ALEC pays tribute to live export pioneer Emilio Balzarini

Few individuals have left as enduring a mark on Australia’s live export industry as Emilio Balzarini, an Italian-born businessman whose vision, entrepreneurial instinct and quiet determination helped shape the modern livestock trade.

 Mr Balzarini combined a global outlook with hard work, humility and deep commercial insight to build a business that connected Australian producers with markets across the Middle East and Asia, leaving a legacy that continues to influence the industry today.

His involvement in the livestock trade began in Europe in the 1950s, when he founded SIBA SpA. Operating initially from Eastern Europe and Ireland, he supplied livestock to North African markets, primarily Libya, using small vessels he converted into livestock carriers. These early ventures gave him a deep understanding of livestock supply chains, as well as the cultural and commercial dynamics of importing regions that would later define his success.

In 1979, Mr Balzarini brought his experience to Australia, founding Wellard in Fremantle alongside his daughter Donatella and son-in-law Domenico. He personally oversaw the company’s first shipment from Australian shores aboard the MV El Podrero. By 1980, Wellard had established a permanent presence in Australia, focusing on sheep exports to the Middle East, then a rapidly expanding market driven by population growth, rising incomes and limited domestic livestock production.

During the early 1980s, Mr Balzarini supported this growth with significant investment in infrastructure, including raised sheds capable of holding 60,000 sheep and a 20-stand shearing shed to maximise animal health and welfare during the pre-export quarantine period. This marked the first multi-million-dollar investment in pre-export facilities within the live export trade.

The first two decades of Wellard’s Australian operations, from 1979 through the late 1990s, coincided with a formative period for the live export industry. Live sheep exports to the Middle East expanded rapidly, growing from 160,000 head in 1960 to millions annually by 1973, reaching a peak of 7.7 million head in 1987. Of that total, Wellard exported approximately 1.8 million sheep that year.

By the late 1990s, the company began investing in its own purpose-built vessels, culminating in the construction of what were then the largest purpose built vessels in the trade, the MV Ocean Drover and MV Ocean Shearer. Throughout this time, Mr Balzarini retained a keen interest in the day-to-day operations of Wellard, regularly faxing the Australian office with updates and advice, including precise positions of all SIBA and Wellard livestock vessels operating both in Australia and internationally.

Over subsequent decades, latterly under the direction of his son Mauro Balzarini, the business broadened its scope beyond Middle Eastern sheep exports to include cattle exports to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, and later into emerging markets such as Turkey and China.

Beyond his contribution to the livestock industry, Emilio Balzarini was also a passionate thoroughbred breeder and racer. He was recognised as one of the great figures of the Italian racing industry, breeding and racing champions including Adaptor, My Top, Martino Alonso, Ramonti, Miss Gris, Will Dancer, Jurado, Olympia Dukakis, Erin Bird, Glen Jordan and Montalegre. His famous SIBA red and blue colours were seen on the international stage at events such as The Derby, the Hong Kong Mile, the Queen Anne Stakes and the Sussex Stakes. In Australia, those colours appeared in the “Race That Stops a Nation” in 2009, when Basaltico competed in the Melbourne Cup.

Mr Balzarini passed away peacefully at home on 10 April, surrounded by his family, aged 96. He is remembered as a pioneer of the live export industry, a devoted family man, and a businessman whose influence extended across continents and generations.