China mulls new coal curbs

China is considering aggressive new curbs on coal consumption as it accelerates efforts to transform its economy and tackle climate change, moves that would hurt Australia's export revenue and place new mines in doubt, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

A mandatory nationwide cap on coal use is among the likely initiatives to be unveiled in the Communist Party's 13th five-year plan, a key economic planning blueprint slated for release next year, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Liberals support for Adani wavers

Newly-appointed Resources and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said Adani’s planned Carmichael coal mine complex in Queensland’s Galilee Basin is “a commercial operation. It needs to stand on its own two feet. It (funding) won't be a priority for the Commonwealth”, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

But not only would the price of thermal coal need to double before the Indian conglomerate could make a profit but Adani's own modelling assumes it to be more efficient a coal miner than the likes of Glencore, BHP and Rio.

Steel slump may force BlueScope plant closure: Deutsche

Major pay cuts and 500 job losses at BlueScope's Port Kembla steel works will only delay the troubled plant's closure, Deutsche Bank analyst Emily Smith says, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

BlueScope's unions made unprecedented concessions on jobs and benefits, including a three-year wage freeze, in a bid to keep raw steel rolling out of the nation's biggest steel works.

BlueScope CEO Paul O'Malley praised the decision to compromise but did not promise the No. 5 blast furnace would keep burning.