In today’s talking points: China set to build $400 million lithium plant in WA, Australia; US and UK investors beat out China as the top foreign investors in Australian farmland; Chinese banks lead the way but Asia needs $7.7 trillion investment to meet climate change goals; Australian wheat price decline has Asian buyers converting.
China set to build $400 million lithium plant in WA, Australia
World’s largest producer of lithium chemicals, Tianqi Lithium is set to build a lithium processing plant in Kwinana, south of Perth with construction set to begin in October 2016. The world’s largest rock lithium mine will more than double the annual production of lithium. It is expected to produce 24,000 tonnes of lithium chemicals each year from 2018. Analysts say the move will threaten the existence of many Australian junior players. Western Australia’s State Development Minister welcomed the plant development as “positive news for growing the state’s economy”.
Source: Australian Financial Review
US and UK investors beat out China as the top foreign investors in Australian farmland
13.65% of Australia’s agricultural land are foreign-owned. Reports have revealed that of this, two-thirds are owned by investors from the United Kingdom and the United States. China comes in fifth, after the Netherlands and Singapore. China’s holdings represent less than 0.5% of the total Australian agricultural land despite wide-spread media focus on Chinese investment. The new register introduced in May 2015 confirms the perception that levels of foreign ownership have been increasing.
Source: The Guardian
Chinese banks lead the way but Asia needs $7.7 trillion investment to meet climate change goals
A report by the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change has called on financial regulators to do more to help the shift towards low carbon investment. Chief executive Emma Herd said $US7.7 trillion of renewable investment will be needed in Asia to meet the warming target of 2 degrees Celsius. The report found that regulatory initiatives have led to Chinese banks leading the way in restricting finance to industries with high energy consumption and pollution, but the other Asian markets lacked the same incentives. While most of the Asian banks studied had some form of responsible lending policy, they lacked policies directly related to climate change. The Asia Investor Group on Climate Change aims to educate financial institutions on the risks and opportunities associated with climate change.
Source: Australian Financial Review
Australian wheat price decline has Asian buyers converting
Millers in Asia are beginning to switch to Australian wheat on the back of a price decline in the Pacific Nation’s grain prices. It has caused cargoes to become more competitive with global wheat prices falling to a 10-year low. Mills all over Asia have signed deals in the last week to import up to 400,000 tones of Australian wheat. Australian wheat is regarded as cleaner with a better protein content. Australian wheat farmers will start to harvest close to 28 million tonnes of crop next month following ideal growing conditions this year.
Source: Reuters