8 2007 19:14 Last updated: October 8 2007 19:14
The Australian dollar reached its strongest level against the US dollar in nearly a quarter of a century on Monday, some commentators predicting it could reach parity in the coming months.
The Aussie jumped by more than one US cent, passing through the 90 US cent barrier to reach $0.9033 in trading in Asia, before ending the session in Sydney at $0.9016, its highest level in 23 years.
Yesterday’s rise marks an extraordinary run for the Aussie, which dipped to $0.77 in August on subprime fears. It also hit a 10-year high against sterling yesterday, ending at 44.17p in local trading. The rise was spurred by last week’s positive US jobs data, which have dimmed fears of a US recession and strong local equity markets.
More broadly, the Aussie – together with the New Zealand dollar – is benefiting from a revival in the carry trade, under which investors borrow in countries with low interest rates and re-invest in those with higher yields.
Australia and New Zealand have been relatively unscathed by the global credit turmoil that created the backdrop to last month’s 50 basis-point cut in US rates.
Australia’s official cash rate is at an 11-year high of 6.5 per cent, and the Reserve Bank is tipped to tighten monetary policy further in coming months.
“At the start of the year it was almost unthinkable that the Aussie dollar could ever reach parity with the greenback,” said Craig James at CommSec in Sydney. “What was once unthinkable is now being seriously entertained.”
The strengthening in the currency, however, is set to exacerbate the country’s trade deficit. In spite of the commodities boom, Australian exports have disappointed, partly because of infrastructure bottlenecks.
“From an economic point of view this [currency surge] does bring difficulties and makes things tougher for our exporters,” said Peter Costello, Treasurer.
Currency strategists believe the Aussie is set for further gains. Marc Chandler at Brown Brothers Harriman said: “There is little that Mr Costello can do to alter the Aussie’s direction.
“Intervention is unlikely to limit longer term investment and, with a strong economy, the Reserve Bank is likely to remain hawkish.”

Saturday, October 06, 2007

California's clean truck plan would ban 95pc from port: study

A STUDY warns that a plan to cut truck diesel emissions at California ports through regulation could lead to economic chaos because fewer than five per cent of vehicles using the port meet new pollution standards.
The authors say the result of the ban could well match the damage done by the 2001 dock strike that closed US west coast ports for 10 days at an estimated cost of US$10 billion to the economy, reported The Long Beach Press Telegram.
When the Clean Truck Programme starts in January, the first few weeks could see a return to port congestion and container backlogs, according to a study by economist John Husing.
Mr Husing said most cargo is transported by owner-operated trucks. The Clean Truck Programme requires trucks to be driven by employee drivers and terminal access be limited to clean-burning vehicles.
The study found that the programme would push up cargo-hauling costs by 80 per cent, mainly because of the expense in providing medical and other benefits to truckers. Plus trucks would have to be retrofitted or replaced with new greener ones.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Government warned on committing to infrastructure

Gerard McManus - Herald Sun
AUSTRALIA's rising standard of living will stop and then drop unless governments get serious about a coordinated approach to infrastructure.
The warning comes from peak business body, the Business Council of Australia.
The continued failure of federal and state governments to tackle shortcomings in a united way in Australia's port bottlenecks, transport, power, water and communications would cut into growth, tax revenues and jobs, it warned.
But the BCA's newest "roadmap" has stopped short of calling for a new Federal Ministry for Infrastructure, suggesting existing structures such as COAG (the Council of Australian Governments) be revamped and held more regularly than annually to overcome some of the most intractable roadblocks to economic growth.
The latest BCA report says work on fixing infrastructure is piecemeal, unco-ordinated planning and sometimes wasteful.
"Australia's economy has expanded beyond the capacity of our current infrastructure," BCA president Michael Chaney said yesterday.
The BCA has recently been pilloried by Telstra communications chief Phil Burgess for being narrow-minded and not being concerned about the national interest.
Dr Burgess said the organisation had to decide between the interests of members or the broader national interest.
But the latest research paper from the BCA boasts that it "shines the high beam down the road to infrastructure reform".
The BCA claims that if governments follow its directions Australia's economy will be boosted by 2 per cent or $20 billion a year.
The head of the BCA's taskforce on sustainable growth Maria Tarrant said yesterday even the major Australian cities were guilty of "silo" planning with different government departments planning in isolation.
"The lack of co-ordination is putting serious brakes on economic growth," she said.
The BCA has pushed infrastructure reform before but its latest roadmap calls specifically for a new model of federal and state relations.
And it asks that the Productivity Commission be used to regularly monitor work being done and its effectiveness.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Windy havoc across Tasmania

Reason why our emails have been down - Willard Estate Logistics was without power from 1100hrs until 1700hrs 1st October 2007. Then we have had an issue with our domain host which has caused a problem with emails - this is being sorted out throughout the night of the 1st October 2007 and we are hopeful to be back to normal 2nd October 2007.
Thank you for you rpatience (ours on the other hand is running out!!)
News report on Tasmanian weather as reported by ABC Australia.
Wild weather across the state has kept emergency services crews busy.
A woman had a lucky escape after live powerlines landed on her car.
Tanya Winn was driving along Rowella Road, north of Launceston around midday when wind blew a tree onto powerlines.
"Oh I reckon I was about 15 metres from the tree by the time I actually stopped," she said.
"And of course there was the interesting bit with the live wires on top of the car."
Across the river, at George Town the East Tamar Highway was also blocked by a tree but that has since been cleared.
Melanie Webb from the Bureau of Meteorology says the wild weather is across the state.
"Gusts to 139 kilometres-an-hour on Mount Wellington, that's the highest, 135 at Maatsuyker Island," she said.
The wind is expected to ease tonight before picking up again late tomorrow afternoon.
Aurora Energy estimates about 500 customers in the Tamar Valley were without power this afternoon.
Most have since had electricity restored.

China foreign trade value up 24pc in first eight months

TOTAL foreign trade value of China increased 24 per cent to US$1.3 trillion in the first eight months of this year, according to statistics from China's General Administration of Customs.
Exports rose 27.7 per cent to $765.7 billion while imports grew 19.6 per cent to $603.9, statistics revealed.
The six major trading partners of China in the first eight months were the EU, US, Japan, Asean, Hong Kong and South Korea.
Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai were the top three territories in terms of foreign trade value in the first eight months, and their combined value accounted for 58.2 per cent of the total from the whole country.
Shanghai foreign trade value was $179.06 billion, representing 13.1 per cent of the total.