Weak mining takes toll on Caterpillar
Caterpillar has reported a 43.5% drop in quarterly profit and cut its outlook for the year, blaming steeper than expected inventory reductions by dealers and continued weak demand from the mining industry, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment, which has reduced its worldwide workforce by 8% in the past year, said the cost-paring would continue in the second half. It did not give details.
“There's no question there's a slowdown. But long-term ... mining is a great place to be,” Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar's chairman and chief executive, said in an interview with CNBC.
China manufacturing gauge at 11-month low
China’s manufacturing activity slowed to an 11-month low in July, the first evidence of the Asian economic giant losing further momentum in third quarter, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
In a survey published today, British banking giant HSBC said its preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) hit 47.7 this month, down from a final 48.2 in June and the lowest since August.
The index tracks manufacturing activity in China’s factories and workshops and is a closely watched gauge of the health of the economy. A reading below 50 indicates slowdown, while anything above signals expansion.
Pilbara rental demand follows Rinehart to Newman
Rents in Karratha have dropped to unprecedented lows as a dearth of major projects empties the WA town of construction workers, but the next big project is luring investors inland to Newman, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Figures released this week by the Pilbara Development Commission showed the average rent in Karratha had dropped to $1285 per week, down from $1800 two years ago and at the lowest level ever since PDC records began in 2007.
Rents in the town have continued to fall despite an ease in the glut of properties for rent. After rising to about 550 in mid-2012 following the completion of Woodside Petroleum’s $15 billion Pluto gas project, there are now 366 properties available for lease.
