Yancoal hungry for more mines in Aus

With the price of coal off about $5 a metric tonne, coal-mining companies are looking more tempting to acquirers.

The Australian reports that Yancoal Australia, fresh from purchasing Wesfarmers’ Premier Coal Mine in Western Australia for $297 million last week and Syntech Resources last month for $202.5 million, could buy more coal mines.

The reason is because mining assets are on on sale. Current market turmoil and the threat of another recession, which would reduce the demand for raw materials,  has been priced  into the value of mining companies:

The value of mining companies globally has dropped 30 per cent from an April high, according to the Bloomberg World Mining index, as market turmoil threatens to slow growth and reduce raw-material demand.

The Australian quotes Yancoal managing director Murray Bailey saying the company would look at both met coal and thermal coal companies, with Whitehaven Coal and Bandanna Energy as potential targets.