Sydney Gains; Macarthur Cancels Citic Deal

Chandrasekhar Atreya
27 Jul, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Australia gained helped by banks. Macarthur terminates venture agreement with China

[R]6:00 PM Sydney, Australia – Stocks in Australia gained helped by banks. Macarthur terminates venture agreement with China’s Citic. Chevron hopes to get environmental clearance for its Wheatstone project in 2011. Gas leak at Caltex refinery in Kurnell has not halted production.[/R]

Banks helped to drive stocks higher on Tuesday, boosted by reports that the proposed global capital and liquidity rules would be pegged back after lobbying by various governments. The stock market started on a bright note but lost gradually in trading through the day.

ASX 200 Index gained 0.25% or 11.30 to close at 4,497.40.

Developer Australand Property Group said its first half net profit surged 127% and is on track to achieve its full year guidance. The company posted half year net profit of A$72.22 million on revenue of A$281.51 million as compared to a loss of A$268.8 million a year earlier.

Macarthur Coal says it has terminated an agreement to buy out Chinese conglomerate CITIC Resources Holdings’ stake in the Coppabella and Moorvale coal mining joint ventures after it could not win agreement from minority stake holders.

BHP Billiton has emerged as a front runner to supply gas for the expansion of Woodside Petroleum’s A$14 billion Pluto LPG project in Western Australia.

Chevron Corp hopes to get environmental approval for its Wheatstone gas project in first quarter of 2011, and hopes to start construction in the second half of next year.

The LNG gas venture may have as many as six processing units that can produce as much as 25 million metric of the fuel a year, Chevron Australia said in a statement filed on its Web site on Monday.

Caltex Australia Ltd said its refinery at Kurnell to the south of Sydney operated normally after propane leak from a gas pipeline prompted the removal of some workers. Kurnell, the bigger of Caltex’s two refineries, has the capacity to process about 135,000 barrels of crude per day.

“The leak was discovered at around 9 a.m. today and emergency services are at site and the propane line is being de0-pressurized. The oil and lubricating refineries at the site haven’t been shut down,” said Felicity Wilson, a spokeswoman for Caltex from Sydney by telephone.

Coal shipments of Newcastle port in Australia rose 1.2% last week while the number of vessels waiting for loading increased.

The volume of coal exported increased from 2.16 million tons last week to 2.18 million tons in the week that ended at 7 a.m. yesterday, Newcastle Port Corp reported on its Web site today. There were 12 vessels outside the harbor compared to 11 a week earlier, Newcastle Port said.

Resource News

Red River Resources plans to try the underground coal gasification in its pilot plant at Kingaroy northwest of Brisbane. John Karajas, the Managing Director of the company said he plans to set up a pilot plant about three to five kilometers south of Kingaroy township, even as Cougar Energy’s UGC pilot plant at Kingaroy was closed down earlier this month after traces of cancer-causing chemicals benzene and toluene were found in bores near the plant.

Thai trading company Banpu has withdrawn its application to Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board to acquire NSW coal miner Centennial Coal, attributing the decision to the imminent federal election.

Guildford Coal has completed three mud rotary holes on the Hughenden Export Thermal Coal project in Galilee Basin. Coal intersections prove the continuity and significant lateral extent of target Galilee coal seams confirming exploration target.

Great Western Exploration received positive results from the soil geochemical program completed at Doolgunna that provides strong evidence of hydrothermal alteration with multi element correlations consistent with VMS mineralization.

Ironbark Zinc has renegotiated the joint venture agreement between NSW Base Metals and Forge Resources with regards to the Captains Flat Project base metals project, located south of Canberra in New South Wales.

Havilah Resources said drilling is in progress at its second 100% owned iron ore project in Maldorky in South Australia. This lies along the strike from the Mutooroo iron ore project of the Minotaur Sumitomo joint venture.

Gainers & Losers

Pacific Brands Ltd led the gainers in the ASX 200 with a gain of 4.73% to A$0.885 followed by Biota Holdings Ltd 4.12% to A$1.01 and Aquarius Platinum Ltd 3.17% to A$4.88.

St Barbara Ltd led the decliners with a fall of 7.35% to A$0.315 followed by Perseus Mining Ltd 4.68% to A$2.24 and Emeco Holdings Ltd 4.41% to A$0.65.