The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is sliding today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant closed yesterday trading for $40.77. In morning trade on Wednesday, shares are swapping hands for $40.49 apiece, down 0.7%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.3% at this same time.
This comes as investors mull over the miner's decision to cut 750 jobs from its workforce.
Here's what could be pressuring the BHP share price today.
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ASX 200 miner cuts 750 Queensland workers
As numerous media sources are reporting this morning, including The Australian Financial Review, BHP announced its intention to cut 750 workers loose at its Queensland coal division.
The miner said the move was spurred by weak coal prices and the high royalty rates introduced by the Queensland government in 2022.
Indeed, lower coal prices have been a tailwind for the BHP share price over the past year.
Newcastle coal futures slumped to around US$101 per tonne this week. That marks a three-month low, and it's down from more than US$150 per tonne last October.
As part of the miner's restructuring, it will mothball the Saraji South coal mine in November. Management also said they might close the company's FutureFit academy, which focuses on bringing new workers, especially women, into the mining business.
The Queensland coal segment jobs cuts haven't come completely out of the blue.
BHP CEO Mike Henry foreshadowed the potential sackings when the company reported its annual results on 19 August, with the BHP share price closing up 1.6% on the day.
"The major seaborne supply region of Queensland [is] not being conducive to long-life capital investment owing to the current royalty regime," BHP noted in August.
The ASX 200 miner added:
With no change to the ongoing negative impacts of extreme royalty rates, we will maintain our existing position of not investing in any further growth at BMA. We will sustain and optimise our existing operations. However, if low coal prices persist, options to pause lower margin areas of our operational footprint will be considered.
BMA, if you're not familiar, stands for the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance. The 50:50 joint venture between BHP and Mitsubishi counts as Australia's largest coal producer.
As for the environmental impacts of burning coal, BHP said the high quality of its coal assets can help bring down emissions.
According to the miner:
Over the longer term, we expect that higher quality steelmaking coals, such as those produced by our BMA assets, will be valued for their role in reducing the greenhouse gas emission intensity of blast furnaces.
With today's intraday slide factored in, the BHP share price is up 2.5% since this time last year, not including dividends.
