Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) — Planned investment in Australia dropped for the first time in four years as mining companies scaled back production because of the global economic slowdown, Access Economics said.
The total value of planned investment projects fell 5.8 percent to A$607.2 billion ($392 billion) in the fourth quarter from A$644.4 billion in the previous three months, according to a report by the Canberra-based research company.
Shrinking investment adds to signs the nation is headed for its first recessionsince 1991 and increases pressure on the central bank to lower interest rates as much as 1 percentage point tomorrow. Miners BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group are among companies that are cutting spending and firing workers in Australia as worldwide demand for commodities falters.
The downturn will affect most parts of the Australian economy, with business investment no exception, Access Economics said in the report e-mailed to Bloomberg. Project deferrals are starting to mount up.
It was the first drop in Accesss measure of planned investment since the fourth quarter of 2004, and the biggest decline since the company began keeping records in 2001.
The indicator includes both government and corporate investment and covers more than 2,600 projects, each worth at least A$5 million, that are under construction or in planning across the nation.
Plans Shelved
Projects that have been shelved over the past few months include Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Anglo American Plc delaying a A$5 billion development in Victoria state to convert coal to clean fuels. Alcoa Inc. suspended in November the planned expansion of its Wagerup alumina refinery in Western Australia because of weaker demand.
We expect more such announcements over the coming months, Access said. The result is likely to be a sharp fall in business investment over the next couple of years.
BHP Billiton closed the $2.2 billion Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia because of declining prices.
Lending to the nations businesses tumbled 1.1 percent in December from the previous month, the biggest drop since 1992, the central bank reported last week. The jobless rate climbed to a two-year high of 4.5 percent in December.
All 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expect the central bank will cut borrowing costs by at least three-quarters of a percentage point tomorrow. About half of those predict a 1 point reduction in the benchmark rate to 3.25 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at[email protected]
Last Updated: February 1, 2009 08:00 EST
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
