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Articles by David Uren
Japan and Australia can build economic strength amid weakening globalisation
The forces of globalisation that drove business and governments through the decades leading up to the 2007–08 Global Financial Crisis have lost their power amid rising nationalism, social inequality and financial volatility. The contours of a new international order cannot yet be drawn with any certainty, but strengthening economic security is emerging as a priority for many, including the governments of Japan and Australia.
Critical mineral, rare earth elements, mining, Pentagon, China
CRITICAL MINERALSU.S. Moves Decisively to Avoid Dependence on China’s Rare Earths Published 2 August 2025 The Pentagon’s package of support for rare earths company MP Minerals, announced on 10 July, should free the US military and eventually much of US industry from dependence on Chinese supply chains for rare earth magnets.
Despite it all, China dominates Australian trade - again - Openforum
China has reasserted its dominance over Australia’s export markets, taking a record of almost 1 billion tonnes of mineral resources and agricultural commodities last year, and displacing the trading partners that helped Australia out during the years it suffered Chinese economic punishment. An extraordinary 63 percent of Australia’s export shipping was destined for China last year, matching the record set in 2019-20 before China started imposing bans on select Australian commodities.
Australia’s defence manufacturers are essentially a cottage industry, with the average supplier employing only 13 people and achieving net annual sales of about $2.2 million. These averages, drawn from the annual review of the industry by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, obscure the contribution of the major suppliers, such as BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Thales, but also underline the challenge of scaling up the domestic contribution to defence capability.
Daily review 14/05/2025
Daily review 14/05/2025 Written By: notices and features - Date published: 5:30 pm, May 14th, 2025 - No comments Categories: Daily review - Tags: Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other … Related Posts
Open mike 23/04/2025
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 23rd, 2025 - No comments Categories: open mike - Tags: Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Misleading Billboards Are a Threat to Electoral Integrity
The appearance of billboards targeting Green Party MP Tamatha Paul raises concerns about electoral integrity and public trust. These billboards, designed and put up by the Sensible Sentencing Trust, mimic the campaign materials used by Tamatha Paul during her successful bid for Wellington Central in 2023, even copying her portrait. This striking similarity risks misleading voters into believing these advertisements are genuine Green Party campaign hoardings.
Daily review 07/04/2025
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other … Related Posts
In trade, nothing can replace the US consumer. Still, Asian countries look to each other
How will the US assault on trade affect geopolitical relations within Asia? Will nations turn to China and seek protection by trading with each other? The happy snaps a week ago of the trade ministers of China, Japan and South Korea shaking each other’s hands over progress on a trilateral trade pact suggested that possibility.
It’s been done before: pay for more defence spending with debt
Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases in defence spending with savings elsewhere or with taxes.
Critical mineral, rare earth elements, mining, Ukraine
CRITICAL MINERALSThe Value of Ukraine’s Critical Minerals Is Overstated Published 11 March 2025 In fact, Ukraine has no proven rare earths reserves—as distinct from deposits, which may or may not be economically recoverable. Its only established rare earths deposit, of unknown size or quality, is near Azov, a town currently under Russian control.
The value of Ukraine’s critical minerals is overstated
Anyone involved in Australia’s critical minerals industry would be rolling their eyes at the transaction still reported to be under consideration between Ukraine and the United States. US President Donald Trump was initially asking for the first US$500 billion in proceeds from Ukraine’s minerals development. Preliminary discussions spoke about the country’s critical minerals reserves being worth ‘trillions of dollars’.
The strategic importance of the Whyalla steelworks
Australia has been losing so many sovereign manufacturing capabilities over the past two decades that it is hard to know where to draw the line. The Whyalla steel mill may mark the spot. The Australian and South Australian governments certainly seem to think so. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday said the two governments would spend an immediate $484 million, mainly to keep the works going during the period of administration that the South Australian government initiated on Wednesday.
The collapse of the global trade-order - Openforum
The rising use of economic coercion is a symptom of an increasingly unstable world that is struggling to contain rise of China and is no longer bound by the institutions established in the wake of World War II. US President Donald Trump’s scattergun threats of punitive tariffs are a continuation of this trend. The Biden administration redoubled use of export controls to slow the spread of US technology to China.
Economic coercion tests international organisations
The rising use of economic coercion is a symptom of an increasingly unstable world that is struggling to contain rise of China and is no longer bound by the institutions established in the wake of World War II. US President Donald Trump’s scattergun threats of punitive tariffs are a continuation of this trend. The Biden administration redoubled use of export controls to slow the spread of US technology to China.
Has iron ore’s golden era come to an end?
At a glance China’s demand for iron ore to make steel has fuelled Australia’s rise in wealth over the past two decades. Despite China reaching peak demand for iron ore in 2023 and a huge African mine coming online in 2025, Australia’s market dominance should remain intact for the medium term. A 25% tariff on all US steel and aluminium imports will test Australia’s dominance unless exemptions are secured.
Australia can’t easily lift defence spending to a Trump-satisfying level
US President Donald Trump has called on NATO members to lift their defence spending from the current target of 2 percent of GDP to 5 percent. ‘They could all afford it,’ he said, warning that the United States would withdraw its guarantees of protection to Europe unless they paid up. Trump has not opined on Australia’s defence spending, but, when he gets to consider AUKUS, he is unlikely to be satisfied. And there’s no easy way for Australia to lift its spending to a level that would satisfy him.
A world on the move - Openforum
Global migration flows have risen to record levels since the pandemic, driven by economic opportunity and conflict, and are facing a widespread policy backlash. A record 6.5 million people made new homes in advanced nations last year, according to the newly released Migration Outlook of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Migration flows into advanced countries last year were 28 percent higher than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
6.5 million on the move: across the world, migration is surging
Global migration flows have risen to record levels since the pandemic, driven by economic opportunity and conflict, and are facing a widespread policy backlash. A record 6.5 million people made new homes in advanced nations last year, according to the newly released Migration Outlook of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Migration flows into advanced countries last year were 28 percent higher than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
International trade is dividing between blocs. Australia could be in the middle
Australia risks being caught in no man’s land as the world divides into rival economic blocs in what the International Monetary Fund describes as a new cold war. Trade has been falling everywhere since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it has been falling twice as fast between the blocs of nations centred on the United States and China as it has between nations within those blocs.
China sharpens the BRI with better risk management, ESG focus
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for investment abroad has been revamped with a greater focus on risk management and governance, and it is on the cusp of winning important new members. Brazil is expected to announce it will join the program when China’s President Xi Jinping makes a state visit to the country following a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in late November. Colombian officials, meanwhile, have confirmed their government’s intent to join.
Gaza’s economy: GDP down 86 percent, most businesses destroyed
It is intrinsic to warfare that economic assets are destroyed, but conflicts usually don’t generate economic devastation on the scale inflicted in Gaza. The value of economic activity in Gaza in the first quarter of 2024 was 86 percent below pre-war levels, with studies from both the World Bank and the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development describing its economic collapse.
Trump flags US dollar dominance as national security priority
United States presidential candidate Donald Trump sees the continued dominance of the US dollar in international transactions as a matter of national security. ‘If we lost the dollar as the world currency, I think that would be the equivalent of losing a war,’ he told The Economic Club of New York earlier this month. Trump has promised to impose 100 percent tariffs on imports from countries moving away from using the US dollar in their international transactions.
PNG's people miss out on the boom - Openforum
A World Bank study shows that while the PNG economy achieved rapid, resource-driven growth from 2009 to 2017, multiple measures show levels of poverty remained the same and are among the worst in the world. The study’s findings highlight the failure of the PNG state to provide basic services to a large share of its population, despite both the flow of resource-derived taxation and rising levels of foreign aid.
Despite resource boom, PNG poverty still sky high
The people of Papua New Guinea have derived no measurable benefit from the resource boom, unlike the populations of all other resource-rich nations. A World Bank study shows that while the PNG economy achieved rapid, resource-driven growth from 2009 to 2017, multiple measures show levels of poverty remained the same and are among the worst in the world.
Great while it lasted: Chinese demand for Australian minerals is sagging
Australia’s 20-year-long economic party, funded by China, may be drawing to a close, with consequences for federal and state budgets, superannuation returns and living standards generally. The iron ore price is the most obvious pointer to China’s declining demand for Australia’s raw materials: it has come down from an extraordinary peak of US$144 a tonne at the beginning of January to a spot price of US$92 this month, and the fall is expected to continue.
Critical mineral, rare earth elements, mining, China
CRITICAL MINERALSNot Just Beijing’s Doing: Market Factors Are Also Hitting Rare Earths Prices Published 24 July 2024 Have depressed rare earths prices been engineered by the Chinese state to snuff out non-Chinese rivals before they get going? Or do they simply reflect a weak market, with demand rising more slowly than was expected by the promotors of a slew of new projects? Have depressed rare earths prices been engineered by the Chinese state to snuff out non-Chinese rivals before they get going?
Not just Beijing’s doing: market factors are also hitting rare earths prices
Have depressed rare earths prices been engineered by the Chinese state to snuff out non-Chinese rivals before they get going? Or do they simply reflect a weak market, with demand rising more slowly than was expected by the promotors of a slew of new projects? The chief executive of Australian mineral sands miner Iluka, Tom O’Leary, argues that the Chinese government is manipulating the market.
Enforcing foreign investment rules - Openforum
Treasury has stepped up enforcement of Australia’s foreign investment regime, however it continues to try to balance protecting national interests and encouraging investment inflows. Data suggests some foreign investors, noting national security provisions in the system, are choosing other destinations for their money or keeping it at home. Chinese investors remain notably unenthusiastic about Australia.
Australia toughens enforcement of foreign investment rules
Treasury has stepped up enforcement of Australia’s foreign investment regime, however it continues to try to balance protecting national interests and encouraging investment inflows. Data suggests some foreign investors, noting national security provisions in the system, are choosing other destinations for their money or keeping it at home. Chinese investors remain notably unenthusiastic about Australia.
China is back as Australia’s dominant export market
Australia’s exports to the nations that supported it during China’s three-year campaign of economic punishment are tumbling, as China reasserts its position as Australia’s dominant export market. Exports to Japan have dropped by a third over the last 12 months, while exports to Korea are down by 23.9 percent and to Taiwan by 37.6 percent as Australian exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal, aluminium and other commodities redirect their sales to China.
Australia's national security demands reliable steel manufacturing
Risks to the future of the Whyalla steel mill should be prompting the federal government to develop contingency plans to ensure Australia’s continued capacity to manufacture basic steel products. The Whyalla mill is Australia’s only producer of ‘long’ steel products, such as steel beams for construction and rails, and is an important supplier of reinforcing bars and steel plate.
Private Investment in Pacific Island Countries
On 3 May, ASPI DC organized and moderated a Private Investment in Pacific Island States roundtable featuring 10 Pacific island states’ Heads of Mission and more than a dozen representatives from the US investment and private philanthropy sectors.
Budget: 10-year defence spending up 11 percent from 2022 plan
The Australian federal budget shows defence will receive a significant increase in funding over the next decade under the new National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Plan. The budget papers, issued on 14 May, include a chart comparing the proposed funding with the spending profile projected ahead of the 2022 election, when the AUKUS deal had been struck but no additional resources arranged.
Helium, polyethylene and more: Australia loses basic-materials industries
Australia is losing its ability to manufacture basic materials, with recent plant closures spelling the end to local production of polyethylene and the industrial gas helium, while the future of Australian nickel refining is in doubt.
National Defence Strategy: Cancellations cover 22 percent of acquisition costs
Defence will continue to operate within a tight financial straightjacket as it executes the massive redirection demanded by last year’s Defence Strategic Review and the AUKUS program, with cuts to existing projects expected to make a greater contribution to new acquisitions than fresh government funding. The government expects that savings from cancellations will deliver $73 billion towards the total of $330 billion to be spent on new equipment by .
Reclaiming leadership: Australia and the global critical minerals race
Climate policy, geopolitics and market forces are coalescing to deliver Australia a global leadership opportunity in critical minerals. To grasp that opportunity, Australia needs both to utilise its domestic mineral endowment and its mining knowledge and technology and to leverage the global footprint of Australian companies to help build a global supply chain network.
Ørsted, Cadeler ink long-term agreement for wind installation vessel capacity
Danish energy company Ørsted and wind installation specialist Cadeler have entered into a firm, long-term lease agreement for a newbuild offshore wind installation vessel. With the agreement, Ørsted secures installation vessel capacity from the first quarter of 2027 to the end of 2030 for upcoming construction projects. The signing of the long-term agreement discloses Ørsted as the client in Cadeler’s announcement made on October 12, 2022.
Stena Line acquires stake in Moroccan ferry operator
Stena Line has entered an agreement to acquire 49 per cent of the shares in Morocco-based ferry company Africa Morocco Link (AML). AML is headquartered in Tangier and operates a ferry route between Tanger Med and Algeciras. This summer, the company will also launch a new high-speed route between Tangier Ville and Tarifa. The first route is open for freight and travel customers whereas the second one will be a route for passengers and cars.
Over 90 dead in Mozambique ferry tragedy
Authorities in Mozambique have confirmed that more than 90 people were killed after a passenger ferry capsized and sank off Nampula province in the country’s northern coast on Sunday, April 7. The unidentified vessel was transporting over 130 people, many of whom were reportedly attempting to flee the mainland after they received unconfirmed news of a cholera outbreak earlier in the day on Sunday. Officials said the ferry suffered water ingress, which then caused it to capsize.
Olympic Subsea's newest CSOV hits the water
Norwegian shipbuilder Ulstein Verft has launched a new commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) ordered by compatriot offshore services provider Olympic Subsea. Olympic Boreas is the first in a series of two CSOVS being built for Olympic Subsea. Each will have a length of 89.6 metres, a beam of 19.2 metres, and 91 cabins that can house 126 personnel.
OPINION | Wartime trade: it’s not just military supply
The vulnerability of Australia’s trade routes to military coercion was highlighted by both last year’s Defence Strategic Update and by government commentary on the rationale for AUKUS. In his critique of ASPI’s new report, The trade routes vital to Australia’s economic security, Richard Dunley argues there are radical differences between trade in peace and in wartime, suggesting patterns of trade in the former have little bearing on those in the latter.
Wartime trade: it's not just military supply
The vulnerability of Australia’s trade routes to military coercion was highlighted by both last year’s Defence Strategic Update and by government commentary on the rationale for AUKUS. In his critique of ASPI’s new report, The trade routes vital to Australia’s economic security, Richard Dunley argues there are radical differences between trade in peace and in wartime, suggesting patterns of trade in the former have little bearing on those in the latter.
Coroner's inquest to be held 12 years following Hong Kong ferry tragedy
The Hong Kong Coroner’s Court is set to conduct an inquest into a maritime incident wherein 39 people were killed after two vessels collided just off Hong Kong’s Lamma Island nearly 12 years prior. The inquest, which is scheduled to commence before the end of this year, will be held to conduct a more thorough probe into the collision between the locally-registered ferries Lamma IV (pictured) and Sea Smooth on October 1, 2012.
Partnership to develop semiconductor technology for integration in marine propulsion systems
Infineon Technologies and South Korean shipbuilder HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (KSOE) have entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) as part of a broader project wherein the two companies will jointly develop applications for the electrification of marine engines and machinery using energy-efficient power semiconductor technology. KSOE is already focusing on creating environment-friendly, decarbonised ship technology that uses electricity and hydrogen.
US Coast Guard commissions fast response cutter Melvin Bell
The US Coast Guard commissioned its newest Sentinel-class fast response cutter (FRC) into service in a ceremony in New London, Connecticut, on Thursday, March 28. Built by Bollinger Shipyards of Louisiana, USCGC Melvin Bell honours the late Master Chief Petty Officer Melvin Kealoha Bell, a native Hawaiian who saw service as a radio operator and a codebreaker during World War II.
Singapore startup unveils electric passenger launch
Pyxis, a Singapore-based maritime technology startup company, has unveiled a new port passenger launch powered entirely by electricity. Named X Tron, the aluminium catamaran vessel is the first in a planned batch of 13 electric harbour craft that Pyxis will deliver up to the end of 2026. The 14.8-metre vessel will be used to shuttle up to 12 passengers between mainland Singapore and ships in the anchorage.
OPINION | War risks to Australian maritime trade
If push comes to shove between China and the United States, Australia’s international trade with Asia is at risk of becoming collateral damage. The sea routes through Indonesia and to Asia around the east of Papua New Guinea account for 90 per cent of Australia’s sea-borne exports and 83 per cent of its imports. Last year’s Defence Strategic Review identified the defence of trade routes as a priority.
War risks to Australian maritime trade
If push comes to shove between China and the United States, Australia’s international trade with Asia is at risk of becoming collateral damage. The sea routes through Indonesia and to Asia around the east of Papua New Guinea account for 90% of Australia’s sea-borne exports and 83% of its imports. Last year’s Defence Strategic Review identified the defence of trade routes as a priority.
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