Mining service outfits face further credit downgrades
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that mining service companies are facing further credit rating downgrades if they are unable to shake off their slide in earnings or cannot reduce the risks faced in refinancing their borrowings, according to ratings agency Standard & Poors.
The companies are finding it difficult to stabilise earnings as their clients - mining companies - put pressure on suppliers to cut costs and charges amid the ongoing weak commodity prices.
China says US protecting uncompetitive steel mills
China has pushed back after the US boosted anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on some of its steel products, saying mills in the world's biggest economy lack competitiveness because they are over-protected, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Protectionism in the US steel sector is deeply worrying as these measures will only exacerbate friction without helping to solve the problem of shrinking global demand, China's commerce ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
“China believes that the lack of competitiveness in the US steel industry is the result of over-protection,” it said.
Orica CEO keeps a measured outlook
Orica CEO Alberto Calderon says lower prices for bulk commodities will persist over the medium term, which will likely stall the development of major new projects for the better part of a decade, according to the Australian Financial Review.
The gloom will come despite more stability within the battered mining industry over the past few months, he told the West Australian Mining Club on Thursday.
