Australia Briefing: Syrah’s Tesla Battery Boost & More News Here – Upjobsnews

(Bloomberg) — Hi it’s Jackie here, welcome to the first edition of the Australia Briefing, a daily dispatch to jumpstart your day. Find it on Bloomberg.com/Asia over the next few weeks. This is what’s happening around our region this morning:

Battery Boost: Aussie-listed critical minerals company Syrah Resources has been awarded a conditional loan of up to A$146 million from the Biden administration to help finance a U.S. plant expansion. Syrah, which has an agreement to supply Tesla with battery-ready graphite, will use the money to expand its facility in Vidalia, Louisiana, to produce enough natural graphite-based active anode material for approximately 2.5 million electric vehicles by 2040.

Coal Castoffs: Coal’s supremacy is under threat from cheap clean power, and it’s shaking up the job market. Australia is confronting one of the energy sector’s biggest challenges — how to transition millions of fossil fuel workers to new roles in wind and solar.

Not Clear: Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said she’s concerned about a “lack of transparency” in relation to the draft security agreement between the Solomon Islands and China. Speaking on television, Payne said the matter is “something that should be discussed in the broader Pacific Island forum context itself” and that the “Pacific family” is best placed to respond to regional security issues.

Lowered Expectations:  The World Bank cut its forecast for global economic expansion this year on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s planning to mobilize a funding package bigger than the Covid-19 response for nations to deal with various resulting and ongoing crises.

China Strength: Monday’s big news was China’s GDP, which grew faster than expected at 4.8% in the first quarter — but the figure doesn’t capture the full impact of lockdowns which began in the middle of March. Separately, Shanghai reported the first Covid deaths in its current outbreak — after suspicions about the country’s official coronavirus death toll.

Ukraine Latest: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Monday that Russian forces had begun the campaign to conquer the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east as Moscow continues moving troops and materials into that part of the country.

Pop Idol: Indonesia’s Jokowi is under fire for naming a pop star with no economic experience the country’s G-20 spokesperson. Some see it as a blatant attempt to woo young voters.

Tech Support:  Apollo Global Management is interested in helping finance a bid for Twitter following Elon Musk’s $43 billion unsolicited offer to take the company private, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Crumbling Currency: The yen posted its longest losing streak in at least half a century as traders weighed the diverging paths of monetary policy in Japan and the U.S.

Boston Strong: Kenya’s Olympic gold medalist Peres Jepchirchir was victorious in a nail-biting finish at the Boston Marathon, which marked the 50th anniversary of its first official women’s race. Evans Chebet completed the Kenyan sweep, winning the men’s division.