Anglo American lowers thermal coal forecast amid move to exit sector
Anglo American (LON: AAL) could become the next top miner to walk away from thermal coal, as the commodity was barely mentioned Tuesday as one of the company鈥檚 main pillars of growth from 2020 and beyond.
The diversified miner, which has consistently been offloading coal operations since 2014, has lowered its 2021 thermal coal target to 26 million tonnes from a previous goal of as much as 30 million tonnes.
According RBC Capital Markets, Anglo should decide next year whether the controversial commodity fits into its future portfolio.
The company is on a trajectory away from thermal coal and may be better off selling those assets, RBC analyst Tyler Broda said in a note to investors. 鈥淲ith rising ESG concerns, we would expect Anglo will divest this higher-quality and exports-focused business,鈥 he wrote.
The miner has lowered its 2021 thermal coal target to 26 million tonnes from a previous goal of as much as 30 million tonnes.
Metallurgical or coking coal, however, does appear to be one of Anglo鈥檚 key commodities moving forward. Despite a slight production drop from 23-25 million tonnes to 22-24 million tonnes expected next year, Anglo鈥檚 metallurgical coal guidance for 2022 increases to an estimated 26-28 million tonnes.
鈥淲e believe our iron ore, met coal and nickel businesses are well set to meet future demand trends,鈥 the company鈥檚 Bulk Commodities chief, Seamus French, .
Top mining companies have been reducing or eliminating their exposure to coal on environmental grounds. Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO), the world鈥檚 second largest miner, fully exited the coal sector in March 2018, with the sale of its Kestrel coal mine in Australia to private equity manager EMR Capital and Indonesia鈥檚 Adaro Energy for $2.25 billion.
Rival BHP (ASX, NYSE:BHP) took a step in the same direction in July, revealing it had been mulling options to divest its thermal coal business, which includes assets in Australia and Colombia.
Shareholders at world鈥檚 largest mining company, however, don鈥檛 seem too keen to ditch coal. Last week, Australian investors voted against a plan that would have seen BHP leave lobby groups that promote policies at odds with the goals of the Paris climate accord. The agreement, signed in 2016 by almost 200 nations, aims at reducing emissions of gases that contribute to global warming.
Australia鈥檚 South32 (ASX, LON, JSE:S32), which spun out of BHP in 2015, is another company to have recently kissed the fossil fuel goodbye. Last week, it sold its thermal coal operations to Seriti Resources and two trusts, for 100 million rand ($6.78 million) upfront.
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