| Pre. Settlement | N/A |
| Settlement date | 2021-09-20 |
| Open | 156.50 |
| Bid | 154.90 |
| Last price | 156.20 |
| Day's range | 153.80 - 156.80 |
| Volume | 3,291 |
| Ask | 155.05 |
- Yahoo Finance Video
Coffee industry ‘experiencing lower volatility’
Trade CEO, Mike Lackman, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss Trade’s accessibility to all types of consumers and the increased growth the company witnessed during the pandemic and how they have been able to maintain a steady growth.
- Bloomberg
Scramble for Workers in Australia Signals Inflation Coming
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.From tropical island resorts to Outback whiskey makers to mountain ski fields to inner city coffee shops, Australian businesses are struggling to recruit the staff they need to service their cashed up customers.Australians each year spend about A$20 billion ($15.5 billion) more abroad than international tourists do Down Under -- money that’s now being spent locally as the border remains shut to keep out Covid-19. Also locked out are the around 15% of the labor supply in hospitality and food trades that are usually drawn from overseas workers.“We are offering above-award wages,” said Kate O’Callaghan, chief executive officer of the Whitton Malt House, whiskey distillery in western New South Wales, explaining recruiting efforts. “We’re always advertising. We’re sort of desperate on social media because we’re always looking for people who want to work.”Such troubles would be music to the ears of Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe, who is trying to drive down unemployment to trigger pay gains across the economy. He has struggled to meet the RBA’s 2-3% inflation target since taking the helm in 2016 and now says the goal is unlikely to be achieved until 2024 “at the earliest.”Gareth Aird, head of Australian Economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, reckons the governor might be a little too pessimistic.“If you’re trying to achieve higher wages and higher inflation, what you need is things like capacity utilization at elevated levels, you need lots of skills shortages so that you’ve got a better chance of wages coming through,” he said. “Everything looks like it’s moving in the right direction on that front.”A diminished pool of skilled labor -- from baristas to waiters to chefs -- means businesses will need to start bidding higher to secure employees. Yet, there will always be lags between anecdotes of higher wages and the bulk of the work force actually receiving them.‘Work in Paradise’After bearing the brunt of last year’s lockdowns, the Australian hospitality industry is now ground zero for labor shortfalls. In Queensland state, the government is offering cash and a travel bonus to encourage potential workers to move to tourism hotspots like the Whitsunday Islands and Cairns, a popular departure point to the Great Barrier Reef.“You could be eligible for a A$1,500 incentive and a A$250 travel bonus to get you to paradise!” the government says on its website promoting the the ‘work in paradise’ program. “There are thousands of jobs that need to be filled in Queensland’s most beautiful destinations.”It’s not just hospitality, either. In resource-rich Western Australia, gold miner St. Barbara has struggled to fill critical roles and mining services company Mineral Resources can’t secure enough truck drivers. Meantime, foreign construction companies that have won contracts in Australia say they’re struggling to bring in skilled labor to complete the jobs.It’s a similar scene on the mountain slopes of Victoria, where professionals traditionally follow winter around the world.“Mt Buller is certainly experiencing challenges this season with the ski and snowboard school,” said Rhylla Morgan, a spokeswoman for the resort. “Many of the highly experienced instructors and coaches who work professionally here and abroad following winter are unable to travel to work with us this season.”Aird says that CBA’s profile for inflation and wages “is running ahead of what the RBA is saying,” adding that “the forward-looking indicators of labor demand are as strong as we’ve seen them in a long, long time.”(Updates with quote from Aird in final paragraph)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
$70 Oil, $200 Iron, $10,000 Copper: Commodities Smash Milestones
(Bloomberg) -- When headline crude futures topped $70 a barrel on Tuesday, it was just the latest landmark in a banner year for raw materials.From copper to iron ore and oil, prices have rallied broadly in 2021, as the global economy emerges from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and fires up demand. The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index, which tracks a broad basket of raw materials, is up 21% since January, putting it on track for the best year since 2016.Copper surged to an all-time high this month, bursting through $10,000 a ton in the process. Iron ore also hit a record recently with the steelmaking raw material surging as China churns out more of the alloy that ever. Now oil’s joining in, with Brent crude topping $70 a barrel, and retail gasoline prices above $3 a gallon in the U.S.Together, they’re latest signs of a global economy that is starting to see inflationary forces at work. The prices of the raw materials used to make everything from houses to coffee are skyrocketing, underscoring the giant reflation trade that has gripped global markets this year.“It’s driven by inflation concerns and demand,” said Giovanni Staunovo commodity analyst at UBS Group AG. “Commodities are reopening-and-reflation trades.”Beyond of raw materials, there are wider booms underway across commodity markets. Argentina’s government is limiting exports of beef, a staple in the country, to try to contain runaway inflation that’s approaching 50% annually. Wheat, corn, and sugar all hit multiyear highs recently, while palm oil reached a record and soybean oil is trading near an all-time high.Gold rose to the highest in more than three months, breaking out of a downtrend its held since August, on growing inflation concerns and assurances on monetary policy.Economic RecoveryCopper has been one of the main beneficiaries of a broad economic recovery and vast stimulus programs around the world, but investors are also getting excited about the longer-term outlook.The metal is crucial for nearly all the technologies and infrastructure needed to decarbonize the global economy with supply struggling to keep pace with consumption. A lack of mine investment and paucity of new projects has prompted forecasts of shortages.There’s optimism among oil bulls that the crude market will keep running hot into the summer too. Continued restrictions on flying are likely to force people into their cars when they go on vacation, potentially proving to be a boon in road fuels demand. Meanwhile airlines are growing optimistic that some regions will be able to open their borders as vaccinations progress.As a result big banks have rolled out a wealth of bullish takes on the sector. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says a goldilocks scenario is forming for the commodities sector, with inflation starting to rise but monetary policy not yet tightening. Top trader Trafigura Group has talked up the prospects for copper to hit $15,000 a ton in the coming decade.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
