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Reuters

China’s two biggest banks said they do not plan to finance a controversial Australian coal mine, in the latest blow to Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises’ long delayed project.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank said in separate statements they were not working on the project, after media recently reported that Chinese banks may get involved.
Adani was seeking A$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) in financing by March 2018 for the A$4 billion first stage of its proposed Carmichael coal mine in the state of Queensland, a project that has been shrunk from a A$16.5 billion plan to make it more viable.
Adani declined to comment on its financing plans on Monday or the statements from the Chinese banks.
Australian and overseas banks have balked at granting loans for the project, which environmentalists oppose due to climate change and the potential for damage to the Great Barrier Reef.
“ICBC has not been, and does not intend to be, engaged in arranging financing for this project,” ICBC, China’s biggest listed lender by assets, said in a statement on its Australian website.
“ICBC attaches great importance to its social responsibilities and keenly promotes ‘green financing’ … This statement is made without any view on or prejudice towards the Carmichael mine project.”
The mine’s location 400km from a Pacific Ocean shipping terminal means financing infrastructure costs has been at the forefront of debate over the project’s economic viability.
“China Construction Bank is not involved with, nor considering involvement with, the Adani Carmichael Mine project,” an external spokesperson for China Construction Bank in Australia said in an emailed statement on Monday.
CCB in China was not immediately available for comment.
Reuters has previously reported that Adani was in talks with China Machinery Engineering Corp (CMEC) for a loan, which could have involved China Construction Bank or China Export Import Bank.
China Export Import Bank was not immediately available for comment.
The executive director of Market Forces, Julien Vincent, said: “This statement is a huge blow to Adani, which had turned to China as its last hope to secure finance for their Carmichael mega coal mine and had been boasting about their prospects.
“China Construction Bank is one of the biggest banks in the world, over 10 times the size of Commonwealth Bank. As a lender to China Machinery Engineering Corporation’s recent overseas coal projects, Adani would have been salivating at the prospect of securing finance from CCB.
“The fact that CCB is actively ruling out finance for the Carmichael coal project before receiving an approach says a lot about just how toxic this project is to investors.
“China Construction Bank becomes the 25th commercial bank – and by far the biggest – to rule out finance for Adani’s Carmichael mega coal mine,” Vincent said.
Tim Buckley, from the pro-renewables Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said that the news was very significant, but did leave open the possibility for the project to be funded by another Chinese bank.
“At the end of the day, any one of these big Chinese banks could fund 100 per cent of the project tomorrow if they wanted. They’re that big,” he said.
Carmichael has been delayed by court challenges from environmentalists and indigenous groups concerned about climate change and the impact on native land and water supply, but those challenges have been rejected.
Adani hoped to start shipping coal from Carmichael by March 2020 in the first stage of the project, which it bought amid a coal boom in 2010.
Additional reporting by The Guardian


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Australia

China’s top two banks won’t finance controversial Adani coal mine in Australia

ICBC and China Construction Bank say not involved with Adani

Protesters hold banners against Adani during a demonstration outside Parliament House in Brisbane, Queensland. Photo: EPA

India mining firm Adani awarded Australia leases amid protests by environmentalists

Conservationists have argued the mega mine would threaten the heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem. Photo: Reuters

Bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef observed by aerial survey. MUST CREDIT: Terry Hughes, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.