Continuing unfavourable conditions and a lack of water kept Australian agricultural production down during 2007-08, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. With laws of supply and demand dictating prices, it does not bode well for some food prices, though there were some favourable figures. Rice plantings dropped to the lowest levels since 1927 - from 20,000 hectares in 2006-07 to 3,000 hectares in 2007-08 - while production was down 86% to 23,000 tonnes. Rice has been... ...Read more »
Peak retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said it was optimistic the 0.2 per cent increase in September 2008 retail trade figures released today would continue the upward trend in the months leading into Christmas. According to the ARA’s Executive Director Richard Evans, the September retail trade figures will come as welcome news for struggling retailers, indicating consumers with disposable dollars are likely to inject much-needed funds back into the retail sector... ...Read more »
Inflation data for the year to September was released by the ABS today, with the 5% increase the greatest since 1995 (excluding the period when the GST was introduced). The inflation rate is now well above the 2-3% target range of the RBA but is not expected to stop the central bank cutting interest rates at their next meeting in November. Food inflation for the September quarter was at 1.4%, bringing the yearly rate up to 3.4% - well below the figure seen earlier this year when commodity... ...Read more »
A turnover increase of 0.3% for August was outlined in today’s release of retail trade trend estimates, with food retail one of the leading performers. According to the Australian Retail Association’s Executive Director, Richard Evans, the increase in August 2008 retail trade is notice for Canberra to hold a steady hand to the wheel of government and provide confidence to the community. “The August Retail Trade Trends are only a glimmer of light for retailers who have been suffering... ...Read more »
ABS Retail Trade figures for May 2008, released yesterday, indicated that there is still some resistance to the rising cost of living by consumers.ANRA (Australian National Retailers Association) CEO, Margy Osmond, believes the figures, while more positive than in recent months, are still worrying for some retailers. “Retail turnover has picked up, rising by 0.7 per cent in May. This is the best result by far for the year to date,” she said. “Consumer spending has been strongest... ...Read more »
The April estimate of retail trade has been released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics with the trend estimates unchanged from March this year. Food retail has experienced weak trend growth for the sixth straight month, with a decline estimate in the trend growth only witnessed in New South Wales. This decline in trend for NSW has now been seen for five months with all other states experiencing moderate or weak trend growth for the month of April. Across all industries retail turnover was down... ...Read more »
Statistics released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) indicate that there is still a weak growth trend in retail sales. The retail food industry has seen a weak trend of growth for four months with the greatest growth experienced by the take-away food retail and supermarkets/grocery stores industries. As is customary, food retail sales fell from the figures experienced in January with sales down 5.6%. This was an improvement on last year when February sales were down 7.3% on January... ...Read more »
Data on meat production in Australia for the month of February was released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS reported that seasonally adjusted trends for production of beef, mutton, veal, lamb and pig meat were all done on last month’s trend figures. Beef production did increase by 30,000 tonnes on last month’s figures but was still down by 14,000 tonnes on the corresponding month last year. Veal and lamb production figures were down both on last month and corresponding... ...Read more »