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Do you get he feeling that the resources bust is taking another leg down? You should. Aurizon has warned this afternoon that Dudgeon Point and phase two of its Wiggins Island have been stopped, probably for good. Another 100 jobs (on top of recently announced 500) and 20 locos will go. Recent impairments have been boosted by $160 million to $350 million.
CEO Lance Hockeridge reckons:
While that outlook for the resources sector is still very is still very attractive, it is clearly more subdued. These announcements represent a comprehensive response by the company to those circumstances.
If that was the case then Aurizon would not be spending a pile on acquiring Aquila (approved today) in a doomed attempt to open up West Pilbara iron ore.
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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific's leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
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