 Michael Kilgariff |
The latest Sensis Business Index survey says small and medium business (SMB) confidence has jumped to its highest level since March 2011.
SMB confidence jumped 12 points to net +39, compared with +27 a year ago. Confidence is up in all locations except the ACT. The most confident state is now Tasmania (+64 net), which improved by 46 points. Double-digit rises were noted in NSW, Queensland, SA and WA.
The index, which reflects the views of 1,000 Australian small and medium businesses, also showed that confidence in the Federal Government has gone up six points (+1 to +7) since Malcolm Turnbull took over as Prime Minister.
The forklift sector is among those with boosted confidence.
Sonia Heinrich, brand manager for Kalmar Australia, says her company is feeling confident. "January has kicked off as a great start for the year to come. The new Kalmar product range including the K-Motion drivetrain, empty container handler and the Gloria EGO cabins boast industry-leading technology, which is reflected in our orders.
"Over the December-January period, we had a spike in orders, including two large machines fitted with both the Gloria EGO cab and the K-motion technology. These machines will provide simplified maintenance and a major increase in service intervals."
Chris Spence, CEO of Macquarie Park, NSW-headquartered Hyundai Forklifts Australia, says his company is also "extremely upbeat" about the new year. "Coming off a strong finish to 2015, our larger product range due to arrive in 2016 will expand our addressable market significantly and give us a platform to compete with the larger players."
Spence is seeing a strong start to the year for HFA, "although we are coming off a very low benchmark". He is looking forward to seeing the impact of Hyundai Forklifts' new 9 Series range on the forklift market.
John Flinn, managing director of Hystandard Handling Equipment, says his team is "feeling very confident", having a strong start to the year with sales in new and used equipment.
Flinn says Hystandard has recruited three new service staff to assist in its growth this year. "We are growing our share this year of the high-quality service business, working with customers who are tired of unscheduled breakdowns across the industry."
Hystandard, which claims to be Sydney's largest independent forklift dealer, will soon finalise its $6 million acquisition of two blocks of industrial land in Glendenning, which have a combined area of over 5,700 sqm, for its new Sydney support facilities.
"We are committed by lease to remain in our current facility for another four years, but want to ensure we can move straight away once the lease expires. We did the same thing in Melbourne and purchased land four years before we needed to build," Flinn explains. "It worked really well for us as we now own the facility, which gives the business more security."
Hystandard's booked orders for the month of January 2016 have equaled orders booked in January to mid-March 2015. Flinn says the forklift dealer has also recruited two more salespeople for its Sydney operations this week.
Australian Logistics Council managing director Michael Kilgariff says confidence in the logistics industry is generally a good barometer of how the economy is travelling nationally "because when our supply chains are busy, Australian families and Australian businesses are investing.
"There is generally a higher degree of confidence across the sector than there was 12 months ago, and certainly more positive than this time five years ago when we were feeling the effects of the global financial crisis.
"I think the next 12 months will continue to see good progress across a number of areas, which is cause for optimism.
"Governments at the state and federal levels are investing significant amounts in our nation's infrastructure, we will see the release of Infrastructure Australia's long-term infrastructure strategy, inland rail is gathering momentum and there seems to be progress on a number of important transport-related reforms, such as heavy-vehicle road funding."
Kilgariff adds that the ALC will continue to lobby governments to ensure they recognise the economic benefits of more efficient supply chains, and to make their policy and investment decisions accordingly.
"In particular, we will continue to encourage the government to ensure any new approach to moving people should not be at the expense of supporting supply chain projects to move freight.
He notes that consumer sentiment remains patchy. The latest Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell by 3.5% to 97.3 in January. "So, the onus is on government to put in place policies that encourage growth and investment, and which also ease regulatory burdens on businesses."