New exporters confident of profit boost

New exporters from Australia were nearly twice as confident of boosting their
profits in the next 12 months than their seasoned counterparts, a new survey says.
The 2009 DHL Export Barometer also found the Middle East was selected as the
favoured destination for Australian exports over the next year, while China slipped
to fourth on the list.
DHL Express senior vice-president for Oceania Gary Edstein said new exporters were
more confident about their prospects than older firms.
"Riding on the back of their recent success, the outlook is also sunnier for new
exporters, with 64 per cent forecasting an increase in their profitability in the
next 12 months compared to 34 per cent of seasoned exporters," Mr Edstein said.
In the survey of 864 Australian exporters, 56 per cent of respondents were confident
of increasing their sales to the Middle East during the next 12 months.
Exporters reported a record fall in sales in the last three months as the downturn
in the global economy hit, yet new exporters, those trading for less than five
years, had a 38 per cent rise in orders.
Firms exporting for at least 20 years reported a 27 per cent rise in orders.
Austrade chief economist Tim Harcourt said exporters were continuing with their
campaigns against a gloomy outlook for the world economy by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The Paris-based organisation has forecast the economies of OECD nations to contract,
on average, by 4.1 per cent in 2009 and Australia's economy to shrink by 0.4 per
cent.
"We've seen a spate of new exporters testing the market following a competitive
advantage exchange rate earlier in the year providing a good head start into
overseas," Mr Harcourt said.
"However, experienced exporters who are locked into long-term contracts are more
affected by price fluctuations and are less flexible to explore new opportunities in
more stable markets."
All exporters said the Middle East was their top destination for export growth in
the next year.
New exporters also rated Europe and Africa as top areas to ship their goods in the
next five years, while seasoned firms considered Asia as their top region.
"The survey shows that Australian exporters believe that the oil rich Middle East
has escaped the full impact of the economic downturn and businesses are looking for
opportunities in these markets to weatherproof against the global storm," Mr Edstein
said.
Some 71 per cent of respondents said the global financial crisis had hit sales, 33
per cent planned to lift staff numbers and 43 per cent to increase wages in the
months ahead.
Tighter access to trade finance was an issue for 60 per cent of exporters, the
report said.