Live ASX News Today
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31st Jul 12:20 AM AEST
Sydney construction work is back on track but with defined boundaries
Image Source: © Hafizov | Megapixl.com
Sydney's billionaire construction industry will be back on track from Saturday, except for areas deemed high-risk Delta zones by the government.
NSW chief Gladys Berejiklian has allowed construction on unoccupied sites. The boundaries are now clearly defined. There is no permit for Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool, Cumberland, Blacktown, Parramatta, George's River and Campbelltown. A new system called contactless tradies has emerged to allow some in and out moves from these sites.
The NSW government has worked with industry before putting these safety plans in place. The activities allowed has a very narrow scope of being termed as 'preparation work'. The government has thus allowed only basic works, like getting up machinery, maintenance and preparing sites. Also, using contactless tradies means not contact anybody while moving in or out of site.
Works in occupied premises, including residential homes, will thus resume from Saturday with zero contact between workers and residents. Only up to two workers for indoor services and five workers for outdoor services will be permitted.
The permit is a positive since construction adds up AU$500 million to the NSW economy every week.
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31st Jul 12:10 AM AEST
China coal-fired power plants facing losses due to high coal prices
Source: © Sofiaworld | Megapixl.com
China's coal-fired power plants have recorded significant losses due to surging prices of domestic coal.
- The country is facing a supply crunch amid an ongoing unofficial ban on buying cargoes from Australia, the leading exporter to China.
- As per a report on the Chinese energy industry out of 10 coal-fired power companies, five have recorded a plunge in their profits during the first half of 2021 while four recorded losses.
- Changyuan Electric is the only utility that has posted a rise in its profit due to a large portfolio of renewable energy.
- The dramatic losses by the power companies are witnessed as a result of surging coal prices with benchmark prices at Qinhuangdao (North China) at CNY 1,009 per tonne on Wednesday.
- The prices are also boosted by a surge in power demand that rose 703.3 billion kWh in June, up 9.8% relative to last year.
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31st Jul 12:05 AM AEST
BHP Group (ASX:BHP) plans to install solar farms at Nickel West
Source: © Lovelyday12 | Megapixl.com
The world’s leading resource company, BHP Group (ASX:BHP) is ready to install two solar farms and one battery storage system at its Leinster and Mt Keith mines in Western Australia’s Nickel West operations.
- The planned renewable sources are expected to reduce the emission from electricity at the two mines by up to 12% relative to the 2020 financial year levels.
- The Northern Goldfields Solar Project will feature a 27.4 MW solar farm at Mount Keith and two solar farms of 10.7 MW and 10.1 MW at Leinster mine.
- The project marks the first on-site solar farm and battery set-up at any of the global operations as per Eddy Haegel, president of BHP Nickel West asset.
- The construction is expected to take 12-14 months to complete and it will employ more than 100 people on site.
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31st Jul 12:03 AM AEST
Vaccine passports would allow Australians to travel freely
Source: © Dorian2013z | Megapixl.com
In various places of Australia, border closures, lockdowns, mass event cancellations, and school holidays have begun. However, the tourism industry and visitors have been grappling with movement restrictions since the pandemic broke out.
Those who have been wholly vaccinated against COVID-19 and can verify it with a digital "vaccine passport" will be able to travel without quarantine starting next week in 14 European Union countries.
Vaccinated Australians have a similar certificate on their smartphone, which could be the key to avoiding the mess of the past 15 months.
The government's COVID-19 digital certificate shows which vaccines a person has had to defend against the virus, as recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register, and it's been available on smartphones through the Express Plus Medicare app.
Minister of Tourism Dan Tehan intends to give vaccination passport holders the option of avoiding lockdowns. He also stated that giving those who have been vaccinated more freedoms would incentivise them to obtain the vaccine.