According to The Australian Financial Review, wage growth is tipped to have accelerated to its fastest rate in a decade at the end of last year, cementing the prospect of at least two more interest rate rises from the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Markets expect the December quarter wage price index, to be released on Wednesday, will show pay packets grew by a solid 1 per cent in the final three months of last year, taking annual growth from 3.1 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/wages-growth-to-hit-decade-high-of-3-5pc-20230217-p5clhe
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, Australia will need to put aside its aversion to industry policy and devote at least $15 billion in public funds over the coming decade to counter a sudden global hydrogen “subsidy arms race” triggered by the US that threatens to gobble up traditional north Asian export markets, says Deloitte.
The warning comes in a report published on Thursday by the consulting firm and in remarks from former Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Guy Debelle, which argue that there needs to be greater political support for hydrogen to ensure it becomes a key component of the net zero transition, and a potential offset for the “rivers of gold” that come from LNG exports.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australia-falling-off-the-pace-in-global-hydrogen-race-20230223-p5cn0f
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, GrainCorp chief executive Robert Spurway says Australian wheat remains in high demand even with sizable exports starting to flow out of Russia despite international trade bans applied over its war on Ukraine.
Mr Spurway said global demand for grain continued to outstrip supply with GrainCorp on track to export 8.5-9.5 million tonnes in the year to September 30.
GrainCorp is loading ships as fast as it can at its seven east coast port terminals but is slightly behind where it was at this time last year in moving grain after late rain and flooding in some of the worst-hit regions.

https://www.afr.com/companies/agriculture/graincorp-on-track-for-another-big-profit-as-world-clamours-for-wheat-20230216-p5cl3u
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, asking rents in capital cities jumped a record-breaking 2.4 per cent in the past 30 days, triggering fears that the increase will further stoke inflation, prompting higher-than-expected interest rates.
Louis Christopher, SQM Research managing director, said the sharp rise in rents would feed into the inflation measures used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which the Reserve Bank relies on to make decisions about interest rates.
Weekly rents in the biggest capital cities soared to record levels, with Sydney rents rising 2.5 per cent over the month to $744. Melbourne’s rents climbed 2.7 per cent to $549, Brisbane’s gained 1.4 per cent to $594, and in Perth, prices firmed 1.3 per cent to $586.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/record-monthly-rent-surge-is-a-timebomb-for-inflation-20230214-p5ckb7
 

According to The Nikkei Asia, Mitsubishi Materials will begin commercial recycling of rare metals such as cobalt and lithium from used lithium-ion batteries taken from electric vehicles, starting in fiscal 2025, Nikkei has learned. The Japanese company aims to increase its processing capacity to 6,000 tonnes per year by around fiscal 2030.
It is technically difficult to extract lithium and other materials at low cost, especially from lithium-ion batteries. Used EV batteries are typically melted down and recycled for steel and other metals. Mitsubishi Materials and its partner, Envipro Holdings, will develop a technology to recover rare metals efficiently from batteries by soaking powder from batteries called "black mass" in sulfuric acid and other solutions. Mitsubishi Materials aims to improve the efficiency of the extraction process, drawing on its expertise in copper smelting.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Materials/Mitsubishi-Materials-to-recycle-rare-metals-from-used-EVs

According to The Nikkei Asia, Japan hopes to see spending by foreign tourists go up 25% to 200,000 yen (USD 1,532) each in 2025 by attracting affluent jet-setters and having travelers stay for longer.
The new spending target, set under a draft tourism promotion proposal compiled Thursday, is 41,000 yen higher than the 159,000 yen spent in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The three-year plan, presented by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to a panel of experts for discussion, seeks to direct visitors toward less-traveled regions.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/Japan-targets-1-500-for-spending-by-foreign-visitors
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, home-grown carbon reduction outfit MCi Carbon has signed up Austria’s RHI Magnesita as its first commercial customer in a move that further cements links between the two nations on technologies that will underpin the journey towards net zero emissions.
London-listed RHI Magnesita, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of refractory materials used in high-temperature equipment such as furnaces and kilns, has also made a multimillion-dollar investment into the technology developed by Canberra-based MCi Carbon.

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/carbon-cutting-start-up-woos-international-partner-20230214-p5ckg7
 

According to The Hydrogen Fuel News, South Australia plans to bring an ambitious green energy project to fruition by building the largest hydrogen power plant in the world, which will be home to an electrolysis facility that is ten times bigger than any other H2 power station currently in operation.
Additionally, the hydrogen power plant will run the excess green energy through a massive 250-megawatt (MW) electrolysis facility, allowing for the production of large amounts of hydrogen. The hydrogen that is created will be stored on site.
The plan is to run the hydrogen through a 200-MW generator facility and put energy back into the grid during times when renewable energy production is at its lowest, during the evenings and through winter months. The hydrogen will either be burned to drive steam turbines or it will be converted back to electricity via a massive fuel cell stack.
The project will receive funds of AU$600 million (US$414 million) from the South Australian State Government and be constructed near the city of Whyalla, about 100 km northwest of Adelaide. The plant is expected to be operational by 2025.

https://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/hydrogen-power-plant-sa/8557221/
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, developers Lendlease and Mirvac say up to 30 per cent of housing developed on publicly owned land should be allocated for diverse housing types such as social and affordable dwellings to increase the homes available for low-income households and key workers.
Almost one-third of the new housing stock could be for homes leased at below-market rents and such projects could be developed profitably if governments controlling the land sold it for less and put more value on the social contribution of more community housing, the developers said.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/large-developers-push-for-affordable-housing-mandates-20230207-p5cikc
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, Transurban’s biggest dealmaker, Scott Charlton, will step down at the end of the year after a “collective decision” by the toll road group’s board and the chief executive, who describes running the $30 billion company as the highlight of his infrastructure career.
“The last thing I want to do is be one of those people who stays too long,” the 58-year-old told The Australian Financial Review after investors were informed of his departure – slated for December – along with record first-half earnings from the company’s toll roads. “Eleven years is a long time. I want to do something else.”
Transurban’s board met on Monday to discuss Mr Charlton’s exit from the company. The 12-month notice will give Mr Charlton time to potentially bid for another toll road, Melbourne’s EastLink, and tackle the remaining risks on Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel project, where costs blew out by $2 billion.

https://www.afr.com/companies/infrastructure/now-is-a-good-time-transurban-ceo-scott-charlton-to-retire-20230206-p5cibs