{"id":486402,"date":"2026-02-17T19:58:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/486402\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T19:58:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:58:39","slug":"bhp-queensland-coal-operations-return-zero-as-750-jobs-axed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/486402\/","title":{"rendered":"BHP Queensland coal operations return zero as 750 jobs axed"},"content":{"rendered":"

BHP says its Queensland operations are suffering \u201cacute challenges\u201d with the mining giant paying more in taxes and royalties than it is making in profits.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst a backdrop of the material impact of the Queensland Government\u2019s coal royalties on business returns, BMA is taking further action to reduce costs, such as placing Saraji South into care and maintenance in Q2 FY26 and removing ~750 roles across Queensland,\u201d a BHP statement read.<\/p>\n

Treasurer David Janetzki wouldn\u2019t be drawn on the health of the mining sector but said the state government had delivered a stable tax environment, streamlined approvals and would use coal for longer. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been clear about our support for the industry and what it means for regional Queensland, we\u2019ve delivered a stable environment and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll continue to back in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been clear about our position before the election, there will be no change to coal royalties and that remains our position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coal royalties are tipped to contribute $5.38bn to Queensland\u2019s budget this financial year and an average of $5.64bn each year over the next three years.<\/p>\n

The revenue is critical for Mr Janetzki, who is forecasting an $8.96bn deficit this financial year. <\/p>\n

\u201cCoal royalties play a vital role in paying for hospitals, roads, dams, bridges, nurses, teachers, doctors \u2013 it\u2019s an important role that it plays,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite dire results for the Queensland BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA)<\/a>, company revenue for the first six months of the financial year lifted 11 per cent to $US27.90bn ($39.45bn) while profit came in 28 per cent higher at $US5.64bn ($7.97bn).<\/p>\n

However, the mining giant reported that BMA returned 0 per cent on capital employed.<\/p>\n

BHP chief financial officer Vandita Pant said the company\u2019s return on investment had been disappointing lately, largely because of the falling prices of raw materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut equally because of the royalty regime, where what we are paying in taxes and royalties is higher than the profits that we are generating,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany times higher. And that remains a real headwind and a challenge despite good work that our team is continuing to do there. <\/p>\n

\u201cLonger term, from the commodity perspective, we have one of the best portfolios from a quality of coal perspective, which has been high graded over a period of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cLonger term, the demand, the dynamics of met coal of high quality remain positive. However, from a business operational return perspective, the challenges are acute.\u201d<\/p>\n

BHP told the ASX that Australia\u2019s steelmaking coal exports last year were estimated to have declined by over 20 per cent from the peak levels recorded in 2016.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRecovery is slower than anticipated amid years of under investment. Queensland remains the major seaborne supplier,\u201d the mining giant said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a risk of increasingly constrained supply with coals of the highest quality becoming increasingly scarce overtime.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a report from the Queensland Resources Council conducted by Commodity Insights, the state government\u2019s royalties policy is driving industry collapse and threatening tens of thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n

Queensland\u2019s 40 per cents maximum royalty rate is 12 per cent higher than Indonesia\u2019s and nearly four times the global average of 12.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

Only two coal projects are currently under development versus 27 stalled in early stages, with Queensland\u2019s coal project pipeline halving over the quarter century.<\/p>\n

Queensland\u2019s share of the global metallurgical coal market fell from 53 per cent in 2019 to 44.6 per cent in 2024.<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s lead director Dr Matt Anderson, from Commodity Insights, warned that the cumulative effect of withdrawn capital, stalled projects, operational slowdowns, and rising financial pressure, confirms that Queensland\u2019s coal sector was no longer experiencing a temporary downturn.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis retreat and fiscal burden, threatens the sustainability of the sector and the communities that depend on it.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bowen Coking Coal went into administration last year, and job cuts at BMA, Whitehaven, Coronado, QCoal and Anglo American over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n

According to lobby group, the Greater Whitsunday Alliance a 10 per cent reduction of direct coal jobs in the Bowen Basin will result in an estimated loss of 2404 jobs and $291.6mn in lost gross value added.<\/p>\n

It said a 10 per cent reduction in supply chain spending will impact the regional economy $945.8m in lost gross value added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BHP says its Queensland operations are suffering \u201cacute challenges\u201d with the mining giant paying more in taxes and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,689,246066,60715,246064,75,246062,246067,246063,677,701,246065,128,48995,246061],"class_list":{"0":"post-486402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","11":"tag-ben-clark","12":"tag-coal-royalties","13":"tag-company-revenue","14":"tag-environment","15":"tag-hayden-johnson","16":"tag-mining-royalties","17":"tag-mining-royalty-hikes","18":"tag-oceania","19":"tag-queensland","20":"tag-queensland-bhp-mitsubishi-alliance","21":"tag-science","22":"tag-state-government","23":"tag-steelmaking-coal-exports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}