Mark Beyer

Smorgan Steel Group and OneSteel, the two dominant steel producers in Australia, have benefited from the strong demand and rising prices for steel products.

The flip side of Australia’s resources boom has been a sharp increase in the cost of steel and other business inputs. Mark Beyer reports.

The shortage of skilled labour is not the only difficulty facing the timber plantation industry in Western Australia.

Prominent tax accountant Frank Cooper is planning to establish a boutique advisory practice after he leaves his current position at Ernst & Young in July.

Premier Geoff Gallop named the ‘Broome pearl’ as a Western Australian icon last June and, as he lauded the contribution of the industry, said it generated $200 million in annual exports.

The Australian pearl industry has responded to the weakness in the global market over the past five to six years by lifting its focus on marketing and branding.

Industrial infrastructure is normally an arcane subject that only technocrats worry about, yet this year it has become one of the nation’s hottest political topics.

The State Government’s capital works program in the current financial year has risen to a record $3.9 billion, with social infrastructure accounting for most of the spending.

The State Government has delayed and potentially halted the development of Len Buckeridge’s cargo port proposal at Kwinana after deciding that a competing Fremantle port authority project should be given priority.

The triangle bounded by Kwinana, Fremantle and Kewdale is home to the bulk of manufacturing and heavy industry in Western Australia, so it is not surprising that’s where some of the State Government’s most difficult infrastructure issues are located.

Norwegian fertiliser company Yara International has acquired a 30 per cent shareholding in the $630 million Burrup Fertilisers ammonia plant and confirmed work is proceeding on a second possible plant on the Burrup Peninsula.

Early this month iron ore miner Portman fell to a foreign predator in the form of US company Cleveland-Cliffs, adding to a long trend of Perth companies being acquired by interstate or overseas competitors.

Market analysts consider the break-up of takeover target Foodland Associated even more likely after the release of interim profit results described as ‘weak’ and ‘poor’.

Fast-growing engineering consultancy Calibre Projects has formed a business alliance with Engineers India Limited in an effort to underpin further rapid expansion of its activities – including a proposed North West fertiliser plant.

Western Australia’s aquaculture sector, long touted as having strong growth prospects, is moving forward on two fronts, with Marine Produce Australia launching a $4 million capital raising and Western Australian Abalone close to completing a $1.8 million

If ever proof was needed that life as a professional director is no longer a leisurely, part-time sinecure, Peter Mansell provides it.

Peter Mansell believes the corporate governance reforms introduced by the Federal Government and the Australian Stock Exchange have “on balance” been good but have gone too far.

Western Australia is on the brink of a $1 billion investment boom in new power stations, with up to six projects likely to be under construction or formally committed by the end of this year.

Among the companies of which Peter Mansell is a board member only Ferngrove Vineyards Estate is not listed on the stockmarket, yet it is one of his busiest positions.

One year after buying the Integrated Power Services joint venture from Halliburton and Western Power, Anthony Wooles has firmed up plans to turn the local company into a national operator and maintainer of energy assets.

New State Development and Energy Minister Alan Carpenter is looking to Queensland for his ‘big picture’ vision for Western Australia. He spoke to Mark Beyer.

Moves by Perth’s regional councils into waste processing have run into further problems with the Western Metropolitan Regional Council the latest to experience a setback.

Premier Geoff Gallop has won his second election, his parliamentary majority is intact, and he has refreshed his ministry with a modest reshuffle and five new faces.

Kevin Andrews is hardly a household name in Australia but that will change over the next few months.

The Federal Government’s plan to establish a unitary industrial relations system has been condemned by the union movement and Labor state governments but, more surprisingly, has gained a mixed response from business groups.

With debate over Australia’s skills shortage hotting up in Canberra, business migration to Western Australia is set to break all records this year.

There is a simple and fairly reliable formula for finding industrial disputes in Western Australia.

Fears that oil and gas giant Woodside could import the entire process plant for its $2 billion phase five expansion project are causing increasing concern within the State Government and among local industry players.

Business groups want skills training, industrial relations reform and budget policy at the top of the Gallop Government’s second-term policy agenda. Mark Beyer reports.

Before the recent election WA Business News asked the Government a number of questions. Here is a summary.