Iron ore prices

With thermal coal prices slumping close to four-year lows and coking-coal prices near their lowest level since 2007, the company said it was simply no longer financially viable to operate the mine.The mine, Reuters report, will be placed under care and maintenance in September after work on a longwall section, affecting about 130 workers.The company has already laid off 17 workers at the site, with a further 113 at risk of redundancy as the mine approaches closure, planned for September. Iron ore is down some 15% since the start of the year as China's economy and particularly its steel industry enters a period of slowing growth.The closely-followed commodities outlook of the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics, the Australian government's official forecaster, has now joined the chorus of forecasters calling the price of iron ore lower. In its latest quarterly overview BREE forecasts that in 2014, the average contract price for FOB Australia iron ore is set to decline to $110 a tonne, down 7.5% from its previous forecast of $119. "Iron ore prices are not expected to recover to the high levels seen in 2013 due to the increased availability of supplies from new mines starting up in Australia in 2014," according to the report. The Australia FOB iron ore price averaged $126 a tonne last year.BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto are targeting an additional 170 million tonnes in 2014. From that list, Deloitte identifies five key sectors set to cash in on Asia's growth and keep Australia near the top of the world’s prosperity charts. These include gas, agribusiness, tourism, international education and wealth management. Together, these "Fantastic Five" sectors could add $250 billion to the economy over the next two decades, potentially matching mining, which now makes up about 10% of the country's economy.The nation's output of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to increase by 250% between now and 2017-18."If we achieve that, we could surpass Qatar to become the world's top LNG producer," the consulting firm said. More than $200 billion of gas infrastructure is under construction and up to another $180 billion in gas projects are being considered.