In part here are some details released from Woolworths CEO.
Toilet roll sales are tapering off this week it will be down to 15 to 16 million rolls . 2.75 million rolls of paper towels and 1.6 million boxes of tissues .Similar issues with hand sanitiser just brought in another 700,000 units .They have also doubled there supplies of disinfectant and floor cleaners etc similar figures for pasta etc. I can't get my head around these figures and I am pleased that the supermarkets are trying to deal with the problem . You can be Sure Coles and Aldies will have similar figures it is absolutely staggering .
It gives me some understanding of what is going on there must be some huge hoards of product out there.

The sales have tapered off for several reasons:-

1. They aren't putting as much on the shelves and when some is available the choice of brand and package size isn't there.
2. The supermarkets are now operating to reduced trading hours.
3. The queues are getting longer outside the supermarket because they are now only letting 200 people into the shop at a time.

In the past Australia was self sufficient in the production of essentials but for a number of 'seemed like a good idea at the time' reasons both governments (of all varieties) and business have largely dismantled this capability on the grounds of economic efficiency. It is now considered that it is more important that the consumer has a wide choice from a standardised range of cheap, low quality imports than fewer but higher quality items that just might include some made locally; sale volume and turnover are the criterion while safety standards and import tariffs are unnecessary restrictions and a hindrance to 'free trade'. As has been mentioned by other readers, various countries have been only too willing to assist Australia in its misguided embrace of dependence on all things foreign made.

The present crisis has focused attention on the performance of the 'just in time' supply system and shown that it is very vulnerable to disruptions in transport, sudden increases in demand and over-reliance on single sources of supply of particular goods. As my wife now has a disability that limits her mobility, I am the one who does the supermarket shopping so I have a good idea of what stock in usually on the shelves of the Coles and Aldi stores in our local small shopping centre. Also having been trained in systems, logistics and supply plus having written warehouse and stock control software in the distant past, I take an interest in how the supermarkets manage or mismanage their stores. It is also curious what items are fully stocked one day and sold out the next that cannot be due to simple seasonal demand (such as ham/turkey at Christmas). Certainly there was a lot of 'panic' buying beginning at the end of February but when the stores imposed purchase limits in March these should have reduced sales to a rate that was close to usual daily deliveries. (I acknowledge that some people/groups have been making repeated trips in and out to buy more than the one pack allowed in a single transaction which defeats the aim of the limit.) Along with my 'fellow Australians' I have been engaged in the great toilet paper hunt but with very little success (just once in Aldi). However I have been asking each store I try, Coles, Woollies, Aldi and IGA how much they usually received daily pre-panic, how much they are ordering now with the limits imposed and how much they actually received daily. All where happy to tell me the figures. The first three are getting at best 20% of what they order and some days none. The two IGA stores got none, just nappies well in excess of what they ordered. None are getting the quantity of daily stock that they usually received before March. Again Coles and Aldi have large quantities baby nappies well in excess of what they usually on the shelves. (Coles have moved nappies away from the nursery items isle and filled all the shelf space that used to have toilet paper.) I take this to show that the problem is one of supply rather than panic buying that Scotty keeps telling us all off about. (Odd that Scotty has not told us what happened to the 50 million face masks held in secret government stores for emergency use that were mentioned in a press release and reported in the Canberra Times in late February when the PM was telling us it was still safe to go to the footy.) In a statement reported in the Canberra Times, Kimberly-Clarke said that they had increased their production of toilet rolls in South Australia but acknowledged that they are giving priority to supplying Melbourne and Sydney before anywhere else. (Scotty please note, you cannot panic buy something that is not in the store to begin with!)