Chinese win bulk of Mongolia coal project
Mongolia has announced the winners of a long-fought contest to develop part of Tavan Tolgoi, one of the largest coking coal deposits in the world.
In a nod to the steelmaking needs of neighbouring China, Chinese coal miner Shenhua will own the lion’s share of the venture with a 40 per cent stake. A Russian-Mongolian consortium will own a further 36 per cent. Peabody, the biggest US coal miner, will have 24 per cent.
State-owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT), set up to manage Mongolia’s coal mining interests, owns the rights to mine the block, and will do so with its foreign partners.
It was unclear which companies would be joining the Russian-Mongolian consortium, though the statement said each side would hold half of its total 36 percent stake.
The decision underscores the challenges for Mongolia - a landlocked country with a 3m population - as it seeks to balance ties between larger neighbours China and Russia while developing its vast resources.
The tender process was hotly contested by three of the world’s largest resources companies: Brazil-listed Vale and London-listed Xstrata and ArcelorMittal. In a surprise decision, the government chose none of these. It cherry-picked Shenhua, according to several people familiar with the matter. Shenhua had lodged its bid through a consortium with Japan’s Mitsui, but the partner was dropped without explanation.
Peabody, Brazil’s Vale and Indian steel giant ArcelorMittal had been among six preferred bidders to develop the western portion of Tsenkhi. The others in contention were Anglo-Swiss group Xstrata, a joint venture between Shenhua and Mitsui, and a consortium of Russian, South Korean and Japanese firms.
The government announcement on late on Monday made no mention of Japan’s Mitsui and South Korea’s Korea Resources Co - originally on the shortlist of preferred bidders to develop Tavan Tolgoi, located in the south Gobi Desert.
It was not immediately clear if Mitsui and Korea Resources were part of the deal, but Ulan Bator-based Eurasia Capital analyst Akmal Aminov said they were likely still involved.三井物産は2010年9月、神華集団と、世界の炭鉱開発や石炭貿易の拡大などで提携することで合意した。
提携の柱の一つがTavan Tolgoi 炭鉱への共同応札となる。Tavan Tolgoiの応札では米石炭最大手のPeabody Energyとの共同応札を協議。
他方、伊藤忠・住商・丸紅・双日の4商社連合は、韓国の国策資源開発のKorea Resources、国営ロシア鉄道との共同で応札する。
応札
Shenhua 40% ....
JV of Shenhua and Mitsui
Peabody 24%
Peabody
Russian-Mongolian
consortium
名前不明
50%ずつ36%
国営ロシア鉄道
伊藤忠・住商・丸紅・双日
韓国国策資源開発Korea Resources
Vale
ArcelorMittal
Xstrata
“The government clearly wants Russia, China and America to participate in developing Tavan Tolgoi,” said Achit-Erdene Darambazar, president of MICC, a Mongolian investment bank. “But I’m not sure it’s a good idea to make a geopolitical decision when it is really an economic matter. All these groups wanted to develop this deposit by themselves.”
Mongolia has been keen to promote “third neighbours” such as the US and Japan in order to avoid becoming overly dependent on China.
“With the majority of Mongolia’s coal production in the south of the country, China is the primary ? and arguably currently the only ? market for Mongolian coal,” wrote analysts at Renaissance Capital in a report in June.
The cabinet approved the deal on Monday, smoothing the way for parliamentary approval. But a top Mongolian official warned the deal may yet change form.
Shenhua and the other winners will pay the government $1bn for the mining license for the western block of Tavan Tolgoi. Agreements to build facilities like a power plant, railway, and coal-to-liquids facility are part of the deal.
$500 million as a "direct payment" and another $500 million as an "advance payment" as well as taxes and fees.
The firms also will be obliged to pay all taxes and fees associated with the project to the government, and 5 percent of sales income will be paid to ETT.But, by some estimates, the entire project will require more than $7 billion to develop.