July 17, 2024
(AUSTRALIA HAS BECOME A “FOOD SUPERPOWER”)
July 17, 2024
Hello everyone,
Australia has quietly become a “food superpower” over the past decade, as local farmers have increased their output by more than 90%, according to billionaire paper, packaging, and recycling magnate Anthony Pratt.
The Australian food production industry now represents 6% of Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Over the past 10 years, 1200 food factories have been built across the nation and food exports have more than doubled from $29 billion to $59 billion.
Beef exports to China over the period have grown 200%.
More than one in four Australian manufacturing jobs are in food and beverage manufacturing – and food is by far the largest manufacturing sector in our economy.
Australia has secured 11 new free-trade agreements (FTA) in recent years, including the landmark Australia-India FTA that came into effect in December 2022.
It now has 18 FTAs in place, which has helped diversify the nation’s food exports at a critical time.
Australian barley exports to ASEAN countries have tripled in the past three years and Australian lobster exports to ASEAN have quadrupled.
$300 million worth of premium wine is now also being sold to ASEAN countries for triple the price Australia would get in the American market.
Cash-free charging trial for EV drivers
One of Australia’s largest electric car-charging networks will test drive cashless technology to remove another barrier to adopting the transport technology.
Evie Networks announced plans to introduce “Auto charge” technology to more than 80% of its network on Wednesday, to be tested by a select group of users before a widespread roll-out in August.
The technology comes in addition to other industry efforts to reduce drivers’ reliance on apps at charging stations, including RFID cards that work across networks.
Evie Networks public charging head Bernhard Conoplia said the company invested in the technology after drivers expressed concerns about the complexity of charging vehicles at public facilities.
Thirty percent of Australian drivers have expressed a lack of confidence about mastering EV charging-related technology, which is why Evie Networks has prioritized activating the Auto charge feature.
The feature, which must be set up in the company’s app, is compatible with electric vehicles from brands including Tesla, BYD, MG, Volvo, and Polestar, and automatically recognizes the vehicle when users plug in a charging cable.
The feature eliminates the need to use the Evie Networks app to identify the location of the charger or an RFID (radio frequency identification) credit card to tap on a reader.
The technology would be made available to all users at 83% of its 255 charging locations in early August.
Electric cars made up eight percent of new vehicles sold in Australia during June, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, and represented more than 50,000 vehicle sales in the first six months of the year.
Australian real estate stocks you should be watching as the Fed cuts and bond yields fall
UBS says Australian real estate stocks could benefit from expected US interest rate cuts, despite local rate cuts not anticipated until 2025.
UBS says names like Stockland, Scentre Group, and Goodman Group are attractive amid a falling yield environment.
UBS analysts said that Stockland is currently trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13 and is expected to deliver a 3-year EPS compound average growth rate of 7%.
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Cheers,
Jacquie