Glencore, partners count cost of Wiggins bet

摘要

Glencore and five other miners backing the world's most expensive coal port in Australia face extra annual charges of A$150m (US$115m) after the restructuring of one of their partners this month, the latest to buckle under slumping commodity prices. The additional charge will deal a blow to the remaining backers of the A$2.6bn Wicgins Island Coal Export Terminal (WICET) in east Australia at a time when they are grappling with floundering coal markets. Mining and trading giant Glencore and seven partners began negotiations to build WICET in 2008 near the height of a coal boom, but prices have plunged 75% since then on global oversupply, China's slowing economy and competition from natural gas.