Australasia

Markets across Australia and New Zealand remain subdued, with industrial volumes still relatively low. Metal merchants are complaining about narrowing margins and tightness of supply. Local consumers are buying at current levels but at least one has had to change its procurement policy, reducing scrap volumes owing to increased energy costs.

While the torrent of tariff-related headlines has eased, allowing the markets to take stock somewhat, there are still concerns about slowing economic momentum in both Australia and New Zealand.

The unemployment rate in New Zealand has remained at a consistent 5.1% for the past quarter and the official cash rate is unchanged for now, although there is still scope to lower this further during the remainder of 2025.

Annual inflation in Australia is back within the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2-3%. With such global uncertainty and consumption rates lower than forecast, it will be interesting to see how monetary policy changes over the remainder of the year.