Singaporean consortium secures $850m for South32’s Australian coking coal
South32 said in February it had agreed to sell the business in New South Wales state for $1.65 billion.
The bank considers the sector too risky.
Bank of America, one of the largest banks in the United States, has decided to slash its financing for coal mining projects, as it now considers the sector as a “highly risky” one to invest on.
Speaking at the shareholders meeting, Andrew Plepler, Bank of America’s Corporate Social Responsibility executive, said the new policy reflects the lender’s decision to continue to reduce its credit exposure to the coal mining.
“Today, our renewable energy portfolio is more than three times as large as our coal extraction portfolio,” Plepler said. “The transition from high-carbon energy to low-carbon energy will continue. At Bank of America, we will continue to do our part to accelerate this transition for our customers, clients and communities.”
The new bank policy, published Wednesday, notes that the “dynamics around coal are shifting,” and cites pollution regulations, changes in economic conditions, increased competition from shale gas and renewable power as the main drivers of such change.
According to the World Coal Association, coal currently supplies about 30% of the world’s main energy needs and over 40% of its electricity. At the same time, consumption of the fossil fuel in China, the world’s biggest consumer, fell in 2014 for the first time in 14 years. The nation has said it will ban coal use in smog-cloaked Beijing by 2020.
Bank of America is not alone. Other major financial institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, are also distancing themselves from the fossil fuel.
Image courtesy of Cerrejon, Colombia.
4 Comments
Rayna Hay
“No guts, no glory!” no doubt this fad of green energy will find it’s limits and those who hang in there will find security with the reliability of coal for industry and Hospitals and the likes! And when the damage from “Fracking” shows it’s ugly head as it corrupts the structure and stability of the ground beneath your feet, again coal will trump in the hero! If it weren’t for all the Alarmists a more reasonable and truly sustainable division of power creation, supply and resource would be affected, but for now I still believe that green energy that hijacks the established infrastructure laid down by coal industry will soon hit the wall with ballooning costs and failure to supply consistently for big consumers.
Domestic properties off grid and on green renewables is the go with small wind turbine and or gas or diesel generator back up. Land acquisitions for mass production of solar/ wind generation energy and the extensive infrastructure still required to feed domestic properties will be in contention also before long! Even restrictions to ocean as wave tech gets too big. Just wait and see!
Mike Failla
Perhaps we can build a few plants to convert coal to fuel? Sasol does it and then you have fixed the problem.But wait (theres more), Cant use uranium, cant get rid of it when its spent. You can do that in france but you cant do that in the U.S. Why is that? Cant mine coal, cant cut trees, cant do this cant do that! When are we gonna wise up and kick these corrupt shysters out of office and force them to get a real job like the rest of us who are lucky enough to still have one?
This will go on and on until…………….the next green crisis shows up, and the next one after that blah blah blah .They will blather about it and make sweeping proclamations about it and then continue to ignore it because they are getting wealthy off of it and you and I? Not so much. I have no issue with profits, after all no poor man ever gave you a job but when is enough enough?
We have an abundant resource and people who know how to mine it safely but we are all green now aren’t we? Hell , its the flavor of the moment so yeah lets plug in our electric car and go for a ride. No thought given to what the plug in was attached to, No thought of where that power came from or how it was delivered because what the heck, I have an electric car! Please park it around back would you? (love that lithium battery! Where did the lithium come from?)
Sooner or later coal will make its return but all the coal miners will be long gone and the new miners will be in no way ready for what is coming. Fatalities will go up due to lack of training experience lack of knowledge and demand for the product that was viewed as filthy but manageable and then that coal then became” manageable and unfashionable” again. Mining is cyclical in nature but like anything, time does indeed march on and so do the miners.
Remember this : if you cant grow it, you must mine it!
POGO was right. He has seen the enemy and the enemy is us!
Victoria Asanova
Good day,I like coal miners with 15 years of experience, it seems wrong to forecast, US competitors Russia, Indonesia, Mongolia .I exporting Russian coal and coke in Turkey, Italy …. I can say the following Russian coal in a difficult situation, rail costs are expensive, very expensive ports .Russian coal miners working at the limit of the cost (not pose much of a threat for the sector of the United States), Indonesia supplies huge volume, but deeper than 40 meters of production do not go (except Adar, Bukit Assam ….) A lot of money is very necessary for the underground mining and the construction of railways. (bed the huge Indonesian coal as a competitor himself, moisture 25-40%, it is still necessary to wash and dry.) And factories across India, China, Korea and Europe are low delta earnings metallurgists, no rebuilding will not. Everything indicates that the coal sector will live .The question how much have to drive down the price. Post in nj .
klgmac
The PBGC, nearly insolvent itself, will partially bail out the pensions of the bankrupt coal miners. Bankrupting the coal mines is our national policy.