China relations test, super battery, BlueScope's Whyalla bid

Good morning everyone, it's Ben here in a brisk Melbourne, here's what's making news today. Today's must-reads:• Australia charges Chinese n

View in browser

Good morning everyone, it's Ben here in a brisk Melbourne, here's what's making news today.  Today's must-reads: • Australia charges Chinese national with foreign interference • Super battery on track to become world's largest • BlueScope's bidding consortium for Whyalla steelworks

What's happening now

The Australian Federal Police have accused a Chinese national of foreign interference for collecting information on a religious organization targeted by Beijing, a case that raises the risk of sparking renewed tensions between the two nations. A woman, who is also an Australian permanent resident, was arrested and charged on Saturday after authorities executed search warrants at homes across Canberra. The A$1 billion Waratah Super Battery has begun operations, with 350 megawatts already online. Once it is fully commissioned,  the 850-megawatt battery operated by Blackrock-owned Akaysha Energy, is expected to have the world's largest power output. BlueScope Steel said it will lead an international consortium to bid for the beleaguered Whyalla steelworks in South Australia, investigating the possibility of converting the site into a low-carbon steel manufacturing hub. Venture partners include South Korean steel giant POSCO Holdings, Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. and Indian multinational JSW Steel. In other commodity news, Alcoa is planning to investigate production of gallium — a metal used in semiconductors — as a byproduct from existing aluminum operations in Western Australia.  Gallium crystals Photographer: Hendrik Schmidt/picture alliance Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was selected to build a new class of naval frigate for Australia, Nikkei newspaper reported, beating out Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems. Keeping young people safe online is a rallying cry we can all get behind. But the furor in Australia over plans to ban children under 16 from social media shows it's not as simple as it sounds, writes Bloomberg Opinion's Catherine Thorbecke.

What happened overnight

Here's what my colleague, market strategist Mike "Willo" Wilson says happened while we were sleeping… US stock indexes rose sharply, powered by solid earnings and strong expectations of interest rate cuts in the short term. Japan's yen gained, the US dollar was little changed and Switzerland's franc fell after that nation's stock market returned from a long weekend to 39% tariffs courtesy of President Donald Trump. Aussie and kiwi edged lower. Today, Australia has a gauge of job ads while New Zealand has can see how a select group of commodities are performing in NZ$ terms; neither are especially market moving. Futures contracts indicate strong opening gains for Australian stocks. Electric vehicle giant Tesla approved an interim stock award worth about $30 billion for Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, a massive payout meant to keep the billionaire's attention on the automaker as a legal fight over a 2018 pay package drags on. President Trump said he would be "substantially raising" the tariff on Indian exports to the US over the Asian nation's purchases of Russian oil, a move New Delhi slammed as unjustified in an escalating fight between the two major economies. In other tariff news, the trade deal reached last month between the US and Japan was "win-win" for both countries, but implementing the terms of the pact may be a bigger challenge than reaching the deal, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said.

What to watch

All times Sydney: • 11.30 a.m. — Australia household spending data for June

One more thing...

On a clear night at the end of April 2024, arsonists slipped into a tidy residential neighborhood in Hermannsburg, a German village of about 8,000 people. Under the cover of darkness, they arrived at a large redbrick home, where they set fire to a clapboard garden house and a towering beech tree out front. The home belonged to Armin Papperger, the chief executive officer of Rheinmetall AG, Germany's largest defense company. His targeting represented a new frontier in Russia's history of violence against enemies living on foreign soil. Papperger in Duesseldorf in 2023 Photographer: Jann Höfer/Laif/Redux

Follow Us

Like getting this newsletter? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? Get in touch here. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Australia Briefing newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox. Unsubscribe Bloomberg.com Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022