RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Time for serious business around the corner...
Well Racing when you are still making 100% over your costs, its only a distressed price for others and as for the Saudi's, they are playing the same game as Tinto Vale and BHP as the Saudi's are the low cost producer. For Tinto, it is always about the long term and for them to loose market share to higher cost producers just for some short term profits would mean loosing the high degree of control that they have over prices in the long run and that they absolutely do not want. As for west Australia raising Royalties, Vale and the other low cost producers not operating in West Australia would be smiling as it would give them the edge over Western Australian producers. You may also see a 4rth low cost producer emerge in the Future (MT) Arcellor Mittal. They have a huge low cost mine in Liberia and Just bought up more huge low cost reserves in a neighboring country from either BHP or Tinto (MT has a rail road and right of way that the other lacked). Bottom line in the commodities business is that you are either a low cost producer or a producer that is struggling a lot of the time.
Let the high cost producers cry Uncle all they want - it will not do them much good. JMO