Aust. coal cost surrender

Press, 3 May 1984, Page 22

Aust. coal cost surrender

NZPA-AAP Canberra Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister, Mr Lionel Bowen, has approved lower hard-coking coal prices by Japanese steel mills, blaming a collapse in the Australian negotiating position on companies prepared to settle for price cuts. The approval was given despite a plea by coal union representatives yesterday to the Federal Government to send the Australian negotiators back to Japan to seek higher prices. Mr Bowen said in a statement that he had approved the pricing proposals reluctantly. He had been concerned about allegations made by some Australian producers that the negotiating position had been undermined some

months ago when one Australian supplier reportedly had agreed to a cut of SUS 3 a tonne. “During the latest negotiations the Australian negotiating position was further undermined by reports that a second Australian supplier had indicated its intention to abandon parameters, and settle without Government approval," Mr Bowen said. “Thereafter the negotiating position of the remaining Australian companies collapsed.” (Earlier in the negotiations Australian and Canadian negotiators were holding out for better prices from the Japanese despite pressure for cuts. Some Australian trade sources believed at the time that this would hold the price up after Australian producers took cuts last year.)