Queensland Resources Council (QRC) – the peak industry association representing the commercial developers of Queensland’s minerals and energy resources – has released a new report that has found that the coal sector is in dire straits, and has called upon the government for assistance. From The ABC:
The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) wants mining companies to pay less royalties and council taxes amid a new industry commissioned report, which shows a third of coal mines are losing money.
The report also found more than half of all the state’s mines that produce thermal coal, which goes into power stations, are not making a profit.
QRC chief executive Michael Roche said in the past two years 21,000 jobs had been lost in the industry in Queensland.
“We would like government to think about what we need to do to protect the remaining 60,000 jobs in the Queensland resources sector,” Mr Roche said.
“These are some of the worst conditions they have faced in decades. Some companies are teetering on the brink”…
Righto. So the Queensland coal mining sector is bleeding amid the crashing coal price, which is already sub-$50 a tonne and likely to fall further as China switches from coal power and lowers the energy intensity of its growth.
And the answer? Lower royalties which will lower costs and amid the glut simply pass that back to North Asian customer. We’ve already seen this play in the iron ore mining junior sector.
Moreover, the government wants to push ahead with the Adani Carmichael coal project, which would very likely lose money, worsen the global coal supply glut, accelerate the closure of cheaper Australian coal mines (displacing other coal mining jobs), as well as reducing Australian productivity.
The Adani Carmichael project also risks damaging the Great Barrier Reef via continual dredging and the thousands of coal ships that will transport the export coal each and every year, thus placing Australia’s tourism industry at risk.
Where is the sense in any of it?
