Column: Demand weakness helps cushion tin from supply problems
Tin demand last year was weaker than expected and is on course for only a modest recovery in 2024, according to the International Tin Association.
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive officer and founder Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest. (Image: Screenshot from interview posted on YouTube)
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) chief executive officer and founder Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has launched an all-out war on rivals BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) urging Australians to demand the government intervention to stop the miners iron ore expansion plans.
In an editorial written for News.com, the head of the world’s No.4 iron ore mining company said BHP and Rio were jeopardizing the economy, accusing them of “callous disregard for Australia.”
The billionaire philanthropist said that because of the reckless actions of the big iron miners he was now “being forced” to lay off more than 100 workers a day in his own company.
“These big companies say they must flood the market next year and the year after and the year after even though it will crash the price further,” Forrest wrote. “Every time they say this the price falls again.”
Forrest argues that for every dollar lost the economy loses A$800 million ($632m) and the government misses another $300 million ($235m) in company tax revenue. He said funding for everything from education to superannuation is, this way, being put at risk and his own work to boost universities and end Aboriginal disadvantage is being hurt.
He continued his aggressive call-to-arms buy asking Australians to bombard their local members of parliament and question if BHP and Rio should be allowed to even operate in the country.
Dangerous intervention
FMG’s Christmas Creek mine.
Reactions to Forrester’s renewed attack on the big miners, as expected, were quick to come. The Minerals Council of Australia said Forrest was playing a “dangerous game” by pushing for the federal government to intervene.
“There is no role for government in ‘managing’ the iron ore market,” the industry group chief executive, Brendan Pearson, said in a statement.
He added a move like that would give “a giant free kick” to Australia’s competitors, such as Brazil. “And one thing we know from commodity markets is that once given up, market share is very difficult to win back.”
However, Treasurer Joe Hockey has backed Forrest’s call, saying he has some sympathy for him.
“I have a lot of sympathy for the workers who are losing their jobs and I’ve got a lot of sympathy for a number of companies that have suspended activities as a result of the fall [in prices],” he told Financial Review.
Fortescue, Australia’s third biggest iron ore producer, is not an innocent victim in this ongoing war. The company has also contributed to oversupply, recently ramping up production to 164 million tonnes a year.
But at a dinner in Shanghai earlier this year, Forrest said he was “absolutely happy” to cap his production right away and that the other major players should do the same. His comments granted him a probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on whether he had breached cartel laws.
6 Comments
PaoloUSA
My hat off to one of the few examples of sanity in the industry’s Bigs.
The Observer
Well done Twiggy, the pure greed of the top 2 is beyond belief, money, money, is all they want, jobs are disappearing just to satisfy just to pay their shareholders, the misery they are causing, go’s beyond money, Twiggy should be the P.M.
Peter Collins
If BHP,RIO cap production Vale will pick up the excess and prices will still go lower. FMG biggest problem is its debt level and how they can pay it back at the current prices. This is a company who imported most of the Fabrication for Kings and Firetail operations (Solomon) from overseas they did not support local fabrication companies then
This company also had major redundancies when iron ore was at around $90.00.When Roy Hill starts up and is in full production do we also cap them. Markets will sort out the week from the strong.
I understand the turmoil of being made redundant from one of FMG sites. No compassion given form Andrew Forrest then.
PaoloUSA
The paradigm is:”Let the market decide who’s to stay and who’s to go. Never play market”. The reality is that a poor, simplistic and short sighted strategic approach to the Chinese market has resulted in a domino effect. I once have been told that all the Bigs have done in the past two-three years was to defend their market share…………..Again, keep it simple, would you rather have a 35% market share at 60% profitability or a 45% market share at 10% profitability? For as good as analysts are the art of predicting the future, complex scenarios predictability remains highly volatile, especially in complex market like China. It is an industry problem, hype investments at market peak, satisfy short term shareholders need and loose medium-long terms vision of the market dynamics.
Michael Small
Unfortunately some people have short memories! Whilst Mr Forest has embraced the employment of local labour in a very professional manner, he commenced the initial project under some curious circumstances which attracted the attention of ASIC.Statements were made about sales contracts when in essence no such formal documentation existed. But Australia needs such big picture people and we congratulate Twiggy on his endeavours. But common on— did any one in the market place consider the iron ore price would remain steady at $150+/tonne .Look at your customers and their manipulation of the sales price–to aggressively posture against Rio and BHPB is somewhat extraordinary–maybe the shareholders of these two public companies may like to comment !!
With reference to short term memories ,some of the industry remember Anaconda/Murrin Murrin Nickel and the fallout for companies associated with Twiggy’s first mining/minerals processing adventure. Nice distraction No 4.
BL
It never ceases to amaze me how the pillars of capitalism are the first to cry when the free market actually begins to cut into their profits and they see the value of their business going to zero. Bring on more supply. As a consumer, I want lower steel prices.