South32 scraps Metropolitan Colliery buy
Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan Colliery. Image: Peabody Energy BY CAMERON DRUMMOND BHP Billiton spinoff South32 has scrapped its $US200 million purchase of Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan Colliery and associated port infrastructure near Wollongong, NSW. On 23 February, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a statement saying the proposed acquisition could substantially lessen competition in the coking coal supply to Australian steelmakers, as it would leave South32 as the only major supplier in the region. “The ACCC considers that competition is necessary for customers in a region to obtain export price parity,” the competition monitor wrote. “If there is a single exporter in a region, that supplier will likely set the price to local customers to match the…