Tough, and getting tougher

摘要

THE IBIS World figures on the following pages say it all. This past financial year has been very difficult for the manufacturing industry. Naturally there are exceptions. Bluescope, Caltex, Burns Philp, CSL, Zinifex, and Pacific Brands have produced exceptional figures this year, for a variety of reasons. Plus those companies involved with the mining industry are able to do no wrong, at present. However for the most part, it has been a challenging year for industry with weakening demand, rising input costs and the ever increasing manufacturing output from China and other low cost labour countries having a major impact on local industry. A stubbornly high, resources-fuelled dollar does not help either.