Mid-sized Australian producers would also struggle to compete with major players because they did not have the scale needed to supply the growing appetite for coal by China and India, he said in an interview in the AFR.
“Australia has made it difficult for coalminers and they are continuing attacking what they call ‘big coal’ but they are creating circumstances where they can only be ‘big coal’,” De Lacy reportedly said.
De Lacy – who was once also the Queensland treasurer – left Macarthur in October after it was acquired by US coal behemoth Peabody Energy for $4.9 billion.
His comments come as Chinese giant Yanzhou is expected to seek a $8 billion merger between its Australian subsidiary Yancoal and Gloucester Coal.
Macarthur held a 50% stake in the Middlemount coking coal mine in Queensland with Gloucester Coal.
“We weren’t happy as we saw a great future for Macarthur Coal, but ultimately as chairman you’ve just got to do the best deal you can for shareholders,” De Lacy reportedly said about the sale to Peabody.
“They [Gloucester] will be just like Macarthur Coal. That will be another one gone, another independent.
“They are good operators and they have some tricky mines to operate but I know the chairman [James MacKenzie] well and they will have to weigh up any deal if one does come along.”
More than $27 billion of merger and acquisition deals were announced in 2011 as global coal companies seek to lock in production and supply the growing export market.
