Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
With Chinese demand slackening, India and Brazil’s need for raw materials will support the global mining industry, Australia’s in particular, said global accountancy firm KPMG Thursday.
In an interview with The Australian (subscription required), KPMG global chairman Michael Andrew said towards the end of the decade Chinese demand for iron ore and coking coal — key steelmaking materials — will slow down significantly.
The forecast, already flagged by giant miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, is not entirely pessimistic. Andrew says that soon enough the market will start to see “a continued expansion and requirements for the sort of commodities Australia produces from Asia, India and South America.”
In the last 10 years Brazil has beaten expectations, becoming a success story among emerging economies. The nation’s per capita GDP rose from $2,812 in 2002 to US$12,594 in 2011, growing 18% a year on average.
In September last year, Brazil’s unemployment rate was at a near record low of 5.4%, compared to 7.8% in the U.S., according to an article published Wednesday by Wharton University of Pennsylvania:
In addition, the Brazilian government continues to invest money in offshore oil exploration. The country is currently home to the second largest infrastructure project in the world —the development of its offshore oil deposits in the Pré-Sal, which will bring in $270 billion in investments over the next 10 years and a huge demand for ancillary products and services. This project is expected to generate two million new jobs in an industry that currently has only 500,000 employees.
Along the way, Brazil has attracted significant foreign capital, as investors seek to capitalize on the country’s growing consumer segment and infrastructure needs.
Before China’s growth began slowing, its unequalled surge fuelled the extraction industry in most resource-rich countries.
