Australia 02 (Jan 11 - Dec 25)

Re: Australia 02 (Jan 11 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:06 am

Down 0.9%. Not too bad ..

Maybe the lemmings know that Australia is not part of the Middle East
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Re: Australia 02 (Jan 11 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:03 pm

Australia coal mines, ports shut ahead of cyclone

MELBOURNE/PERTH (Reuters) - Australia's coal industry is bracing for another blow to exports as a huge cyclone moves toward northern Queensland state, forcing two coal mines, part of the state's coal haulage system and several coal export ports to shut on Tuesday.

Queensland, Australia's largest coal-producing state, is still recovering from the floods which brought the state's mining industry to a near standstill and there is a risk that more severe weather could make recovery even more difficult.

Cyclone Yasi, which is expected to rival the strength of Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans in 2005, will hit the Queensland coast early on Thursday, following close on the heels of Cyclone Anthony which soaked parts of the state over the weekend.

Xstrata Coal shut its Collinsville mine and said it was considering shutting its Newlands mine as well, while Rio Tinto shut its Hail Creek mine.

"This is shaping as a much larger and faster moving system which could impact a wider area in what is an already saturated landscape following Cyclone Anthony," Rio Tinto Coal Australia said in an e-mailed statement.

QR National, Australia's largest coal freight company, suspended operations on its Goonyella and Newlands rail lines which run from inland mines to coal ports.

The country's largest coking coal export terminal, Dalrymple Bay, was also shut due to the cyclone,

Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal and accounts for two-thirds of world exports for coking coal, which is used for steelmaking.

Severe weather in Queensland has resulted in volatility in coal prices, pushing up prices in the illiquid coking coal spot market and boosting thermal coal prices nearly 30 percent to over $140 per tonne in mid-January from about $110 per tonne at the beginning of the year.

On Tuesday, bids for thermal coal, which is used for power generation, rose to $129 per tonne, in part due to expectations for production disruptions in Queensland, market sources said.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, has also been affected. The index fell to its lowest in nearly two years on Monday, partly due to a severe slowdown in seaborne traffic from Australia to its Asian customers.

"Shipments have already halted due to the floods so not much has changed," a Singapore-based shipbroker said. "Freight rates are taking a real hammering."

More rains will delay what has already been a difficult recovery from the floods that left many mine pits inundated and rail lines underwater.

Queensland has granted temporary permission to 34 coal mines to pump out floodwater and is considering applications from another 17, the state's Department of Environmental and Resource Management said Tuesday.

The department regulates a total of 51 mines state-wide.

Australia's weather bureau is forecasting average to above-average rainfall and cyclone activity in the country's north over the next two weeks.

But the coal mining areas of central Queensland may escape the worst of heavy rains caused by tropical cyclone Yasi, Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said.

Source: Reuters US Online Report World News
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Re: Australia 02 (Jan 11 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Wed Feb 02, 2011 6:48 am

Tropical Cyclone Yasi, bearing down on Australian coastal town of Cairns, upgraded to most dangerous category.

Source: CNN International
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Re: Australia 02 (Jan 11 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Fri Feb 04, 2011 6:19 pm

Coal Mines, Ports Reopen in Australia as Yasi Moves Inland and Weakens
By Ben Sharples

Coal and metals mines, railroads and ports are reopening in Queensland after suffering minimal damage yesterday from Tropical Cyclone Yasi, the first Category 5 storm to strike the Australian state since 1918.

“Weather conditions such as this will certainly hamper efforts by the coal mining industry in Australia to recover from the devastating floods of last month,” Deutsche Bank AG analysts led by Daniel Brebner said yesterday in a report. “This will probably keep both coking coal and thermal coal markets tight for the balance of the quarter.”

Yasi will likely be followed by more cyclones as La Nina boosts the number of tropical storms, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. La Nina, characterized by a cooling of temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, is generally associated with above-normal winter, spring and summer rain in eastern and northern Australia.

Coking coal contract prices may rise as much as 78 percent next quarter on disruptions from flooding in Australia, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Australian hard prime spot coking coal sold for $330 a metric ton on average in the week to Jan. 28 from $320 the week before, according to Petersfield, England-based researcher HIS McCloskey.

Sugarcane plantations may lose 50 percent of production potential, said grower’s group Canegrowers, which begins an assessment of the crop damage today. Losses to the industry could be at least A$500 million ($507 million), it said.

Rail networks that service about 38 percent of coal-port capacity on Australia’s east coast reopened yesterday, according to QR National. Four coal trains arrived at Darymple Bay since 3 a.m. this morning, Greg Smith, general manager of operations at the export terminal, said by phone.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-0 ... akens.html
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Re: Australia 02 (Jan 11 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:02 am

After the Cyclone, they now have Bush Fires.

Why are the gods not so happy with them ?

Is it because they recklessly followed Cowboy Bush into Iraq ?
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Re: Australia 02 (Jan 11 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:06 am

Is Australia also an "EM" ? I guess you can lumped them as an "EM" as they get most of their revenue from the "EM".

So if the lemmings run from EM, Australia would be hurt as well.

Anyway, the lemmings are running back again, up 0.8% now ..

Will they sell into strength later ?
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Re: Australia 02 (Jan 11 - May 11)

Postby winston » Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:49 pm

Japan disaster to cost Australia $2 bln in lost trade by Martin Parry

The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan will cost Australia some Aus$2 billion (US$2.07 billion) in lost export earnings, trimming economic growth, Treasurer Wayne Swan said Sunday.

Japan is the country's second-largest trade partner after China and the seafloor quake and tsunami on March 11, which left about 28,000 people dead or missing, damaged ports and power stations.

Australia is the world's biggest shipper of coal and iron ore and Swan admitted the catastrophe would leave its mark on the Australian economy.

"Preliminary Treasury estimates show that the earthquake and tsunami will cut demand for our bulk commodity exports in the short term and likely slash around $2 billion from export earnings in 2010-11," he said.

"This could subtract less than a quarter of a percentage point from GDP growth this financial year, and comes on top of the half a percentage point impact from the floods and cyclone at home.

"Japan's nuclear situation and power shortages continue to weigh on international financial markets and may prolong the impact of this crisis on the global economy," Swan added.

The hit to the economy comes after the Treasury said destructive floods in Australia this year could cost up to $8.3 billion in lost coal production -- a sharp increase on earlier projected losses.

The huge deluge that swamped coal-producing Queensland state in January caused significant damage, halting mine production and cutting key transport infrastructure,

The government has estimated the floods, which covered an area the size of France and Germany combined and were followed by destructive Cyclone Yasi, will cut coal production by about 15 million tonnes in the March quarter alone.

But businesses expect total coal production losses to be much higher, worth roughly between Aus$5.5 and Aus$8 billion.

"No one was ever under any doubt that the financial toll of the devastation we've seen in Queensland and elsewhere in Australia this summer was going to be substantial," Swan said.

"The latest figures back that up, and indicate the cost is likely to be even larger than we initially thought."

The twin natural disasters are expected to weigh heavily on the Australian budget due to be announced on May 10, which will seek to balance their costs against inflationary risks caused by an unprecedented Asia-driven mining boom.

Swan warned of tough decisions ahead.

"These events all have significant implications for our budget as well as our economy," he said.

"Weaker growth will clearly mean that revenues take a substantial hit in the near-term, and this comes on top of the rebuilding and recovery costs in Queensland.

"As the prime minister said last week, there'll need to be some tough decisions in the budget as we stick to our strict fiscal rules."

Australia, dubbed the "wonder from Down Under", was the only major Western economy to avoid recession during the financial crisis thanks mainly to its coal and iron ore exports and emergency stimulus package.

It now has unemployment of just 5.0 percent and a currency at historic highs against the US dollar, although interest rates have risen rapidly since dropping dramatically during the crisis. They are currently at 4.75 percent.

Source: AFP Global Edition
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AUD

Postby eauyong » Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:39 pm

Reserve Bank keeps rates unchanged at 4.75%.

AUSSIE: The currency is little changed after the Reserve Board of Australia left the cash rate unchanged at 4.75%, while adding the current monetary policy is appropriate and inflation is consistent with mid-term objectives.

The rate is now at $87.05 and Y1.3024 versus pre-announcement levels of $1.3010 and Y87.08. It ranged from $1.0314 to $1.0371 so far in Asia and from Y87.01 to Y87.39.
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Re: AUD

Postby eauyong » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:50 am

From the ABS: - AUD Home Loans (FEB) -5.6% m/m - Median market forecast for Feb -2.5% m/m - Feb forecast range -7.2% to +2.8%.

------------------------------------------------------------
AUSSIE rate has broken through the 2010 high of Y88.00, for a high so far of Y88.46, also marking the highest since late-Sept, 2008. Weaker-than-expected Feb housing finance data not showing signs of denting bullish Aussie view. Y89.05 seen as next target.
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Re: AUD

Postby eauyong » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:38 am

From the ABS: - March employment +37,800 - Market forecast was +24,000 - March unemployment rate 4.9% vs 5.0% in Feb - Market forecast was 5.0%, in a range of 4.9% to 5.1%
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