Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Energy News .




THE PITS
BHP warns of Australian job cuts
by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Aug 16, 2012


Global mining giant BHP Billiton warned Thursday of job losses at its Australian operations as it grapples with China's slowdown and ongoing turbulence in Europe.

The Anglo-Australian miner is due to report its full-year results next Wednesday and speculation is growing of a significant drop in profits due to a slump in commodity prices as Chinese demand sags.

BHP has already warned of production cuts, closing a loss-making Australian coal mine in April, and said last month it would be shuffling its investment projects to minimise cash pressures, with a grim near-term outlook.

It said Thursday that it continued "to focus on reducing our overheads and operating costs across the business... against a backdrop of increasing costs and falling commodity prices," and jobs could be at stake.

"We don't intend to provide any detail about specific adjustments, but clearly there may be some impact on jobs in some areas," the world's biggest miner said in statement ahead of Wednesday's results briefing.

BHP chief Marius Kloppers told staff last month that the company had "continued to see evidence of a faster-than-anticipated economic slowdown" in China as its own costs rocketed, "impacting our profitability significantly".

Kloppers said BHP had to "reduce our cost base, eliminating all non-essential expenditure" and would carefully consider any future capital investment in an internal note to staff published by Australian media.

BHP posted a 5.5 percent fall in first-half profits in February to US$9.4 billion largely due to price volatility and warned of weakening conditions in its June quarter production report.

Major rival Rio Tinto reported a 22 percent slump in annual net profit to US$5.9 billion earlier this month, blaming an easing in commodity prices, and analysts are predicting a similar fall for BHP.

Australia's central bank has predicted that resources investment, a key driver of the nation's world-beating economic performance, is likely to peak by 2014.

.


Related Links
Surviving the Pits






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








THE PITS
53 rescued from China coal mine: state media
Beijing (AFP) July 27, 2012
Fifty-three rescuers sent in to recover five trapped coal miners at a colliery in southwest China had to be pulled to safety Thursday after they too became stuck underground, state media said. The five miners remain trapped in the mine in Guizhou province and have now been underground for over 32 hours, the Xinhua news agency said, citing rescue headquarters. They became marooned when a tunn ... read more


THE PITS
ADB urges 'green' tax for China

Tanzania to end power shortages in capital

Drought hits U.S. power supply

Rwanda to begin geothermal drilling

THE PITS
Japan to deport pro-China island activists: reports

Shell shuts oil station in Nigeria, activists report spill

Ban calls for South China Sea dialogue

Japan arrests five men on disputed island: police

THE PITS
US Wind Power Market Riding a Wave That Is Likely to Crest in 2012

Wind farms: A danger to ultra-light aircraft?

Off-shore wind power project considered

Obama whips up wind power attack on Romney

THE PITS
SOLON Accelerates Shipping Innovative Solquick Rooftop Solution To Solar Installers

KYOCERA to Supply 405KW of Renewable Solar Energy to Remote Villages of Fiji

Saint Theresa's Looks to the Sun For Big Energy Savings

Constellation To Develop 4.35MW Solar Generation Project

THE PITS
Belgian nuclear safety chief spells out fissure fears

UAE announces $3bn in nuclear fuel deals

Japan's Toshiba eyes nuclear power alliance

NRC Freezes All Nuclear Reactor Construction and Operating Licenses in US

THE PITS
Major advance made in generating electricity from wastewater

New process doubles production of alternative fuel while slashing costs

Senegalese villagers vow to fight biofuels project

AREVA invests in bio-coal

THE PITS
Hong Kong people share joy of China's manned space program

China's Long March-5 carrier rocket engine undergoes testing

China to land first moon probe next year

China launches Third satellite in its global data relay network

THE PITS
1.5 million years of climate history revealed after scientists solve mystery of the deep

Hibernation altered by climate change takes a toll on Rocky Mountain animal species

Diseased trees new source of climate gas

Climate: US call for 'flexibility' on warming spurs row




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement