Overview

This report builds on our existing fortnightly Data Insights series and includes more detail on NAB business customer inflow data across various industries and states. While the data are quite volatile, we can see the broad impact of seasonal and commodity price changes across a number of commodities. This month, we consider the impact of the cotton industry rebound on customer inflows.

Business inflows for NAB agriculture, forestry and fishing customers continue to perform strongly overall, reflecting strong crop yields combined with generally high commodity prices. ABARES’ latest forecasts point to farm production totalling almost $73 billion in 2021-22, an over 50% increase in a decade. With the BoM now in La Nina watch, the spring outlook is strong.

This is reflected in our customer data, with cotton inflows in NSW now at the highest level since our series began in 2015. Meanwhile Qld cotton inflows are at their highest in three years. The strong seasonal conditions since 2020 have replenished storages and allowed a strong recovery in cotton production. ABARES’ latest forecasts suggest that Australian cotton lint production will almost equal 2017-18 and be the third highest on record.

Get all the details in NAB’s Economics Data Insights: Agriculture – September 2021.