Nippon Steel ‘interested’ in coal assets in Mongolia, Russia
Nippon Steel Corp., Japan’s biggest mill, is interested in investing in coal projects in Russia and Mongolia to secure supplies of the raw material, an executive said.
“There is plenty of high-quality coal at Elga and Tavan Tolgoi” deposits, said Shinichi Taniguchi, executive vice president of the Tokyo-based company. “We’re interested” in taking stakes or helping develop the regions, he said.
The Elga mining project in eastern Siberia, is being developed by Russia’s OAO Mechel, while Mongolia plans to sell 30 percent of a state-owned company to be set up to control Tavan Tolgoi. Steelmakers are scouring the globe for iron ore and coking coal assets to protect them from rising costs.
Nippon Steel wants to see the projects in Mongolia and Russia developed “as soon as possible” to ease tightening global supply and help push down prices, Taniguchi said in an interview in Tokyo.
Nippon Steel shares fell 0.3 percent to 297 yen as of 1:19 p.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The stock has fallen 21 percent this year.
Contract coking coal prices for the first three months of 2011 were agreed at $225 a ton, Citigroup Inc. said Dec. 17. That’s 74 percent higher than the year earlier level.
China Shenhua Energy Co., the biggest Chinese coal producer, and Itochu Corp., Japan’s fourth-largest trading company, are among the companies that have said they want to develop Tavan Tolgoi, which holds more than 6 billion metric tons of coal.
Sumitomo Corp., Japan’s third-largest trading company, has expressed interest in helping develop the Elga field. OAO Mechel, Russia’s biggest producer of coal for steelmaking, sold 20 billion rubles ($654 million) of bonds this year to refinance its debt and help fund a railroad to the Elga coal deposit.
Nippon Steel is seeking to supply half of its iron ore and coal needs though its own sources, he said, without specifying a timeframe. Nippon Steel agreed to acquire a 23 percent stake in the $600 million Revuboe coal project in Mozambique in October.
To contact the reporters on this story: Masumi Suga in Tokyo at msuga@bloomberg.net; Yasumasa Song in Tokyo at ysong9@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Hobbs in Sydney at ahobbs4@bloomberg.net.
“There is plenty of high-quality coal at Elga and Tavan Tolgoi” deposits, said Shinichi Taniguchi, executive vice president of the Tokyo-based company. “We’re interested” in taking stakes or helping develop the regions, he said.
The Elga mining project in eastern Siberia, is being developed by Russia’s OAO Mechel, while Mongolia plans to sell 30 percent of a state-owned company to be set up to control Tavan Tolgoi. Steelmakers are scouring the globe for iron ore and coking coal assets to protect them from rising costs.
Nippon Steel wants to see the projects in Mongolia and Russia developed “as soon as possible” to ease tightening global supply and help push down prices, Taniguchi said in an interview in Tokyo.
Nippon Steel shares fell 0.3 percent to 297 yen as of 1:19 p.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The stock has fallen 21 percent this year.
Contract coking coal prices for the first three months of 2011 were agreed at $225 a ton, Citigroup Inc. said Dec. 17. That’s 74 percent higher than the year earlier level.
China Shenhua Energy Co., the biggest Chinese coal producer, and Itochu Corp., Japan’s fourth-largest trading company, are among the companies that have said they want to develop Tavan Tolgoi, which holds more than 6 billion metric tons of coal.
Sumitomo Corp., Japan’s third-largest trading company, has expressed interest in helping develop the Elga field. OAO Mechel, Russia’s biggest producer of coal for steelmaking, sold 20 billion rubles ($654 million) of bonds this year to refinance its debt and help fund a railroad to the Elga coal deposit.
Nippon Steel is seeking to supply half of its iron ore and coal needs though its own sources, he said, without specifying a timeframe. Nippon Steel agreed to acquire a 23 percent stake in the $600 million Revuboe coal project in Mozambique in October.
To contact the reporters on this story: Masumi Suga in Tokyo at msuga@bloomberg.net; Yasumasa Song in Tokyo at ysong9@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Hobbs in Sydney at ahobbs4@bloomberg.net.
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