NEWS - Manufacturing
Published 11:59 AM, 22 Nov 2009
Last update 12:17 PM, 23 Nov 2009
Brambles aims to increase US maket share
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By a staff reporter
Pallet maker Brambles is hoping to increase its market share in the US, and expand geographically in areas such as China and Continental Europe, according to chief executive Tom Gorman.
The chief executive also said that while Australia was doing well, he did not expect to see a strong bounce back in economies around the world.
"I think there's a lot of opportunity for growth for us around the world in the CHEP space and, in fact, in the Brambles space," Mr Gorman said, speaking to ABC TV's Inside Business.
"One of the areas we're looking at is geographic expansion, so basically taking the pooling concept and moving into new markets."
When asked if Brambles could achieve a similar market share in the US as it had in Australia, Mr Gorman said: "Look if the question is there room to grow in the US, well the answer to that is absolutely yes."
"We think the US, and Continental Europe for that matter, are both markets ... [where] in terms of pallet pooling we have enormous growth opportunities to grow in both markets, and we'll be looking at new verticals, so new segments to grow in, new customers, and of course, winning share from out competitors."
Asked if there was a future for pallets in China, Mr Gorman said: "Absolutely, we think there is."
"I think from where I sit today its hard to say there's anything but opportunity in China."
No strong global economic bounce back
Looking at the global economic environment, Mr Gorman said while there did not appear to be a strong rebound coming globally, Australia was doing well.
"We don't really see a big bounce back coming in economies around the world," Mr Gorman said.
"When we look at all the major markets we're in, clearly Australia is doing well, and on a relative basis, it's probably doing very well compared to our other major markets."
Mr Gorman said consumer demand was still weak in the US.
"We haven't seen a big bounce back in consumer demand in the US, which is a key market for us, and when you look at our European portfolio, we have not seen a big bounce back yet in the United Kingdom and Spain, which is another big market for us in Europe, is really still quite depressed."
"I think we're well positioned for recovery when it does come, but at the moment, we really don't see that recovery coming aggressively, at least as we look out through the rest of our fiscal year which takes us through June 2010."
At 1209 AEDT, Brambles shares had risen 0.92 per cent to $6.58 against a benchmark index rise of 0.8 per cent.
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