China Minmetals

China Minmetals Corporation
中国五矿集团公司

Type	State-owned enterprise
Industry	Metals and Minerals
Founded	1950
Headquarters	Beijing, People's Republic of China
Area served	China
Key people	General President: Zhou Zhongshu
Products	Iron Steel Commodities Copper Zinc Lead Marine Shipping Mining Real Estate Finance
Revenue	US$ 26.667 billion
Employees	146,000
Website	www.minmetals.com

China Minmetals Corporation is a Chinese metals and mineral trading company. It is a state-controlled corporation existing under the laws of the People's Republic of China, is a diversified metals and mining company based in Beijing, China. China Minmetals is engaged in the production and trading of metals and minerals, including copper, aluminum, tungsten, tin, antimony, lead, zinc and nickel.

It is one of the largest metals and minerals trading companies in the world and the largest iron and steel trader in China. The company handles more than 12 million tons of steel products annually. It also trades iron, coke, coal, copper, zinc, and lead. In addition to the trade of metals, China Minmetals also trades in electrical products and operates subsidiaries that focus on real estate development, marine shipping, mining, and other investment activities.

In the United States, the company operates as Minmetals Inc, its North American headquarters located in Weehawken, NJ.

History

Minmetals' sales network is worldwide. It operates more than 100 offices in China and more than 40 companies abroad. China Minmetals Corporation was founded in 1950.

Minmetals, parent of Hong Kong-listed Minmetals Resources Ltd (1208.HK) and Shanghai-listed Minmetals Development (600058.SS), is focusing its overseas expansion on Latin America and Africa to secure natural resources to supply a fast-growing Chinese economy.

Minmetals was ranked No. 331 among the Fortune 500 companies in 2009 ^[1], (see List of the largest companies of the People's Republic of China).

In 2009, China Minmetals had revenue of US$26.67 billion^[1]. The turnover and profits of China Minmetals reached US$21.8 billion and RMB 6.8 billion in 2007. Its resource reserves include 604 million tons of iron ore, 250 million tons of coke and 410,000 tons of tungsten. It can supply annually 11 million tons of rolled steel, 4.1 million tons of coal, 800,000 tons of coke, 145,000 tons of electrolytic copper and 700,000 tons of alumina.

In the field of ferrous metal, China Minmetals remained the top steel trader of the nation and sped up the development of its upstream industrial chain. In the iron exploration in Anhui province, it has controlled 100 million tons of magnetite and 30 million tons of pyrite.

In the field of nonferrous metal, China Minmetals cooperated with Jiangxi Copper Corp to purchase 100% stake of Northern Peru Copper Corp (Canada), and set up joint venture with the U.S. Century Aluminum Corp in Jamaica to acquire the mining right for 150 million tons of bauxite. Its alumina project in Guangxi Province has annual output of 400,000 tons, which is the country's largest alumina project in both the scale and the investment.

Acquisitions

OZ Minerals acquisition

Minerals and Metals Group (MMG) was formed after its parent company, China Minmetals, bought almost all mining assets of OZ Minerals in June 2009.^[2] The deal in which the Golden Grove, Sepon, Century, Rosebery, Avebury, Dugald River, High Lake and Izok Lake Mines as well as some exploration assets were sold for US$1.354 billion by OZ Minerals to China Minmetals,^[3] initially also including the Prominent Hill Mine, but was blocked by the Australian Government, citing national security concerns. Wayne Swan, Treasurer of Australia, stated that Prominent Hill could not be included in the sale as it was within sensitive military area and the sale went only ahead after Prominet Hill was excluded.^[4]

Anvil Mining Ltd. acquisition

Minmetals Resources Ltd., a subsidiary of China Minmetals Group, agreed to buy Anvil Mining Ltd. for HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion).^[5] Anvil's main property is the Kinsevere mine, being upgraded in 2011 to produce about 60,000 tons of copper annually. Anvil is studying the potential for further increasing the rate of production.^[6]

Equinox Bid

In 2011, Minmetals launched a $6.5 billion takeover bid for Equinox Minerals, a Canadian mining company. It was the largest unsolicited takeover attempt by a Chinese mining company to date. Equinox Minerals rejected the takeover offer ^[7] later accepting a 16% higher bid by Barrick Gold.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Fortune Global 500 2009: The World's Biggest Companies". CNN. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2009/snapshots/11384.html. 
2. ^ Completion of Transaction with Minmetals OZ Minerals ASX announcement, published: 17 June 2009, accessed: 11 January 2010
3. ^ Minmetals Succeeds in OZ Minerals Deal Minmetals Australia Pty Ltd website, published: 6 November 2008, accessed: 11 January 2010
4. ^ Australia Blocks China’s Purchase of Mining Company The New York Times, published: 27 March 2009, accessed: 11 January 2010
5. ^ "Minmetals Acquires Congolese Copper Producer Anvil Mining for $1.3 Billion". October 1, 2011. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-30/minmetals-offers-1-3-billion-for-anvil-mining-39-premium-to-stock-price.html. 
6. ^ Esmarie Swanepoel (7th October 2011). "Anvil reports fatality at DRC Kinsevere project". Mining Weekly. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/anvil-reports-fatality-at-drc-kinsevere-project-2011-10-07. Retrieved 2011-11-03. 
7. ^ "Equinox rejects Minmetals". 2011-04-11. http://www.mining-journal.com/finance/equinox-rejects-minmetals. Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
8. ^ "Barrick Gold beats Minmetals to buy Equinox Minerals". BBC News. 25 April 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13187997. Retrieved 25 April 2011. 

External links

• China Minmetals Corporation