Coal

US $5 bln mining deal hits limits of coal revival

21 Aug 2024

Consol Energy and Arch Resources are teaming up in a no-premium merger. Though the combined group will dig up cost savings and have more cash to buy back stock, shareholders gave the union a tepid reception. The rock’s future is less dismal, but the investor pool remains narrow.

Glencore may be the next UK listing to head west

7 Aug 2024

The $61 bln miner had planned to spin off its coal unit via a New York IPO. Given the pollutant’s profit remains alluring, it now won’t. But Glencore boss Gary Nagle could weigh up US investors’ greater fondness for fossil fuels, and opt to move the whole company instead.

Mining M&A stokes coal race against cleaner power

20 Jun 2024

Anglo American will soon offload dirty deposits used to make steel as part of CEO Duncan Wanblad’s overhaul. Rival sales suggest there should be plenty of suitors. Coking deals can pay off for buyers if prices stay high and green options develop slowly, but neither is assured.

Santa puts coal stocks in stockings for last time

19 Dec 2023

Producers of the dirty fuel, like Peabody and Arch Resources, have generated excellent returns over the past two years, a trend that may continue in the near term. But government policies are rapidly eroding demand. Fewer investors will want the shares in Christmases future.

Glencore’s split is yet to be copper-bottomed

6 Dec 2023

Having merged its coal assets with Canadian miner Teck’s, the $70 bln Swiss group is eyeing a spinoff. But boss Gary Nagle faces a tricky call on what to do with oil trading. And the appeal of a coal-clean metals split may hinge on whether Teck’s own separation creates value.

Time to target fossil fuel demand, not supply

11 Sep 2023

Climate activists want countries and companies to stop producing oil, gas and coal. It would be more effective to focus on cutting demand for fossil fuels – by campaigning for carbon taxes, green subsidies and faster licences for renewable energy, says Hugo Dixon.

Brookfield’s climate promise faces a dirty test

8 Sep 2023

The investor’s pending $12 bln co-purchase of Origin includes Australia’s largest coal plant. Fear of blackouts may keep it running past an expected 2025. Even with deep pockets and oodles of renewables expertise, it may be hard to avert such an epic energy transition fail.

Indian interlopers can disrupt global mining M&A

25 Aug 2023

Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Steel can afford Teck’s coal unit. A full or part bid rivalling Glencore’s $8 bln offer would secure key raw materials and reduce the risk of geopolitical supply shocks. It’s a strong motive for buyers in the fastest growing market for the alloy to do deals.

Glencore deal epitomises net zero’s reduced status

27 Jul 2023

The $75 bln miner used to argue it was better to wind down its coal assets than sell them to a less responsible owner. Now CEO Gary Nagle wants to buy a rival and spin off the enlarged coal unit. Investors, distracted by energy security and fat profits, are unlikely to stop him.

Windfall taxes get a breezy airing Down Under

14 Jun 2023

New levies on high coal prices accounted for a third of the $10 bln in resources royalties Queensland raked in over the past year. It helps the state invest in renewables, hospitals and childcare without trashing fossil-fuel firms’ margins. It’s how such tariffs should work.

Capital Calls: London crypto move, Stellantis SPAC

12 Jun 2023

Concise views on global finance: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomes Andreessen Horowitz’s UK office just as cryptocurrencies face a regulatory crackdown in the US; the European carmaker’s move to back a London blank-check vehicle is less hairy than it sounds.

Rich countries and India should cut a climate pact

10 Apr 2023

Helping the world’s most populous nation grow in a green way is one of the best things that could happen for its people and the planet. While there are many obstacles to a deal between the G7 and India, the prize is great enough for both sides to overcome them, says Hugo Dixon.

Glencore’s Teck gambit could slip on an oily patch

6 Apr 2023

The Swiss commodity giant’s $22 bln plan to buy its Canadian peer and spin off its coal arm offers an alternative to investors voting on Teck’s own breakup plan. Yet Glencore’s oil trading unit may hurt the value of the non-coal bit. Teck’s pitch has flaws too, but looks cleaner.

Glencore will have to dig deep for Canadian miner

3 Apr 2023

Teck Resources rejected the Swiss giant’s plan for a $23 bln all-share takeover and spinning off their combined coal units. The Canadian firm is pursuing its own split. Since the deal would help solve Glencore’s dirty-fuel problem, it will have to pay more to win over its target.

Americans indulge green at home, black abroad

31 Mar 2023

U.S. renewable power generation surpassed coal for the first time in 2022. But companies like Peabody Energy and Consol Energy are benefitting from exporting their dirty power source. Cleaning up the country's act, while exporting more filthy fuel, wastes part of this effort.

Capital Calls: World Bank, Bumble, Wood Group

23 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: The U.S. picks ex-Mastercard boss Ajay Banga to run the multilateral development bank; while the dating app’s shares are down, private equity owner Blackstone is still in the money; the UK oil services group has turned down three bids from Apollo.

Energy transition’s $12 bln deal becomes forex bet

22 Feb 2023

Brookfield and MidOcean have reduced their offer for Australia’s coal and gas-heavy Origin Energy, but only by 1%. Large investors also will be paid partly in U.S. dollars. If exchange rates move only slightly, it would more than compensate them for the price cut.

Glencore’s coal fudge risks satisfying no one

15 Feb 2023

The dirty fuel is booming, and made up half of the $80 bln commodity giant’s 2022 EBITDA. Green investors may want CEO Gary Nagle to phase it out faster, while financially motivated ones would favour more mining. He’s doing neither, and paying the price with a middling valuation.

Anti-ESG movement has investment case

12 Dec 2022

American coal firms are generating so much cash that at current rates, it equals their market value, including debt, in under two years. Oil firms like Exxon could earn back their value in five. Even if recession squeezes profit and decarbonization looms, valuations are too low.

Aussie energy woes put miners in windfall hole

5 Dec 2022

Canberra may cap the soaring price of coal or tax profits to reduce electricity costs. That’s a potentially explosive new risk for producers like Whitehaven, which is buying back up to a third of its stock at near record highs. Such short-term largesse could come back to burn.