B06 Coal Mining

Aussie miners hit by China coal curbs

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Original article by Michael Smith, Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 27-Sep-18

China’s imports of thermal coal rose 18.2 per cent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2018, according to official data. Thermal coal imports from Australia were up almost 27 per cent in the first seven months of the year. Meanwhile, the Chinese Government has reportedly introduced import quotas on thermal coal at some of the nation’s major ports in a bid to boost demand for Chinese coal. The bulk of China’s coal imports in 2017 were sourced from Indonesia, and a China-based trader says that nation will be harder hit by the import quotas than Australian coal producers.

CORPORATES
NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32

Coronado tips coal prices above $US170

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 25-Sep-18

Coronado Global Resources will have a market capitalisation of more than $4bn after its proposed IPO. The company, whose primary listing will be in Australia, proposes to issue 166.5 million CHESS Depositary Interests to local shareholders; its only shareholder Coronado Group will in turn sell more than 123 million CDIs. Coronado Global Resources’ assets include the Curragh coking coal mine in Queensland and several coking coal mines in the US. MD and founder Garold Spindler expects the price of coking coal to remain above $US170 per tonne in the near-term, due to continued strong demand.

CORPORATES
CORONADO GLOBAL RESOURCES INCORPORATED, CORONADO GROUP, ENERGY AND MINERALS GROUP, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, BM ALLIANCE COAL OPERATIONS PTY LTD, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, MMG LIMITED – ASX MMG, VIVA ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX VEA

Shutdowns to hit China coal hardest

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 19-Sep-18

New Hope Corporation has posted a 2017-18 underlying profit of $253m, which is 96 per cent higher than previously. The result was underpinned by higher commodity prices and increased production. Meanwhile, CEO Shane Stephan forecasts that demand for Australian coal will remain strong over the next six months, despite looming industrial production cutbacks in China. He argues that the traditional winter shutdown in China primarily reduces demand for local rather than imported coal, which tends to be of higher quality.

CORPORATES
NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Strong Asian demand boosts coal exports

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: Online : 11-Sep-18

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that the value of thermal coal exports in July was at a record $2.45 billion, up 14 per cent from the previous month. Export volumes of thermal coal for July increased by 10 per cent to a record 19.87 million tonnes. The combined value of thermal and coking coal exports in July was $5.58 billion, compared to a value of $4.7 billion for iron ore. The latest federal Industry Department forecast suggests Australia will export 199 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2018-19.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

Former Rio mines a boon for Yancoal

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 17-Aug-18

Yancoal Australia has reported a 2018 interim net profit of $361m. The result was boosted by the contribution of Rio Tinto’s thermal coal mines in New South Wales and a sharp rise in the price of thermal coal since the deal was struck. About $130m of the interim profit will be returned to shareholders via dividend payments, which equates to about $0.003 per share.

CORPORATES
YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC

Austar coal workers in doubt

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 : 10-Jul-18

Yancoal Australia has redeployed most of the workers at its Austar coal mine in New South Wales after it was issued with two prohibition notices by the state’s Resources Regulator. Yancoal will seek a ruling from the Industrial Relations Commission on whether it can access the mine in the wake of the two most recent "coal burst" incidents that forced its closure. Yancoal hopes to at least retrieve longwall mining equipment, even if it cannot resume production.

CORPORATES
YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT. RESOURCES REGULATOR, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Pure play coal just doesn’t make the cut for UniSuper

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 5-Jul-18

UniSuper’s Talieh Williams says the superannuation fund takes into account a range of factors when deciding whether to invest in a stock. UniSuper has relatively little exposure to the coal sector, and pure-play coal miners in particular, which she attributes to the super fund’s rigorous investment processes. Meanwhile, QSuper says it invests across the S&P/ASX 200 Index and therefore does have exposure to pure-play coal producers. Yancoal Australia recently blamed fund managers’ lack of interest in a capital raising for its proposal for a dual listing in Hong Kong.

CORPORATES
YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, UNISUPER LIMITED, QSUPER LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, CLIMATE ACTION 100+, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ADELAIDE BRIGHTON LIMITED – ASX ABC, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

EMR Capital buys BHP Chile copper mine for $310 million

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 20-Jun-18

BHP Billiton has sold its Cerro Colorado copper mine in Chile to private equity firm EMR Capital for $US230m ($A310m). BHP will also receive $US40m from the sale of inventory from the mine, while a potential additional payment of up to $US50m is linked to the outlook for the copper price. EMR’s co-founder Jason Chang says the firm’s focus is on increasing the mine’s output and its resource base, rather than the copper price. Chang expects EMR to make further acquisitions in the next two years.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, EMR CAPITAL PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ADARO ENERGY

Premier pledges coal supply to wary Japan

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Original article by Jared Owens
The Australian – Page: 6 : 31-May-18

The Queensland Government has assured Japanese steel mills that a dispute between Aurizon Holdings and coal producers will not affect the state’s coal shipments. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has held talks with Japan’s Foreign Minister, Taro Kono, after warnings from some coal buyers that the dispute could prompt them to seek alternative suppliers. Palaszczuk and Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian Macfarlane have both urged Aurizon to engage with the Queensland Competition Authority to resolve the impasse.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, JAPAN. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, QUEENSLAND. COMPETITION AUTHORITY, QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL LIMITED, NIPPON STEEL AND SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION

New Hope mined area outside its Acland parameters

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Original article by Jared Owens
The Australian – Page: 6 : 31-May-18

The Queensland Government will investigate claims that New Hope Group has expanded production at its New Acland coal mine beyond the mine pit footprint which had been approved by the Department of the Environment, The allegations, which were made by the Oakey Coal Action Alliance, have been disputed by New Hope. Meanwhile, anti-coal activists have appealed against the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a Land Court ruling with regard to the mine’s proposed stage three expansion.

CORPORATES
NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, NEW HOPE GROUP, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE PROTECTION, OAKEY COAL ACTION ALLIANCE, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, LAND COURT OF QUEENSLAND, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS OFFICE