BHP said the donation was on top of its $1 million announced on January 1 and added to the company's in-kind contributions and the volunteer efforts of its people in Queensland regional areas.
"As a major employer in Queensland and given our large contribution to the Queensland economy, we want to play a leading role in the recovery efforts. We have increased our donation to demonstrate our support for the state in which so many of our people live and work, and hope that others will also be able to do so," BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers said.
BHP Billiton Metallurgical Coal president Hubie van Dalsen said the company’s workforce would continue their direct on-the-ground recovery work and rebuilding efforts in Central Queensland, especially in Emerald.
BHP has nearly 12,000 employees and contractors in the state. Its joint venture operations comprise eight major metallurgical coal operations in the Bowen Basin and a major silver, lead and zinc mine at Cannington. It also has about 800 people working in Brisbane.
Coal exports are expected to be one of the biggest casualties of the floods, despite the partial offset of higher coal prices, with many mines shut down in big coal mining regions, such as the Bowen Basin, and supply chains severely hampered.
Queensland produces about 80% of coking coal in Australia and coking coal itself contributes about 10% to Australia's exports and about 2% to the nation’s gross domestic product.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics estimates that Queensland’s coal exports between December 2010 and March 2011 could be around 15 million tonnes lower than previously anticipated. This represents a reduction in export earnings of around $2-2.5 billion.
Deloitte corporate reorganisation group partner Gary Doran believes the clean-up effort and returning some of the world’s major metallurgical coal mines to full production could take up to two years.
With about 85% of the state’s coal mines affected by the floods, higher prices could help non-Queensland based producers that can adjust their output to increase their share of coking coal.
Wood MacKenzie is forecasting that the spot price of hard coking coal could spike to record highs between $US400 and $US500 a tonne this year.
