Rio Tinto nears exit from thermal-coal mining with a $2.45bn Chinese deal
London/Melbourne — Rio Tinto Group has moved closer to quitting thermal coal in agreeing to sell most of its mines to a company controlled by China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining Company for $2.45bn. The share prices of both companies rose on Wednesday. The sale, which includes Rio’s biggest Australian coal operation in the Hunter Valley region, leaves the group with only two producing coal mines in the country that was once the cornerstone of its energy business. "It was kind of getting to the point where thermal was irrelevant, they’re an iron-ore, copper, aluminium and industrial-minerals business," said Richard Knights, a mining analyst at Liberum Capital in London. "Now is a fantastic time to offload coal assets." Thermal coal prices surged last year after China introduced mining restrictions. Output by the world’s biggest producer and consumer of the fuel fell 9.4% in 2016, while imports reversed two years of declines to gain 25%, the biggest increase since 2012. Australia’s Newcastle ...
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