Tata Steel is planning to acquire the UK-based London Mining`s (LM) Brazilian iron ore assets, reports Business Standard.
The valuation of the assets is estimated around USD 2 billion. London Mining owns assets in Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, Greenland and Mexico.
Shares of Tata Steel gained Rs 13.85, or 1.73%, to end at Rs 816.4. The total volume of shares traded was 1,276,462 at the BSE. (Tuesday)
NMDC Ltd., India’s biggest iron-ore producer, plans to buy a deposit in Canada in its first overseas venture, as it seeks to increase supply of the steelmaking raw material. The deposit contains more than 1 billion tons of iron ore, Rana Som, chairman of the Hyderabad-based company, said in a telephone interview. He declined to give details as he expects to conclude talks in a couple of months.
The deposit will increase supply for NMDC, majority-owned by the Indian government, as demand from India and China surges. Annual contract prices of the commodity have risen the past five years and may jump 80 percent from April, according to a Bloomberg News survey of four analysts published Feb. 8.
”Indian companies are in a hurry to secure supplies as China and India’s demand for steel will keep prices at a record,” Vishal Chandak, an analyst with Emkay Share & Stock Brokers Pvt., said in Mumbai. Read more
Mining company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. said Thursday its fourth-quarter earnings rose 35 percent, led by domestic iron ore sales and revenue from recently acquired coal mines.
The company earned $92.7 million, or $1.77 per share, compared with $68.6 million, or $1.33 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue surged 43 percent to $782.5 million, from $549 million in the prior-year period.
Analysts were expecting a profit of $1.66 per share on revenue of $768 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.
The company said the quarter was driven by higher margins in its North American iron ore business, partially offset by higher costs and slumping North American coal margins. Sales were also boosted by several new coal mines acquired during the year, Cleveland-Cliffs said.
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Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, the world’s three largest iron-ore exporters, may increase prices 30 percent next year as demand driven by steel makers in China outpaces growth in supply.
Prices for benchmark shipments from Australia will rise to a record $66.40 a ton next year from $51.47 in 2007, according to the median forecast of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales may climb 11 percent this year as supplies increase 8 percent, Merrill Lynch estimates. Mining companies and customers begin annual contract talks next month for shipments from April.
Chinese steel makers, the biggest consumers of the ore, are increasing production 15 percent to meet demand for cars, railroads and buildings. The increase will provide record profits for mining companies and may help CVRD of Brazil double its earnings from iron ore by 2009, according to Citigroup research. Read more
SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) – BHP Billiton, the world’s largest diversified resources group, said Tuesday that its output of iron ore, copper, nickel, aluminium and metallurgical coal reached record levels for the fiscal year ended June, helped by phased expansions at existing projects at a time of strong demand.
In Western Australia’s Pilbara region, BHP’s iron ore mines produced 25.75 million tonnes of iron ore in the June quarter, up six percent on the same period a year earlier and taking annual output to 98.20 million tonnes, up eight percent.
Copper output rose to 342,100 tonnes in the final quarter of its fiscal year, up 17 percent year-on-year and lifting annual output by seven percent to 1.25 million tonnes. BHP said copper output was boosted by the commissioning of a sulphide leach plant at the 57.5 percent owned Escondida mine in northern Chile in the second half of 2006. Read more