Australasia Outlook / Issue 13

austral asia

issue 13 | www.AUSTRALASIAoutlook.coM

wrapped

we’re

Integrated Packaging Group continue to flourish in tough climate conditions

also this issue

mitchell energy services

AUSTRALIA”S

SKILLS CRISIS

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intra energy

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2

Editorial

Editor Alex Harmon Writers Ian Armitage Hugh Radojev

Business

Welcome Thanks for picking up a copy of Australasia Outlook, you’ll notice a few changes around here. We bid farewell to Ian Armitage who held the reigns for the past year, bringing the magazine up to what it is

Advertising Sales Sandra Parr

today. His continues his work with Africa Outlook

Accounts

editor of TNT Magazine Australia I bring a wealth

Financial controller Suzanne Welsh

Production & Design Magazine design & production Lisa Ferron

Magazine and we wish him well in the future. As the of knowledge on the tourism sector that I hope I can implement into this publication of successful business stories.

We also welcome Hugh Radojev to the team. He

Images: Getty, Thinkstock News: AAP

has a background in travel and sports media and

digital & IT

journalism.

TNT Publishing

Group, a company who specialise in industrial,

Hamit Saka

CEO David Alstin

is excited about his foray into business lifestyle In this issue we look at Integrated Packaging agricultural and horticultural packaging and learn

Chairman Kevin Ellis

why their business is wrapped up in success.

Publisher TNT Multimedia Limited

with us the story of a husband and wife team

TNT Multimedia Limited, 126 Abercrombie Street, Chippendale, Sydney, NSW, 2008

secondhand drilling rig and built this into a multi

Enquiries & SUBSCRIPTIONS

stories for your enjoyment – so dive in and be sure

Telephone: 0061 (0)28 332 7500 sandra@tntdownunder.com

We chat to Mitchell Energy Services who share who began from humble beginnings purchasing a million dollar company.

We also have a pool of news, sport and lifestyle to let us know what you think.

Enjoy the magazine

www.australasiaoutlook.com

Alex Harmon Editor

Contents

14 ???????

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18 4

14

Skills Crisis: With the resource boom in Australia, we look at the challenges employers face

Focus Industry

12

How to be a better candidate Thinking outside the square can help you land the perfect job

18

Wrapped in success Integrated Packaging Group are expanding operations on a global scale

Cover Story

12

News

Focus Recruitment

06

32

140 y e a r s o f rock Atlas Copco celebrate 140 years of drilling

38

In v e s t i n g i n coal INTRA Energy talk the African boom

Focus Industry

Saving energy in tough economictimes AO talks to Mitchell Energy Services’ General Manager Andrew Elf

24

Focus Mining

24

Focus Industry

contents

32

38 5

News t r av e l

Air fares should be ‘pay-as-you-weigh’

It may only have a slim chance of succeeding, but a pay-as-youweigh airline pricing scheme has been suggested.

Heavier passengers would pay more for their plane tickets and lighter ones less under plans put forward by a Norwegian professor.

Writing in this month’s Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management publication, Dr Bharat P Bhatta said weight and space should be taken into account when airlines price their tickets.

Dr Bhatta, of the Sogn og Fjordane University College in Norway said: “Charging according to weight and space is a universally accepted principle, not only in transportation, but also in other services,” said Dr Bhatta, who thinks the third option is most suitable for implementation.

“As weight and space are far more important in aviation than other modes of transport, airlines should take this into account when pricing their tickets.”

Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management editor Dr Ian Yeoman said: “For airlines, every extra kilogram means more expensive jet fuel must be burned, which leads to CO2 emissions and financial cost.

“As the airline industry is fraught with financial difficulties, marginally profitable and has seen exponential growth in the last decade, maybe they should be looking to introduce scales at the check-in.”

6

b u s i n e s s

Kathmandu reports hefty net profit lift Kathmandu has defied difficult retail conditions to post a hefty rise in first half profit as new stores performed well and online sales grew.

The outdoor clothing and equipment company reported a 72.7 per cent rise in first half net profit to more than eight million dollars, above company expectations.

Revenue rose 13 per cent.

Kathmandu chief executive PETER HALKETT says the company opened nine new stores in the half and grew its

online sales by 50 per cent.

b u s i n e s s

Poor poll for Labor after ‘appalling’ week The federal government is not surprised by another slump in Labor support after what Prime Minister Julia Gillard described as an appalling week for the party.

Labor’s primary vote hit 30 per cent in the latest Newspoll four points below its result two weeks ago - while the coalition lifted six points to 50 per cent.

If an election were held now Labor would face an eight per cent swing which, based on 2010 preference flows, could cost it up to 30 seats and deliver victory to the coalition.

As well, the opinion poll showed Opposition Leader Tony Abbott had an eight-point lead over Ms Gillard as preferred prime minister.

Ms Gillard said she didn’t need a poll to tell her voters were shaking their heads, given Thursday’s extraordinary events which began with Simon Crean’s call for a leadership spill and ended with Kevin Rudd declining to challenge.

Four senior ministers - including the sacked Mr Crean - moved to the backbench, forcing Ms Gillard to reshuffle her ministry.

“I don’t need a poll to tell me that last week the Labor party had an appalling week,” the prime minister told ABC radio on Tuesday.

“When we present to the Australian people self-indulgently, talking about ourselves, there are consequences.”

Finance Minister Penny Wong said voters indicated what they thought of the events.

“I share their view,” she said.

m o n e y

Domestic tourism worth $187 million a day

Domestic tourism is pouring $187 million a day into Australia’s economy.

Aussies spent $50 billion on overnight domestic travel and $18.2 billion on day trips in 2012, new data from Tourism Research Australia shows.

Trent Zimmerman, acting chief executive officer of Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF), says the latest National Visitor Survey shows that money supports more than 500,000 direct jobs in tourism across the country.

“The figures also underline the value of major and business events, sport, cultural, arts and concerts, with visitors to Melbourne spending an average of $294 per night,” he said in a statement.

Domestic travel grew, despite cutbacks in the

amount of business travel.

“The growth in domestic overnight travel was driven by a 7.4 per cent increase in people visiting friends and relatives, particularly across the eastern sea board.

“Overall holiday travel increased by 2.8 per cent and growth was particularly strong in the Northern Territory and Queensland.”

Mr Zimmerman said it was encouraging to see more people also taking home grown holidays at the same time as continued growth in overseas trips.

B u s i n e s s

Most small firms want carbon tax scrapped Almost two thirds of small businesses want the carbon tax scrapped, putting it second in their top 10 wish list ahead of the May budget, a survey says.

Topping the list in business software provider MYOB’s 2013 business monitor was the perennial want of a significantly simplified Business Activity Statement (BAS) process for the GST. MYOB chief executive Tim Reed said pricing carbon had been an incredibly poorly sold policy to business, but he was surprised so many firms wanted to get rid of it.

“It would be actually more work to small business if it was abolished than if it was maintained,” Mr Reed told AAP. He said rolling back the tax changes linked to the carbon tax, such as the tax-free threshold returning to $6000 from $18,000, would mean businesses having to collect tax from part-time workers that they don’t collect now.

Small business is already buried in paperwork that results from the GST, partly due to the complexity caused by exclusions from the tax, such as fresh food, education and health.

“Getting rid of the exclusions, while politically

unpopular, would make it a much easier system for business owners to administer,” Mr Reed said.

Business owners also have to code every transaction they conduct for audit purposes, and Mr Reed said more than two-thirds got it wrong.

But the data is only used by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as part of a database to investigate past macro-economic trends.

“It is a massive onerous burden on business owners. Any government could get rid of that without needing to legislate,” Mr Reed said.

He said business had noted the ATO had become tougher in the past 12 months, having been “quite light” in allowing firms to schedule payments, in response to the hit from the global financial crisis.

Waving penalty charges on late tax payments for start-up businesses in their first two years of operation would cost the government little, but it would show it understood the challenges facing a new business, Mr Reed said “It would be one of those points of symbolism that small business owners could think at least `somebody understands who we are.’”

7

News MO N EY

NZ dollar surges after Cyprus bailout The New Zealand dollar surged to a sevenmonth high against the euro after a European official said terms of a bailout for Cyprus, where uninsured depositors will face losses, could serve as a template in other euro-zone countries.

The kiwi climbed to 65.01 euro cents, the highest since August last year, from 64.05 cents at 5pm in Wellington on Monday. The local currency traded at 83.52 US cents from 83.47 cents.

Stocks in Europe fell and the euro sank to a four-month low against the greenback after Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the Eurogroup of euro-zone finance ministers, told Reuters that future bank restructurings could seek funds from uninsured depositors.

Mr Dijsselbloem later issued a clarification that banking rescues had to be tailored to specific circumstances.

Mr Dijsselbloem’s comments that the Cyprus banking tax could be a template “rattled confidence”, said Mike Jones, strategist at Bank of New Zealand.

European sentiment dived on the prospect of investors having to bear the brunt of the pain on the bailouts.

Mr Jones said the news was being treated as a European shock rather than something that could derail the global economy, hence the kiwi and Australian dollar had held their ground against the greenback.

The New Zealand dollar may trade in a range of 83.30 US cents to 84 cents on Tuesday and 64.70 euro cents to 65.20 cents, he said.

Merchandise trade figures for February due out on Tuesday are expected to show the local economy eked out a $17 million trade surplus from a deficit of $305 million the previous month, while the annual gap widened to $1.48 billion from $1.3 billion, according to a Reuters survey.

The trade-weighted index rose to 76.68 from 76.43 and the kiwi gained to 55 British pence from 54.75 pence.

The local currency fell to 78.57 yen from 79.13 yen and traded little changed at 79.88 Australian cents.

8

FOOD

Oliver’s Perth diner waiting booze licence Clothing, footwear and linen company Pacific Brands Jamie Oliver may be able to change the eating habits of fat nations, but he can’t speed up a WA liquor licence.

Days before the original launch date for Jamie’s Italian in Perth, publicists say the eatery is just that one step away from opening its doors.

A licence to serve alcohol is a crucial ingredient in most cities but especially in Perth.

The city has been dubbed the nation’s booze capital after a study by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund showed 80 per cent of local drinkers already had a six pack under their belts before hitting the town.

“As soon as that (approval) process has been completed, we will be ready,” Jamie’s Italian Australia head of operations Karen Westfield said.

The superstar chef would not attend the launch but it was likely he would visit later, his publicist said. “He tries to get to all of his restaurants around the world,” she said.

The restaurant is part of the one40william retail and hospitality development above the Perth Underground station, at the corner of William Street and Murray Street Mall.

It will have room for up to 214 diners and features the work of local graffiti artists, with a pasta machine taking pride of place in the front window.

The restaurant will be the 35th in the Jamie’s Italian chain that spans St Petersburg to Sydney to Dubai.

Oliver’s charity restaurant group, Fifteen, which employs disadvantaged youth, opened its doors in Melbourne in 2006 but lasted four years before ties with the foundation were severed.

S p o r t

s p o r t

Sandilands could miss half of AFL season

Schwarzer predicts new style for Socceroos

Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands will probably miss half the AFL season because of hamstring surgery.

But it’s still a reasonable outcome for the Dockers after concerns in the past few days that he might not play at all this year.

SANDILANDS aggravated his left hamstring injury last week and he’ll now have an operation to fix the problem.

Fremantle say he’ll be out of action for eight to 12 weeks.

Veteran Mark Schwarzer predicts the Socceroos side of the future will play a drastically different brand of football as more players opt for non-European clubs.

With only seven players who were in the 2010 World Cup squad named in 23-man squad to play Oman in Australia’s World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, it’s already a new-look Socceroos.

But while the side goes through a period of transition, Schwarzer feels the emergence of leagues outside Europe as an option for Socceroos aspirants will shape the playing style of the future team.

Whereas the big leagues in Europe have long been the ambition of most players, of the 23 in the current squad more than half ply their trade in the Middle East, Asia and our own A-League.

The likes of Matt McKay and Ryan McGowan both play in the Chinese Super League while former Perth Glory defender Dino Djulbic left Chinese club Guizhou Renhe to join Alex Brosque in the UAE. Socceroos tyro Tomas Rogic’s rapid rise earned him a contract with Scottish giants Celtic but his

former Central Coast teammate Mathew Ryan continues to prove himself domestically.

Ryan is among six A-League players to receive a call up.

“It’s become a different path for a lot of players to take,” Schwarzer said.

“I think the team in the future is probably going to take on a different direction in the way it plays.

“It will have different traits from different countries around the world.”

But while Schwarzer is certain the future Socceroos side won’t play the same way he’s unsure if they’ll be as good.

“That’s the big question. Only time will tell,” the 40-year-old Fulham goalkeeper said.

“You could argue whether or not playing in Europe is better for development than playing in Asia or playing in other parts of the world but only time will tell.”

b u s i n e s s

Petrol could get cheaper soon Petrol could be up to three cents a litre cheaper in the next few weeks, an economist says.

The national unleaded fuel price fell 4.4 cents to 146.8 cents a litre last week, the largest weekly drop in the past four months, according to the Australian Institute of

Petroleum.

CommSec’s chief economist Craig James says the national average retail petrol price (pump price) could fall by at least three cents a litre over the next two to three weeks.

“Petrol prices have a fair bit further to fall in a number of capital cities and regional

areas in the short term, so this is a positive for retailers and other consumer-dependent businesses,” Mr James said in a statement on Monday.

Last week, the average metropolitan price fell by 5.9 cents a litre to 144.2 cents a litre, while the regional price fell 1.3 cents to 152.0 cents.

9

News s p o r t

Golf: Tiger Woods back as world No.1 Tiger Woods reclaimed the world No.1 ranking for the first time since 2010 with a closing round of two-under 70 to capture the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Monday.

With his eighth Bay Hill course triumph, the 37-year-old Woods replaces Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy atop the world rankings.

“I play well here,” said Woods who earned $US1.08 million ($A1.04 million) in prize money.

“That is about as simple as it gets. It is a by product of hard work and patience.”

In a rare Monday finish, due to a severe thunder storm that postponed Sunday’s round, Woods outduelled fellow American Rickie Fowler down the stretch, winning by two strokes in the $6.2 million event.

The 14-time major champion has previously spent a record 623 weeks on top of the world.

But he has not topped the rankings for nearly three years after injuries and an infamous sex scandal saw him tumble from the top 50.

Woods also claimed his 77th PGA Tour victory -- and 99th professional tournament win -- in his final tuneup event for next month’s Masters.

Sunday’s storm swept across the Bay Hill Club & Lodge course in dramatic fashion with gusting winds toppling trees and television towers.

Woods and playing partner Fowler began on Monday on the third hole and Woods quickly set the tone with birdies on a pair of par-fives, the No.4 and No.6 holes.

He finished on 18 with a bogey but it was enough to reach 13-under 275, giving him the win and propelling him into No.1 for the first time since October 2010.

“I am getting back to winning golf 10

tournaments,” Woods said. “I won some golf tournaments the last couple of years so consequently I moved up.”

Runner-up Justin Rose fired a two-under 70 to finish at 11-under while Fowler stumbled down the stretch and closed with a one-over 73 to end in a four-way tie for third at eight-under 280.

Fowler finished alongside Mark Wilson (71), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (72) and 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley (71).

Woods has now won 51 times in 55 tries when holding the lead entering the final round and is five wins shy of matching Sam Snead’s all-time record on the PGA Tour. He and Snead are also the only players to win the same tournament eight times with Snead doing it at the Greater Greensboro Open.

Last summer, Fowler and Woods played in the penultimate group in the final round of the Memorial tournament. Fowler shot 84, Woods 67 as Woods went on to win.

On Monday, Woods pulled away on the par-five 16 with a brilliant approach shot out of a fairway bunker that stopped 35 feet from the cup. He then two-putted for a birdie to reach -14 under.

John Senden was the best-placed Australian, finishing in a tie for 27th at one under.

Geoff Ogilvy missed the cut, making his hopes of qualifying for the Masters a whole lot more difficult.

b u s i n e s s

Cash converters to get $60m from Westpac Cash Converters has obtained $60 million from Westpac Bank that the second hand dealer and short-term loan provider will use to grow its personal loan book.

Westpac will provide the $60 million through a securitisation program.

Cash Converters managing director Peter Cumins said there was strong demand for his company’s loan products.

“It will provide significant funds on attractive terms to enable us to increase our personal loan book,” he said.

B u s i n e s s

ACTU calls for $30 wage increase The peak union body has called for a $30-a-week pay rise for Australia’s lowest-paid workers.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions will lodge a submission with the Fair Work Commission to increase the national minimum wage to $636.40 a week, benefiting 745,000 workers.

This equates to a 79 cent-an-hour increase from $15.96 to $16.75 per hour.

The union will also seek a 4.2 per cent pay increase for other award-reliant workers above the benchmark tradesperson’s rate.

ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said the $30 claim was affordable, reasonable and would help stop people falling further behind the cost of living.

Mr Oliver said he expected employers to argue that it was not the right time for an increase they could not afford, despite low inflation and unemployment, lower interest rates and higher productivity.

“Now is the right time to award the wage increases that we are seeking,” he told ABC Radio.

Mr Oliver said there was an ever-increasing gap between minimum wages and real wages.

l i f e

Sex can relieve headaches, study shows “Not tonight, honey, I’ve got a headache” may have lost some of its force as an argument for no sex following a study by neurologists at the University of Muenster in Germany.

Writing in Cephalalgia, the official journal of the International Headache Society, the scientists, led by Anke Hambach, said their study showed that sexual activity - with or without a partner - could relieve pain in some headache patients.

The majority of migraine or cluster headache patients surveyed in the study said they had no sex during headache attacks. Among the migraine patients who said they did have experience with sexual activity during an attack, 60 per cent reported an improvement and 33 per cent a worsening.

Among cluster headache patients, just 37 per cent reported eased symptoms after sex, while half felt worse.

Men experienced more pain relief from sex than women did.

The study’s authors cautioned against attaching too much significance to the results, noting that the some 350 people surveyed suffered from particularly severe headaches. And a university spokesperson added that questionnaires on “below-the-belt” topics were often answered less than honestly.

b u s i n e s s

Katter wants tax breaks for footy stars Bob Katter and his Australia Party are campaigning for a Senate seat promising to give tax breaks to highly-paid footballers because of the enjoyment they bring their fans.

The Herald Sun says AFL and NRL stars would be given tax breaks worth thousands of dollars on their rich salaries.

Mr Katter, whose party is tipped to win a Victorian Senate seat, says the players deserve special tax deals to compensate them because their earnings plunge when they retire, often when they are still in their 20s.

“These blokes get paid huge money but their life at the top is very short indeed,” he said.

“There are very few people in Australia who give more joy than our AFL and NRL heroes but they can get injuries in a hurry and their life in the sport comes to an end,” he said.

“Most don’t have huge opportunities to pursue further work.”

11

How to be a better

candidate F

ollowing up with thank-you notes. Building your social media brand. Shutting down the computer and getting out for face-to-face networking.

Those are just some strategies to become a better job candidate in 2013, compliments of Annie Stevens, managing partner with ClearRock (www. clearrock.com), an outplacement and leadership development firm headquartered in Boston.

assistants. “Their impressions and opinions are increasingly being sought to gain an insight into your fit for the organisation and how well you would get along with co-workers,” she said.

Here are more ideas: • Touch base again within 24 hours after a personal or telephone interview. A handwritten note can help create a lasting impression.

• Increase your job-search activity. Step up the number of networking meetings, letters, and phone calls each week.

• Perfect your telephone interviewing skills. The first five minutes of a telephone interview are most important, Stevens said.

• Pay attention to how you treat receptionists or

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• Rely less on the internet and have more faceto-face networking meetings. Personal meetings make a better impression and will lead to more information about possible job opportunities.

• Sharpen your resume. Start with a brief opening statement consisting of one or two sentences that summarise your experience, skills, abilities, and accomplishments. Give specific examples from your experience to validate you have these skills.

job interview skills

By Marvin Walberg

• Develop a compelling social media brand. Build a distinct online brand that defines the areas in which you specialise and distinguishes you from others. Ensure you are using the best professional title on LinkedIn that highlights the full range of what you can do.

• Position yourself as an expert in your field.

Include searchable key words in your social media profile and online resume that detail the depth of your experience and skills.

• Keep your social media profile up-to-date. Give meaningful status updates, such as links to your blog, to demonstrate your subject matter expertise.

• Join LinkedIn groups comprising people in your profession and industry. Remember to endorse skills in your connections where prudent as

Focus recruitment

When economic times are tough you may have to think outside the square in order to land your next career move

collegues past and present will do the same for you.

• Set yourself apart. Do something that will give you added recognition and share that information with prospective employers.

• Convey a willingness to be flexible. Become more receptive to pursuing contract or project work, or part-time employment. Get on board first and then demonstrate what you can do.

• Scour the “hidden job market.” In a slower economy, fewer than 80 per cent of open jobs are made public because employers don’t want to be inundated with resumes. Dig deeper through networking and making more direct contacts with potential employers, Stevens said.

Do what others fail to do!

13

crisis Skills

A skills shortage could suffocate new resource projects across Australia

By Ian Armitage 14

skills crisis

W

Focus industry

ith the so-called “Resources Boom Mark II” currently dominating investment in the Australian economy, resource industry employers are facing some significant challenges when it comes to addressing the issue of labour supply.

Resource industry employer group, AMMA, believes the shortages currently being experienced - as well as those forecast to occur - are further exacerbated by the need to attract workers to the resource industry, quite often with the very same or similar skill sets needed to address other areas of structural weakness or significant projects across the country.

AMMA Chief Executive, Steve Knott, says the situation is something akin to a “doublewhammy” as between 2010 and 2012, more than A$70 billion worth of major nonresource infrastructure projects will get the go-ahead including rail, road, port, hospitals and sporting arenas.

“We have significant infrastructure gaps in the logistical supply chain - from mine site to export market - with ports, rail lines and road infrastructure requiring a significant investment in order to upgrade their capacity to meet the impacts of the international demand for Australian resources.

“The skilled and professional workers often needed to develop these strategic assets are in fact in the very same talent pool required right now by resource industry employers.”

Mr Knott also said in order to understand the extent of the labour supply problem, as well as to be in a position to propose solutions; AMMA had systematically tracked its members’ experiences. “Our members reported widespread skills shortages across a range of professions and technical trades prior to the GFC taking effect in 2008, after which there was a significant drop in demand for most of 2009.

“However, from late 2009 to mid-2010, there have been strong signs of recovery in the demand for skills - and shortages have once again become widespread particularly in the professional groups including engineering and construction.”

To put the challenge facing Australian

15

resource industry employers into perspective, in the six years from 2005 to 2011, the size of the resource industry workforce has effectively doubled to 213,200 people.

By 2015, the industry is expected to employ at least 250,000 people directly and up to an extra 750,000 people indirectly.

This means the resource industry will need to find at least a further 40,000 people in addition to those people already working in the sector in the next four years, a feat made even more challenging when one considers Australia already has a low and steady national unemployment rate of 4.9 percent.

Knott says despite arguments to the contrary by some parts of the union movement, the skills shortage is a reality - with AMMA members saying its effects ranged from ‘somewhat detrimental’ to ‘making it extremely difficult to do business effectively’.

A survey of AMMA members in November 2010 found:

16

• 93.8 percent were experiencing a shortage of professionals [with 81.3 percent of these identifying difficulties in filling engineering roles]; • 68.8 percent said they were experiencing a shortage of tradespeople; • 12.5 percent said they were experiencing a shortage of graduates; and • 6.3 percent said they were experiencing a shortage of unskilled workers.

Adding to the challenge, Knott argues Australia currently has an extremely mobile labour force, and a very low rate apprenticeship completion rate.

With up to 60 percent of employed males actively looking for other jobs, careers in the resource industry typically last from one to five years, with an annual turnover rate in many of AMMA’s member companies of around 15 percent.

“Our sector is not immune from having its own highly trained and qualified workers, often those recruited from overseas at significant expense, moving on to other industries and

skills crisis

more and a peak workforce of at least 1,500.

Knott said AMMA would continue to pursue a number of reforms to the current skilled migration scheme in the interests of its members, including: • Reducing the onerous nature of the English language proficiency testing; • Reducing the A$2 billion threshold applying to EMAs so as to ensure a greater number of resource industry employers could access the scheme; and, • Revising the current 457 working visa arrangements.

On the issue of English language testing, in November 2010, 38 percent of AMMA members said the increased English language testing requirements had made recruiting skilled labour from overseas more difficult.

In relation to the other important issue of improving female participation in the industry, AMMA recognises the proportion of women in the Australian resource industry is relatively low. In 2001, just 11 percent of the mining industry workforce was female, which has grown to 16 percent ten years later in 2011. In mining exploration and other support services, there are currently a higher proportion of women than in the mining industry as a whole, at 17 percent.

Knott, however, says such figures are not an indication of how much the industry values women as employees, with an overwhelming 91.7 percent of respondents to an AMMA November 2010 survey saying they would like to employ more women if they were available.

Overall, AMMA believes access to temporary and permanent overseas skilled labour is a small but important component to developing a highly competent resource industry workforce, with the long-term intentions of employers in the industry being to up-skill and supplement the Australian workforce rather than replace it.

With this in mind, AMMA is advocating for employers to embrace a multi-faceted approach to tackling the skills shortage in the short and long-term in order to ensure the benefits of the current resource boom flow to the industry, the economy, workers and their families.

Focus Industry

employers once they gain experience.”

He said other industries were sometimes more attractive than the mining industry in the long term because of lifestyle and location preferences. However, generous wages made the mining industry attractive in the short to medium-term. As of February 2011, full-time adult ordinary time earnings in the mining industry were A$2,098.90 a week (A$109,142.80 a year) compared to A$1,291.30 a week (A$67,147.60 a year) across all other industries.

The completion rates for trade apprenticeships in Australia are also quite low across the board. In 2008, completion rates for people that started their apprenticeships in 2003 ranged from 44.7 percent to 55.1 percent.

In a recent address to a national forum of exploration companies, Knott said AMMA members were taking steps to address the skills shortage under their own steam such as increasing in-house training; multi-skilling existing workers; and improving skills utilisation between roles. He also outlined some key areas, which AMMA believed were part of the solution to meeting the resource industry’s labour force challenge - namely skilled migration and increased female participation in the industry.

“Despite resistance from some quarters of the union movement, AMMA believes accessing skilled and semi-skilled labour from overseas is a necessary adjunct to training Australian workers and sourcing workers locally,” he said.

AMMA recently welcomed an announcement of the Federal Government to introduce Enterprise Migration Agreements, which for large resource projects will provide streamlined access to skilled migrants, prequalifying employers for sponsorship and reducing agreement-negotiating timeframes.

EMAs are intended to act as an overarching agreement, which will allow a project owner or prime contractor to establish the number of skilled overseas workers and occupations required on a project, in a not dissimilar way to how labour agreements operate. However, EMAs are ‘mega’ resource project-specific, applying only to projects with a capital expenditure of A$2 billion or

17

comp com 18

integrated packaging group

plete package THE

By Hugh Radojev

Focus Manufacturing

Even in the toughest of economical times companies with the knowledge, expertise and the right work ethic can still thrive. Rob Archibald, general manager of sales and marketing for Integrated Packaging Group explains how his company has continued to expand its operations in Australia, New Zealand and globally without compromising on product quality or customer service.

L

ife has been tough the last few years right across the business world in Australasia. The high Australian and New Zealand dollar is showing no sign of falling any time soon and when you combine that with the high cost of production in the region compared to other places globally, businesses have struggled turn a profit.

For Integrated Packaging Group, a company who deal in Industrial, Agricultural and Horticultural packaging, Mother Nature hasn’t been particularly kind either. Back to back poor growing seasons, particularly in Australia, have affected market growth in the region. However, as Rob Archibald explains, when a company is given lemons, sometimes it’s best to just go ahead and make lemonade.

“The business is performing well in very tough market conditions. We have experienced two poor seasons in the agricultural market in Australia which has affected our overall results,” said Mr. Archibald, before adding, “in saying that, we have grown market share in the mulch film market and have been developing a new product for wrapping cotton bales which will be commercial in 2013.”

Integrated Packaging Group is Australia’s largest specialist manufacturer and distributor of stretch film wrap and associated products. IPG provides protectors for crops, stock and warehouse goods. It is also an industry leader in reducing the weight and volume of its plastics and, in the process, diminishing its negative effects on the environment.

“We continue to develop lighter, lower gauge (thickness) stronger films which reduce waste, lower cost for our customers and keep us competitive against imported products.”

In other words flexibility appears to be the name of the game in the plastics and packaging sectors. If one market is looking a little weak, expand into other, stronger markets.

Yet flexibility in the market is not the only means of staying strong in a waning sector.

As Mr. Archibald explains, innovation in terms of available products is just as, if not more important.

“The history of IPG is one of innovation.

19

integrated packaging group

The system of pre-stretching film is world patented by IPG, we were the first company in the world to wrap Silage in plastic, we are the first company in the world to produce a 6um stretch film which has been commercially sold and there is a long list of ‘firsts’. Innovation is important in Australia because we can’t be lowest cost producers globally in our area of manufacture.”

All that being said, just because a company is ahead of the curve doesn’t mean that they are immune from the same sort of troubles that are faced by it’s industry competitors.

The traditionally high costs

of production in Australia and New Zealand have only been further compounded by the strength of the currency on the global market and the Federal Government’s seeming unwillingness to product homegrown industries.

“The high Aussie dollar has put pressure on our margins and some of our key competitors manufacture in Malaysia and the Australian government removed tariff protection in Australia in January this year which puts even more pressure on local manufacturers of polyethylene products,” said Mr. Archibald.

Even so, due to its proud history of innovation and

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Rob Archibald

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commitment to expertise, IPG has continued to expand not just in Australasia but also into North America and Asia.

“In January this year we completed the acquisition of three Amcor manufacturing sites at Cheltenham Vic, Chester Hill NSW and Kirrawee NSW… In December 2012 we also completed the acquisition of a Canadian based agent for Agricultural films and formed IP Canada,” said Mr. Archibald, explaining that the North American market was a hugely exciting one for him and IPG. “We see a lot of opportunities for growth with this business in Canada which will sell products such as Grain Bags, Silage Pit Covers and Silage Stretch Film.”

Expansion into Japan too is one of IPG’s main focuses for 2013, with sales of the company’s polyethylene products doubling there over the last 12 months. The proposed free trade agreement

22

currently in the works between the Australian and Japanese governments only serving to make IPG stronger in the region, by removing the tariffs that have plagued international deals in the past.

“Our sales in Japan have doubled in the past 12 months… The Australian government is working on a free trade agreement with Japan, which would remove current tariffs our products incur and make us more competitive so we are hopeful this agreement will be finalised shortly.”

Mr. Archibald knows though that no matter how large IPG may become overseas, it is still hugely important to provide quality service to the company’s loyal customer base here in Australia and New Zealand.

“The theme line in our branding is ‘We go to greater lengths’ and this is something we promote both within the business and outside of

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the business,” said Mr. Archibald when asked about IPG’s company values. “It’s important that we are connecting with our customers on a number of levels and ensuring that we can fulfill their expectations of us as a supplier. We need to be able to provide our customers with packaging solutions and continue to introduce new and innovative products to the market.”

2013 promises to be, if nothing else, a hugely busy year for Rob Archibald but the idea of juggling IPG’s expansions in North America and Japan while consolidating growths in Australia and New Zealand doesn’t seem to faze him or his team.

“Our main aims in 2013 are to consolidate our acquisition businesses and optimise synergies, improve the skills of our employees and ultimately continue to provide our customers with great service.”

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Mitchell Energy Services is respected throughout the world in the exploration and production drilling industry, an industry it went a long way to creating with it’s pioneering inseam drilling techniques.

However, as Australasia Outlook discovered, even industry leaders can suffer in tough economical times.

By Hugh Radojev

Y o u k n o w t he

24

drill

Mitchell Energy Services

I

Focus Industry

n the highly specialized Unconventional Energy Industry, Mitchell Energy Services is one of the world leaders in production and exploratory drilling. With over 40 years worth of experience in the industry and a pioneering heritage in inseam drilling techniques, the Queensland based company has placed itself very much at the forefront of drilling for Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Coal Mine Methane (CMM) and Underground Coal Gasification (UCG).

Breaking free of the pack has been a difficult process however, and being an Australian-based company – competing with some of the most technically advanced mining companies to be found anywhere in the world– has presented its own unique challenges.

For Mitchell Energy Services General Manager, Andrew Elf though, the point of difference between his company and the others can be boiled down to two or three fundamental points.

“Number one is a focus on very specific provision of services, so we know what we do and we do it well. And secondly, without a doubt, it’s our people.

Having quality people means we can be confident in the job that gets done on the ground,” said Mr Elf, before adding “a third one is that we’re a private company but have the resources of larger companies. This allows us to move very quickly and be flexible to client requirements.”

25

Mitchell Energy Services

Indeed, throughout the interview Mr Elf was keen to stress the importance he places on the expertise and hard work of his staff.

“Number one for us is people,” said Mr Elf. “We strongly value the skill and expertise of our people and their ability to deliver high quality services on the ground.

As is important with any good company, a culture of hard work is clearly valued at Mitchell Energy Services but never at the expense of employee’s safety.

Started in 1969 by husband and wife Peter and Deidre Mitchell, who started out by purchasing a secondhand drilling rig, for waterbore drilling. The company was sold in 2008 to AJ Lucas for circa A$150 million (cash and script). While this resulted in a five-year non-compete agreement (which is set to expire in August of this year ) it allowed for Mitchell Energy Services to focus on projects overseas - in Indonesia, India, the United States of America and more recently in China, Russia, Botswana and Mozambique.

“In Mozambique we’re working with Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique and with ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resource Company), two major clients in country,” says Mr Elf. “Both of those are coal exploration companies. I think that whole African region in particular is extremely prospective with numerous commodities and precious metals, so the opportunities are enormous there.”

26

“Number one is a focus on very specific provision of services, so we know what we do and we do it well.

And secondly, without a doubt, it’s our people”

Focus Industry

A long with work in Mozambique, Mitchell Energy Services has been employing the use of its innovative techniques in Russia, where it was the first company to employ horizontal drilling for gas mines, working with Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas in the world. This has made Mitchell Energy Services highly sought after internationally, but it has also seen some companies try to copy its techniques.

“I suppose,” said Mr Elf after a pause. “The mining industry and the unconventional energy industry in Australia is more advanced than it is in a lot of other countries. There are people that have tried to train their employees to provide the kinds of services that we offer

and have failed. The unconventional energy operations in particular, are more technical in nature than most foresee and require a greater level of expertise to be successful.

The technical complexity is a barrier of entry for competitors trying to enter that market segment”.

While Mitchell Energy Services have not worked in the Australian market for a period of time this has allowed the business to focus unerringly on projects in developing regions. The business has found great success overseas but has not forgotten its roots.

Mr Elf, and Mitchell Energy Services as a whole, has always kept a keen eye on the industry in Australia and what they have 27

Mitchell Energy Services

seen, particularly in the last few years combined with the downturn in the economy has been somewhat concerning.

“Challenging,” Mr Elf responded when asked about the current state of Australia’s mining industry.

“It’s difficult for people to raise funds, especially smaller companies. Even larger companies have cut their exploration spending and I think that’s been well noted in the press. So it’s certainly a challenging business environment.”

Another issue faced by resource and mining operators in Australia is the astronomically high costs involved with running operations in this country versus overseas.

“What we’re seeing is that 28

“What we’re seeing is that Australia is a very high cost environment now and it’s going to be more and more difficult to see companies invest in Australia in the future.

It’s more likely they will invest in projects overseas and that’s where we see more of our projects going in the future”

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Mitchell Energy Services

Australia is a very high cost environment now and it’s going to be more and more difficult to see companies invest in Australia in the future. It’s more likely they will invest in projects overseas and that’s where we see more of our projects going in the future.”

So while the focus for 2013 at Mitchell Energy Services might be predominantly on burgeoning business overseas, one eye will also be kept on Australia, the company’s spiritual home, its place of origin. Whatever challenges 2013 may hold for Mitchell Energy Services and Andrew Elf personally, they will be faced in the same way that the company and its employees have been overcoming for decades, with hard work and with innovation, evolving with the industry as it evolves with them.

To learn more visit www.mitchellgroup.net

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Panning for gold

32

Atlas Copco

A

By Alex Harmon

Focus Manufacturing

On their 140th anniversary Atlas Copco show that commitment to staff, an eco-friendly culture and cutting-edge innovation are the keys to their longevity…

tlas Copco are a Swedish headquarted global industrial equipment manufacturer who recently celebrated their 140th anniversary. The company, who now employs over 39,000 people, develops and manufactures industrial tools, expanders and air treatment systems, construction and mining equipment, power tools and assembly systems and has a global reach spanning more than 170 countries.

In February this year Atlas Copco were recognised as one of the world’s most innovative, ethical, and sustainable companies.

“Celebrating 140 years is a fantastic opportunity to further strengthen our customer focus and relations,” said Ronnie Leten, President and CEO of the Atlas Copco Group at a ceremony in Stockholm. “It is also a great occasion for our employees to feel proud of all accomplishments and excited about the opportunities such as continue creating innovative products and service to new and existing customers.”

Marking the 140 years since the company’s 1873 foundation, Ronnie Leten also rang the opening bell at the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York, U.S. In Australia their success began from humble beginnings in Kings Cross in 1950 under the name Atlas Diesel (they changed it to Atlas Copco in 1956). The company offered a range of innovative European products such as rock drills which had a tungsten carbide drill steel, stationary compressors and portable compressors which were fitted with solid tyres, no gates and started cartridge style.

During the fifties some of the customers included the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, New South Wales Railways, Tasmanian Hydro Electric Commission, the Snowy Mountains Authority and mines in Tasmania, New South Wales and Western Australia.

The first sales for the new company included 18 AR3 compressors to the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in September 1950, compressors and rock drills for the Snowy Mountains Scheme, rock drills and drill steels in the Kalgoorlie region, plus

33

Martinson EnginEEring Martinson Engineering has been manufacturing Air Receivers since 1980 and is proud to have been suppling Atlas Copco with Australian made Air Receivers for over two decades. Atlas Copco has partnered their Compressors with our Air Receivers to achieve sales in the mining, power generation, processing and manufacturing industries all over Australia and Overseas.

Martinson Air Receivers cover a large range of pressures and volumes, from portable manifolds for multiple air distribution to 45,000 Litre stationary vessels for large scale operations.

Our huge inventory of designs, components and stock receivers, creates the situation of being able to supply the highest quality air receivers in the quickest possible time frame.

Management and Staff of Martinson Engineering look forward for many more years of service and congratulate Atlas Copco on their past, present and future success.

For all enquiries please contact Martinson Eng P/L on (02) 4646 1577 or email: info@martinsonengineering.com.au

Atlas Copco

an order for all of the rock drills and steels needed in the construction of New Zealand’s Rimutake hydro-tunnel.

By 1959, Atlas Copco Australia’s hire division, ACE Hire began in New South Wales and Victoria, branching out in 1961 to Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.

It was during 1967 in Belgium that the new compressor silencing techniques and oil-free compressors were created. This compressor was first installed in Tasmania the following year at the Pulp and Paper Manufacturers in Burnie.

Today the company pride themselves on using oil-free equipment ensuring the purity of its products. Speaking about the success of a new oil-free compressor Endaf Edwards, Princes Gate’s Operations Director said: “The Atlas Copco equipment is proving to be very efficient. It produces the 100% oil-free, high quality, dry air we need and is extremely reliable. In our view, the installation of the compressor plant was carried out very professionally and we have no hesitation in recommending Atlas Copco’s equipment to other companies.”

Atlas Copco is so committed to the

36

environment, it was first company to get a compressor certified for 100 per cent energy recovery by the TÜV institute (German Technical Monitoring Association). They were also ranked as one of the world’s most ethical companies by Ethisphere Institute.

“Doing business ethically is not only the right thing to do but is how we also develop and grow our business in a profitable way ,” said Håkan Osvald, Senior Vice President General Counsel at Atlas Copco. “ We have a value-based culture and train our employees to work and think ethically and to prioritize the long-term results and sustainable, profitable development .”

Earlier this year, Transparency International, a global coalition against corruption, recognised Atlas Copco’s efforts in its report on the 20 largest Swedish companies. Atlas Copco scored a 100 per cent rating. But it’s not just ethics, they’re also one of the greenest companies in the world, last year they were ranked the world’s tenth most sustainable company in the annual Global 100 list.

“Our work to develop Atlas Copco in a sustainable and profitable way is yielding results,” said Annika Berglund, Senior Vice President

Corporate Communications at Atlas Copco.

“This long-standing effort was further enhanced last year with the introduction of a range of new goals. We are proud to see this development recognized on the Global 100 list.”

On World Water Day this year the company highlighted on their Facebook page one of their greenest merits in introducing the Atlas Copco Dry Drilling System for large face drilling rigs.

“In conventional face drilling you use water flushing to keep the drill hole clean from cuttings. With the Dry Drilling System you use compressed air instead together with a dust collector or water mist,” they posted.

Altas Copco also launched the ‘Water for All’ website in which employees are working to provide clean drinking water to millions of people worldwide.

Thanks to the mining boom, Australia has been a huge growth market for Altas Copco. In fact in 2006 the company received a significant order for surface drilling equipment from the Boddington Gold Mine

in Western Australia. Speaking at the 140th anniversary in London, the company said mining would play a pivotal role in the future. “There will always be mining and exploration, but this is a market that can go up and down,” Atlas Copco’s director of construction and mining, Kevin Prince said.

“What we need to do is ensure that we have the flexibility to match our capacity to sudden changes in demand,” he continued.

The company employ people who are customer focused, self-starters, loyal and open minded. With a corporate culture like this and an ethical mindset, it is no wonder Atlas Copco continue to strike gold.

Focus Manufacturing 37

African

coal African for

growth

In 2011 Australian firm INTRA Energy has invested over $50 million in Tanzania’s first privately funded coal mine and a 200MW mine mouth coalfired power plant to reduce the nation’s reliance on hydropower and to increase production of much needed electricity.

Executive Chairperson Graeme Robertson tells Australasia Outlook about the investment and further expansion into Malawi.

By Alex Harmon 38

E

Tancoal Energy and it has already spent in the region of US$23 million on exploration and initial development costs of the Mbalawala mine, in the south-west of the country, Robertson says. This investment -as part of a long-term plan -- will increase by around US$93 million to increase the mining to a rate of up to five million tons a year.

“The first shipments of coal commenced in September 2011,” he stressed. “After that, we planned to invest an additional US$400 million in a coal-fired power plant near the mine and we have identified several possible sites for power stations near Mbalawala for 120megawatts.”

INTRA is trying to “fast-track” this station with two 100 megawatts units to be installed by end 2016, and is currently negotiating Power Purchase Agreement terms with TANESCO, the Tanzanian Generating Authority.

“The cost of that is approximately US$2 million for each megawatt or US$400 million for the initial 200 megawatts at Mbalawala excluding mine development costs.”

INTRA has also entered into a MOU with the Government of Malawi for the installation of a 120MW power station to supply this largely agricultural nation of 16 million people. Malawi is also the beneficiary of INTRA’s second operating coal mine which will fuel the proposed

Focus Mining

astern Africa has been the next big thing for a long time. Some sceptics say it will continue to be just that for many years to come, however, they are being proved wrong as the region is growing at more than 7% per annum.

Investment in Africa is increasing. And with African markets outperforming their more developed counterparts, it looks like an increasingly attractive investment option.

The continent is being democratified – Tanzania and Malawi are great examples – and good governance and good governments have been installed.

Africa is beginning to boom and it is Eastern Africa which is at the hub of the boom.

“Africa has vast potential,” says INTRA Energy’s Executive Chairperson Graeme Robertson, who stressed that the improved political stability of various Eastern African governments, the region’s vast population and a growing middle class has seen many set their sights on the continent.

“This presents opportunity for us too,” he adds. “There is ever-increasing energy demand across the continent and development has been constrained by lack of sufficient electricity generation. Tanzania with 46 million people and great natural wealth has been held back by a generating capacity of 1,390MW and only 14% of the people connected to electricity.”

According to Robertson, Australia’s INTRA Energy Corporation invested US$50 million in Tanzania’s first privately funded coal mine and is looking at a further investment of $US400 million in mine expansion and a 200MW coal-fired power plant to reduce the nation’s reliance on hydropower.

Last year Robertson said: “We have about 15,000t currently on the stockpile and we are starting to move coal down to the lake, with the first consignment expected in September.

“We project that the mine will expand its output to 300,000 t/y by 2013, with a long-term maximum output capacity of fivemillion tons a year.”

INTRA Energy’s local unit in Tanzania, responsible for the Mbalawala project, is

INTRA ENERGY

39

INTRA ENERGY

power station while currently supplying to industrial users to substitute imported coal.

“Why would we consider that? Well, Tanzania is Eastern Africa’s second largest economy and Malawi is stable with new leadership determined to economically develop the nation, they have a chronic power shortage. It is prohibiting growth,” Robertson says.

He said Tanzania plans to spend almost US$800 million on emergency power projects aimed at ending chronic energy shortages.

He also says the country wants to switch to thermal power sources such as coal.

“It makes sense,” Robertson explains. “Hydropower is weather dependent and it currently accounts for 85 percent of Tanzania’s electricity generation. 2011 was a difficult year because of low water levels at hydropower dams - Tanzania depends heavily on hydropower for energy and experiences frequent power shortages during dry seasons.

“Also, there is a national shortfall of 500 megawatts, which came after the hydro problems and a deficit of natural gas supply. The 40

Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) has been unable to cope with demand and expensive oil and gas fired generation is draining Government funds as electricity prices are heavily subsidized.”

The International Monetary

Investment in Africa is increasing.

And with African markets outperforming their more developed counterparts, it looks like an increasingly attractive investment option

Fund has, in response, cut its 2012 growth forecast for Tanzania, saying frequent power outages would hurt output.

INTRA owns 70 percent of the shares in Tancoal Energy which has a 423 million tonne thermal coal deposit, while the Tanzanian government holds the remaining stake through the state-run National Development Corporation (NDC). In Malawi, INTRA owns 90 percent of Malcoal with large reserves of high quality thermal coal.

The first stage of the mine development has a production capacity of 30,000 t/m in 2013, and with expansion stabilising at 500,000 t/y, the following year to service industrial markets such as cement, brewery, ceramics and agricultural operations.

“We’ve received strong interest from factories wanting to generate their own electricity with coal-fired generation because of the unreliability or lack of availability of electricity,” Robertson says. “We’re looking at feeding the national grid.”

The Mbalawala mine has substituted coal imports from South Africa with local Tanzanian coal. INTRA also supplies coal into Kenya and Uganda.

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