Archive
Posts Tagged ‘iron ore’
Mining Week 1/’13: Anglo and Mittal sell iron ore assets
January 6, 2013
Comments off
Top Stories:
- Anglo and Cliffs sell 5Mtpa Brazilian iron ore mine
- Anglo American and Cliffs Natural Resources sell their 70% and 30% stakes in the Northern Brazilian Amapa iron ore mine to private miner Zamin Ferrous for approx. $400m. A year after buying their 70% share 4 years ago, Anglo took a $1.5bn writedown on the asset.
- Sources: Anglo American; Financial Times; Reuters
- Bumi looses $422m in derivatives trading
- Bumi Resources, partly owned by Bumi plc and part of the dispute between the Bakri family and Nath Rotschild about the future of Bumi, posted a loss over the first 9 months of 2012 driven by low coal prices and a loss of over $400m on derivatives.
- The loss on derivatives value was driven by a re-calculation of early payment rights, changing the discount rate of the value of that option from 5.25% to 17.2%.
- Sources: Bumi Resources results; Financial Times; Wall Street Journal
- ArcelorMittal sells 15% stake of Labrador Trough for $1.1bn
- Cash-hungry steel maker and miner ArcelorMittal decided to sell a 15% stake of its Labrador Trough iron ore project in Canada to Chinese steel maker Posco and Taiwanese steel maker China Steel, also signing long-term offtake agreements.
- Sources: ArcelorMittal press release; Financial Times; The Hindu
Trends & Implications:
- The sale of iron ore mines or stakes by ArcelorMittal and AngloAmerican signal 2 different trends in the industry:
- The large miners are actively divesting non-core assets, trying to focus management attention and funding on the large operations and development projects.
- Many companies are having trouble securing the funds required to execute the enormous development projects that are currently in execution phase in the iron ore industry. Forming partnerships and selling minority stakes is often the cheapest way to obtain funding.
- The loss reported by Bumi Resouces is not a sign of mismanagement, but rather a sign of cleaning up the books and trying to make sure the assets listed are actually worth what they are listed for. Valuation of options is a highly subjective art, and the management of Bumi Resources apparently chose to take the revaluation hit at a moment when low coal prices were forces the results into the red anyway.
2013 | Wilfred Visser | thebusinessofmining.com
Categories: Mining Week
Anglo American, ArcelorMittal, Brazil, Bumi, business, China Steel, derivatives, iron ore, Labrador Trough, mining, mining business, Posco, steel, Zamin
Mining Week 47/’12: BHP sells diamonds; Anglo pays for iron ore
November 18, 2012
Comments off
Top Stories of the Week:
- Harry Winston buys BHP’s diamond business for $500m
- Diamond retailer Harry Winston has decided to buy BHP Billiton’s diamond business for $500m cash. The business consists of 80% of the EKATI diamond mine in Northern Canada and sorting and marketing units.
- Both BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto put their diamond businesses up for sale this year. Rio Tinto might be reconsidering that decision as it couldn’t secure a good price for its Diavik mine and its Indian holdings have come back with good exploration results.
- Sources: BHP Billiton press release; Harry Winston press release; Financial Times
- Anglo’s Minas Rio iron ore project delayed and more expensive
- Anglo American announced that Minas Rio, its 26.5Mtpa iron ore project in Brazil, will not start producing before the second half of 2014. The delay is caused by license issues around construction of power transmission lines.
- Anglo also announced that the total capital cost for the project is “unlikely to be less that $8.0bn”, making this the first major iron ore project which costs more than $300 per millions tonnes capacity.
- Sources: Anglo American press release; Reuters; mining.com
- Qatar’s support appears to seal GlenStrata deal
- The Qatar Sovereign wealth fund has announced it will support Glencore’s offer of 3.2 shares per share for Xstrata, making it very likely that the largest mining deal of the past years will become reality. Xstrata’s shareholders get to vote on Tuesday.
- Qatar, Xstrata’s 2nd largest shareholder after Glencore, also announced it will abstain from voting on the retention incentive package for Xstrata top management, making it very likely that this >$200m retention package will not become reality.
- Sources: Qatar holding; Financial Times 1; Financial Times 2
Trends & Implications:
- Anglo’s issues in Brazil demonstrate the enormous importance of getting power issues for large projects sorted out early. Last month Rio Tinto’s enormous Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia was only hinging on a power supply agreement with the Mongolian and Chinese governments. Many projects in developing countries either need to secure power supply from other countries or have to build their own power plants, forcing them to go through tremendous licensing issues and import natural resources to get their operations powered up.
- When the Xstrata retention package is voted down, a big group of top-level executives at Xstrata can be expected to start looking for new jobs quickly, opening up a great pool of talent for other companies. The corporate cultures at Xstrata and Glencore are so different that many miners will have to adjust to the more aggressive, top-down culture of the trading house. Many of the top managers will prefer to find a good job in another mining house instead.
2012 | Wilfred Visser | thebusinessofmining.com
Categories: Mining Week
acquisition, Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Brazil, business, Canada, diamond, Ekati, Glencore, GlenStrata, Harry Winston, iron ore, license, Minas-Rio, mining, mining business, power, Rio Tinto, Xstrata
Mining Week 46/’12: Lonmin vs. Xstrata & the CEO-carousel
November 10, 2012
Comments off
Top Stories of the Week:
- Lonmin raises equity to stay independent
- Lonmin announced a $800m rights offering, in that way fending of the proposal by Xstrata to increase its stake in the troubled platinum miner to a majority share.
- The strikes in South Africa, which escalated at Lonmin’s operations, have caused significant lost production and urgent financial issues for Lonmin.
- Sources: Lonmin press release; Financial Times; Wall Street Journal
- BHP starts search for new CEO
- BHP Billiton has started the search for the successor of CEO Marius Kloppers. Apparently the company will not necessarily promote an insider to the top position.
- With Mick Davis leaving Xstrata if/when the merger with Glencore is approved and Cynthia Carroll leaving AngloAmerican next year, 3 of the top CEOs in the mining industry will change.
- Sources: Financial Times 1; The Economist; Financial Times 2
- India limits export of iron ore
- Iron ore exports from the Indian state of Orissa will be limited strongly by new production quota for mines without processing facilities.
- The government is trying to attract processing investment to prevent iron ore is only exported without significant benefit for the country. High export duties (raised to 30% early this year) and production quota are used to discourage exports from the world’s 3rd largest iron ore exporter.
- Sources: Wall Street Journal; Commodity Online; Steel Orbis
Trends & Implications:
- Orissa’s attempts to curb exports don’t do much to stimulate local investment in processing capacity. India’s government announced a year ago that it would make it more attractive for companies to invest by setting up mining right and process plant permitting packages. With the current uncertainty about both global demand and India’s local demand outlook it is unlikely that large investments in additional processing capacity will be made in Orissa in the near future. As a result the will mainly slow down the local economy.
- Almost a year ago, after the announcement of Ferreira as new CEO of Vale, this blog conducted a poll among its readers to find out which top company CEO was mostly to be replaced first. The results showed most trust in the future of Kloppers at BHP. A year later 3 out of 4 are on their way out, while most CFOs have been replaced over the past 2 years too. The high level of activity in replacing top executives indicates a change of mindset in the boards of these companies: shifting from a focus on growth and investment to a focus on operational excellence and payout. The new group of top executives will mainly need to show a track record of cost-control and willingness to make tough decisions on closure of mines.
2012 | Wilfred Visser | thebusinessofmining.com
Categories: Mining Week
Anglo American, BHP Billiton, business, Carroll, CEO, Davis, Glencore, India, iron ore, Kloppers, Lonmin, mining, mining business, Orissa, rights issue, Rio Tinto, strike, Vale, Xstrata
Mining Week 39/’12: Fortescue moves on; GlenStrata almost there
September 22, 2012
Comments off
Top Stories of the Week:
- Xstrata’s board votes October 1st on Glencore offer
- The decision by Xstrata’s board on whether or not to endorse Glencore’s new bid for the company is delayed by a week to October 1st. The endorsement might help to convince a majority of shareholders to accept the offer for 3.05 shares of Glencore per share of Xstrata.
- The debate around generous retention packages for Xstrata’s key managers started again as several large shareholders voiced their discontent. Glencore stressed nothing will change to those packages unless Xstrata’s board wants to adjust them. Finding a compromise to satisfy the key shareholders might be the final step for the board to make the deal happen.
- Sources: Wall Street Journal; Financial Times 1; Financial Times 2
- Fortescue solves debt problems by refinancing $4.5b debt
- Fortescue announced refinancing of $4.5bn debt with Credit Suisse and JP Morgan as underwriters. Debt maturity of the new deal is 5 years. The company was facing liquidity problems as low iron ore prices and aggressive investment schedules were undermining its ability to repay debt.
- Sources: Wall Street Journal; Fortescue announcement
- Oyu Tolgoi waiting for power
- Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi mine is 97% complete, but negotiations with Mongolian and Chinese governments on power supply delay startup. Oyu Tolgoi built 220Kvolt power line to connect to the Chinese grid, but can’t sign a offtake agreement without consent of the Mongolian government
- Sources: Financial Times; The Australian; Project website
Trends & Implications:
- Oyu Tolgoi’s trouble to get powered is just one example of the challenges many large operations face to secure affordable power supply. The power requirements of a large operation require a significant change and development of power grids of many developing nations. Generation capacity is typically not readily available and the large offtake trigger discussions about long term price agreements.
- After meeting with Glencore’s board this week, Xstrata’s board appears to be working hard to make the merger/acquisition go ahead. It is hard to imagine another outcome in which Xstrata’s shareholders get more value for their company, making it likely they will accept the offer. If the deal is approved by Xstrata’s shareholders, the changes in holdings various large investors will likely make will give an interesting insight into the clientele effect the integration of a mining house and a commodity trader could have.
2012 | Wilfred Visser | thebusinessofmining.com
Categories: Mining Week
acquisition, board, business, China, clientele, debt, Fortescue, Glencore, grid, iron ore, merger, mining, mining business, Mongolia, power, refinancing, Rio Tinto, shareholders, Xstrata
Mining Week 36/’12: Anglo and Codelco compromise; Glenstrata in doubt
August 31, 2012
Comments off
Top Stories of the Week:
- Anglo American and Codelco reach a deal on the Sur Complex
- Anglo agreed to sell a minority stake of its Chilean Sur Projects to Codelco at a significant discount, but the company receives over $2bn more than Codelco would have to pay according to its disputed buy-in option.
- Codelco partners with Mitsui in a JV that receives a 24.5% stake of the project.
- Codelco’s union representative voted against the new deal, announcing action to improve the terms for the Chilean company.
- Sources: Financial Times 1; Wall Street Journal; Financial Times 2; Financial Times 3
- Norwegian fund joins Qatar in opposition of Glenstrata merger
- Analysts speculate about a potential compromise on the price paid for Xstrata by Glencore: Glencore offers 2.8 shares per share of Xstrata, but Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund earlier indicated it would require a 3.25 ratio. In a new statement in which the fund says it will vote against the proposed deal the 3.25x ratio was not reiterated.
- Norges Bank Investment Management has also build up a significant stake in Xstrata. The Qatari fund could be able to block the merger alone (depending on its current ownership level) or with the help of a few other investors.
- Sources: Financial Times 1; Wall Street Journal; Financial Times 2
- Australian politicians struggle with mining ‘boom’ approach
- Iron benchmark ore prices continue to decrease, loosing more than 50% vs. the peak around $200/wmt early in 2011 and 36% year to date. The profits of the iron ore dependent miners has followed this trend.
- Royalties and income taxes on mining firms are an important pillar of the Australian budget, built for a large part around the newly introduced Mineral Resource Rent Tax. Several Australian politicians have expressed their concern with the perspective of a significant reduction of tax income. The MRRT alone was planned to bring in over $6bn of government income, but because of the progressive nature of the tax the income will be very small at current price levels.
- Sources: Wall Street Journal; Financial Times; text
Trends & Implications:
- Xstrata’s shareholder vote on the proposed merger with Glencore is anything but a done deal. Several large shareholders want Glencore to sweeten the offer of 2.8 shares of Glencore per share of Xstrata. However, the actual share ratio has been hovering around 2.65-2.70 since mid May, indicating that a significant share of the market expects the ratio to drop if the deal does not go on. Xstrata has higher value for Glencore than for current shareholders, but it is unlikely the company will want to pay more than the proposed 2.8x ratio and give all of that additional value to Xstrata’s current shareholders.
2012 | Wilfred Visser | thebusinessofmining.com
Categories: Mining Week
acquisition, Anglo American, Australia, business, Chile, Codelco, deficit, exchange ratio, Glencore, GlenStrata, iron ore, merger, mining, mining business, Mitsui, MRRT, Sur, tax income, Xstrata