GLOBAL Australian banks defend coal exit Australia’s banks have defended their decision to exit the thermal coal sector and pushed back against suggestions from government lawmakers that they be forced to extend financing to fossil fuels. Senior executives from Australia’s big four banks and the head of the country’s banking association told a parliamentary hearing on July 27 that current skyhigh coal prices are masking “significant” mediumterm uncertainty and risks posed by the sector. Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter by value, and coal miners are expected to post bumper profits during the full-year reporting season for listed companies in August.
Australia plans 527mn t/yr more coal mining capacity Australia has 26.2mn t/yr of new coal mining capacity committed for construction or under construction, with a further 399mn t/yr having been proven feasible but not yet approved and 102mn t/yr publicly an-
24 | CCAI Monthly Newsletter July 2021
nounced, according to the Australian government's commodity forecaster. Around 150mn t/yr of the projects not committed but with proven feasibility are thermal coal project in the inland Galilee basin region of Queensland and are dependent on accessing infrastructure to export coal from mines to the coast, which is up to 450km away. Most of the proponents are waiting to see how successful Adani is in developing the Carmichael mine before committing to their projects. The remaining feasible projects are thermal coal projects with some having semi-soft coking coal by-products, across NSW and Queensland. Some of these projects are being held up by government approvals or by problems securing funding, as financial institutions remove services from the sector. Firmer thermal and metallurgical coal prices have prompted some of the smaller developers to push forward with plans that were put on hold last year during the Covid-19 lockdowns, while others are waiting to see how sustainable the current price environment is.
