Stock Market News

BHP Shares Fall 1.2% as Weaker Coal Production Offsets Iron Ore Gains

2022.10.18 21:59

[ad_1]


© Reuters.

By Ambar Warrick 

Investing.com– Australian shares of BHP Group (NYSE:) fell over 1% on Wednesday as a sharp drop in coal production during the September quarter offset steady output from its iron ore facilities. 

BHP shares (ASX:) fell 1.2% to A$39.140 by 21:12 ET (01:12 GMT), while those of peer Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:) fell 0.7%. In contrast, Australia’s index rose 0.4%. 

The world’s largest miner said energy coal production in the three months to September 30 fell 38% to 2.6 million tons, due to adverse weather conditions and ongoing labor shortages. Metallurgical coal production fell 1% to 6.7 million tons. 

Coal was BHP’s biggest moneymaker for fiscal 2022, helping it log its biggest annual profit in 11 years as disruptions in the global energy market pushed coal prices to record highs earlier this year. 

Coal prices were largely boosted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted supplies from Moscow and saw several countries resort to coal to meet energy shortfalls. 

But BHP is facing difficulty in producing the electricity generating material due to a shortage of skilled workers in New South Wales. Wet weather also impacted production, as the region experienced thrice as much rainfall in the quarter as compared to last year. 

In addition to weaker production, coal prices have also now begun retreating from annual highs due to fears of slowing economic activity. The outlook for metallurgical coal is also under pressure from waning demand in major importer China.

Still, BHP forecast “strong long-term demand” for high-grade steelmaking coal, and maintained its 2023 production guidance at 29 to 32 million tons. The miner also maintained its annual energy coal guidance at 13 to 15 million tons. 

BHP’s iron ore production grew 3% in the quarter to 65.1 million tons, on steady output from Western Australia. 

But the outlook for metal markets remains uncertain, especially after peer Rio Tinto on Tuesday reported weaker quarterly iron ore shipments and cut its forecast for the year. 

Slowing economic growth in China has weighed heavily on metal markets this year, with demand in the world’s largest commodity importer expected to remain weakened by its strict zero-COVID policy. 

 

[ad_2]

Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 82,651.14 1.88%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,882.20 2.27%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.01%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.31 5.29%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 599.41 0.47%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 129.97 3.29%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.00%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.707586 5.37%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.168199 3.97%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.214709 4.01%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 1,881.25 2.21%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 82,527.11 1.64%
pi-network
Pi Network (PI) $ 1.46 0.07%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.75 0.12%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 13.56 3.41%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.38 15.24%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.05%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.264733 4.14%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,252.94 2.38%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.186836 3.16%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 18.56 0.10%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000013 0.07%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.24 4.05%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 89.07 4.83%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 325.92 4.46%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 6.56 0.50%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.23 3.55%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.00%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 1,882.08 2.33%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 4.38 0.88%
binance-bridged-usdt-bnb-smart-chain
Binance Bridged USDT (BNB Smart Chain) (BSC-USD) $ 1.00 0.03%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 13.45 6.70%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 28.63 0.54%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,000.72 2.37%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 209.34 0.55%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 6.03 1.52%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.04 0.02%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.01%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.20 2.40%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.54 3.59%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000007 4.91%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 45.68 1.21%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 5.61 2.03%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.80387 8.36%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 0.825717 5.79%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 17.34 3.53%
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 21.00 0.95%
coinbase-wrapped-btc
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 82,668.15 1.76%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 165.31 4.95%
tokenize-xchange
Tokenize Xchange (TKX) $ 29.94 2.16%