By Peter Roberts A number of companies are now lining up in a race to secure major orders for electric buses from states such as New South Wales determined to electrify their fleets. Led by our largest bus maker Volgren, the market includes Bustech, Germilang Australia and Custom Denning all offering various levels of local…
BHP to supply Tesla with nickel Mining group BHP will supply electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla with nickel from its Nickel West operation in Western Australia. The company has been ramping up production in the west in anticipation of rising demand from EV manufacturers. The company increased output by 11 per cent to 89,000 tonnes in…
With @AuManufacturing’s Saving through smarter energy use series coming to an end, we look at the big question for regional Australia – how to replace fossil fuels such as coal. Here James Bradley looks to a future for NSW’s Hunter region. With the largest coal export port in the southern hemisphere, it is no secret…
@AuManufacturing’s Saving through smarter energy use series is coming to an end. Here Ben Waters offers three simple steps to reducing your energy costs. Australian manufacturers face the twin challenges of high energy costs and the need to decarbonise their operations and demonstrate a path towards net zero emissions. A ‘Reduce, Displace, Replace’ strategy can…
Composites manufacturer Quickstep Holdings significantly improved internal operations during FY21, a year characterised by modest growth and the loss of a major prospective aerospace contract. The Sydney company announced FY21 sales of $85.1 million, up 3.4 per cent on the prior year. Appreciation of the US$ dampened the year on year growth, with an average…
Single piece carbon fibre road wheel manufacturer Carbon Revolution managed a 2.7 per cent increase in wheel sales in the fourth quarter of FY21 to 3,218 despite Covid-19 and global computer chip shortages slowing automobile production worldwide. The company said in a market update it had progressed key manufacturing and technical improvements at its Geelong…
Analysis by Peter Roberts More details are emerging of a significant boost to key projects adding value to Australia’s vast mineral resources under the federal government’s modern manufacturing initiative and related industry programs. Today Lynas Rare Earths, the only significant manufacturer of rare earths critical to high technology industry outside China, revealed details of a…
The federal government is calling for Australian defence industry businesses to lodge their applications for inclusion in the 2022 Australian Defence Sales Catalogue. With numbers of companies in the catalogue increasing every year, defence industry minister Melissa Price highlighted the benefits of inclusion. Price said: “The catalogue is a powerful reference for Australian defence businesses…
Strong growth in wine exports to the United Kingdom and Asian countries failed to make up for a 45 per cent fall in the mainland China trade in FY 21, according to figures from Wine Australia. China’s punitive tariffs on Australian wine saw overall export volumes drop five per cent and their value drop by…
By Peter Roberts When industry minister John Button in the Hawke government took the first steps to reform Australia’s over-protected and under-performing industries in the 1980s he focused on developing new sunrise sectors and giving the sick men of industry – steelmaking, car manufacture and textiles clothing and footwear – a chance to survive. Since…