Iron ore dive hits revenue expectations

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 7-Jul-17

Australia’s revenue from resource and energy exports will peak at $A205bn in 2016-17, according to revised forecasts from the Department of Industry, Innovation & ­Science. This is 4.6 per cent lower than it had forecast earlier in 2017, and the new forecast takes into account a sharp fall in the iron ore price in recent months. The department is bearish about the outlook for the steel input, forecasting that the benchmark price will fall to $US48 per tonne in 2018 and $US47 in 2019. It also anticipates a fall in the price of coking coal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Santos cuts intake of gas amid export curb threat

Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 20 : 1-Jun-17

The Gladstone LNG project reduced its average daily gas intake to 723 terajoules in May 2017, to the lowest level in a year, while the intake was 20 per cent lower than in March. However, GLNG operator Santos has declined to comment on whether the Federal Government’s proposal to impose LNG export controls contributed to the reduced gas intake. Meanwhile, Nik Burns of UBS says GLNG is unlikely to meet the most bullish forecasts for total exports of six million tonnes in 2017.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, TOTAL SA, PETRONAS GAS BHD, KOREA GAS CORPORATION

Mining exports reignite boom

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 32 : 3-Feb-17

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the value of coal and metals exports reached a new monthly high of $A13.4bn in December, compared with just $A6.4bn in January 2016. The value of coal exports rose to $A5.7bn, which is the highest level since November 2008. Iron ore exports topped $A7.7bn, which is the second-highest monthly total on record. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are tipped to post bumper half-year and full-year profits in coming weeks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, RESOLUTE MINING LIMITED – ASX RSG, NEW SOUTH WALES MINERALS COUNCIL, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Mining, energy exports tipped to top $200b

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Jan-17

The office of the chief economist, Mark Cully, has released a report which forecasts that Australia’s mining and energy exports will reach a record $A203.9bn in 2016-17. This compares with just $A157.1bn in the previous financial year. The prices of key commodities such as iron ore and coal have rallied since a previous report had forecast that the value of mining and energy exports would total $A163.4bn in 2016-17. However, Cully expects the average price of both commodities to fall in 2017.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Coal activists risk driving India away

Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Michael McKenna
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Oct-16

India’s Power Minister Piyush Goyal has warned that the long-running opposition to Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine in Queensland could affect his nation’s future investment in Australia. Goyal added that Indian could source coal from countries such as South Africa and Indonesia if investing in Australian projects becomes too difficult. Recent media reports revealed that a leading Australian anti-coal group, the Sunrise Project, has been funded by US-based foundations. Documents released by Wikileaks also show that at least one of these foundations has links to John Podesta, who is heading the presidential election campaign of Hillary Clinton.

CORPORATES
INDIA. MINISTRY OF POWER, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, SUNRISE PROJECT, DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES), WIKILEAKS, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Commodities surge lifts outlook

Original article by Barry FitzGerald, David Rogers, Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 19 & 31 : 13-Oct-16

Copper and uranium are Australia’s only major resources commodity exports that have not posted strong gains in 2016. Coking and thermal coal in particular have rallied in the year to date, and Paul Bloxham of HSBC believes that the nation’s "income recession" is over. He estimates that nominal GDP could be boosted by around two per cent if the rise in coal prices is sustained, a view shared by the ANZ Bank. There has also been a big rise in the export price of beef, although drought caused Australian shipment to fall in 2015-16.

CORPORATES
HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, PEABODY ENERGY AUSTRALIA COAL PTY LTD, NIPPON STEEL AND SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RABOBANK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

LNG exports jump despite Gorgon woes

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 13-Jul-16

New data shows that Australia’s LNG exports were 18.5 per cent higher in June 2016 than in May. The data from EnergyQuest also show that LNG production rose by more than 500,000 tonnes to 3.6 million tonnes. There were a total of 44 shipments in June, although there were no shipments from the Gorgon project due to problems with the first production train. Western Australia accounted for 27 shipments, while 22 LNG consignments departed from Queensland.

CORPORATES
ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, CHEVRON CORPORATION, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED

Coal sector failing to overturn China’s import testing

Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 9-May-16

Greg Evans of the Minerals Council of Australia says China should either abandon its policy of testing the quality of imported coal or allow shipments to be tested before they depart for China. He adds that the quality control tests contributed to a decline in Australia’s coal exports to China to just 71.2 million tonnes in 2015, compared with 93.4 million tonnes in 2014. The Australian Government has also lobbied China to drop the policy, which was introduced in early 2015.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

China deal driving jobs and growth: Ciobo

Original article by Rowan Callick
The Australian – Page: 2 : 2-May-16

Australia’s Trade and Investment Minister, Steve Ciobo, says local businesses of all sizes have benefited from the free trade agreement with China, which took effect in late December 2015. He notes that the downturn in commodity prices reduced the total value of exports to China in the March 2016 quarter, although this was offset by a rise in non-resources exports. Products that recorded strong growth in export volumes during the quarter include bottled wine, fresh fruit and seafood.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Price struck for thermal coal export a ‘huge coup’

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 27-Apr-16

Australian thermal coal producers have secured an annual contract price of $US61.60 per tonne from Japanese buyers for the financial year that began on 1 April 2016. While this is 9.1 per cent lower than the $US67.80 for the previous Japanese financial year, Macquarie Wealth Management notes that it is about $US10.80 per tonne higher than the spot price. Australian shipments of thermal coal to Japan totalled 84.7 million tonnes in 2015.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE WEALTH MANAGEMENT, GLENCORE PLC, TOHOKU ELECTRIC POWER CORPORATION, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT INCORPORATED