EXPORTS – AUSTRALIA

Fall in coal, gas exports to crimp growth

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Dec-23

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the nation recorded a current account deficit of $0.2bn for the September quarter. It is just the second quarterly current account deficit since 2019, and follows a sharp fall in coal and LNG export volumes. The ABS estimates that a downturn in net exports will reduce GDP growth for the September quarter by about 0.6 percentage points. Annual growth is tipped to have fallen to 1.9 per cent; this would be the first time this has been below two per cent since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. The quarterly national accounts data will be released on Wednesday.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Critical minerals exports set to soar past coal

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 3-Jul-23

The Department of Industry, Science & Resources has forecast that the value of Australia’s critical minerals exports will top $40bn by 2025. Demand for lithium and copper in particular is expected to be strong as the world transitions to clean energy sources. In contrast, the value of thermal coal exports is forecast to fall to $30bn in 2025, compared with expectations of $64bn for 2023; thermal coal prices rose sharply following the invasion of Ukraine, but are expected to fall back to around pre-invasion levels. Meanwhile, lower demand for steel in China is expected to result in the value of Australia’s iron ore exports falling to $93bn in 2024-25, down from $123bn in 2022-23.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES

Australian LNG cargo reaches gas-starved EU

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 18 : 29-Nov-22

Woodside Energy has shipped a 75,000-tonne cargo of LNG to north-west Europe, amid the ongoing energy crisis in the region. The shipment had been bought by Germany-based Uniper and arrived at Rotterdam nearly one month after leaving the North West Shelf export terminal in Western Australia. It is estimated that the shipment would be worth around $194m, based on the current spot price. Australia’s LNG exporters generally prefer markets in Asia, given the distances involved in shipping gas to Europe.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, UNIPER, NORTH WEST SHELF LNG PTY LTD

Gas, coal and lithium drives export record

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 4-Oct-22

The Department of Industry, Science & Resources has forecast that the value of Australia’s commodity exports will rise to a record $450bn in 2022-23. It had previously forecast that revenue from commodity exports would fall to just $311bn in the current fiscal year, following a record $422bn in 2021-22. The revised forecast has been driven by expectations that the price of LNG, coal and lithium will stay high. Iron ore shipments are forecast to total $119bn in 2022-23.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES

China downturn a boon for Australia

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Original article by Max Maddison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Jan-22

BIS Oxford Economics’ chief economist Sarah Hunter says China’s economic growth may slow to around five per cent in 2022. This is in turn likely to prompt the Chinese government to pursue "fairly significant" direct and indirect fiscal stimulus measures, which would boost demand for key Australian commodity exports such as iron ore. Hunter adds that any measures aimed at boosting consumer spending in China could also benefit Australia’s non-commodity exporters, including producers of high-end food products and other consumer durables.

CORPORATES
BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Clive Palmer: Federal Govt should put 10 per cent tariff on Australia’s iron ore exports

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Original article by Peter Gleeson
Sky News Australia – Page: Online : 4-Oct-21

United Australia Party chairman Clive Palmer has called on the federal government to impose a 10 per cent tariff on iron ore exports to China. Palmer said the money raised from the tariff would be used to help Australian industries that have been impacted by Chinese tariffs, such as the wine sector. He says he has made an additional one billion tonnes of iron ore available in the Pilbara, with Citic, his Chinese lessee, to be taking up that option.

CORPORATES
UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, CITIC LIMITED

Beach Energy in LNG deal with BP Singapore

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 28-Sep-21

Beach Energy will become Australia’s biggest LNG exporter after securing a five-year deal to supply 3.75 million tonnes of gas from its Waitsia project to BP’s Singapore unit. The deal will account for the entire expected output from the second stage of the onshore project in Western Australia. The spot price of LNG in Asia has surged in recent months, and Beach MD Matt Kay says the company had held back on selling its gas early in the COVID-19 pandemic as prices fell. Gas from Waitsia will be processed via the North West Shelf LNG plant.

CORPORATES
BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, BP SINGAPORE PTE LTD, BP PLC

Worried miners call for China olive branch

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 17-Sep-21

The Association of Mining & Exploration Companies is concerned about how China may react to Australia’s new defence pact, and that its response might include sanctions that hurt the mining sector. AMEC CEO Warren Pearce has urged the federal government to make efforts to rebuild its trading relationship with China. He has also urged Australia to extend an ‘olive branch’ to China by stating that it welcomes any foreign investment, so long as it is not in industries that are linked to defence. Members of AMEC include Fortescue Metals Group, OZ Minerals and Roy Hill.

CORPORATES
ASSOCIATION OF MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANIES, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD

LNG exports, prices surge to record levels as iron slumps

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Original article by Perry Williams, David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 7-Sep-21

The price of iron ore has fallen by more than 40 per cent since reaching a record high of $US233 per tonne in May. Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt says strong growth in the price of both LNG and coal is helping to offset the slump in the price of iron ore. The LNG price in Asia has risen to nearly $US20 a gigajoule, while the price of Newcastle coal recently reached a record high of $US173 a tonne. Queensland’s LNG export projects have ramped up shipments in response to the surge in prices.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

Records roll on China iron ore sales

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 23-Jul-21

New figures show that Australia’s iron ore shipments to China rose by $1.1bn to $14.8bn in June, despite the ongoing trade tensions between the two countries. Australia exported some $17.6bn worth of the steel input during June, with China accounting for about 85 per cent of this total. The Australian Bureau of Statistics notes that the iron ore price rose by five per cent during the month. Meanwhile, Australia’s overall exports grew by $2.8bn in June, to $41.2bn; the nation’s goods trade surplus was steady at a record $13.2bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS