FMG - Fortescue Ltd

[sptrawler]

Macro business being negative again, or saying it as it is?

Filthy rich miners bring out begging bowl

ANALYSIS

www-news-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[basilio]

Still om track with the H2 plan, just not in Australia.

Fortescue says green hydrogen target still on track, but Australia projects stalled by power prices | RenewEconomy

reneweconomy-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org

At least they seem to be moving. The internal decarbonisation plan is running well. It was always the case that producing bulk hydrogen by electrolysis required very cheap power to make it financially viable. I thought at one stage FMG was going to construct the mass solar power plants - but it appears not. I think the figures wern't right. So now they are squeezing the government to subsidise the power requirements.

Another option may be new technology that produces Hydrogen more cheaply. There a few around. Yet to see how effectively they can become commercial.

How to make hydrogen straight from seawater – no desalination required

Researchers have developed a cheaper and more energy-efficient way to make hydrogen directly from seawater.

www.rmit.edu.au

Scientists Find a Simple Way to Produce Hydrogen From Water at Room Temperature

Hydrogen fuel promises to be a clean and abundant source of energy in the future – as long as scientists can figure out ways to produce it practically and cheaply, and without fossil fuels.

www.sciencealert.com

New Way to Make Hydrogen Energy Out of Water Much More Cheaply

Scientists show how using only water, iron, nickel and electricity can create hydrogen energy much more cheaply than before. Hydrogen-powered cars may soon become more than just a novelty after a UNSW-led team of scientists demonstrated a much cheaper and sustainable way to create the hydrogen requ

scitechdaily.com

 

[Value Collector]

Macro business being negative again, or saying it as it is?

Filthy rich miners bring out begging bowl

ANALYSIS

www-news-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org

That guy is crazy

 

[TimeISmoney]

They keep on bringing Africa up as a big threat but it's far from it. It's a tough place to do business for multinationals.

For Multinationals, Africa’s Allure Is Fading​

After decades of optimism about the region, global giants such as Bayer, Nestlé and Unilever are cutting back.

By Janice Kew, David Herbling, Eric Ombok, and Antony Sguazzin

April 17, 2024

Nestlé SA in August shuttered production of Nesquik chocolate milk powder in South Africa, citing falling demand. A year ago, Unilever Plc pulled the plug on the manufacturing of home-care and skin-cleansing products in Nigeria to “sustain profitability.” And pharma giants Bayer AG and GSK Plc have outsourced distribution of their products to independent companies in Kenya and Nigeria.

Drawn by rapid growth, youthful populations and increasing wealth, legions of top multinationals rushed into Africa in recent decades. But lately, the difficulties of doing business there—cratering currencies, overweening bureaucracies, unreliable power and congested ports—have dimmed the allure. “It doesn’t justify the effort,” says Kuseni Dlamini, a former chairman of Walmart Inc.’s African unit who now heads the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa.
“This should be a wake-up call to African authorities. If you do not have a conducive environment to grow and scale businesses, you will be left by the wayside.”The pullback is most noticeable in the trio of countries multinationals typically choose for their initial efforts in the region: Kenya and South Africa, with relatively large middle classes, and Nigeria, with its population of more than 200 million. Together, the three account for 44% of sub-Saharan Africa’s economy and about 30% of its population.
Multinationals’ reluctance to expand or even maintain current operations frustrates African leaders desperate to ease unemployment and reduce their reliance on commodities as an economic engine. In Kenya, President William Ruto has said manufacturing could raise his country to middle-income status by 2030, but poor infrastructure and increasing regulation have eroded competitiveness and hindered economic growth. Nestlé, which had considered increasing production in Kenya, says it’s instead curtailing operations at its sole facility there. While it will continue making a few products such as Maggi noodles, it’s downgraded parts of the facility to packaging imported foods like Cerelac baby cereal.

In January, Neumann Gruppe GmbH, the world’s largest coffee trader, said it would close its Kenyan mill and a unit that offered finance and marketing assistance to small farmers, retaining only an operation that sources coffee beans for export. The company says jobs will be lost, without giving a number, and blames a 2022 government decree barring companies from both marketing coffee and grinding the beans, forcing them to choose one or the other.

Companies in Kenya are also contending with higher taxes, notably a levy on imports of key raw materials such as cement, metals and paper. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers says that last September, 53% of members were operating at a quarter of capacity or less, and 42% anticipated job cuts within six months. “All the numbers are negative,” says Anthony Mwangi, chief executive officer of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, which represents both domestic and foreign companies. “Those spaces that were used for production, now they are empty spaces. There are warehouses that are importing the same stuff.”

Since 2016, major South African retailers such as Mr Price, Shoprite and Truworths have closed in Nigeria, a country they’ve long considered a priority for international growth. Unilever last year stopped making Omo washing powder, Sunlight dishwashing liquid and Lux soap in Nigeria, now instead importing the products. And in March, Nestlé’s local unit announced its first nine-month loss in a dozen years after the local currency plunged.
In South Africa, which has the continent’s most developed economy, the once-admired infrastructure is in tatters. There are near-daily power cuts, and water outages are increasing, with 40% of water lost to leaks in some cities’ networks. And multinationals say a byzantine work permit system makes it hard to bring in foreign executives. The South African-German Chamber of Commerce last year said delays threatened operations owned by German companies responsible for 100,000 jobs in the country. “The visa matter spans the entire hierarchy of German business in South Africa,” the group said in a statement. “This is of course not only a concern to German business but also to the country itself.”

The regular interruptions to production and the pullback from manufacturing present a problem for local retailers. Shoprite Holdings Ltd., Africa’s biggest supermarket chain, says it’s had to increase its stockpiles of products to ensure it won’t have empty shelves, and it’s building additional distribution centers to hold more goods. “This gives you an idea of how constrained the supply chain is,” says Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht. “There’s very little investment in production capacity in South Africa amongst the manufacturers, and the multinationals have completely stopped.”

Plunging currencies, meanwhile, have made it harder for multinationals to repatriate any profits. In Nigeria the naira has lost 88% against the dollar over the past decade, while the Kenyan shilling is 34% weaker and the South African rand has depreciated 44%. That means lower spending power for residents, particularly when it comes to imported goods or those with foreign components. To fill the void, local manufacturers are increasingly stepping in with cheaper replacements that mimic the global brands.

 

[sptrawler]

They keep on bringing Africa up as a big threat but it's far from it. It's a tough place to do business for multinationals.

For Multinationals, Africa’s Allure Is Fading​

After decades of optimism about the region, global giants such as Bayer, Nestlé and Unilever are cutting back.

By Janice Kew, David Herbling, Eric Ombok, and Antony Sguazzin

April 17, 2024

Absolutely, our only problem is, our easily extractable iron ore is getting extracted at a faster and faster pace and we think it is an endless resource.

 

[qldfrog]

Absolutely, our only problem is, our easily extractable iron ore is getting extracted at a faster and faster pace and we think it is an endless resource.

Africa is not a place to do business unless you have an army backing and use your own workers: China has and is protecting its assets there, the west is decolonising thru reverse colonisation.

 

[farmerge]

Africa is not a place to do business unless you have an army backing and use your own workers: China has and is protecting its assets there, the west is decolonising thru reverse colonisation.

I got caught with a mining company I Africa a few years ago.
It was going great till the Chinese came in and the Govt of the day gave it to them on a platter.
A bit of hard earned went down the gurgler.

 

[farmerge]

FMG my No 1 pick for the Yearly Comp. This month steady as it goes. A few cents off last month, but who cares the divi was half decent, and Twiggy and Nicola raked in a king's ransome as usual.

 

[Value Collector]

FMG my No 1 pick for the Yearly Comp. This month steady as it goes. A few cents off last month, but who cares the divi was half decent, and Twiggy and Nicola raked in a king's ransome as usual.

Half decent divvy ??? You are a hard man to please, even if you paid $30 for your shares the last divvy was over 10% on an annualised basis, inc franking. if you bought at $15 it’s over 20%.

… and well if you bought at $3, you are printing money at over 100% dividend yield on your capital.

 

[basilio]

New Presentation from Twiggy on the FMG website.

Goes into much detail on how FMG intends to work with China to produce Green Steel. It is the call to arms for Heavy Industry to decarbonise.

2 May 2024 J.P. Morgan Forum Presentation

Slides


Compare it to the presentation made by Twiggy just 4 years previously at the same Forum

26 February 2020 JP Morgan Conference

Slides

 

[Value Collector]

New Presentation from Twiggy on the FMG website.

Goes into much detail on how FMG intends to work with China to produce Green Steel. It is the call to arms for Heavy Industry to decarbonise.

2 May 2024 J.P. Morgan Forum Presentation

Slides


Compare it to the presentation made by Twiggy just 4 years previously at the same Forum

26 February 2020 JP Morgan Conference

Slides

Hi Bas
do you know if I recording of the presentation is available anywhere.

 

[Value Collector]

Hi Bas
do you know if I recording of the presentation is available anywhere.

I found the short video from the presentation, but not the whole recording.

 

[basilio]

I found the short video from the presentation, but not the whole recording.

The FMG website only offered the slideshow.
Did find another overseas energy development by FMG

Actis-Fortescue consortium awarded rights to develop green hydrogen project in Oman​

A consortium between Actis, a leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure, and Fortescue, a global integrated green energy, metals and technology company, has been awarded the rights to develop, build, own and operate a large green hydrogen project in Oman.

At a signing ceremony in Muscat today, Hydrogen Oman SPC (Hydrom), an independent entity founded by the Omani government to orchestrate and deliver the nation’s green hydrogen strategy, announced the consortium was a winning bidder in the second round of a green hydrogen tender process. This provides Actis and Fortescue with exclusive rights to a high quality site, allocated to the development of a future project.

The project, which is currently in feasibility stage, is expected to involve construction of up to c.4.5GW of wind and solar renewable energy resources that will power electrolyzers with the potential to produce up to 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. Under the current plan, this is expected to be sold to local industrial offtakers as well as processed into derivatives (such as green ammonia) for export via the existing port of Salalah.

HE Eng Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals and Chairman of Hydrom, said: “Oman is strategically located between two key green hydrogen demand centers in Europe and Asia. This, in addition to, our tier-1 infrastructure and logistics capabilities have enabled us to leverage our first mover advantage in the global hydrogen industry. The availability of renewable natural resources in Oman coupled with the country’s favorable geopolitical positioning, investor-friendly policies and progressive energy transition strategies make it one of the most suitable countries for green hydrogen production. I would like to congratulate Actis and Fortescue on their awarding and look forward to working together to realise our collective vision.”

Actis-Fortescue consortium awarded rights to develop green hydrogen project in Oman

A consortium between Actis and Fortescue has been awarded the rights to develop, build, own and operate a large green hydrogen project in Oman.

fortescue.com

 

[basilio]

More movement internationally for FMG Hydrogen projects. I note this one has a 2 year construction timetable.

Fortescue officially launches its first U.S. green hydrogen production facility, Arizona Hydrogen, with soil turn ceremony in Buckeye, Arizona​

• 1. Fortescue officially launches its first U.S. green hydrogen production facility, Arizona Hydrogen, with soil turn ceremony in Buckeye, Arizona
  
  
  
  
  
  3 May 2024
  
  Dr. Andrew Forrest AO is joined by state, local, and tribal leaders for launch of facility slated to create over 400 jobs during operations, including 40 direct, high-paying facility jobs during operations, and more than 2,000 jobs during construction.

Today, Fortescue marked a new phase in the development of the company’s $550 million venture into green hydrogen production in the United States, the first of Fortescue’s planned green energy investments in North America with a soil turn ceremony and renaming of our green hydrogen facility in Buckeye, Arizona to Arizona Hydrogen.

At the 158-acre facility site, Fortescue Executive Chair and Founder Dr. Andrew Forrest AO praised the Biden Administration’s commitment to the energy transition, but cautioned there is more work to be done.

“The US has made serious strides in attracting global investment in green hydrogen and decarbonization projects, like Fortescue’s solar and wind-powered Arizona Hydrogen facility. Fortescue is unashamedly a first-mover in this space, the world needs us to move quickly,” Dr Forrest said.

Fortescue officially launches its first U.S. green hydrogen production facility, Arizona Hydrogen

Fortescue officially launches its first U.S. green hydrogen production facility, Arizona Hydrogen, with soil turn ceremony in Buckeye, Arizona

fortescue.com

 

[basilio]

FMG's ammonia powered shipping project is progressing well. Given that FMG has its own fleet to transport ore to China the exercise in decarbonising these operations will be part of their overall zero carbon policy. This is a proof of concept exercise as well as ironing out engineering challenges in the fuel changeover.

Successful propulsion and manoeuvrability trials by Fortescue’s dual-fuelled ammonia-powered vessel in the Port of Singapore​

1. Successful propulsion and manoeuvrability trials by Fortescue’s dual-fuelled ammonia-powered vessel in the Port of Singapore

6 May 2024

Fortescue, with support from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), has successfully completed propulsion and manoeuvrability trials of its Singapore-registered Fortescue Green Pioneer in the Port of Singapore.

Fortescue, with support from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), government agencies, research institutes, and industry partners, has successfully completed propulsion and manoeuvrability trials of its Singapore-registered Fortescue Green Pioneer in the Port of Singapore. The trials were conducted using 6.4 m3 (4.4 tonnes) of liquid ammonia, in combination with diesel and Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO), a second-generation biofuel, as marine fuel over 10 days from 23 April 2024 to 2 May 2024.

This latest milestone follows the successful conduct of the world’s first dual-fuelled ammonia fuel trial in Port of Singapore by the Fortescue Green Pioneer in March 2024, in which the vessel received flag approval from the Singapore Registry of Ships (SRS) and the “Gas Fuelled Ammonia” notation by classification society DNV to use ammonia, in combination with diesel, as a marine fuel.

The approval and notation were awarded upon the completion of a series of fuel trials that were conducted over a period of seven weeks in February and March 2024 using five cubic metres (three tonnes) of liquid ammonia. The trials, conducted by the Fortescue Green Pioneer at anchor, included testing of the vessel’s ammonia storage systems, associated piping, gas fuel delivery system, retrofitted engines, and seaworthiness. Members of the maritime community visited the vessel during the Singapore Maritime Week in April 2024 to learn about the trials, emergency procedures and training of seafarers for the safe handling of ammonia fuel.

To facilitate this set of trials involving propulsion and manoeuvrability tests as part of the vessel’s ongoing sea trials, a further tranche of approximately 6.4 m3 (4.4 tonnes) of liquid ammonia was loaded on 23 April 2024 at Vopak Banyan Terminal, Jurong Island.

Successful propulsion and manoeuvrability trials by Fortescue’s dual-fuelled ammonia-powered vessel in the Port of Singapore

Fortescue, with support from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), has successfully completed propulsion and manoeuvrability trials of its Singapore-registered Fortescue Green Pioneer in the Port of Singapore.

fortescue.com

Fortescue demonstrates ammonia as a maritime fuel

A trial off Singapore has potentially paved the way for ammonia to be used as a fuel source for global maritime trade. A large part of miners' Scope 3 emissions...

www.miningmonthly.com

 

[basilio]

FMG posted another presentation on their website. Little we havn't heard before. I thought the overview of their global energy activities was worth highlighting.

This picture doesn't include the international resource/ iron ore assets. ie Gabon mine. These are otherwise noted in the presentation

BOFA Conference Presentation (PDF 4,517.5 KB)

 

[basilio]

That was a good budget for FMG. Strong government support for development of a green Hydrogen industry as a cornerstone of green steel and other carbon replacing opportunities. The decision by the government to offer a $2 per kg production tax credits will help make Hydrogen production profitable. Of course companies will have to produce the gas at a competitive price to take the money.

How much is it worth ? If FMG can produce 1million tonnes of H2 a year the production credits will total $2Billion . Twiggy believes this support will make green steel competitive.

SP jumped today. Be interesting to see if there is a reappraisal of FMG value AND if it's hydrogen and green steel projects make the grade. That will take a few years.

I could see some Super funds running their rulers over FMG for both their iron ore returns plus make Hydrogen a commercial success with the Federal government support.

Forrest says hydrogen subsidy makes green iron commercially viable in Australia

Andrew Forrest says hydrogen production tax credit will make green iron commercial viable in Australia. “It must be pursued,” he says.

reneweconomy.com.au

Australia is back in the global race for green hydrogen with game-changing production credit

A ground-breaking production tax scheme will place Australia back in the highly competitive global race for green hydrogen and its derivative products, including green metals.

reneweconomy.com.au

 

[basilio]

A broader analysis of the opportunities and risks of chasing Hydrogen as an energy source.

Locking in the green energy transition: Hydrogen ready for takeoff, or a reality check?

Depending on who you listen to, the global hydrogen industry is either poised for take-off in 2024, or about to come face to face with the reality of costs.

reneweconomy.com.au

 

[farmerge]

FMG Fortesque Metals Group.
Still continuing my love affair with FMG in the yearly competition.
Up somewhat on last month's closing price, but is an assured asset builder with a strong dividend record.

 

[basilio]

More movement on FMG use of green hydrogen. They already have developed and proven electric dump trucks. Now how about powering the truck hydrogen fuel cells? Gets rid of the 2 klm extension cord..

Fortescue operates giant haul truck on hydrogen fuel cells for first time

Fortescue operates one of its giant haul trucks on hydrogen fuel cells for first time, as it continues trials in its drive to dump diesel fuel use by the end of the decade.

thedriven.io