Iron ore price drops as Chinese steel begins to pile up

Australia's government urged companies on Monday to tighten vigilance over cyber attacks launched offshore against some of the world's biggest resource firms and other businesses, warning high-tech threats were intensifying. Lockheed Martin Corp , the U.S. government's top information technology provider, raised concern about cyber hacking at the weekend, complaining of a pattern of frequent attacks on it from around the world.

A Conference Board of Canada report says high energy and metals prices "are prompting resource companies to invest billions in iron ore projects, nickel processing and offshore oil developments" in Newfoundland and Labrador, generating the largest growth in real GDP this year of all the Canadian provinces." The board's Provincial Outlook - Spring 2011 report issued Wednesday also forecasts that Saskatchewan "will benefit from tax breaks and a hot mining industry."

Australia's Fortescue Metals said on Thursday that due to weak credit market conditions it had dropped plans to proceed with a previously announced $1 billion unsecured term loan facility. The loan was launched in the United States on Monday by JP Morgan , according to Loan Pricing Corp, a Reuters news service. It was syndicated in the range of 375-400 basis point over London Interbank Offered Rates (Libor), it said.

The boom in resource industry wealth flowing from iron ore and coal exports to China and India has created a record number of billionaires in Australia, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The latest to top the billionaires club Down Under is iron ore queen Gina Reinhart, who has become the richest person ever in Australia, worth an estimated $10.3 billion. Reinhart is the first woman to to top BRW's Rich 200 list. The list shows Australia now has 35 billionaires, five more than last year, and a cut-off point of $215 million, which is $30 million higher than last year's cut-off of $185 million.

Hot on the heels of a lacklustre listing by Swiss commodities and mining behemoth Glencore, news comes of another multi-billion dollar natural resources IPO going awry. Resourcehouse planned to raise $3.6bn on the Hong Kong market on Thursday but has now postponed the listing to at least the end of the month. The Australian iron ore and coal miner has made three previous attempts to go public in 2009 and 2010.

With stronger balance sheets, improved credit availability and stabilizing metal prices, PwC Tuesday forecast the recovery in global metals M&A is expected to continue for the balance of this year. Iron ore targets were the primary driver of global metals M&A activity during the first quarter of 2011, contributing almost 40% of the deals worth a total of $5.1 billion, a significant increase over full-year 2010 when iron ore represented only 20% of total deals.

China's Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd expects to receive regulatory approval for its coastal Zhanjiang project this year, Chairman He Wenbo said on Tuesday, despite government resolve to extend a fight against overcapacity. "We will try to obtain approval this year, and are starting to build a raw materials dock," He, also president of parent Baosteel Group, told reporters on the sidelines of a company event.

South African coal miner Exxaro Resources has agreed to pay AUD$123 million for Territory Resources with the goal of producing 10 million metric tonnes of iron ore a year, Bloomberg reported Monday: Exxaro offered A$0.46 a share for the iron-ore miner based in Perth, Western Australia, the companies said in a statement today. The bid, at a 64 percent premium to the closing price on May 20, was recommended by Territory’s board, they said.

The investment will allow ArcelorMittal Mines Canada to increase its annual production of iron ore concentrate from 14 million tons to 24 million tons by 2013. AMMC is also evaluating increasing its production of iron ore pellets from 9.2 million tons to 18.5 million tons. The scheme represents a total investment of CAN$2.1 billion dollars that will create 8,000 jobs during construction and more than 900 permanent jobs once completed. Commenting, Peter Kukielski, Member of the Group Management Board and Head of Mining for ArcelorMittal, said “ArcelorMittal Mines Canada is a flagship mining asset for the Group, which offers considerable opportunity for expansion. We have already announced our intention to grow our iron ore production to 100 million tons by 2015 and this expansion forms an important part of that.”