The miners and investors chasing a 'real opportunity' in Australian coal
Our biggest and most iconic companies are fleeing coal. But, unafraid of controversy, a wave of smaller players have moved in to chase outsize returns from the unloved sector.
It's no secret that coal is deeply unloved by anyone with an environmental conscience. And the rapid retreat from commodity — still one of Australia's biggest exports and a key source of power — has been one of the biggest themes in capital markets over the past couple of years.
Against the backdrop of pressure from their own investors on environmental concerns, the nation's biggest banks have all laid out plans to eventually cease financing thermal coal, used for energy production, and reduce their exposure to metallurgical or coking coal, used for steelmaking.
Meanwhile, forced to confront the substantial investment and reputation risks associated with their coal assets, major resource companies like BHP and Rio Tinto have been divesting and selling off what were once-prized operations.
Yet while some of our biggest and most iconic companies are fleeing coal, that doesn’t mean the business is dying off. It’s simply changing hands.
