Industry experts have observed a shift in favour of Australian logistics industry development and expansion of haulage-management technology.

The director of industrial research for Jones Lang LaSalle in Australia, Nick Crothers, says the country is moving away from domestic manufacturing and toward logistics and distribution of imported goods.

''Outsourcing of various supply-chain management functions, such as freight, transport and warehousing, to external transport and logistics companies and their requirements for bigger, cheaper and more efficient industrial facilities has increasingly driven the cycle of growth in take-up and supply,'' Mr Crothers said.

Two main factors highlighted as influences on warehouse and logistics sector trends in Australia were improvements in inventory-management practices and strong growth in consumer goods imports.

''Australia's imports-to-sales ratio has been rising steadily over a period of at least 40 years,'' said Mr Crothers, ''rising import volumes imply an increased demand for warehouse capacity, which results in further investment in distribution and logistics facilities... the recent strength of the Australian dollar has contributed to import growth, but there are evidently long-term structural factors at work as well."