BHP's balancing act; RBA reality check for miners; inside the Aldi boom
Published: October 23, 2025
BHP's balancing act; RBA reality check for miners; inside the Aldi boom
News in brief
The Reserve Bank has poured cold water on hopes of a mining boom on the back of surging demand for battery minerals like rare earths and copper, saying the outlook for the sector depends on the speed of the roll-out of renewable energy, the take-up of EVs and other technologies, and the competitiveness of domestic production.
Discount supermarket Aldi is closing the gap on the big supermarkets with annual sales hitting $13.3bn last year, about one-third the size of Coles revenue. Aldi now has more than 600 outlets across the country.
Some customers using old Samsung phones are unable to connect to Triple Zero services. Telstra has told people using certain Samsung phones to urgently update or replace their devices.
A quarter of shareholders have voted against the re-election of Super Retail chair Judith Swales as the retailer battles with claims it did a poor job managing the former CEO, which it ousted last month.
The South Island of New Zealand has been buffeted by winds of up to 155kmh, leaving around 90,000 homes without power and forcing authorities to cancel more than 100 flights.
Fear-o-meter
Aldi’s first store in Australia opened in 2001 and the group, known for its cheap, private label groceries and huge, sometimes eclectic, range of merchandise, took on two powerhouses, Woolworths and Coles.
It now has more than 600 outlets and sells $13.3 billion worth of products each year. Coles' annual revenue is $40 billion. Woolworths is $51 billion, according to The Australian.
Aldi now receives 11 per cent of supermarket spend, relative to Woolworths and Coles combined 73 per cent. Aldi is a serious player. Events like its annual ski sale make it now the single largest retailer of ski gear in the country.
It made a profit of just over $400 million meaning it has a profit margin of three per cent, which is in line with its competitors. Significantly, Aldi’s sales are growing at about triple the pace of the big two, at almost 10 per cent year on year.
It is a very impressive performance from a group taking on two market gorillas.
Fear & Greed Q+A today
On why he believes emerging markets are back on the table for investors, including Indonesia and Mexico:
"We had the fortune of being able to spend a day with important commercial banks in Mexico, speaking to their economists and speaking to representatives on the bank to hear what their customers are telling them.
And the picture was that despite having had tariffs imposed upon them, practically speaking, about 90 to 95% of traded goods with America should be able to fall within a, let's call it a customs union. So in other words, no tariffs. And for companies, that's really good news because what that means is at the flick of a switch, they get a major advantage over their competitors."
BHP chairman Ross McEwan said the miner has a “pretty good” relationship with China, and at yesterday’s AGM downplayed concerns that Australia’s rare earths deal with US will hurt the Big Australian’s iron ore exports. But BHP is wary of Beijing. Asked whether he is open to a tie-up with Rio Tinto when dealing with China, McEwan said the company is open to all such opportunities, though there were no talks at the moment. Chief executive Mike Henry conceded the world’s biggest miner’s journey with China had been a rocky road.
Greed-o-meter
| Route | Airline | Flight Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York → Singapore | Singapore Airlines | 18h 40m |
| 2 | Singapore → Newark | Singapore Airlines | 18h 25m |
| 3 | New York → Auckland | Air New Zealand / Qantas | 18h 00m |
| 4 | San Francisco → Bengaluru | Air India | 17h 55m |
| 5 | Los Angeles → Singapore | Singapore Airlines | 17h 35m |
| 6 | Dallas → Melbourne | Qantas | 17h 35m |
| 7 | Perth → London | Qantas | 17h 30m |
| 8 | Auckland → Doha | Qatar Airways | 17h 20m |
| 9 | Dallas → Sydney | Qantas | 17h 15m |
| 10 | Auckland → Dubai | Emirates | 17h 05m |
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Last week Qantas flew one of its longest-ever flights in a Boeing 787 - a charter service from Perth to Los Angeles, carrying WWE stars. The flight took 16 hours and 41 minutes - long, but still not up there with top ten longest commercial flights currently operating around the world.
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Source: Travel+Leisure