Australian PM Moves to Save Nickel Industry as China Floods Market

Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest says Australia can’t compete when Beijing is prepared to ‘destroy entire ecosystems.’

A view of a new nickel sulphate plant that global miner BHP Group is building at its Nickel West operations at the south of Perth in Australia on Aug. 2, 2019. Melanie Burton/Reuters

The federal government is fast-tracking production tax credits to try to protect the failing Australian nickel mining industry, on top of the 50 percent royalty discount over 18 months announced by the Western Australian (WA) government.

The measures are in response to warnings from mining giant BHP and other nickel miners that they may have to cease operations—with the loss of thousands of jobs—because of a glut of low-priced minerals being produced by Indonesia and China.