- Exporters are prioritising resilience alongside cost efficiency
- Balco’s expanded DP World agreement aims to strengthen export reliability
- Supply chain resilience is becoming differentiator
The agreement comes as agricultural exporters face rising pressure from geopolitical uncertainty, shipping disruptions, changing biosecurity requirements and climate-related events.
According to DP World’s executive vice president for Oceania, Nicolaj Noes, customers are increasingly seeking supply chains that combine reliability and efficiency rather than focusing solely on reducing costs.
“It’s no longer a choice between cost and resilience,” Noes told AgNavigator.
“Customers are looking for supply chains that are both efficient and reliable because disruptions ultimately cost more than building resilience into the network from the outset.”
He added that resilience was emerging as a competitive advantage in increasingly volatile environments.
“Businesses that can consistently deliver despite disruption are better positioned to retain customers, access new markets and grow. Increasingly, resilience is becoming a commercial differentiator, not just an operational objective.”
Resilience is evaluated by how consistently a supply chain performs during periods of disruption or crisis.
Noes added that the most important measure of resilience was consistency during difficult periods.
“Key indicators include on-time delivery, schedule reliability, inventory availability, recovery time following disruptions and the ability to maintain service levels for customers under changing conditions.”
Against this backdrop, one of the primary challenges for exporters is maintaining reliable access to global markets while keeping costs competitive, said Noes.
The shifting landscape is prompting exporters to build long-term partnerships focused on reliability.
“As supply chains become more complex, customers are looking for strategic partners who understand their business, can adapt to changing conditions and provide integrated solutions, rather than simply moving freight from A to B,” said Noes.
Supply chain resilience ‘critical’
Balco, one of Australia’s largest exporters of premium forage products and a global supplier of ruminant fibre solutions, said supply chain resilience was critical to its international expansion strategy.
“A stable, efficient and resilient supply chain is fundamental to Balco’s ability to serve global customers and continue expanding across international markets,” said Linda Xu, general manager, logistics and fulfilment at Balco Australia.
Xu added that the partnership would improve operational efficiency and reliability while supporting the company’s growth ambitions.
Under the new agreement, DP World will support the movement of more than 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually through dedicated road transport, equipment management and integrated logistics services.
The partnership will also include investment in specialised transport assets and dedicated account management to support Balco’s growing export requirements and long-term international development.
Overall, the partnership aims to strengthen the resilience of Australia’s agricultural export supply chain, support regional economic development and enhance the global competitiveness of the country’s premium agricultural products.
Noes concluded: “Balco plays an important role in bringing Australian agricultural products to customers around the world, and we’re proud to strengthen our partnership as its trusted logistics provider.
“This agreement reflects our shared commitment to building resilient supply chains that support customer growth and strengthen Australia’s export economy.”
