Vale, ArcelorMittal shortlisted for Mongolia coal mine
(Reuters) - ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS), miner Vale (VALE5.SA) and a Korea Resources consortium are among six shortlisted bidders to develop Mongolia's Tavan Tolgoi mine, the world's biggest untapped coking coal deposit, Korea said on Monday.
More than a dozen bidders including Asian private and state-linked firms were vying for the Tavan Tolgoi project, as they scramble for raw materials to make steel.
China, Japan and South Korea are scouring the world and snapping up iron ore and coking coal assets to diversify from heavyweight suppliers such as BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) (RIO.AX).
Their eyes are falling on poor and undeveloped Mongolia which sits on vast quantities of untapped mineral wealth and which, analysts say, could be one of the fastest growing economies of the next decade.
The decision also comes after Mongolia shortlisted four global banks to manage sale of shares in the Tavan Tolgoi mine, which would become the country's biggest ever share sale.
Tavan Tolgoi has estimated reserves of 6 billion tonnes of coal, including the world's largest untapped deposit of coking coal, used by steelmakers.
Strong demand for coking coal from big Asian buyers including China, Japan and South Korea has pushed prices to near record highs this year.
Members of the South Korean bidding group include POSCO (005490.KS), utility firm KEPCO (015760.KS), trading firm LG Corp (003550.KS) and Daewoo International (047050.KS), Russian Railways and Japanese trading houses Itochu Corp (8001.T), Sumitomo Corp (8053.T), Marubeni Corp (8002.T) and Sojitz Corp (2768.T).
Shares in POSCO, the world's No.3 steelmaker, were down 1 percent by 0025 GMT, versus a 0.1 percent drop in the wider market .KS11.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by David Chance)
More than a dozen bidders including Asian private and state-linked firms were vying for the Tavan Tolgoi project, as they scramble for raw materials to make steel.
China, Japan and South Korea are scouring the world and snapping up iron ore and coking coal assets to diversify from heavyweight suppliers such as BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) (RIO.AX).
Their eyes are falling on poor and undeveloped Mongolia which sits on vast quantities of untapped mineral wealth and which, analysts say, could be one of the fastest growing economies of the next decade.
The decision also comes after Mongolia shortlisted four global banks to manage sale of shares in the Tavan Tolgoi mine, which would become the country's biggest ever share sale.
Tavan Tolgoi has estimated reserves of 6 billion tonnes of coal, including the world's largest untapped deposit of coking coal, used by steelmakers.
Strong demand for coking coal from big Asian buyers including China, Japan and South Korea has pushed prices to near record highs this year.
Members of the South Korean bidding group include POSCO (005490.KS), utility firm KEPCO (015760.KS), trading firm LG Corp (003550.KS) and Daewoo International (047050.KS), Russian Railways and Japanese trading houses Itochu Corp (8001.T), Sumitomo Corp (8053.T), Marubeni Corp (8002.T) and Sojitz Corp (2768.T).
Shares in POSCO, the world's No.3 steelmaker, were down 1 percent by 0025 GMT, versus a 0.1 percent drop in the wider market .KS11.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by David Chance)
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