BHP's Australia coal mines face week-long strike

Friday, 10 February 2012

Several of BHP Billiton Ltd.'s Australian coking coal mines will be hit by a seven-day strike from next Wednesday as a dispute over a new workplace agreement drags on, a labor union said Thursday.Workers will down tools at the Goonyella Riverside, Broadmeadow, Peak Downs, Saraji, Norwich Park, Gregory Crinum and Blackwater mines that BHP co-owns with Mitsubishi Corp. , the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said in an emailed statement.
Roughly 3,500 members of the CFMEU and two other unions jointly bargaining with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance staged rolling strikes over several months late last year. They suspended the action in December to continue negotiations.

Stephen Smyth, district president at the CFMEU, said the new round of work stoppages was necessary because BHP had failed to address workers' concerns despite 15 months of talks.
"The workers here feel they have been left with no choice but to ramp up industrial action," Smyth said. "BHP is making enormous profits out of its coking coal operations in central Queensland, but it doesn't want to listen to its workforce."

Marius Kloppers, chief executive of Melbourne-based BHP, Wednesday told analysts during a conference call--following the release of the company's half-year results--that the dispute wasn't about money, but centered on union demands that would impede the company's ability to manage the operations.

"It is extraordinarily important to have that right to manage if you are committing billions, perhaps tens of billions of dollars in expansion," Kloppers said. "So we would have liked this to end six months ago, but we must unfortunately insist that management's right to manage is sacrosanct."
Source: Market Watch

BHP Australia coal miners to resume work stoppages Friday-union

Mon Oct 31, 2011

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Union workers at four BHP Billiton's coal mines in Australia will resume work stoppages on Friday as part of a long-running industrial dispute with the miner, a workers' union said Monday.

The stoppages will occur at the Gregory, Peak Downs, Goonyella Riverside, and Blackwater coking coal mines as part of a campaign over job security and more pay.

The mines have a combined output capacity of more than 58 million tonnes per year of mostly metallurgical coal, representing about a fifth of annual global trade.

(sourced Reuters)

Coking coal prices to skyrocket as stockpiles dry up, Queensland coking coal index has risen to $US365/tonne

By Matt Chambers From: The Australian
January 24, 2011
COKING coal prices are expected to surge through a record $US400/tonne this week as exports from Queensland's drenched Bowen Basin slip because stockpiles at mines and ports are running out and full rail capacity is yet to return.
Prices for Queensland coking coal jumped $US33/tonne to $US383 last week, up 70 per cent on quarterly contract prices of $US225/tonne, according to the latest Platts assessments quoted by Macquarie.
"There is not enough slack in the metallurgical (coking) coal supply chain to cover the losses being incurred," Macquarie analyst Max Layton said.
"With this, the seaborne met coal market is being undersupplied week after week, with risks of amplified deficits from rampant Chinese steel output and strengthening La Nina conditions still present."
Energy Publishing's Queensland coking coal index has risen to $US365/tonne, from $US332 a week earlier.
"Industry consensus is the asking price of coking coal will effortlessly soar past $US400/tonne by this time next week," Energy Publishing said in its Coking Coal Index report, issued on Friday.
Although rain and flooding have eased, and deliveries from mines to ports are resuming, rail capacity is still reduced.
Exports have been supported by mines and ports eating into diminishing coal stockpiles, which had been stored in preparation for the wet season.
According to Macquarie, there has been a massive drawdown of almost all the available stockpiles in the Queensland coal chain.
"This cannot continue forever, and with the current rates of railing to the ports below volumes being exported, we would expect that export volumes for weeks three and four in January would actually be the lowest seen thus far," Mr Layton said.
"We expect to see the spot price for met coal continue to trend upwards in coming weeks."
Coking coal prices are tracked by a number of indexes, so there is some dispute about the record spot price, which was reached in the wake of 2008 Queensland rains.
According to Wood Mackenzie, prices peaked at between $US350 and $US375/tonne, and Goldman Sachs lists the high at $US400/tonne.
Macquarie estimates about 3.3 million tonnes of coking coal and 1 million tonnes of thermal coal have been lost from Queensland ports because of flooding, representing about $900 million of exports, based on contract coking coal prices and thermal coal prices of about $US120/tonne.
Macquarie estimates losses will be between 10 million and 11 million tonnes of coking coal production and between 5 million and 6 million tonnes of thermal coal, and this could mean about $US3.2 billion of exports lost or postponed this quarter.
On Thursday QR National opened the Blackwater coal railway, which goes to the Gladstone port, but it is only operating at part capacity.
All of QR's lines are operating, but miners that export out of Brisbane cannot get their coal to port.

QR National struggles to recover coal network

Saturday, 22 Jan 2011

As floodwaters gradually recede, the impact on Queensland's coal network customers and tonnages including the cost of recovery is yet to be fully assessed.
While Freight Rail provider QR National said that there is progress on the recovery efforts across the company’s operations, total coal tonnages across the QR National coal network, which is used by both QR National and Pacific National trains, is expected to continue to be impacted over coming weeks.
QR National said that the Moura coal line was opened to traffic last week and the Blackwater network is now targeted to re open late this week, following a detailed track inspection.
The company said that “The Newlands line to Abbot Point Coal terminal near Bowen continues to operate. This system has remained open throughout and while it operated at reduced railings in December it has recovered well in January.”
QR National said that “The Goonyella network into the ports of Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point, south of Mackay, is also still operating, despite being closed from 24 to 30 December following the derailment of a Pacific National train near Yukan. The network is currently working at around 70 percent capacity due to reduced coal availability.”
QR National said that “The Blackwater network that feeds into the port of Gladstone is expected to re open this week, following a detailed inspection and assessment of flood damaged track.”
It said that “The system has been closed since December 27. QR National has mobilized resources, both people and equipment, to ensure repairs are completed efficiently. On current estimates, services are expected to resume on the line as early as Thursday (20 Jan), pending no significant rain and recovery operations proceeding as planned. It is planned that services would be available from Burngrove (near Blackwater) east from that time, and then progressively to mines located on the (northern) Gregory branch from the weekend (22/23 January).”
QR National said that “Precise dates for resumption of services for the Minerva and Rolleston mines are yet to be determined."
In southern Queensland, QR National said that it is unable to operate services west of Brisbane because of flooding and damage to the rail line on the Toowoomba Range following a landslide on 10 January.
Mr Lance Hockridge MD of QR National said that “QR National is awaiting further advice from the network owner, Queensland Rail, on the extent of the damage to infrastructure and likely timeframe for restoration of the track.” He added that “We are unable to provide services to coal customers, west of Brisbane and to grain and general freight customers in south-west Queensland.”
QR National's general freight services along the North Coast Line to locations beyond Gladstone to Cairns are not able to operate because the line remains cut by floodwaters at Rockhampton. This is expected to continue through this next week.
(Sourced from www.supplychainreview.com.au)