On January 21, mining giant BHP Billiton said that the smoke from the Australian fire had caused a serious decline in air quality and had a serious impact on local coal production. Authorities warned that the fire situation could worsen in the next few days.
On January 21, mining giant BHP Billiton said that the smoke from the Australian fire had caused a serious decline in air quality and had a serious impact on local coal production. Authorities warned that the fire situation could worsen in the next few days.
BHP Billiton pointed out that since September last year, the state of New South Wales has been surrounded by a raging fire. The fire has now burned one-third of the land area of Germany and threatened Australia's 14th largest economy body. The Australian tourism and insurance industries are predicting that the fire is expected to bring economic losses of A $ 1 billion (US $ 687 million) to these two major industries.
"Regional forest fires and dust smog have severely affected local air quality, which has reduced coal production in December 2019." BHP Billiton said in the latest trade announcement.
"If air quality continues to deteriorate, operating results in the second half of the fiscal year (January-June 2020) may be further limited." BHP Billiton said.
Since last September, the Australian fire has killed 29 people and millions of animals, destroyed more than 2,500 houses and burned 11 million hectares of land. Even with the recent thunderstorms and rainfall, there are still dozens of fires on the east coast of Australia.
The delay caused by the fire has spread to other parts of Australia. Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities, were once shrouded in smog, making these two cities the worst air quality ratings in the world.
The local meteorological bureau predicts that the temperature in Victoria will rise on January 22, coupled with strong winds, may lead to a new fire.
On January 21, the Rural Fire Station of New South Wales issued a higher level of fire danger on the southern coast of the state.
In addition, the State of New South Wales has stated that subsidies to primary producers affected by the fire will increase from the previous $ 15,000 to $ 75,000.
"The increase in subsidies as soon as possible will enable affected communities to focus on rebuilding and rehabilitating important facilities, while handling livestock accordingly and purchasing much-needed feed," said Australian Agriculture Minister .
