Green Steel and the Future Risk of Metallurgical Coal

Queensland is one of the world’s biggest exporters of metallurgical coal - which is exported to China, Japan and Korea and used in the production of steel. Big coal mining companies say that there are no alternatives to coal for steel production, and so need to keep mining coal in Queensland out until the 2090s.

We fact check this claim in our lively event with coal and economics expert Simon Nicholas from the think tank the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance. Simon and Tim have been looking at the emergence of new ‘green steel’ technologies globally, and what this will mean for coal exports in Queensland.

Join us for a lively and timely discussion for anyone interested in the future of one of Queensland’s biggest exports, and what it means for our climate, our economy and our communities. 

Simon Nicholas is IEEFA’s Lead Analyst for the global steel sector. Simon’s focus is on the long-term outlook for steel production, as well as on the implications for the global iron ore and metallurgical coal markets.

Before joining IEEFA in 2016, Simon had 16 years’ experience in the finance industry at ABN Amro, Macquarie Group and Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney and London.

Tim Buckey has 30 years of financial market experience covering the Australian, Asian and global equity markets and is a highly influential energy finance commentator. He has written more than 100 reports on the global energy transition, and the roles of finance and policy in accelerating critical decarbonisation trends.

Tim was previously the Australasian Director of IEEFA . Prior to this, Tim was a top-rated equity research analyst, including Head of Equity Research in Singapore at Deutsche Bank, Managing Director, Head of Equity Research at Citigroup for 17 years, Head of Institutional Equities at Shaw & Partners and co-Managing Director of Arkx Investment Management P/L, a global listed clean energy investment start-up jointly owned with Westpac.