Record coal exports belie end of boom

Record coal exports from the three main ports on the east coast in the past few months are challenging the claim that the mining boom is over, according to The Australian.

While thousands of people have lost jobs in the Queensland coalfields and the areas that service them, figures show coal loadings for last month at Gladstone, Queensland, and Newcastle in NSW were at record levels.

US commodities watchdog continues metals storage industry inquiry

The US commodities watchdog continues its probe into the metals warehousing industry, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Glencore are on the receiving end as owners of London Metal Exchange warehouses.

Metals in warehouses are a small part of the physical market.

They contain about 10 million tonnes of aluminium, for example, compared with 48Mt in annual production capacity. And there is still excess supply of the metal.

Brockman scores against Fortescue in rail access dispute

Fortescue Metals Group has failed in its attempts to prevent would-be iron ore miner Brockman Resources from negotiating access to its Pilbara rail network, according to The Australian.

WA’s Economic Regulation Authority yesterday rejected Fortescue's argument that Brockman's access to Fortescue's rail would preclude other third parties from accessing the infrastructure.