BHP warns Australian mining not ready for low-cost competitors
BHP Group’s Australia chief said the nation can’t rely on its traditional mining export markets and is unprepared for a new era of lower-cost competitors.
The boom in demand from China’s industrialisation is now “past the period of aggressive growth,” BHP’s Australia President Geraldine Slattery said Monday in a speech in Brisbane.
BHP, the world’s biggest miner, and rival Rio Tinto Group have recently acknowledged that Chinese steel demand is plateauing. Other commodities, such as nickel — which is key to the energy transition due to its use in electric vehicles — are being pursued by countries that are “often better placed than Australia,” Slattery said, referring to costs and royalty regimes.
Nickel prices are at about half the level they were at in late 2022, thanks to a flood of supply from Indonesia, where Chinese companies have invested heavily in processing facilities.
“In this shifting world, there are many competitors aggressive in their pursuit of market share and the technology that unlocks a lower cost of supply,” Slattery added.
“The shift in the nickel market tells this story best in the recent past,” she said. “For BHP, this resulted in the difficult but necessary decision to temporarily suspend our Western Australia Nickel operations.”
Australian policymakers needed to ensure long-term competitiveness or risk losing out to countries with lower royalty regimes and lower mining costs, Slattery said. Her comments come as miners face pressure from unions seeking pay rises for Australian workers and changes to coal royalties in Queensland state hit revenue.
“The sugar hit of revenue won’t leave the state better off in the long run if investment is driven elsewhere,” she said.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Since 1919, Victaulic’s innovative solutions and design services continue to increase construction productivity and reduce risk, ensuring projects...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Our Easy Access Chute concept was developed to reduce the risks related to liner maintenance. Currently, replacing wear liners require that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
