Surfers Paradise Lost as China’s $259 Boards Threaten Aussie Manufacturers

[dipsydoodle]

On Australia’s Gold Coast, a 22-mile- long (35-kilometer) stretch of beaches named Surfers Paradise and Rainbow Bay, Neil Rech opened a surf shop in December and unwittingly disturbed the peace.

His store, Sedition Surfboards, sells Chinese imports for A$250 ($258), one-third the cost of some Australian-made boards that competitors are offering. Rival retailers averse to discounts and upset about local job losses questioned his patriotism, and even threatened violence, he said.

“It’s quite heavy,” Rech, 34, said of the backlash. After teaching for two years in China before opening a store in Coolangatta, Queensland, “I realized how cheap you can actually get these boards so I thought it’d be a great opportunity to bring them here and sell them to the public cheaper.”

Inexpensive imports from Asia, coupled with a 55 percent jump in the local dollar since October 2008, are delivering a double dose of pain to one of Australia’s most iconic industries. The struggles at surfboard makers are playing out at manufacturers across a country where China’s demand for iron ore and fuel has spurred a mining boom while leaving non-resource businesses behind.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-04/paradise-lost-for-aussie-surfboard-makers-amid-chinese-imports.html

[pampango]

1. The Australian dollar has appreciated 55% in 3+ years? Knew their economy was strong, but

didn't know that. Without that currency factor the difference in surfboard prices would be reduced to about 20-30%.

Still Australia had a trade surplus with China of about $13 billion in 2010.