Aumake and Yangtze River sign $300m supply chain alliance for Australian goods
Retailer Aumake (ASX: AUK) has secured a $300 million deal with Chinese state-owned enterprise Yangtze River New Silk Road International Logistics (Hubei) Group to establish an end-to-end supply chain for Australian goods and services.
The three-year co-operation framework will see Aumake utilise its extensive sales channels in Australia to assist Yangtze River in developing a procurement network for Australian products focused on agricultural and livestock items, fast-moving consumer goods, frozen goods and bulk resource commodities.
Procurement plans
Under the terms of the deal, Yangtze River will purchase a minimum of $100m worth of Australian products from Aumake in each 12-month period.
Detailed procurement plans will be created and approved by both companies at the beginning of each year to specify the types of goods, their quantities and delivery schedules.
In return, Aumake will be given access to integrate and leverage Yangtze River’s port, warehousing, logistics and trade resources in the Chinese province of Hubei into its existing supply chain.
Streamii marketing
Aumake will also establish strategic alliances with domestic partners for specific Australian goods and services and integrate its artificial intelligence-powered digital marketing assistant Streamii into these businesses to assist with cross-border sales management.
Streamii was launched in June to simplify the creation of high-quality digital marketing content, optimise social media management and facilitate global market connections across mainstream Chinese platforms such as Douyin, WeChat and Xiaohongshu.
Aumake has commenced the alliance process by leveraging established relationships with Petersons Wines in New South Wales and new company Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Alliance to form the “Wine Couture” tourism and gift store.
The sharing of resources is expected to allow Aumake to streamline its cost profile and help drive improved margins as the company looks to accelerate profitability in the 2025 financial year.
‘Trusted partner’
Aumake managing director Joshua Zhou said the Yangtze River agreement was a milestone achievement for the company.
“We continue to demonstrate our value as an innovative and trusted partner in bridging trade between China and Australia,” he said.
“We are progressing further opportunities which have the potential to broaden into more significant agreements over time.”
“This is an exciting time for the industry and we are well-placed to solidify our position as a pioneer in cross-border sales between Australia and China.”
Mr Zhou said Aumake would meet with representatives from Yangtze River in August to conduct a formal signing ceremony.