Key View

• At Fitch Solutions, we expect Australian wheat production to reach 34.0mn in 2022/23, which despite representing a y-o-y decline of 6.2%, marks Australia's second successive bumper harvest, with total output 40.0% above the 5-year average.
• Consequently, the USDA expect Australia's export volume to remain at 26.0mn tonnes in 2022/23

Key View

• The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to be the primary driver of wheat and corn price market volatility, with second-month generic wheat futures surging 8.2% and corn up 2.3% following Russia’s decision to withdraw from the agreement.
• Russia’s withdrawal from the suspension resulted in an immediate easing of prices, with wheat

Key View

• Increased government funding will contribute to strengthening Australia’s pharmaceutical sector.
• Healthcare will remain a key spending priority in Australia’s 2022-2023 federal budget.
• Reducing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme general co-payment will increase access to medications and will continue to drive pharmaceutical

Key View

• Following the RBA's decision on October 4 2022 to hike its policy rate by 25 basis points to 2.60%, we at Fitch Solutions maintain our forecast for the benchmark cash rate target to end 2022 at 3.10% and to peak at 3.35% in 2023.
• We expect that the central bank will remain resolute in reining in high domestic inflation, which we

Key View

• Australia’s aim to increase sovereign capability in pharmaceutical manufacturing will bode well for the domestic industry.
• The push towards onshore manufacturing will attract pharmaceutical investment.
• Domestic manufacturing will increase export opportunities for drugmakers.

Australia’s aim to increase sovereign capability in

Key View: Australia is a developed market for alcoholic beverages and will continue to see strong trends of premiumisation, even as pandemic effects wane. Real disposable income growth of Australian households will support this trend. We are seeing the effects of premiumisation across all alcoholic drinks segments (beer, wine and spirits), with

Key View

• Following the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)’s July 5 meeting where it hiked the benchmark cash rate target by 50bps to 1.35%, we at Fitch Solutions have revised our forecast for the cash rate target to reach 2.35% (compared to 1.60% previously) by the end of 2022.
• We expect stronger wage growth and a resilient economy to provide

Key View

• Following the ALP’s securing a parliamentary majority in the 2022 Australian Federal Election, we have raised the country’s Short-Term Political Risk Index to 78.3 out of 100 from 71.5 previously.
• We expect a parliamentary majority will provide the ALP with greater latitude in crafting and enacting policies, while the broadly similar

Key View

• Following record-breaking wheat production in 2021/22, we are maintaining our forecast of another bumper Australian crop during 2022/23.
• We forecast production to reach 33.90mn tonnes, a 4.5% decline on 2021/22, but still 69% above the 10-year average.
• Our positive outlook is driven by a projected increase in the planting area

Key View

• At Fitch Solutions, we are anticipating the Australian cotton industry to build on its record 2021/22 production, increasing to a new high.
• Our forecasts are primarily driven by high rainfalls throughout 2022 filling the water irrigation dams to near capacity, well before the 2022/23 planting season, providing us with a high degree