MARKETS

International scramble for Macarthur

SOUTH Korean steelmaker Posco jumped into the Macarthur Coal fray yesterday securing a 10% stake ...

Vivienne Ryan
International scramble for Macarthur

Posco, one of the world’s biggest steel companies, joined the international collection of steel companies on Macarthur’s share registry spending $A420 million for shares at a market premium of $A20 a share.

The move comes at a time of soaring coal prices and a tightening coal supply as Macarthur's pulverised coal injection (PCI) production becomes increasingly desirable to international steelmakers. China’s Citic Group already has an 18% holding in Macarthur.

ArcelorMittal on Sunday upped its stake to 19.5% when it bought 5% from Talbot Group Holdings at $A20 a share and brought its total investment in Macarthur to $A843 million.

The purchase is still subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval.

ArcelorMittal’s move followed talks last week which were speculated to end in a proposal for Macarthur, but ended with no deal being offered.

Last week Talbot resigned from the Macarthur board to give himself "greater flexibility to fully deal" with his remaining 19.76% stake in Macarthur, which with ArcelorMittal's and Posco’s latest purchases has been slashed.

Macarthur shares ended their booming financial year closing at A$16.87 yesterday after reaching a high of A$19.60.

In the past year Macarthur traded at a low of A$5.15 and hit a high of A$21.21.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production