The threat of a crippling US rail strike sent Australia’s ASX-listed coal producers surging on Thursday in anticipation of bottlenecks before the strike was averted.
Earlier, US Henry Hub natural gas futures rose US83¢, or 10 per cent, to $US9.11 per million British thermal units on Wednesday, the highest since September 1. The Biden administration had been trying to unify the unions and rail freight haulers before a Friday deadline that could sideline 125,000 workers.
In the US, Senate Republicans failed on Wednesday to force unions and railroads to resolve a clash over contract negotiations after Senator Bernie Sanders objected, arguing freight rail workers should have better sick leave,A rail strike would be “potentially disastrous”, with “dire consequences that will cascade throughout the economy if a strike actually occurs”, Business Roundtable chief executive Joshua Bolten said.
Yet Russia has weaponised the provision of gas, and as of Thursday, flows to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipelineunder the guise of enforced maintenance. Europe is trying to stockpile gas for winter and a European Union group on Wednesday released its draft intervention plan. The plan decided against setting price caps.
“We’ve been engaging with the parties, and our message continues to be that the labour unions and railroads need to find the deal space to avoid any kind of disruption,” he said. “The most important thing is to try to prevent that from happening in the first place.”
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Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »