SYDNEY—Australian companies in the logistics and coal-mining sectors announced a combined 130 job cuts Thursday, illustrating the challenges facing the nation’s economy as it confronts a cooling mining boom.
Toll Holdings Ltd., which provides freight and transport services to various industries in Asia, including mining and energy sectors, will cut around 100 jobs as part of a divisional restructure, a spokesman said. The company employs around 45,000 people, according to its website.
New Hope Corp., meanwhile, joined the list of Australian coal miners cutting jobs, as slowing Chinese demand and a boom in U.S. shale-gas production keeps prices in the doldrums.
Australia’s largest-listed pure-play coal miner by market value said positions would become redundant at its West Moreton mine in Queensland state and its corporate office. A spokeswoman said it would cut about 5% of its workforce of around 600 people, which works out at about 30 positions.
Australia’s employment market overall was surprisingly resilient in April, with the jobless rate remaining steady at 5.8% for the second-straight month. Economists had expected some payback from March, when the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell from 6.0%–the highest level in more than a decade.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut interest rates eight times in the past two years to a record low of 2.5% to try and reignite nonmining sectors of the economy. The housing market is showing clear signs of responding, although a meaningful recovery has yet to take hold in other key areas such as retailing and manufacturing.
More job cuts are around the corner, with auto makers including General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Co. progressively exiting Australian operations over the coming three years. Qantas Airways Ltd. this year said it would slash 5,000 positions through to 2017, while oil refiners including Caltex Australia Ltd. are due to shutter operations over the coming months.
New Hope in March booked a 67% slide in first-half profit and said it expected global coal markets to remain oversupplied for at least another year.
Larger rival Glencore PLC said in March it would shutter its Ravensworth underground operation this year, the first coal mine to be suspended by the Switzerland-based resources giant specifically due to the sharp slide in prices.
BHP Billiton Ltd., which through its partnership with Mitsubishi Corp. is the world’s largest coking-coal exporter, has already closed mines, including its Norwich Park and Gregory operations in eastern Australia.
Link to story: http://online.wsj.com/articles/australian-transport-mining-companies-cut-jobs-1401326157
Write to Ross Kelly at ross.kelly@wsj.com