Word: tinto
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Chinalco, China's huge metals company, recently spent $19.5 billion buying into global mining giant Rio Tinto (RTP). Rio needed the money to decrease its debt. There is speculation that China wanted to secure access to minerals. To that extent, the investment was a "strategic" one on China's part. The Australian government considered blocking the deal but did not. Perhaps debt-laden Rio made the case that it needed the money too much to help it through the economic downturn. (See pictures of China's electronic waste village...
...companies, backed by soft loans from state banks and re-energized by lower labor costs as jobs dry up, are descending on Central Asia, Africa and even Western Europe to snap up assets. State mining company Chinalco has tabled a $19.5 billion bid for British-Australian resources giant Rio Tinto. Beijing has launched a fund to buy distressed assets worldwide, inked a deal with Brazil's Petrobras and provided Russia with a $25 billion loan in exchange for a secure future stream of oil and gas. (Overall, Chinese enterprises are on track to invest double the amount abroad this year...
Even so, not every shareholder is thrilled at the prospect of selling to the Chinese. Chinalco is a huge consumer of iron ore, and mining companies fear that the investment in Rio Tinto could give China more influence over the price. During the boom years, when Chinese companies' appetite for virtually every metal was voracious, they got stuck with stiff price increases. The deal could give Chinalco, which already owns 9.3% of Rio, better access to the company's choicest deposits of copper, iron ore and bauxite. The secretary-general of China's Iron and Steel Association, Shan Shanghua...
...iron ore, copper, oil and gas--commodities China will need in vast quantities in the long run. In the past two months, Chinese companies have sought to buy assets abroad at an unprecedented pace. Aluminum Corp. of China (Chinalco) has announced plans to invest $19.5 billion in Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies. If completed, the deal would be the biggest foreign purchase any Chinese company has ever made. In late February, Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Group of China purchased a $771 million stake in the Australian iron-ore exporter Fortescue Metals Group. And China Minmetals...
Considering how far mineral prices have fallen, some analysts believe Chinalco might actually be paying a premium for Rio Tinto assets. But BOC International's Xu says, "The price is much, much lower for the assets--particularly iron ore and copper--than it would have been just six months ago. This seems like a pretty good deal." And as long as commodity prices are depressed, Chinese companies will be Going Out, cash in hand, ready...