IRON ORE – PRICES

Contractors feel pain of tumbling iron ore prices

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 9-Sep-14

Falling iron ore prices have had a negative impact on engineering and mining contractors providing services to iron ore mining companies. Analysts have downgraded their ratings, and the share prices of companies such as Mineral Resources, NRW Holdings and Macmahon Holdings are likely to be under pressure. The stock of Mineral Resources fell 1.8 per cent on 8 September 2014 after it was downgraded by RBC Capital Markets from "outperform" to "sector perform"

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, NRW HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NWH, MACMAHON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MAH, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WESTERN DESERT RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX WDR, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, MONADELPHOUS GROUP LIMITED – ASX MND, AUSTIN ENGINEERING LIMITED – ASX ANG, BRADKEN LIMITED – ASX BKN, EMECO HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX EHL, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Rich list bruised in iron ore price plunge

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 8-Sep-14

A number of prominent Australian business leaders are among the shareholders of failed iron ore producer Western Desert Resources. They include Bruce Mathieson, Roger Corbett, Scott Perrin and chairman Rick Allert. Shares in Western Desert last traded at $A0.145, compared with $A0.82 in October 2014. The company has advised that the sharp decline in the iron ore price contributed to its collapse

CORPORATES
WESTERN DESERT RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX WDR, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY, THIESS PTY LTD, BILLABONG INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX BBG, COLES MYER LIMITED, TOURISM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SHERWIN IRON LIMITED – ASX SHD, TERRITORY RESOURCES LIMITED, MEIJIN ENERGY GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, NOBLE RESOURCES NL

Iron ore slump hits economy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jacob Greber, Angela Macdonald-Smith, Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Sep-14

The iron ore price has fallen to $US83.60 per tonne, and has now shed 38 per cent so far in 2014. The downturn has forced Northern Territory-focused Western Desert Resources into administration. Meanwhile, former federal government minister Peter Reith has warned that Australia will eventually face another recession and reforms should be implemented now in order to reduce the impact of any economic downturn

CORPORATES
WESTERN DESERT RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX WDR, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

Ore slide leaves miners in dust

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 20 : 5-Sep-14

The Steel Index says weakening demand in the steel sector in China has pushed the iron ore price to close to a five-year low of $US85.70 a tonne. No medium-term improvement is expected by Andrew Mackenzie, CEO of BHP Billiton. However along with Mount Gibson Iron, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto, BHP remains profitable. Analysts believe that Cliffs, Gindalbie Metals and Grange Resources are now operating at a loss, and Atlas Iron, Arrium and BC Iron may follow

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, MOUNT GIBSON IRON LIMITED – ASX MGX, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GINDALBIE METALS LIMITED – ASX GBG, GRANGE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GRR, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, BC IRON LIMITED – ASX BCI, CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INCORPORATED, THE STEEL INDEX LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Iron ore, coal tipped for gradual recovery

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 16 : 4-Aug-14

Mark Pervan, global head of commodity strategy at ANZ Banking, says the recent rapid fall in the prices of coal and iron ore may have reached its nadir. However he also warns that the turnaround may occur at a slower pace than that seen during previous cycles. Similar sentiments have been voiced by Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of global steel producer ArcelorMittal. Pervan predicts the coal price per tonne to rise to between $US115 and $US120 by late 2014, and that of iron ore to almost $US100

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ARCELOR MITTAL SA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Buyback may go on hold as iron ore earnings fall

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 21-Jul-14

Analyst Paul Taggart says Credit Suisse expects any capital management initiatives at BHP Billiton to be deferred until August 2015 at the earliest. There has been ongoing anticipation of a stock buyback by the Australian-listed mining company. However, the iron ore price has contracted by nearly 25 per cent in 2014. The resources group’s 2014-15 earnings may fall by up to 14 per cent. BHP will issue its quarterly production results on 23 July 2014

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Iron ore price fall hits minnows

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Barry FitzGerald, Michael Owen
The Australian – Page: 21 and 22 : 20-Jun-14

Iron ore mining groups in Australia may lose revenue worth $US30bn ($A32.5bn) combined due to the decline in the price of the commodity. It traded at $US90.30 per tonne on 19 June 2018, down $US44.70 from the average seen in calendar 2013. Especially hard hit will be smaller producers with operations that have high input costs, and already Ferrier Hodgson has been made administrator of Termite Resources. The company owned by IMX Resources and Taifeng Yuan Chuang International started shipments from its Cairn Hill mine in South Australia in late 2010. The iron ore price at that time was $US170

CORPORATES
IMX RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX IXR, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, TERMITE RESOURCES NL, TAIFENG YUANCHUANG INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, MMG PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE

Rio joins Fortescue in cutting iron ore prices

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angus Grigg, Lisa Murray
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 6/19/2014

Rio Tinto will reduce the price of low-grade iron ore by 13 per cent to around $US73 per tonne, in the wake of the fall in the benchmark price. The discount takes effect from 1 July 2014, and follows a similar move by Fortescue Metals Group. Tim Murray of J Capital Research notes that there has been a decline in demand for lower-grade iron ore

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, J CAPITAL RESEARCH COMPANY LIMITED, CITIC RESOURCES HOLDINGS LIMITED, MYSTEEL.COM LIMITED, DEZHENG RESOURCES HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, BANK OF CHINA GROUP, CITIC GROUP

Glut forces FMG to offer big discounts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lisa Murray, Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 18-Jun-14

New apartment sales and construction in China have declined significantly, creating a knock-on effect for steel prices and therefore iron ore exporters in Australia. The latter commodity’s price has fallen 34% between the start of calendar 2014 and mid-June, to $US89 a tonne. Fortescue Metals Group, which has ramped up production of lower-grade ore from 60 million tonnes per annum to 150 million since 2012, is lifting the discount it offers Chinese buyers to 14% from 1 July. This compares with just 2% in mid-2013

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, STEEL HOME, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PLATTS, J CAPITAL RESEARCH COMPANY LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG