Glencore to pay back $350M of bonds in liquidity sign

Glencore will pay back $US350 million ($A498 million) of perpetual bonds next month, showing the company has cash to pay debt as it battles a commodity price slump and a slowdown in China, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The commodity trader and miner, headed by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg, will redeem the 7.5% securities on October 6, the earliest date possible, it said in a statement to the Luxembourg stock exchange. The notes will then be cancelled, it said.

Port Hedland iron ore shipments to China reach record high

Iron ore exports to China from Australia's Port Hedland climbed to a record last month as suppliers increased output through the world's largest bulk export terminal, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Shipments rose 15% to 33.9 million tonnes from 29.5Mt in July and compared with 32Mt a year earlier, according to data from the Pilbara Ports Authority. Total iron ore exports reached 39.2Mt, also an all-time high, from 35.3Mt a month earlier and 37.4Mt in August 2014, the data showed.

ACCC to take ‘close look’ at Brookfield's $8.9b Asciano takeover

The competition watchdog plans to scrutinise Brookfield Infrastructure's $A8.9 billion takeover of ports and rail group Asciano, said chairman Rod Sims as he warned the regulator would keep pushing for more oversight of monopoly infrastructure assets, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Brookfield Infrastructure’s proposed acquisition, which will combine its Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal and Western Australian rail networks with Asciano's Pacific National rail haul services, requires approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as well as the Foreign Investment Review Board before it can proceed.