澳洲矿企瘦身 矿业繁荣期或已结束

Australian mining companies are slashing spending as the country's economic outlook dims.

随着本国经济前景变暗，澳大利亚矿业公司纷纷开始削减开支。

The world's fourth-largest producer of iron ore, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., said Tuesday it will slice operating costs by $300 million and save a further $1.6 billion by delaying the development of a large iron mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The company will also cut several hundred jobs.

世界第四大铁矿石生产企业Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.（简称:FMG）周二表示，将削减3亿美元的营业成本，并将推迟西澳大利亚州皮尔巴拉(Pilbara)地区一座大型铁矿的开发，从而进一步节省16亿美元。另外，FMG还将裁撤数百个岗位。

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are also planning cutbacks amid darkening economic outlooks around Asia, slumping prices for industrial commodities and rising production costs.

随着亚洲各地经济前景越来越黯淡、工业用大宗商品价格大幅下跌、生产成本不断上升，力拓(Rio Tinto)和必和必拓(BHP Billiton)也在做瘦身规划。

Mining companies in Australia are moving quickly to protect profits as the price prospects for major industrial commodities worsen-posing a risk for the resource-rich nation's economy. Australia recovered quickly from the financial crisis in 2008 and grabbed a place among the world's fastest-growing developed countries largely due to mining. That status is now at risk as companies such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue aggressively rein back their investments.

澳大利亚矿业公司迅速采取措施保护利润，是因为主要工业用大宗商品价格前景恶化，给这个资源大国的经济带来了风险。澳大利亚之所以迅速摆脱2008年的金融危机，成为世界上增长最快的发达国家之一，主要原因就在于矿业。现在随着必和必拓、力拓和FMG等公司大幅削减投资，这一地位已面临风险。

The mining companies' sudden change in strategy is sparking concerns that Australia's mining boom has ended. As 2012 began, Australia's miners were complaining of a shortage of manpower and scouring the world for skilled labor-paying some specialist truck drivers around $250,000 a year to work in Western Australia. Now the industry is shedding jobs.

矿企战略突然发生改变使人担心澳大利亚的矿业繁荣期已经结束。2012年开年之初，澳大利亚矿商还在抱怨人力短缺，从世界各地寻找熟练工人。在西澳大利亚,一些专门的卡车司机年薪达25万美元左右。现在这个行业正在裁人。

The price of iron ore, Australia's largest single export, has dropped by a third in the past two months. Tuesday it fell to US$86.90 a dry metric ton, its lowest level since October 2009. The price of coal, Australia's second-largest export and a major contributor to the profits of the country's biggest mining companies, has also plummeted, with thermal coal-used to generate electricity-down 20% this year.

铁矿石是澳大利亚出口额最高的单一产品，其价格在过去两个月下跌三分之一，周二跌至每干吨86.90美元，为2009年10月以来的最低水平。煤炭是澳大利亚第二大出口产品，也是该国大型矿企的重要利润来源。煤炭价格也已经大幅下跌，今年以来电煤价格跌了20%。

The iron-ore decline 'has been much sharper than anyone anticipated,' said Fortescue Chief Executive Nev Power, and now there's concern a recovery will take a little longer than first thought. Government forecasters are warning there's further to fall for industrial commodities such as iron ore, coal and copper.

FMG首席执行长鲍尔(Nev Power)说，铁矿石价格的下跌幅度远远超出了所有人的预料，而现在大家又担心反弹的时间将比原来预想的来得更晚。政府预测人士警告说，铁矿石、煤炭和铜等工业用大宗商品都还有进一步降价的空间。

'If prices continue to decline-and they declined substantially in the last six to eight weeks-then that clearly will have a negative outlook in terms of what companies are prepared to invest over the long term in projects,' Quentin Grafton, chief economist at the Bureau of Resources & Energy Economics, said in an interview Tuesday.

资源能源经济局(Bureau of Resources & Energy Economics)的首席经济学家格拉夫顿(Quentin Grafton)周二接受采访时说，过去六到八个星期价格已经大幅下跌，如果进一步下跌的话，肯定会对企业计划中的长期项目投资产生不利影响。

For Fortescue, based in Perth, that means backing off plans to raise the annual iron-ore output rate at its Pilbara operations to 155 million metric tons by next June. Instead it will aim to produce at a rate of 115 million tons by March, and then assess its growth plans based on market conditions.

对于总部位于珀斯(Perth)的FMG来说，这意味着要放弃在明年6月之前将皮尔巴拉地区的铁矿石年产量提高到15,500万吨的计划。相反，FMG将致力于在3月之前以年均11,500万吨的速度进行生产，然后根据市场状况评估增长计划。

The miner, whose credit rating from Moody's Investors Service-already at junk level, Ba3-was put on review for possible downgrade last week, lowered its fiscal year 2013 capital-expenditure guidance by US$1.6 billion, or 26%, to US$4.6 billion. It will defer not just a major project at the Solomon Hub iron-ore site but also a new export berth at Herb Elliott Port. Mr. Power also said the company would cut 'several hundred staff and several hundred contractors,' and reduce operating costs in a bid to secure immediate savings. A spokesman for the company declined to give details on the job cuts.

穆迪投资者服务公司(Moody's Investors Service Inc.)对这家矿业公司的信用评级已经是Ba3的垃圾级，上周又将其列入“可能下调”的评议名单中。该公司已经把2013财年的资本开支预期下调了16亿美元，至46亿美元，降幅26%。该公司不仅将推迟Solomon Hub铁矿区的一个主要项目，还会推迟在Herb Elliott Port港口新建一个出口泊位项目。鲍尔还说，公司将裁掉几百名员工，并解除与几百名承包商的合作关系，降低运营成本，以尽快节省资金。该公司的一名发言人拒绝提供裁员细节。

'This is exactly what happens when commodity prices get savaged,' said Prasad Patkar, a Sydney-based fund manager at Platypus Asset Management. 'High-cost and marginal projects get deferred as miners look to conserve cash, and producers that can't remain cash-flow positive cut production and the market balances.'

悉尼鸭嘴兽资产管理公司(Platypus Asset Management Ltd.)的基金经理帕特卡(Prasad Patkar)说，大宗商品价格受到打击时就会发生这样的事，成本高和不重要的项目被推迟，矿企寻求留住现金，不能保持现金流为正的矿商削减产量，从而使市场达到平衡。

BHP Billiton led the industry-wide reassessment when it announced last week that it was indefinitely delaying a $30 billion plan to expand its Olympic Dam copper, gold and uranium mine in South Australia.

必和必拓引领了行业范围内的重新评估潮。上周，该公司宣布将无限期推迟斥资3,000亿美元扩大南澳大利亚州Olympic Dam 铜矿、金矿和铀矿的计划。

Western Australian Mines Minister Norman Moore said Tuesday that more iron-ore projects in the state, which holds the country's largest reserves, face being delayed.

西澳大利亚州矿产与石油部部长穆尔(Norman Moore)周二说，该州更多的铁矿石项目面临着延期的命运。西澳大利亚是澳大利亚矿产储量最大的一个州。

Rio Tinto meanwhile said it will trim jobs and cut costs at its Argyle mine, famed for its rare pink diamonds. The company already is looking to shed a number of jobs at its coal operations in eastern Australia as well, and has said it will close one mine there before the end of the year rather than find ways to extend its operating life.

此外，力拓还表示，它将在Argyle钻石矿裁撤岗位，削减成本。Argyle因出产稀有的粉钻闻名。力拓已经寻求在东澳大利亚的煤矿业务上裁掉一些员工，该公司表示，将在年底之前关掉东澳大利亚的一个矿，而不会设法延长这个矿的运营寿命。

'Like others in the industry, Argyle is facing increasing costs,' said Bruce Tobin, a spokesman for Rio Tinto. 'We cannot do this effectively without reducing employee costs.'

力拓的发言人托宾(Bruce Tobin)说，就像业内其他矿场一样，Argyle正面临成本日益上升的压力，如果不降低雇佣员工的成本，我们没办法有效地运营下去。

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, behind in opinion polls and counting on mining-industry taxes to meet budget pledges, has downplayed the pullback in investment by BHP, Rio and Fortescue. On Tuesday she called reports of the end of Australia's mining boom 'exaggerated,' saying that the industry instead is entering a new phase of growth.

澳大利亚总理吉拉德(Julia Gillard)目前在民调中的支持率处于落后的位置，她正指望来自矿业的税收能够帮助其履行预算方面的承诺。吉拉德有意弱化了必和必拓、力拓和FMG撤出投资的影响。吉拉德周二表示，有关澳大利亚矿业繁荣期行将结束的报道夸大其词。她说，恰恰相反，矿业即将进入一个新的增长阶段。