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BHP Billiton strike is stalled but NUMSA wins case
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) was successful in its case against BHP Billiton in the Labour Court on 29 Oct 01. The Court did, however, grant BHP Billiton leave to appeal against the order which sanctioned a secondary strike by Numsa against BHP Billiton. Leave to appeal means that Numsa may not embark on the strike action until the appeal has been heard. Numsa spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli said "we view this as an abuse of the judicial system, but we are happy that we won round one." The primary strike at Samancor Witbank and Middleburg has been in progress for four weeks. It was thought that the sympathy strike would involve around 8 000 workers from the group's other operations. Ntuli added that as part of the campaign the Congress of SA Trade Unions is planning a march by 19 000 workers in Mpumalanga this week (29 Oct 01) in support of the striking workers.
Thirty three Mozal workers have been dismissed following an illegal strike stemming from a wage dispute. BHP Billiton said that the strike had ended on 27 Oct 01 and that workers were "trickling back to work".
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BHP Billiton production report to Sep 01
BHP Billiton’s production report for the quarter ended Sep 01 showed production of most major commodities in line with the corresponding period of the prior year and the Jun 01 quarter.
- Copper production dropped 5% on prior period figures and 20% on those of the last quarter largely as a result of the write off of the Ok Tedi copper project in Papua New Guinea. Higher copper cathode production was reported from Chile which increased the capacity of the oxide plant.
- Iron ore production was in line with projections and past figures. An Increases in production was recorded at Newman (western Australia) following increased demand from China and Korea. Boodarie iron ore production was slightly higher as was the realised price for the plants iron product, In spite of this, the near term outlook for the underlying global steel market remains weak.
- Metalurgical coal production increased 5% but was 23% below Jun 01 figures due to the equalisation of Qeensland coal interests with Mitsubishi to form BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance.
- Energy coal production rose 7% but 3% lower than the Jun 01 quarter following planned maintenance shutdowns.
- Oil and concentrate production dropped 6% and were 6% higher than the Jun 01 figures.
- Natural gas production rose 15% year on year and was in line with prior quarters.
- Raw steel production dropped 5% and was 4% lower than the Jun 01 quarter. Higher domestic (Australian) and lower export sales were recorded.
- Ekati Diamond production was 148% higher and 80% up on Jun 01 figures following the acquisition of Dia Met Minerals. BHP Billiton now owns 80% of the Ekati diamond mine (Canada). Higher carat grades were also recorded during Sep 01 as a result of high concentrate ore.
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BHP Billiton -- NUMSA defies court ruling
The National Union of Metalworkers SA said that it will go ahead with strike action at BHP Billiton's Bayside and Hillside aluminium smelters on 25 Oct 01 despite a restraining court order. BHP Billiton said that a local court had issued a temporary order to NUMSA to halt the strike pending a ruling on 19 Oct 01on an interdict filed by the company.
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BHP Billiton/Alcoa venture has EC clearance
Antitrust clearance has been given to a joint venture between BHP Billiton and aluminium group Alcoa to distribute aluminium, steel and other metals in North America.
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BHP Billiton signs agreement on North West Shelf
BHP Billiton and other participants in the North West Shelf Venture signed sales and purchase agreements with Tokyo Gas Co Ltd and Toho Gas Co Ltd of Japan (on 25 Oct 01) for the purchase and supply of liquified natural gas (LNG) from the North West Shelf in Western Australia. The agreements cover the supply of 1.37 million tonnes of LNG per annum for a long term period to begin in 2004. BHP Billiton said that this is the first of a series of agreements to be signed for supply of LNG from Venture's expansion project.
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BHP Billiton approves pipeline construction
BHP Billiton announced approval for the construction of a fourth Bass Strait gas pipeline (46km in length) from the Bream field into the BHP Billiton /Esso Australia joint venture's Gippsland production network. The pipeline will allow the production of gas reserves currently being re-injected into the Bream reservoir. It will also accelerate the production of 30m barrels of hydrocarbon liquids over a 10 year period. Construction of the pipeline will commence in Dec 01 at a gross cost of around A$200m (BHP Billiton’s share is A$100m).
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BHP Billiton Mozal workers - not reinstated
BHP said that workers at its Mozal aluminium smelter have until 5 Nov 01 to appeal against their dismissal. Around 400 employees were suspended at the beginning of Oct 01 when workers took part in illegal industrial action. The group said that media reports about the reinstatement of the workers are incorrect.
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BHP Billiton sells Indonesian mines
BHP Billiton announced, subject to approval, the conclusion of the sale of its 80% interest in the PT Arutmin Indonesia energy coal mining operations in Kalimantan to PT Bumi Resources Tbk for US$148m. BHP Billiton Energy Coal will continue its association with PT Arutmin by providing marketing services to the purchasers. The agreement provides for BHP Billiton to market 75% of the current coal production and the group has now met its obligation under Indonesian law to sell down its interest in the company to allow majority Indonesian ownership.
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BHP Billiton workers to strike in sympathy
BHP Billiton workers at the company's Hillside, Bayside and Samancor plants will strike in sympathy with around 900 National Union of Mine Workers of SA (NUMSA) members at the Witbank, Middelburg and Tubatse plants. NUMSA workers are calling for a wage increase of 15%.
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BHP Billiton director resigns
BHP Billiton announced the resignation of Mr Ron McNeilly with effect from 16 Oct 01. Mr McNeilly will continue to see through his merger integration responsibilities and will leave the group at the end of Dec 01. As previously announced, he will take up the position of deputy chairman of BHP Steel Ltd when that company is listed during 2002.
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BHP Billiton copper mine goes into production
BHP Billiton's Antamina copper-zinc project in northern Peru has achieved commercial production, four months ahead of the original scheduled date of Feb 02 and is projected to be a little under budget. Commercial production is defined as being 80% of the project's designed throughput rate of 70 000 tonnes a day over a period of 90 days. By Oct 01 the mill had produced 314 000 tonnes of copper concentrates with 210 000 of that shipped. Antamina will be one of the largest and lowest cost copper-zinc mines in the world with average annual production at 675 million pounds of copper and 625 million pounds of zinc in the first ten years with a mine life in excess of 22 years.
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BHP Billiton appraisals and drilling results
BHP Billiton announced results from the completion of appraisal drilling programs at the Mad Dog and Atlantis fields in the ultra-deepwater Western Atwater Foldbelt as well as results from the exploration wells Boris-1 and Frampton-1.
- Hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs were encountered at the Atlantis-3 well and resource characteristics from earlier drilling were confirmed. Atlantis is on a fast track development pace, and sanctioning of a project is anticipated during the first half of 2002. Atlantis is 44% held by BHP Billiton and 56% by BP.
- Drilling at the Mad Dog 4 appraisal well exposed hydrocarbon bearing sands which verifies the reservoir continuity on the west flank of the accumulation and indicates a hydrocarbon reserve size estimated at 200 to 450 mmboe. BHP Billiton holds 23.9% of the eight block Mad Dog unit.
- The Boris exploration well also produced hydrocarbon bearing sand which will be evaluated for development via a tie back to the production facility on the Typhoon field. BHP Billiton holds 50% of this field with the balance in the hands of Chevron. The Boris exploration is held 50% by BHP Billiton and the balance by Chevron and Noble Affiliates' Samedan Oil Corp.
- The group also drilled the exploration well Frampton-1. Hydrocarbon bearing sands were encountered but the reserves are currently deemed to be non-commercial and the well was plugged and abandoned. BHP Billiton's interest in the project is 44%.
Appraisals and drilling at Mad Dog and Atlantis are now complete. The group said that development of these fields moves to sanction in the near future and should bring first production by the end of 2004.
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BHP Billiton subsidiary workers to down tools
The National Union of Metal Workers of SA said that 5 000 workers at BHP Billiton subsidiary Samancor would down tools on 10 Oct 01 in support of a 15% wage hike. The strike will affect operations at Ferrometals - Witbank, Ferrochrome - Middleburg, Tubatse Ferrochrome and Palimet Ferrochrome.
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BHP Billiton to keep Samancor and Columbus
BHP Billiton said that it will retain its investments in Samancor and Columbus Stainless when it unbundles its steel interests of $2.4bn by Jun 02. The group will remain involved in the raw material steel industry and is finalising the sale of 64% of Columbus to Acerinox which will reduce its interest in the stainless steel producer to 7.2%. The South African steel interests will stay separate to those of Australia's BHP. Don Argus, chairman of BHP Steel said that they "are confident that BHP Steel will be one of the world's better-performing global steel companies. On listing, BHP Steel would be a well-capitalised independent company, but valuation would be a key issue in the final timing of the spin-off."
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BHP Billiton announces chairman of BHP Steel
BHP Billiton announced the appointment of Mr Graham Kraehe as chairman of BHP Steel Ltd, which is scheduled to be listed by the end of the 2002 financial year. The separate listing of the group's steel interests is expected to create one of Australia's 50 largest public companies with total assets of A4.7bn and operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the US.
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BHP Billiton - local workers replace strikers
Local aluminium workers have been sent to Mozambique to replace workers fired at the group's Mozal plant for engaging in an illegal strike. Smelter management said that the collective bargaining agreement signed in 1999 and effective until 2003 made the strike illegal. The local workers have been offered incentives and will be paid in Dollars. The government (a 4% shareholder) said that it will intervene "but on the basis of the law". BHP Billiton said that the strike was having no effect on production.
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BHP Billiton’s workers on strike
The National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA)said on 3 Oct 01 that BHP Billiton had threatened to fire 1 500 striking workers from the groups Mozal aluminium plant in Mozambique. The company made the threat after workers contravened a no-strike agreement. The workers are petitioning to be paid in US Dollars rather than the local currency, to receive hazard pay, shift bonuses and subsidies to cover housing rent and education payments. In support of the striking workers, NUMSA said that they planned to protest and picket at BHP Billiton operations in South Africa. Both BHP Billiton and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) have been informed of NUMSA's intentions and the IDC has been asked to intervene. NUMSA said the workers had been forced to sign a collective bargaining agreement that they would not go on strike before talks in 2003 which was in violation of their human rights. Mozal has told workers that they face immediate dismissal if they do not return to work.
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