Menurut beberapa laporan, industri baja di Cina mengalami penurunan produksi berhubung demand juga turun. Selain itu ternyata Cina telah menumpuk iron ore dalam jumlah besar. Penurunan volume produksi baja Cina akan berpengaruh juga pada ekspor coking coal dari Australia. Menurut beberapa rekan, produsen batubara Australia juga mulai mengambil langkah2 antisipatif (mungkin Noel bisa menjelaskan lebih detail). Sampai pagi ini di media Australia perdebatan mengenai akhir mining boom masih seru salam Prianggito
________________________________ From: F. Hasan Sidi <fhs...@gmail.com> To: iagi-net@iagi.or.id Sent: Friday, 24 August 2012 11:18 AM Subject: Re: [iagi-net-l] Pembatalan pengembangan Olympic Dam - akhir mining boom di Australia? Ini kan baru melihat ke-ekonomik-an dari sisi investor (supply) dimana BHP sendiri juga melihat cash-flow mereka dan membandingkan Olympic Dam dengan project mereka yang lain. Di sisi "demand", China masih belum menutup keran impor mereka toh? FHS On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 1:33 PM, git sulistiono <git_m...@yahoo.com> wrote: Keputusan BHP Billiton untuk mempetieskan rencana pengembangan operasinya di Olympic Dam, South Australia telah memicu debat yg panas di Australia sejak kemarin. Intinya: apakah era mining boom yg kali ini telah berakhir? > >sumber: >http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/bhp-cancels-30-billion-olympic-dam-expansion-in-south-australian-outback/story-fncynkc6-1226455884519 > > >salam >Prianggito >____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ > >BHP Billiton's decision to shelve its proposed $30 billion Olympic Dam >expansion has triggered a federal war of words over the country's mining boom. > >Resources Minister Martin Ferguson triggered the debate this morning when he >told ABC Radio: "You've got to understand, the resources boom is over. We've >done well." >But that view was not supported by Finance Minister Senator Penny Wong. >Senator Wong, when asked whether she agreed with Mr Ferguson, told ABC TV: >"No, I think the mining boom has got a long way to run." >Senator Wong used the interview to accuse Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of >running a dishonest fear campaign about the Olympic Dam decision. >Mr Abbott has said the government's mining and carbon taxes are partly to >blame for the company's decision. >BHP had been warning the two taxes were making Australia a less competitive >place to invest, he said. >Senator Wong said Mr Abbott was asking Australians to believe what he said was >true even though BHP had cited other reasons for its decision. >"This is one of the most dishonest, self-interested fear campaigns that we >have seen in Australian politics," Senator Wong told ABC TV. >Senator Wong's comments triggered a concerted response from the Opposition, >with Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce saying it was "ridiculous" to >suggest the carbon and mining taxes played no part in the decision to scrap >the project. >"The question today is how could you possibly argue that a new tax that will >be paid by the company is not an issue in the decision they make?" Senator >Joyce told reporters in Canberra this morning. >"Do we think for one second that this (carbon and mining taxes) wasn't an >issue that was discussed around board tables at BHP and every other resource >company in the world? >"Expenses such as these become part and parcel of the decisions you make." >Liberal senator Simon Birmingham said BHP's decision was the biggest blow to >business confidence in SA since the State Bank disaster of the 1990s. >"This is a blow that potentially could have been avoided," he said, adding >that government policies certainly did not help. >They definitely had hurt the prospects of the project going ahead, Senator >Birmingham said. >"They will be paying enormous additional taxes, funds they could have been >investing in the Olympic Dam project." >BHP shelves Olympic Dam expansion >BHP Billiton has shelved $US50 billion ($A47.89 billion) of major projects in >a major cost-slashing program >Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey said he was disappointed a resources minister would >make such a comment, but conceded things were getting tough in the sector. >"Let's get out there and speak with a bit of confidence and say that we want >to deliver some of these projects," Mr Ramsey told reporters. >Opposition resources spokesman Ian Macfarlane said Mr Ferguson's comments >highlighted the bad timing of new taxes being imposed on the sector. >Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said Mr Abbott had been "caught out lying". > >He said the opposition leader admitted he had not read the BHP statement about >the project's cancellation before calling a press conference to blame the >decision on the carbon and mining taxes. >"Even a very peripheral reading of the material ... would suggest that these >were factors that were not in play in the decision," Mr Bradbury said. >He also accused Mr Abbott of suggesting BHP had misled investors and the >market "by not providing a full and frank disclosure of the reasons >surrounding their decision". >"What we have here is a leader of the opposition who will allow no fact, no >law, no personal company's reputation to ever get in the way of his reckless >and irresponsible scare campaign," Mr Bradbury said. >Mr Abbott today denied not reading the BHP statement, telling reporters in >Canberra he read it at 3.45pm (AEST) yesterday. >When quizzed about the apparent contradiction between this and what he'd said >on ABC TV's 7.30 program, the opposition leader said he was responding to a >different question from compere Leigh Sales. >Mr Macfarlane said he gave Mr Abbott a "very good briefing" on BPH's >announcement. >"The reality is that he (Mr Abbott) was already aware that the cost of >removing the overburden in Olympic Dam is more than $50 million as a result of >the carbon tax," Mr Macfarlane told reporters in Canberra. >"Yesterday's decision is further proof that this government is driving >investors away from the resource sector in Australia." >In the statement, BHP Billiton chief Marius Kloppers said the company was not >going ahead with the massive open cut pit because of current market conditions >including subdued commodity prices and higher capital costs. >Despite seven years' work - and with government approvals in place - the >global mining giant's board decided the economics of the project did not stack >up as planned. >Instead it will continue work on using different technologies and less >expensive ways to reach the copper, gold and uranium ore buried hundreds of >metres below ground in South Australia's Far North. >"We want to find the right solution to unlock this resource," said Mr >Kloppers. >However, BHP immediately began to lay off workers as it put the project on the >backburner and as its existing underground mine cuts back because of lower >commodity prices. >South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said the decision was an "enormous >disappointment". >The indenture agreement between the South Australian Government and BHP will >lapse on December 15, so any future mine expansion plan will need to be >renegotiated, including the company's generous 45-year deal on royalties. >"The community will be expecting us to learn from our experience," Mr >Weatherill said. >The expansion had been factored into the State Budget but Mr Weatherill said >it was too early to quantify the loss to the SA economy. >He said it reinforced the need to strengthen other sectors, especially >advanced manufacturing where projects such as the next-generation submarines >will be game-changers. >Mr Weatherill denied that the move signalled SA had missed the mining boom, >saying others mines were still being developed and SA was on track to export >$10 billion in minerals by 2020 - excluding the Olympic Dam expansion or new >petroleum projects. >Mr Kloppers said the State Government, the Opposition and the Federal >Government had been "fantastic" partners and did all they could to assist the >project. >"The SA community has also been extraordinarily strong in its support," he >said. >"However, the capital expenditure equation at this moment in time has changed. >What has happened with Olympic Dam is that the economics of the concept have >changed - because of construction costs changing, the Australian dollar >changing, the copper price, the uranium outlook changing and so on." >Mr Kloppers would not say how much costs had escalated for Olympic Dam but by >comparison, noted that costs in WA had risen sevenfold in the past 10 years. >He said BHP was still investing - allocating $US23 billion to 20 projects - >but could only do so much. >BHP has also scaled back its West Australian iron ore plans. >Mr Kloppers said BHP's approach would not, on its own, take the heat out of >the national boom, but with other players also easing back, industry costs >would fall. >Asked whether the federal mineral resources rent tax and other taxes has >scuppered the project, Mr Kloppers said the changes were on a bigger scale. >"The decision is almost wholly associated with, in the first instance, capital >costs," he said. >"The MRRT only covers coal and iron ore not copper, not gold and not uranium." > >BHP Billiton's chief executive of non-ferrous metals Andrew Mackenzie >emphasised that the decision was based on global forces. >Mr Mackenzie, who heads the miner's worldwide operations in copper and other >base metals, said BHP was not abandoning Olympic Dam. >"It is still a fantastic ore body based on a number of commodities, >principally copper and also uranium and gold where we think demand will remain >strong and grow," he said. >"We will continue to study it. While we were working on this project we've >been trying to develop a number of new technologies which we think will >substantially improve the competitiveness of the project to win funding (from >the BHP board). >"They were always going to be used at a later stage but if we pull them >through earlier then we believe we can create a more compelling project. >"It will probably be a smaller project but one offering a more attractive set >of returns. We believe SA is a great place to invest and do business." >The new techniques would change the processing method from crushing and >concentrating the ore to heaping piles of ore and then dissolving out the >minerals by leaching. >This would enable a smaller pit to be built initially, with ore gradually >added instead of building a large processing plant. >Also on the agenda would be remotely operated machinery although, at first, >manual operations would be needed, Mr Mackenzie said. >BHP president of uranium and head of SA operations Dean Dalla Valle said work >would continue. >"We are still committing significant funds and investment," he said. >"All the technology work will be done in SA - in Adelaide or on site." >BHP BILLITON'S STATEMENT >BHP Billiton announced today that it will investigate an alternative, less >capital-intensive design of the Olympic Dam open-pit expansion, involving new >technologies, to substantially improve the economics of the project. >As a result it will not be ready to approve an expansion of Olympic Dam before >the Indenture agreement deadline of 15 December 2012. >The Company will discuss the implications of this decision for the Indenture >agreement with the South Australian Government in the coming months. >BHP Billiton CEO, Marius Kloppers, said current market conditions, including >subdued commodity prices and higher capital costs, had led to the decision: >"As we finalised all the details of the project in the context of current >market conditions, our strategy and capital management priorities, it became >clear that the right decision for the Company and its shareholders was to >continue studies to develop a less capital intensive option to replace the >underground mine at Olympic Dam. >"As with any capital commitment, all investment options are scrutinised as >they move through our approvals process and our highest returning projects are >prioritised. Value is always our primary consideration. We believe todays >decision reflects an appropriate, prudent and disciplined course of action. >"However, the long term outlook for the copper market remains strong and we >will continue to work closely with all stakeholders as we refine our longer >term development plans for this unique, world class ore body. We want to find >the right solution to unlock this resource," he said. >BHP Billiton Chief Executive Non-Ferrous, Andrew Mackenzie, said the South >Australian Governments support for the project should be commended: >"The South Australian Government has been fully supportive of Olympic Dam and >has created an environment that is highly conducive to business investment. We >have been very much encouraged by their attitude to business development and >the Olympic Dam expansion project. >"Olympic Dam is a resource of enormous potential and we will continue to work >on technological and design alternatives that have the potential to >substantially improve the economics of the expansion, while also completing >some early stage site works." >As a result of this change, the Company will recognise impairment and other >charges of US$346 million before tax (US$242 million after tax) in respect of >the Olympic Dam Project in the 2012 financial year. >------------------------------------- >SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PREMIER JAY WEATHERILL'S STATEMENT >I have been advised by BHPB of the decision of their Board to defer the >Olympic Dam expansion project to allow the development of a new mine plan >based on new technologies which will involve capital efficiencies for >consideration by the Board. >BHPB have requested that discussions with the State Government concerning the >implications of this decision for the indenture agreement take place as soon >as possible. >There is no doubt this is a major disappointment for South Australia and the >nation.- especially for those workers and businesses who had set themselves to >work on the expansion project. >It is also a particular disappointment for the regional towns like Roxby >Downs, Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Whyalla who had started to experience the >benefits in activity that this expansion was bringing. >As BHPB have made clear today, this decision is based on global factors quite >outside our control - South Australia and the Commonwealth have done >everything in our power to provide the circumstances for the project to >proceed - a point acknowledged by BHPB. >What I want to say to South Australians is that these resources are world >class. They are still there. >They belong to us, and they will be developed. >What I have explained to BHPB is that beyond their regulatory approvals, they >also need community permission to develop this resource. Given that this is >the second time they have disappointed South Australians, there can be no >doubt that this community permission will come at a cost. >I have been told by BHPB that they wish to proceed with an expansion. >They have told me that they need to do this in the coming years because the >life of the underground mine is finite, and there are clear advantages to them >of retaining the environmental approvals that are already in place. >They have told me that they will continue the site preparation work at Olympic >Dam, and engineering works to ensure that they are ready to proceed in a major >way. >They have told me that they will undertake a series of pilot tests on the new >technologies that will assist them to bring this project on. >The discussions BHPB have requested with the South Australian Government will >take place over the coming weeks, and will need to be concluded before the end >of the year. >
