COAL MINES AND MINING – AUSTRALIA

PM stays course on coal, climate

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Geoff Chambers, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Jan-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used a National Press Club speech to reiterate the federal government’s commitment to its 2030 target for reducing carbon emissions by 26-28 per cent. He noted that the Paris Agreement allows developing countries to continue increasing their carbon emissions, and stressed the need to address the ‘climate gap’ between nations. Morrison also defended Australia’s coal export trade, arguing that if it is shut down coal buyers will merely seek alternative sources of coal that may be of lower quality.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

Union pushes to overturn BHP’s Fair Work win on enterprise deals

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 9-Jan-20

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union is appealing the Fair Work Commission’s decision to approve two enterprise agreements covering employees of BHP’s Operations Services division. The bulk of these workers are employed at BHP’s coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, and the CFMEU contends that they should be covered by the enterprise agreement for the miner’s other workers in the basin. The CFMEU argues that these workers earn up to $40,000 a year more than the Operations Services employees.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Asia’s coal hunger to lift exports

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Greg Brown, Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 18-Dec-19

Australia’s coal production will grow by 1.4 per cent annually over the next five years, according to a report from the International Energy Agency. The nation’s coal output is forecast to top 444 million tonnes in 2024, compared with 409 million tonnes in 2018. Thermal coal exports are forecast to increase from 203 million tonnes to 223 million tonnes over this period, with coking coal shipments to rise from 179 million tonnes to 196 million tonnes. Demand for Australian coal is expected to be driven by nations such as India, Vietnam and Indonesia. Greens MP Adam Bandt has called for legislation to phase out coal exports by 2030, claiming that "coal will kill us".

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, SIEMENS AG

Whitehaven takes hit on drought and fires

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 6-Dec-19

Whitehaven Coal has advised that output at its Maules Creek mine in 2019-20 will be 7-10 per cent lower than previously forecast. The company has indicated that factors such as smoke from the New South Wales bushfires has disrupted work at the mine. Whitehaven also said the mine’s production has been affected by a shortage of skilled workers. Environmental activists have suggested that the downgrade is linked to climate change.

CORPORATES
WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, GLENCORE PLC, AURELIA METALS LIMITED – ASX AMI

Port logjams threaten coal demand: Tata Steel

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Luke Housego
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 5-Dec-19

Tata Steel MD T.V. Narendran says India will continue to source the bulk of its coking coal from Australia; however, he warns that India will seek other sources of coking coal if action is not taken to address bottlenecks at Queensland’s coal shipping ports. Narendran notes that India currently imports about 50 million tonnes of coking coal a year, and this will grow significantly amid expectations that the nation’s steel production will double over the next decade.

CORPORATES
TATA STEEL, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST

New Hope blasts loophole for activists

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 23-Sep-19

New Hope Corporation’s CEO Shane Stephan has called for the abolition of laws that exempt environmental activists from penalties for engaging in secondary boycotts. He says it is not right that anti-coal activists can target suppliers to the mining industry with action that would otherwise be illegal under the Competition and Consumer Act. New Hope recently advised that 150 workers at its New Acland mine will be retrenched at the end of October. A proposed $900m expansion of the mine has been on hold for more than a decade.

CORPORATES
NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, WASHINGTON H SOUL PATTINSON AND COMPANY LIMITED – ASX SOL, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

BHP to review membership of coal lobby

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 6-Sep-19

BHP says the latest review of its membership of industry associations will include Coal21, which has links to the Minerals Council of Australia. The resources giant is under growing pressure to sever its links with pro-coal lobbyists, but it has recommended that shareholders vote against a resolution calling for it to cancel its membership of the MCA due to the latter’s stance on climate change. Meanwhile, CFO Peter Beaven says BHP would be open to selling its coal assets at the right price; he adds that a decision on a proposed brownfield expansion of the Olympic Dam copper mine may be delayed until 2022.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, COAL21 LIMITED, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Whitehaven boss hints at hefty dividends for shareholders

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 12-Jul-19

Whitehaven Coal will post underlying earnings of $567.6m for 2018-19, according to the consensus forecast of analysts polled by Bloomberg. It would be the group’s second successive record profit, with Whitehaven benefiting from the premium at which its thermal coal has traded compared with the benchmark price. MD Paul Flynn has given indications that Whitehaven will maintain its dividend payout ratio, although some analysts suggest that it may be prudent to retain some cash given its plans to develop the Vickery and Winchester South mines.

CORPORATES
WHITEHALL ASSOCIATES, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, BLOOMBERG LP, FARALLON CAPITAL PTY LTD

Bruised Labor in race to embrace coal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rosie Lewis, Charlie Peel
The Australian – Page: 4 : 3-Jun-19

Shadow agriculture minister Joel Fitzgibbon has also taken on the resources portfolio in Labor’s post-election reshuffle. Fitzgibbon has stressed that Labor will continue to support the mining and exporting of coal, adding that Labor will support all mining projects that meet environmental hurdles and do not require taxpayer subsidies. There was a swing of more than 14 per cent against Fitzgibbon in the seat of Hunter, in which coal mining is a key industry.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

Chinese prefer Indonesian coal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Glenda Korporaal, Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 15-Apr-19

Michael Cooper of S&P Global Platts says new tenders being issued by China’s state-owned power stations are specifying lower-grade thermal coal of the type that is produced by Indonesia. He adds that traders have indicated that the preference for coal from Indonesia rather than Australia is politically motivated. He also notes that Chinese power stations are also favouring coal sourced from Colombia, despite much longer shipping times. There has been speculation that restrictions on Australian coal imports could be lifted at the end of May, but it has not been confirmed by the Chinese government.

CORPORATES
S&P GLOBAL PLATTS, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS