Australia

Until recently, the United States was the world's primary source of coal exports. In 1970, the United States accounted for one-half of the international coal trade {see Endnote 293}. By 1994, the U.S. share of world coal trade had declined to 15 percent of the total. In 1986, Australia supplanted the United States as the world's largest exporter of coal. As recently as 1980, U.S. coal exports had been double those of Australia.

Coal is Australia's number one export {see Endnote 294}. Some of the companies most prominent in the U.S. coal industry are also prominent in Australia's coal industry, particularly that part of the industry directed towards export markets. As in the United States, foreign investment plays a key role in Australia's coal industry, further indicating how multinational in character world coal investment has become. Australia consumes less than a third of domestic production (versus 90 percent in the United States).

Although 70 percent of Australia's coal exports goes to Japan, Japan's investment in Australian coal is comparatively small {see Endnote 295}. Ownership of Australian coal assets is largely held by Australian, U.S., and European companies. The largest producer of coal in Australia is the Australian multinational conglomerate, Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP). In addition to its Australian coal mining operations, BHP is the 17th largest coal producer in the United States, and also has coal mining interests in Indonesia. The second largest exporter of Australian coal is CRA Corp, an Australian company which has recently merged with the British company RTZ Corp. As noted earlier, RTZ Corp is the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States. Third among Australian coal producers is Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, a U.S. multinational minerals company and the second largest producer of coal in the United States. Other major exporters of Australian coal include Exxon, ARCO, and Peabody--all companies with major U.S. coal operations. The fifth largest exporter of Australian coal is Royal Dutch/Shell, which exited the U.S. coal-producing industry in 1994.