Break it Down: Further validation for Sovereign's Kasiya project
One of Japan's top titanium producers has given their tick of approval to Sovereign Metals rutile from the Kasiya project.
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News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Rice prices Japan's hot political issue, on and off the farm
All is calm at Satoshi Yamazaki's rice farm, with its freshly planted rows of vivid-green seedlings, but a row over the cost of the staple in Japan is threatening to deal the government a blow at the ballot box. Shortages of the grain caused by a supply chain snarl-up have seen prices almost double in a year, fuelling frustration over inflation -- and voters could let their anger be known in upper house elections due next month. To help ease the pain for consumers and restaurants, the government started tapping emergency stockpiles in March, having only previously done so during disasters. Yamazaki, who grows about 10 percent of his rice organically using ducks to eat pests, said he understands high prices are "troubling" for ordinary people. But he stressed that thin profits are a concern for many of those who produce it. "There's a gap between shop prices and what farmers sell rice for to traders and the like," he told AFP in the northern Niigata region. "Not all the money paid at shops becomes our income," said Yamazaki, a 42-year-old father of seven. A mosaic of factors lies behind the shortages, including an intensely hot and dry summer two years ago that damaged harvests nationwide. Since then some traders have been hoarding rice in a bid to boost their profits down the line, experts say. The issue was made worse by panic-buying last year prompted by a government warning about a potential "megaquake" that did not strike. - 'Old' rice - Meanwhile, the rising price of imported food has boosted the popularity of domestic rice, while record numbers of tourists are also blamed for a spike in consumption. Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi has pledged to cut prices quicker by selling stockpiled rice directly to retailers -- attracting long queues to some shops. It appears to be working: the average retail price has edged down for a second week to 4,223 yen ($29) for five kilograms (11 pounds), down from a high of 4,285 yen in May. That hasn't stopped opposition politicians -- with an eye on the elections -- and online critics branding the reserve rice "old", with some likening it to animal feed. But analysts also blame Japan's decades-old policy of cutting rice-farming land. The policy was introduced to support prices that were being hit by falling demand brought about by changes in the Japanese diet. Under the 1971 policy, farmers were told to reduce the amount of space used to grow the grain in favour of other crops. That saw the amount of land used for rice paddies -- not including for livestock feed -- plunge below 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) in 2024, from a peak of 3.3 million hectares in 1960. While the policy was officially abolished in 2018, it has continued in a form of incentives pushing farmers towards other commodities like soybeans. Adding to the crisis is Japan's ageing population. Many rice farmers are old and their children have no interest in taking over. Eighty percent of rice farmers are part-time with less than two hectares of fields but they account for only 20 percent of production, said agronomy expert Kazunuki Oizumi, professor emeritus of Miyagi University. Their main revenue comes from other jobs or pensions, he added. - Agriculture 'destroyed' - Toru Wakui, chairman of a large-scale farm in the northern Akita region who has for decades fought against the acreage reduction, said Japan should "seek an increase in rice production and exports to foreign markets". "If you only think about the domestic market while increasing output, of course prices will fall," he told AFP. "We need to look for markets abroad." "The 55 years of acreage reduction destroyed Japan's agriculture," said Wakui, 76, who urged Koizumi in a letter last month to "declare an expansion in rice production". He also said Japan should consider a scheme to help young people start agriculture businesses without the burden of initial investment in fields and machinery, by involving other sectors including banks and trading companies. Public support for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government has tumbled to its lowest level since he took office in October, which local media say was partly caused by the surge in inflation and soaring rice costs. He has told parliament that increasing production is "an option" to temper prices, but said food security and the livelihood of producers was also important. For the farmer Yamazaki, "wanting cheap rice with high quality" is a pipe dream. "We farmers are a little baffled by the limelight that suddenly shifted to us," he said. kh/kaf/dan
Perth Now
7 hours ago
- Perth Now
Asian stocks slip as trade, geopolitical tensions weigh
Global stocks and the dollar have slipped as investors size up a benign US inflation report and the fragile trade truce between Washington and Beijing, while rising tensions in the Middle East and lingering tariff anxiety dent risk sentiment. Attention in financial markets this week has been on the US-China trade talks that culminated in a framework agreement that would remove Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals and allow Chinese students access to US universities. "We made a great deal with China. We're very happy with it," US President Donald Trump said. Markets though were guarded in their response, awaiting fuller, concrete details of the agreement and remained wary of another flare up. Trump also said the US would send out letters in one to two weeks outlining the terms of trade deals to dozens of other countries, which they could embrace or reject, adding yet another dose of uncertainty in the markets. "The US China deal really just leaves the tariffs in place after they've been cut back following the Geneva meeting, so it doesn't really change things," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital. "Ultimately the trade tension is yet to be resolved between the US and China." MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.3 per cent lower in early trading on Thursday after hitting a three year-high on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.7 per cent, while US and European stock futures fell. China's blue-chip stock index fell 0.37 per cent, moving off the near three-week top it touched in the previous session. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.74 per cent, also inching away from Wednesday's three-month high. Trump's erratic tariff policies have roiled global markets this year, prompting hordes of investors to exit US assets, especially the dollar, as they worried about rising prices and slowing economic growth. The euro, one of the beneficiaries of the dollar's decline, rose to a seven-week high and was last at $US1.1512. The Japanese yen was 0.4 per cent firmer at 144.03 per dollar. That pushed the dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other key rivals, to its lowest level since April 22. The index is down nine per cent in 2025. Data on Wednesday showed US consumer prices increased less than expected in May as cheaper petrol partially offset higher rents, but inflation is expected to accelerate in the coming months on the back of the Trump administration's import tariffs. The soft inflation report led Trump to renew his call for the Federal Reserve to push through a major rate cut. The president has been pressing for rate cuts for some time even as Fed officials have shrugged off his comments. Traders are pricing in a 70 per cent chance of a quarter-point reduction in the Fed policy rate by September. Policymakers are widely expected to keep rates unchanged next week. In commodities, oil prices were pinned at two-month highs, close to $US70 a barrel, on worries of supply disruptions in the Middle East after Iran said it will strike US bases in the region if nuclear talks fail and conflict arises with Washington. Gold prices also got a boost from safe-haven flows, with spot gold up 0.5 per cent at $US3,370.29.
West Australian
16 hours ago
- West Australian
Jetstar Asia flights between Singapore and Broome to end on July 29 to make way for Qantas airbus
The burgeoning Kimberley tourism industry is set to be collateral damage in Qantas' scrapping of its Singapore-based offshoot Jetstar Asia. Jetstar Asia flights between Singapore and Broome will end on July 29 as Qantas brings 13 Airbus A320 aircraft jets back to Australia to use on its highly profitable domestic and trans-Tasman operations. Tourism Council WA chief executive said Evan Hall, said the closure of the twice-weekly Singapore to Broome return service in the middle of the peak season would hit Kimberley providers hard. 'The tour operators now have major holes in their bookings,' Mr Hall said. He said the flights between Singapore and Broome were no different to other WA services in mostly carrying locals. But on Wednesday, Premier Roger Cook held out the prospect of the State Government helping revive the dry season Broome to Singapore service, which started last year. Mr Cook said the State Government would work with Broome Airport and Qantas to 'see how we can restore those direct aviation links'. It is understood options for the Broome to Singapore are being considered by the aviation division at Tourism WA, which oversees funding for routes and services that can build high-value tourist traffic in the State. Qantas and Jetstar Australian management have so far rejected taking over the Broome to Singapore flights, which they claimed had been barely half-full since commencing last year. Unveiling the Jetstar Asia closure on Wednesday morning, Qantas claimed in public statements it only impacted intra-Asia routes operated by the airline. But Qantas had privately warned State officials that the twice-weekly flights between Broome and Singapore would be caught up in the closure of Jetstar Asia, which is 51 per cent owned by Singapore businessman Dennis Choo. It also tried to play down the potential impact on the Kimberley industry by reporting that most passengers on the Broome to Singapore flight were from the WA local area. Mr Hall said the flights between Singapore and Broome were regularly used by WA residents, and they also carried the 'jewel' of international visitors. Mr Hall said the route was attractive to high-value, respectful Singaporean and European tourists. 'They're the ones that want to do an Aboriginal tourism experience,' he said. 'They will tour the Kimberley and they will buy pearls.' He said the route needed more than the one full tourism season and a half season provided by Jetstar Asia to develop. Mr Cook said service was not 'hugely patronised' by international passengers but had provided economic activity to assist the Broome economy.
