A Chinese company is involved in the takeover battle for Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., the Toronto-based iron-ore mining company that ArcelorMittal is trying to acquire, a Chinese official said.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, and Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc., backed by Houston-based private equity-firm Energy & Minerals Group, are vying for Baffinland’s Mary River project. The deposit in Canada’s Arctic region contains an estimated 365 million tons of reserves and 500 million tons of resources in three deposits that have been partially explored.

Chinese demand for the key steelmaking ingredient has surged as steel production in China has risen 66 percent in the past five years. Iron-ore prices have more than doubled in the past two years, according to the Steel Index.

Nunavut, which is bidding for 60 percent of Baffinland, is offering C$1.45 ($1.47) in cash for each common share. ArcelorMittal has agreed to pay C$1.40 for all of Baffinland’s stock.

Source : Konaxis

Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil producer, said profit rose 90 percent in the first nine months of last year as it ramped up production to meet demand in China, reported Friday’s Bloomberg.

Consolidated net income increased to 38.9 billion yuan ($5.9 billion) from 20.5 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based energy explorer said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday.

Cnooc benefited from a 35 percent jump in realized oil prices during the period and plans to drive its future growth with overseas acquisitions and discoveries at home.

Cnooc spent at least $8.4 billion on assets in Latin America and the U.S. in the past 12 months to secure supplies to help meet China’s energy needs.

Most of Cnooc’s oil production comes from off the Chinese coast, with about 15 percent drilled overseas, the company said in its nine-month sales report on Oct. 28.

Oil and gas sales rose 89 percent in the first nine months to 106.1 billion yuan, boosting overall revenue to 130.3 billion yuan, Cnooc said today.

The Beijing-based energy explorer suspended shares Thursday after announcing plans to issue 10- and 30-year U.S. dollar bonds. No details were given of how much money Cnooc plans to raise.

The proceeds of the bond offerings would go toward «  »general corporate purposes, »" said the company, without elaborating.

Source : Konaxis

Chinese car and battery maker BYD said it had acquired an 18 percent stake in Zhabuye Lithium for 201 million yuan ($29.89 million), reported Thursday’s Reuters.
Zhabuye Lithium owns 20-year exclusive mining rights for the Zhabuye salt lake, the biggest lithium mine in China. Lithium is a key raw material in some rechargeable battery types.
The price of the deal represented about 2.6 times Zhabuye Lithium’s book value, analysts said.
BYD, which is 10 percent owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc , said in a statement late Thursday that the acquisition would boost the competitiveness of its battery business.
In 2008, BYD bought a high-grade silicon ore mine in Shangluo, in the western province of Shaangxi, to extract solar-grade polysilicon.

Source : Konaxis

China defended its controls on exports of rare earth after Japanese officials raised concerns about supplies of the raw materials used in the manufacture of products from cell phones to radar, reported Saturday’s Bloomberg.
Restrictions on the rare earth industry will help protect the environment, the state-run Xinhua News Agency cited Chen Deming, China’s commerce minister, as saying Saturday at a media briefing during China-Japan economic talks in Beijing.
China cut its export quotas for rare earth by 72 percent for the second half of this year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce on July 8. Shipments will be capped at 7,976 metric tons, down from 28,417 tons for the same period a year ago.
Japanese officials told their counterparts that the lower quotas could have a major affect on global industry, and demanded early action on easing them, said Satoru Sato, press secretary for visiting Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.
The U.S. Trade Representative is also targeting the restrictions for a potential trade case. The U.S. has asked business groups and labor unions to provide evidence that China is hoarding these elements for a case that might be filed at the World Trade Organization.
In order to protect the environment, China had no choice but to take such measures, Chen said, according to Xinhua. The restriction policy will also have an adverse impact on the Chinese market, where parts for Japanese products are assembled, Chen added.

Source : Konaxis

China’s No.3 steel mill, Wuhan Iron and Steel Company Ltd (600005.SS), posted a 90.43 percent rise in first-half net profit over a year earlier, due to strong domestic demand and higher steel prices, Xinhua reported on Sunday.

Wuhan Steel’s net profit was 963.53 million yuan ($142 million) for the first half of 2010, as its steel production rose by nearly 30 percent in the period to 8.04 million tonnes, official news agency Xinhua said, citing the firm’s filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

However, its production cost also climbed by about 47 percent due to rising prices of raw materials, the report said.

Source : Konaxis

China Huaneng Group Corp and Datang Corp, the country’s top power producers, plan to float shares of their renewable energy units in Hong Kong in offerings that could raise over $2 billion, sources close to the deals said on Tuesday, reported Reuters.

The deals are unfolding as China aggressively develops its renewable energy sector and the nation’s biggest power firms look to boost investment in the industry to drive future growth.

Huaneng’s renewable energy unit, Huaneng New Energy Industrial Co., plans to raise $1 billion to $1.5 billion in an initial public offering as early as October, sources close to the deal said on Tuesday.

China Datang Corp, the country’s second-largest power producer, also plans to float shares of its renewable energy unit in a Hong Kong IPO as early as December, sources familiar with the deal said.

The wind power unit of China Huaneng Group plans to issue no more than 2.9 billion shares in Hong Kong at between 3 to 4 yuan per share, China Daily said, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Source : Konaxis

The African Union said on Saturday Africa must turn ever more to China for its development because conditions and checks often stalled the flow of funds from Western nations and the World Bank, reported Friday’s Reuters.

Maxwell Mkwezalamba, the AU’s economic chief, said Africa must end its reliance on Western money.

« We need to diversify our partners that we work with and hence for us, working with China is something that we have welcomed, » he said at the AU summit in Uganda.

China pledged last year to give Africa $10 billion in concessional loans over the next three years and it is pouring money into developing infrastructure in many nations on the world’s poorest continent.

Mkwezalamba said restrictive conditions placed on loans by some of its traditional Western partners and groups such as the World Bank was driving African nations into the arms of China. He did not specify the restrictive conditions.

Mkwezalamba said Africa’s increasing outreach to China in place of traditional development partners would create friction.

Source : Konaxis

Yuguang Gold and Lead, a Chinese maker of nonferrous and precious metal products, said on Wednesday that it had won Australian government approval to invest in the country’s Kimberley Metals Ltd, reported Reuters.

Yuguang said in April that it planned to buy a 15 percent stake in Kimberley and would pay A$5 million ($4.4 million) for a 25 percent equity interest in a mining project owned by the Australian producer of base and precious metals.

Yuguang said it was notified on July 12 that its investment plans had been approved by the Australian government.

Source : Konaxis

Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group Co. said Friday it plans to issue 140 million shares, or 20% of its enlarged capital, in an initial public offering in Shanghai, reported Dow Jones.

The company didn’t say how much it plans to raise from the offering, but said in a statement it will invest part of the proceeds in some high-end manufacturing projects valued at CNY1.5 billion. China’s securities regulator has approved the IPO application, it said.

The company said it will disclose the pricing of the IPO July 22 and list shares on the Shanghai bourse « as soon as possible » after the announcement.

Citic Securities Co. is the underwriter of the IPO, Zhengzhou Coal said.

China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest phone carrier, is interested in investing in Africa, where it can boost services in rural areas, Chairman Wang Jianzhou said, reported Friday’s Bloomberg.

The company doesn’t have any acquisition targets in Africa yet and hasn’t identified a specific region on the continent where it would like to invest, said Wang.

China Mobile is searching for investments and acquisitions to revive profit growth and expand its overseas operations. Parent company China Mobile Communications Corp. bought Pakistan’s Paktel Ltd., its first overseas acquisition, in 2007.

The Beijing-based company this year agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co., a move that Wang said will help boost its wireless payment and finance operations.

China Mobile still sees “huge potential” in its domestic market as it expands operations in China’s rural areas, and increases data and financial services, Wang said.

Source : Konaxis