Singapore 16/12/2015 - China Minmetals Corp is aiming to speed up its overseas investments in resources like copper and zinc, following its merger with China Metallurgical Group (MCC).
The construction of resource supply base and resource development projects like those in copper and zinc will be one of the post-merger entity’s priorities, Minmetals said in a statement on the website of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) on Wednesday.
The statement follows Minmetals’ absorption of MCC which was announced by SASAC last week. The merger is one of the largest in China’s metals industry and forms part of Beijing’s move to overhaul its state-owned enterprises.
The merger which involved over 700 billion yuan ($108 billion) in assets has effectively increased Chinese state-owned companies’ capital and competitive strength in the global metals industry, said Minmetals.
Minmetals is the country’ largest metals and steel trader with extensive overseas mining holdings, this including the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru.
MCC, traditionally a steel plant maker, derives its earnings mainly from engineering and construction, and to a lesser extent, metal resources, which includes the Ramu nickel mine in Papua New Guinea.