Downer EDI to snap up 400 Macmahon workers

Downer EDI plans to employ about 400 workers from rival Macmahon Holdings when the contractor starts an expanded mining services contract at Fortescue Metals Group's Christmas Creek iron ore mine in April, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Downer has about 600 workers providing mining services at one of Fortescue's two Christmas Creek iron ore-processing facilities in the Pilbara, while Macmahon has had about 700 workers at the second facility.

Peak in iron ore shipments to China may have arrived five years early

Chinese government and private sector analysts say demand for Australian iron ore could fall by up to 10% this year, raising the prospect that production from iron ore mines in West Australia's Pilbara may be nearing a peak, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Chinese trade data for January and February provides tentative evidence that volumes of iron ore and coal shipments are no longer growing strongly.