RIO’s treason mine has been brought forward again. Pilbara iron ore achieved its highest Q2 production since 2018, recovering well from Q1 extreme weather impacts. Simandou first shipment accelerated to around November 2025, with 0.5 to 1.0 Mt of shipments expected in 2025 (SimFer scope from Blocks 3 & 4). Continued progress with our Iron
Risk markets continue to weigh up last night’s US CPI print with tariff inflation beginning to hit the US domestic economy, with the Fed likely to hold instead of cut for the rest of the year. More “frameworks” and “thinkings about deals, maybe” are being announced by the Trump regime as US Treasury yields drift
After experiencing a reprieve last year, the latest net permanent and long-term arrivals data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) suggests that net overseas migration (NOM) has surged back in 2025. There were 1,128,480 permanent and long-term arrivals in the year to May, offset by 680,860 departures, with both tracking at close to a
As we know, Australia hates Donald Trump in part because of his stance on climate change. What most Australians don’t know, however, is that the US has done a much better job of decarbonising itself cheaply than we have. The recent change has been part of the post-COVID recovery. While the US has rehabilitated industry,
I am ideologically opposed to taxpayer-funded subsidies for private car transportation. Most of these subsidies go to higher-income earners. Thus, they are a prime illustration of the reverse Robin Hood phenomenon, in which the rich benefit at the expense of the poor. Electric vehicle (EV) subsidies are extremely expensive and inequitable, worsening the long-term sustainability
The groveller-in-chief will grovel. China Daily, a state media outlet, trumpeted the unusual length of Albanese’s visit (six days) and claimed the prime minister’s office saw the trip as a “friendly gesture” made “against the backdrop of rising tensions between the United States and many countries”. …Earlier in the day, TV journalists at the Drum
Let’s call it what it is: a recession. Even a depression. Much like Japan before it, it is of the golden variety, hidden by fiscal bridges to nowhere. The Chinese economy grew a fanciful 5.2% in the June quarter. But even the slow-moving and captured are asking pointed questions now. Bloomberg. Nominal GDP, which accounts
The Market Ear with equities latest. Tech mania Stat of the day: “In the past 3 months since April, global investors have raised their allocation to the tech sector by the largest amount since Mar’09“. Source: BofA NASDAQ – no problem? NASDAQ futures printing new ATHs as of writing as tech breaks above the little
ANZ-Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index has languished below the neutral 100 mark for more than three years, the longest and deepest stretch this century. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index last reached positive territory above 100 in March 2022, just before the Albanese government was elected into office. “Low confidence isn’t just a mood
The ferrous complex is looking toppy. Yesterday’s June data was bad for Chinese steel. The only conclusion one can draw from this chart is that deep output cuts are underway. Private data is not capturing it. The decline of green steel continues. But both BOF and EAF output have topped at the mid-year peak well