Bloomberg Pilbara Minerals Ltd, one of Australia’s biggest lithium producers, plans to build a demonstration plant in Western Australia capable of refining the material that’s key to the booming global battery metals market. The pilot plant would process Pilbara Minerals’ hard-rock ore into lithium salt near the company’s Pilgangoora Project in Western Australia, in a joint venture with Australia’s ...

  Bloomberg South Korean house prices recorded the biggest decline in nine years as the central bank’s 16-month tightening cycle weighs on the property market, adding to credit concerns for policy makers. Nationwide home prices dropped 0.32% in November from a year earlier, while Seoul slid 0.12%, according to data from Kookmin Bank. South Korean surveyors tend to count the ...

  Bloomberg Pakistan has halted payments for in-app purchases including online video games bought by local customers using airtime from telecommunications companies, the latest sign of distress caused by the country’s depleted foreign-exchange reserves. Telecom service providers were violating regulations by allowing payments to be made for customers under an arrangement with the government that permitted the phone companies to ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc partner Foxconn is offering bonuses of as much as $1,800 to existing workers at its Zhengzhou facility, hoping to sustain the staff levels it needs to run the world’s largest iPhone factory. Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, will top up wages by as much as 13,000 yuan per month in December and January ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is boosting military spending and expanding Canadian trade ties in the Indo-Pacific region as part of a “generational” policy shift aimed at countering China’s influence. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly released her nation’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, including nearly $1.7 billion (C$2.3 billion) in spending. That money is being used for more navy patrols in the region, ...

  Bloomberg Dozens of people in Hong Kong rallied in the city and emulated some of the protests erupting in China in opposition to the nation’s Covid Zero policy. The people gathered in the city’s central business district at about 7:40 pm local time, with some holding blank pieces of paper — mimicking what many protesters have done in the ...

  Bloomberg South Korea is continuing with efforts to ease strains in its credit market, with local financial firms making a second round of contribution to a key bond stabilisation fund redeployed in October. The companies will inject an additional 5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) into the fund between December and January, according to the Finance Ministry. The Bank of ...

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank has been surprised by the strength of inflation, which has boosted price expectations and required a more aggressive interest-rate response, Assistant Governor Karen Silk said. “What we have seen is actual inflation continue to surprise on the upside, but more importantly inflation expectations have moved higher as well,” Silk said in an interview with ...

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG sees room to expand its deals business in Asia and is looking to hire selectively even as some rivals turn wary amid a sharp slowdown in China. “As different industry players continue to be increasingly cautious, we do see opportunity to strategically grow our market share in some areas where it makes sense,” Amit Khattar, ...

  Bloomberg Australia has a stronger probability of bringing its economy in for a “soft landing” than almost any other developed-world counterpart, Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said, citing the nation’s still-contained wage growth. “It’s not guaranteed but where I sit today I think we have a better chance than most other countries of pulling it off,” Lowe told a ...