Write-downs and job losses mark dark time in commodities
PrintA Brazilian mining giant has announced it will sell a Queensland coal mine, following asset write-downs.
Vale, a Brazilian company with operations around the world, has been forced to offload the Degulla mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, marking the third such asset Vale has sought to sell off.
Amid falling commodity prices in recent months, Vale has taken a $1 billion write-down of its Australian operations. The sale will likely come with job losses under a restructure by whoever takes it over, adding to the ongoing spate of commodities industry layoffs.
In the last few months Xstrata announced it will sack 450 workers in Queensland, Peabody Energy will fire 450 in NSW and Queensland, Downer EDI is shedding 185 positions in NSW and WesTrac will lay off 350 workers in NSW and the ACT.