Foresight latest US coal miner to file for bankruptcy www.mining.com

Foresight Energy became on Tuesday the latest coal miner to file for bankruptcy, saying the global economic slowdown triggered by the coronavirus epidemic had pushed it over the edge.

China's new coronavirus cases rise on infections from abroad www.reuters.com

BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported an uptick in new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, reversing four straight days of fewer new cases, driven by infected individuals arriving from abroad.

All flights to and from Russia, Turkey, and Kazakhstan to be halted www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. Today, the State Emergency Commission decided to suspend all scheduled flights to and from Moscow, Istanbul, and Nur-Sultan from 06.30 AM of March 13 to March 28.

Mongolia and China to renew swap agreement www.zgm.mn

The currency swap arrangement between the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) and the People’s Bank of China, which was scheduled to end in August 2020, is likely to be ex-tended, according to the officials. The agreement allowed the two central banks to swap CNY 15 billion (USD 2.2 billion) for MNT 5.4 trillion. The countries first entered into the swap arrangement in 2011 and it was extended three times in 2012, 2014 and 2017.The extension agreement, which began in Shanghai in August 2019, has been finalized. At the time when the agreement began, the spokesperson said that if the Chinese side rejects the extension proposal, BoM would seek another option to return the received yuan.Governor of the Bank of Mongolia Lkhagvasuren Byadran stated on the situation in December 2019, “The central bank plans to extend swap agreement with the People's Bank of China. The expanded funding program was launched in 2017 and part of the funding worth USD 5.5 billion from donor countries was included as part of the swap agreement. In other words, the extension of the swap agreement to three years in 2017 had been settled under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Program. In this regard, the successful implementation of the EFF will have a positive effect on the extension of the term of the agreement. Apart from the inter-bank cooperation, we also find it effective to discuss this within the framework of high state visits.”

Death of coal financing is exaggerated as China steps up www.bloomberg.com

Moves by some of the world’s biggest banks to end coal financing for the sake of the planet was supposed to create major headaches for companies like Whitehaven Coal Ltd.

Yet there was the Australian miner on a conference call last month announcing the refinancing and extension of a A$1 billion ($650 million) credit line, backed mostly by Chinese and Japanese lenders.

“Our banking relationships are strong, we are really well supported,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ball said. “That might come as a little bit of a surprise to people who aren’t familiar with coal.”

The relatively easy credit underscores the challenge of ridding the world of the dirtiest energy source. While global banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and BNP Paribas SA are withdrawing support for coal mines, others are stepping into the breech.

Asian banks and export credit agencies, private-equity firms and the cashflow from coal sales are all keeping the mines operating with ample funding even as pressure mounts to put the industry out of business. The Export-Import Bank of China and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation lead firms that have committed $29 billion for new coal power projects in Vietnam and Indonesia alone.

“If the strategy is to starve coal mines of all debt finance there is still a long way to go,” said Richard Denniss, chief economist at the Australia Institute, an environment-focused think tank.

There are several reasons why money continues to flow into the pariah commodity that’s responsible for 800,000 premature deaths each year, according to campaign group End Coal.

Coal plants
Asian powerhouses China and Japan remain heavily reliant on coal-fired generation for their energy needs. Coal accounts for more than 65% of the power supply in China and 30% in Japan, and still generates more electricity globally than any other fuel.

China saw an increase last year of 2%, resulting in a share of more than half the world’s coal-fired generation for the first time.

Banks from these end-user countries are increasingly coming to Australia to fund resource projects, Whitehaven’s Ball told investors. Bank of China Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. are both part of Whitehaven’s loan syndicate, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In all, Chinese and Japanese banks now hold over 50% of the debt facility at Sydney-based Whitehaven, compared with about 20% six years ago when local lenders dominated. Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, is no longer part of the group, though Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. remains.

More broadly, Asian banks dominate global funding for coal mines and plants, particularly in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, which have some of the world’s most aggressive plans to ramp up coal power production over the next decade.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean state-owned export credit agencies are providing a “significant portion” of the money committed to building coal power stations in Southeast Asia, according to BloombergNEF.

Still, Japan’s biggest banks in particular are facing increasing pressure to withdraw from the coal business despite tightening their lending policies. MUFG said in May 2019 that it won’t provide financing for new coal-fired power generation projects, though it allows exceptions. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. have said they will only direct new funding to highly efficient plants. Mitsubishi Materials Corp. recently sold its 30-year-old stake in Australian thermal coal producer New Hope Corp.

The quandary for Japan was expressed last month by the head of JBIC, the state-run firm that’s been lending billions for coal-power projects. Tadashi Maeda said he prefers to invest in new technology to reduce emissions, rather than scrap financing altogether.

“Is it just enough to say we don’t do coal?,” Maeda told reporters. “If Japan doesn’t do it, other countries will.”

Asian banks aren’t the only life-line for coal miners. Private-equity firms are now a ‘’major source” of capital for coal deals, said Garold Spindler, chief executive officer of Australian coal miner Coronado Global Resources Inc.

When Rio Tinto Group sold its last Australian coal mine in 2018, the buyers were private equity firm EMR Capital Advisors Pty Ltd. and Indonesia’s PT Adaro Energy. Australia remains the world’s second-largest thermal coal exporter after Indonesia.

On a smaller scale, local activists tracking coal deals are starting to see unusual names pop up. When Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal refinanced in 2018, lenders included distressed-debt funds Burlington Loan Management and Varde Investment Partners LP. One of the financiers of Whitehaven’s recent issue was Australian non-bank lender Metrics Credit Partners.

These new backers are increasingly drawn to coal projects in search of yield. Whitehaven refinanced its most recent loan at a rate of 200 basis points over the Australian swaps rate, or more than 40 points higher than the median rate for Aussie-denominated corporate loans of the same maturity, according to Bloomberg data. In an era of rock-bottom interest rates, that’s an attractive yield for a profitable company.

“There will continue to be financing at the right price,” said Dan Farley, Boston-based chief investment officer of Investment Solutions at State Street, who oversees $266 billion. The company didn’t disclose whether these holdings include coal.

However, as more banks retreat from funding thermal coal, operators around the world are bracing for higher finance costs – and increased risks that the projects will be scrapped. Last year, Polish generator Enea SA told shareholders borrowing costs would increase, and in February said it was suspending support for a new power station.

“There is clear proof that capital is fleeing the thermal coal power sector,” said Tim Buckley, director of energy finance studies for Australasia at the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “Not all capital, not yet, but the tide is going out.”

The industry will face particular challenges for new projects, especially if coal prices continue to fall and as banks face more pressure to pull out. Billionaire Chris Hohn’s Children’s Investment Fund Foundation last week called on HSBC Holdings Plc and other U.K. banks to phase out coal financing. HSBC said it doesn’t support new thermal coal mines and hasn’t financed a coal-fired plant since 2018.

About half of the proposed 41 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity in Indonesia and Vietnam over the next decade haven’t secured funding, and plans by some banks in Japan, South Korea and Singapore to exit the sector increase the risk they never will, BloombergBNEF said in a report last month.

Global finance is on a “progressive exit” from the coal sector, IEEFA’s Buckley says. “But it will be a transition, not an abrupt overnight closure.”

(By Emily Cadman, with assistance from Matthew Burgess, Apple Lam and James Thornhill)

Mongolia locks down cities after reporting first COVID-19 case www.channelnewsasia.com

ULAANBAATAR: Mongolia on Tuesday (Mar 10) barred anyone from entering or leaving its cities for six days after the country reported its first coronavirus case - a French energy company employee who flew in from Moscow.

Mongolia reports first COVID-19 case www.xinhuanet.com

A French national has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Mongolia, the State Emergency Commission said Tuesday.

Mongolia restricting entry from countries with widespread transmission of Covid-19 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. In order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, Covid-19, Mongolia extended the suspension of flights to and from South Korea, Japan, Irkutsk, and Ulan-Ude until March 28.

BoM: Export may slow down by USD 1.6 billion in 2020 www.zgm.mn

Bank of Mongolia (BoM) expected Mongolia’s total export to dive by USD 1.6 billion to USD 6.06 billion in 2020. BoM lowered its coal export outlook in regard to mineral resources, especially coal export plunges off in the first two months of this year. Mongolia’s export decreased by 35.9 percent in the first quarter of 2020, mainly driven by coal export shrinks. Particularly, the downward accounts for 19 percentage point out of 29.5 percent of coal export weaken in the first two months, said BoM. Further, coal exports are projected to fall by 5.6 million tons or USD 354.9 million from the previous quarter. Mongolian Alt LLC, one of the big exporter companies, informed earlier that the company had failed to reach its plan to produce seven million tons of coal this year. SouthGobi Resources also said that restricting coal exports would affect its sales. The central bank has also lowered its forecasts for iron ore exports by 720,000 tons or USD 53.7 million, and crude oil exports by 720,000 tons or USD 53.7 million. BoM assumed that copper export volume is expected to drop by 5900 tons but copper export will rise by USD 32.7 million with better price projection from the previous quarter. Oyu Tolgoi (OT) has not been ceased its coal concentrate export during the quarantine. However, China’s coal import has been reduced according to the border administrations. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said that China’s copper demand will be diminished triggering global economic growth to slow down. The Bank of Merril Lynch speculated that copper prices will fall this year to USD 4,400 per ton if the worst perspective of OECD is achieved.

Fitch Ratings affirms MMC rating at “B” www.zgm.mn

Fitch Ratings has estimated HSX-listed Mongolian Mining Corporation (MMC)’s ratings at ‘B’. The outlook is stable, according to the estimation. The Government has banned coal export until March 15 in consideration of preventing coronavirus outbreak. However, MMC had already intensified extractions to enhance stockpiles on both sides of China and Mongolia ahead of shut down borders. The company would be ready to resume its sales via inventoryde-stocking. According to the Fitch Ratings, steel demand is weak in China due to low resumption of construction activities, which has led to turn down in steel product prices, while coking-coal inventories at steel mills are running low and would need to be re-stocked in the near future. Chinese coking coal producers are experiencing difficulties as transportation gets restricted and the low availability of labor. This could lead to high demand for coking coal from other sources such as MMC. Furthermore, MMC is likely to hike its coal export within five years by advancing entry both from and into China.