COAL MINES AND MINING – AUSTRALIA

Shorten’s excellent $17,000 coral and coal adventure

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Mar-18

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has disclosed that the Australian Conservation Foundation paid for him to tour the Great Barrier Reef and take a chartered flight over the site of Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine. ACF CEO Kelly O’Shanassy says Shorten subsequently discussed Labor’s options for blocking the Carmichael project with herself and environmentalist Geoff Cousins. Shorten has attracted criticism over his inconsistent stance on coal mining.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Growth in India to fuel coal demand

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-Mar-18

World Coal ­Association CEO Benjamin Sporton says demand for Australian coal will remain strong for some time, due to rising electricity consumption in India. He notes that some 300 million people in India currently do not have access to electricity, while a similar number of people are expected to migrate to India’s cities over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, high-efficiency, low-emissions coal plants with a capacity of 48 gigawatts are under construction in India.

CORPORATES
WORLD COAL ASSOCIATION, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Rio targeted by activist over MCA

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 30-Jan-18

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility will use Rio Tinto’s upcoming shareholders’ meetings in London and Melbourne to lobby the resources group to review its membership of the Minerals Council of Australia. Rio Tinto is said to have similar concerns as BHP Billiton regarding the MCA’s stance on issues such as climate change and coal-fired power generation. BHP will decide whether to retain its MCA membership by the end of 2018, in response to lobbying by the ACCR.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, WORLD COAL ASSOCIATION

Japan accord to boost brown coal, LNG exports

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 22-Jan-18

Australia and Japan have agreed to work together to develop coal and LNG markets in the region, following talks between their respective prime ministers in the week ending 19 January. Japanese technology could be used for high-efficiency, low-emissions coal power plants in south-east Asia, with coal to be potentially supplied from Australian mines. A consortium led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries will also look at whether brown coal from Latrobe Valley in Victoria can be converted into liquid hydrogen and exported for use in Japan.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPANY LIMITED, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Minerals Council pushes back over BHP threat

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 21-Dec-17

A Minerals Council of Australia spokesman says it intends to keep lobbying on the issues of climate and energy policy. This is despite BHP Billiton’s threat to cancel its membership if the MCA continues to advocate polices that are contrary to its own. However, BHP’s 50 per cent stake in the Bass Strait gas fields means it has less exposure to rising electricity prices on the east coast than fellow MCA members such as Rio Tinto and Glencore. BHP’s share of Bass Strait gas is equivalent to about 10 per cent of domestic demand for gas on the east coast. In contrast, BHP’s mining operations on the east coast account for around one per cent of National Energy Market demand.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Japanese look past Glencore for coal supply

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 11-Dec-17

New Hope Coal CEO Shane Stephan says there is growing concern among Japanese coal buyers about Glencore’s growing dominance of the Australian coal industry. He adds that this is prompting coal buyers to look at alternative suppliers such as New Hope and Whitehaven Coal. Australia will account for about 55 per cent of Glencore’s global coal production of 124 million tonnes in 2017, and the company’s share of Australia’s coal market will rise if its deal to acquire 49 per cent of the Hunter Valley Operations mine from Yancoal is approved.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC, NEW HOPE COAL AUSTRALIA, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MACH ENERGY, YANZHOU COAL MINING COMPANY LIMITED

China moves to put a price on carbon

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Original article by Angus Grigg, Ben Potter, Lisa Murray
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 3-Oct-17

China will launch an emissions trading scheme by the end of 2017. The ETS is expected to initially cover power stations, but it will be expanded to cover a range of other industries by 2020, including steel and aluminium production. The ETS could be expected to have a detrimental impact on the level of Australian coal exports to China, currently worth $A8 billion a year, and comes at a time when other regional consumers of Australian coal are imposing similar emission measures.

CORPORATES
TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY, CARBON MARKET INSTITUTE LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, ORICA LIMITED – ASX ORI, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, UNITED NATIONS, GREENPEACE, CHINA. NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM COMMISSION, INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA), CLIMATE BRIDGE

Golden handshake as exiting Goyder pockets $12m

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 28 : 21-Sep-17

The annual report of Perth-based conglomerate Wesfarmers shows that outgoing CEO Richard Goyder will receive total remuneration of $A12.1m in 2017, compared with just $A5.5m in 2016. However, Goyder’s short-term incentive bonus was slashed in 2016 due to the underperformance of Target and the Curragh coal mine. Wesfarmers chairman Michael Chaney has praised Goyder’s contribution during his 12-year tenure. He will be succeeded by Rob Scott in November.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, CURRAGH QUEENSLAND MINING LIMITED, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW

Coking coal customers not ditching quarterly prices just yet

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 14-Jul-17

Australian-listed Whitehaven Coal expects the quarterly contract pricing system to account for 40 per cent of its semi-soft coking sales in the next three months, and MD Paul Flynn says this could eventually rise to 70-80 per cent. He has downplayed speculation that coal buyers could eventually shift to a spot pricing system, noting that Whitehaven’s customers show no signs of wanting to make such a move at present. Glencore also intends to retain the quarterly contract system.

CORPORATES
WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, GLENCORE PLC, NIPPON STEEL AND SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED

Quarterly coal contract system to ‘fall over’

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Original article by Julie-anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 8-Jun-17

There is growing expectation that Japanese coal buyers will abandon the traditional quarterly contract price system in favour of one based on the spot price. Wesfarmers’ incoming CEO Rob Scott believes that Japan’s steel mills could opt for a new pricing system within weeks. BHP Billiton’s chief commercial officer, Arnoud Balhuizen, also recently flagged a shift away from contract pricing. Meanwhile, Scott has indicated that the sale of Wesfarmers’ coal assets is still on the agenda.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, THE MELBOURNE MINING CLUB, STANWELL CORPORATION LIMITED