BHP and Rio Tinto upbeat on ore prices, despite slump
Big miners believe the recent slump in the iron ore price is due to a mix of credit tightness in China and opportunism from traders, with executives from BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto expressing faith in China's long-term demand for Australia's most lucrative export, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
With analysts predicting that the 16% fall in the iron ore price over the past three weeks will continue for at least several more days, the nation's top iron ore executives sought to calm market jitters at an iron ore conference in Perth.
Both BHP's iron ore president Jimmy Wilson and Rio Tinto's Andrew Harding kept to long-held forecasts that Chinese demand for steel would top 1 billion tonnes by 2025 or 2030, and would therefore ensure demand for iron ore remained strong for more than a decade.
BHP Billiton wins overtime rights at mine
An unlawful ban on overtime at a BHP Billiton Queensland coal mine was a serious breach of the law and warranted the maximum penalty, the federal court has found, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Rio may reduce gas-fired power
Rio Tinto may cut electricity production from a Gladstone gas-fired power plant next year because of a lack of competitively priced gas as $70 billion of liquefied natural gas projects gets ready to start up in the city, according to The Australian.
The scenario would see more electricity in Queensland revert to coal-fired power and, if what Rio said was a lack of gas availability continued, an erosion of the long-term viability of Rio's Yarwun alumina plant.
