steel

Fortescue Metals Group is distributing over $1 billion worth of dividends to shareholders ahead of Labor’s plan to crack down on franking credits should it win Saturday’s federal election.

Fortescue Metals Group has set a new record for iron ore shipments of 46.5 million tonnes (Mt) in the June quarter, a 20 per cent increase that brought it to its full-year shipment target of 170Mt.

The Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science remains steadfast in its forecast that the iron ore price will average below $US50 a tonne in 2019.

Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power expects the volatility in the iron ore market to settle over the next six to 12 months.

The global steel price increase has boosted the value of Western Australian-based listed companies, with the 2017 financial year closing at $152.6 billion – a 13.5 per cent increase on 2016, according to Deloitte’s latest WA Index.

The doom-and-gloom surrounding the future of the price for iron ore remains on the back burner after its value spiked more than 7 per cent over night.

A Korean consortium, including leading steel-maker POSCO, has been chosen as the preferred bidder for South Australian-based iron ore company Arrium, which entered voluntary administration in 2016.

China’s move to reduce air pollution in large cities by limiting its need for iron ore and coal production over the next five years won’t slow Australia’s mining industry, a federal government report has claimed.

Both iron ore and steel have surged in China after investors scooped up commodities that were cheapened by a period of losses.

Wood Mac’s Robin Griffin outlines how steel makers and miners must prepare for a transformed met coal market; one that is volatile, liquid and heavily consolidated.

The South Australian government and SA senator Nick Xenophon have urged the new federal government to secure the long-term future of the Whyalla steelworks.

Bluescope Steel is suing the Wollongong Australian Workers Union branch for an unauthorised strike in May, with the branch saying if the action was successful it would likely mean the end.

Labor will announce a commitment worth $100 million to attempt to save Arrium’s Whyalla plant, but the federal government has criticised the timing of the news, saying it wouldn’t enter a political auction on the issue.

A new study from Flinders University has put the cost of Arrium Whyalla factory closing at 40 per cent of all jobs in the city being lost.

Steel and iron ore business Arrium announced this morning that it has appointed Grant Thornton as administrators.

China has announced it will lay off close to two million workers in its coal and steel industry to help cut market oversupply.

Global steel output fell last year, the first time this has happened since 2009, according to figures from the World Steel Association released this week.

Despite the apparent normalisation of low commodity prices, the Federal Government has predicted mining exports earnings to grow by more than 40 per cent by 2019-2020.

Arrium have announced that they will be cutting costs and jobs in the aim to save $100 million as they try and improve the viability of the steelworks.

Rio Tinto has reiterated predictions that China will produce one billion tonnes of steel by 2030, stating long-term demand for iron ore is strong despite the commodity’s price plunge this year.