BHP has put 3000 jobs on the block at its Nickel West operations, confirming on Thursday it will mothball the troubled division and try to wait out the nickel price storm.
The mining giant said it will begin shuttering its mines and processing facilities — including the Kalgoorlie smelter, a refinery in Perth’s southern suburbs, and its major mines at Leinster and Mt Keith — from October.
The decision puts about 3000 jobs across the division on the line, although BHP is understood to have told its workforce Nickel West’s 1600-strong operational workforce will be offered jobs elsewhere within the company, if they want them, and will make its best efforts to find new roles for the 800 or so support staff within the division.
The remaining workforce is made up of contractors, and a construction workforce at the West Musgrave project in remote WA, where work has now been suspended.
BHP said on Thursday the suspension of operations will last until at least February 2027, when the decision will be reviewed, and it will spend about $450m a year to keep the mothballed operations in a high state of readiness in case the nickel market turns.
The decision represents a major blow for the regional WA city of Kalgoorlie, where BHP’s smelter remains a major employer, and adds to the exodus of heavy industry from the state after Alcoa’s previous decision to close down its alumina refinery in Kwinana.
BHP President Australia Geraldine Slattery said in a statement the company had examined every possible option to keep the business open, after announcing a review of Nickel West’s future in February. She said the division expected to book a loss of $450m for the full financial year, and the short-term outlook for the nickel price could not sustain its continued operation.
“Like others in the Australian nickel sector, we have not been able to overcome the substantial economic challenges driven by a global oversupply of nickel,” she said.
“We understand this is a challenging period for the Western Australia Nickel team and surrounding communities. Every frontline employee will be offered another role within BHP, and best endeavours will also be made to identify redeployment opportunities for other employees engaged in the day-to-day operations of Western Australia Nickel.”
ASX 200 lifts; BHP suspends WA nickel operations; CBA's new record; JB Hi-Fi's The Good Guys sued by ACCC; A2M to vote yes on Synlait lifeline
BHP suspends nickel operations, citing global oversupply. Telix Pharma lifts on US payment changes. CBA breaks record price. Insignia boss overhauls executive ranks. White knight found for HS Fresh Food. Synlait soars as China rescue plan sails through.
Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, July 11. The ASX 200 index closed up 0.9 per cent to 7889.60 points with big gains by property and tech stocks. Wall Street indexes lifted more than 1 per cent on tech gains.
The Aussie dollar is near US67.56c at 5.40pm AEST.
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BHP mothballs Nickel West, 3000 jobs on the line
BHP suspends WA nickel operations
BHP suspends operations at its Nickel West and West Musgrave operations, citing oversupply in the global nickel market.
The suspension is temporary, with the mining behemoth saying it will review the decision by February 2027.
In a statement to the exchange after Thursday's close, BHP said it would be investing $450m to continue to support a potential re-start.
BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery said: "We understand this is a challenging period for the Western Australia Nickel team and surrounding communities. Every frontline employee will be offered another role within BHP, and best endeavours will also be made to identify redeployment opportunities for other employees engaged in the day-today operations of Western Australia Nickel".
BHP closed up 0.9 per cent on Thursday to $43.56 per share
ASX 200 ends up 0.9pc before US CPI data
Australia's stock market jumps to a three-month high on strong US gains.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ends up 0.9 per cent at a three-month high daily close of 7889.6 after spiking to 7902.6 in early trade after the S&P 500 rose 1.1 per cent.
Share trading value remained light amid NSW and VIC school holidays as investors awaited Thursday's release of US CPI data.
All sector rose with property, tech, health care, materials and industrials leading.
Mirvac rose 4.3 per cent, Xero jumped 3.4 per cent as Morgan Stanley boosted its target price by 19 per cent, CSL soared 1.5 per cent, Fortescue added 1.9 per cent.
Uranium miners jumped 6-9 per cent as Kazakhstan boosted its mining taxes.
Telix Pharm soared 10 per cent as the US decided to boost payments for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals for Medicare patients.
CBA rose 1.5 per cent to a record close of $129.92 after hitting $130.30.
But ANZ fell 1.2 per cent amid allegations about the rigging of government bond rates and cultural issues within its markets unit.
ANZ treating rigging allegations with 'utmost seriousness'
ANZ says it is treating allegations about the rigging of government bond rates and cultural issues within its markets unit with the “utmost seriousness”, bringing in two law firms to uncover any evidence of wrongdoing.
In an email to employees on Thursday, ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott and institutional boss Mark Whelan said the bank was co-operating with regulators to get to the bottom of the allegations and would take action if required.
“While this work is complex, we want to be very clear: where we find any evidence of wrongdoing, those involved will be held accountable and action will be taken,” the staff memo said.
“We are proud of the work we do and how we work as a team, but we all play a part in protecting what we have built. That’s why it’s vital if you see anything of concern you speak to your line manager or report it via the appropriate channels.”
The prudential regulator has an open file on ANZ in relation to the bank’s alleged trading activities relating to bonds, while there are also broader questions about ANZ’s culture within the markets division as well. This follows the Australian Securities and Investments Commission assessing a complaint about ANZ and matters raised by the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM), which is responsible for managing the country’s debt portfolio and financing.
White knight found for HS Fresh Food
A white knight has been found for collapsed Tasmanian supermarket salads and fresh produce supplier HS Fresh Food Group almost a month into its administration, but it's not clear how many of its 500 jobs will be saved.
Administrators Ben Campbell, Joanne Dunn and Vaughan Strawbridge of FTI Consulting, who were appointed on June 14, signed an agreement with Victorian group PMFresh on July 8. Completion of the sale is due by the end of the month with the business continuing to operate under the control of the administrators until then.
The Coles and Woolworths supplier of the Houston’s Farm, Sunfresh, Gourmet Selections and HS Fresh Farms brands of bagged salad leaf varieties has a national network of farms and food processing and manufacturing sites, with operations in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and New South Wales. The company employs more than 500 people according to its online profile.
Buyer PMFresh's website says it has more than 1000 employees nationally servicing retail, foodservice and QSR (quick service restaurant) markets.
"The sale process resulted in a number of expressions of interest and non-binding indicative offers being received, but the PM Fresh offer was the best offer received," the statement from FTI said.
FTI advised employees advised of the sale in meetings on Tuesday, however, "the final number of employees being offered future employment under the sale has yet to be communicated". This number will not be known until transition plans are finalised which are expected to be done over the next three weeks.
Staff right to disconnect draft released
Details of a new workplace right allowing employees to disconnect from work outside of their usual work hours have been published by the Fair Work Commission.
The draft right to disconnect term to be inserted into awards by August 26 was outlined in a statement released on Thursday by commission president Adam Hatcher.
Under the draft term, an employee, unless it is unreasonable to do so, may refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact, or attempted contact, from their employer outside of the employee’s working hours. The employee may also refuse to respond to contact from a third party if the contact or attempted contact relates to their work and is outside of the employee's working hours.
The employer can require the employee to monitor, read or respond to contact outside of working hours where the employee is being paid a stand-by allowance; the employer’s contact is to notify the employee they are required to attend or perform work; or the employer’s contact is in accordance with the usual arrangements for such notification.
The employee can be contacted over an emergency roster change, but the employer would need to give either 24 or 48 hours notice depending on the award. Employees can also be contacted when the employer wants to call them back after leaving work. Under the call back provision, the employee would be paid a minimum of 4 hours overtime.
The changes start for non-small business employers on August 26 and for small business employers a year later. Justice Hatcher said it was not currently the commission’s intention to make guidelines concerning the right to disconnect prior to August 26. “The commission considers that it will be in a better position to make guidelines once it has dealt with at least some disputes concerning the operation of the right since this will allow it to have some understanding of the practical issues for which guidance may be required,” he said.
Synlait rockets 52pc as rescue vote sails through
Synlait's crucial vote on a $NZ130m rescue loan from major Chinese investor Bright Dairy – days away from its debt deadline – has sailed through this afternoon, delivering a 52 per cent boost in its share price.
Proxy results, included in chairman George Adams' meeting address, showed 56.96 per cent of the votes were cast in favour of the resolution. That result – and 19.8 per cent stakeholder A2 Milk's grudging eleventh hour nod revealed on Thursday morning after proxy votes were counted – ensures Synlait can now repay the full amount to lenders by the due date of July 15. The final result was 99.6 per cent votes in favour.
At 12.43pm AEST, shortly after the NZ vote, Synlait's shares are near 35c on the ASX. A2M gained 1.4 per cent to $6.92.
ASX 200 trims rise to 0.9pc as record holds
Australia's share market trims some of a strong intraday high as its record high survived a test in early trading and US futures slipped before US CPI data.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is up 0.9 per cent at 788.7 after hitting a three-month high of 7902.6 on the back of a 1.1 per cent jump in the S&P 500.
Both the intraday record high of 7910.5 and the daily closing record at 7896.9 could remain intact as S&P 500 futures tick down 0.1 per cent.
Much rides on the outcome of US CPI data due for release on Thursday.
A lower than expected outcome could spark further gains in stocks and bonds as it would reinforce expectations of US interest rate cuts.
A higher than expected outcome could trigger a pullback.
The ASX 200 chart shows an Ascending Triangle Pattern with support near 7720 and resistance near 7910. The target on an upside break would be about 8350.
However, it's hard to see such a strong rise with the major banks trading on lofty PE multiples and the risk of another interest rate hike in Australia.
The Good Guys take compliance 'very seriously': JB Hi-Fi
Electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi says its subsidiary, The Good Guys, takes its compliance with the law "very seriously" and has a comprehensive compliance program in place.
JB Hi-Fi issued the ASX statement after the ACCC dragged The Good Guys to court for allegedly "misleading or false" promotions to customers between July 2019 to August 2023. The proceedings relate to the advertising and fulfilment of certain store credit promotions conducted by The Good Guys.
"The Good Guys has always sought to provide value and benefits to its customers and has worked cooperatively with the ACCC throughout its investigation," JB Hi-Fi said, but is "unable to make any further comment" due to the court proceedings.
JBH shares hit a record high of $66.33 in opening trade and are now 2.5 per cent higher near $66 at 11.22am AEST.
Infomedia names chair-elect
Infomedia has tapped Corporate Travel director Jon Brett, also executive director of StrideCorp Equity Partners, as its next chairman.
Mr Brett will succeed current chairman Bart Vogel at the end of the annual general meeting on November 19, but joins the board on Thursday. Mr Brett will be up for election at the AGM.
Mr Vogel is retiring after nine years on the board during a transformational period for the business that saw its product suite diversified, the international footprint grow and revenue and cash earnings double.
ASX 200 awaits inflation data; Rio profit jumps
Rio Tinto keeps dividend steady after 'consistent' first-half. Market awaits crucial June quarter CPI data. Rex Airlines in administration. Microsoft drops after hours on cloud earnings miss. Nasdaq declines weigh on Wall Street.
ASX declines; Super Retail CEO, chair sued
Super Retail ex-exec alleges bullying, harassment. Fortescue crashes after mystery stake sale. BHP, Lundin bid $C4.1bn for Filo Corp. Ramsay taps Woolworths Supermarkets boss as next CEO. Credit Corp's top gainer. Rex halts 737 bookings amid financial woes.