BHP Billiton Ltd is considering partnering with Chinese miners to seek and invest in mineral ore mines overseas to meet increasing demand for raw materials.
The world's biggest mining company can work with current "strategic partners" such as Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holdings Co (
China's economy expanded more than 11 percent for a fourth straight quarter in the three months ended Dec. 31, supporting global economic growth and demand for iron ore, copper and aluminum. BHP Billiton is boosting production of commodities to meet rising demand from nations such as China.
"Considering the capital funding and investment abilities of the Chinese companies, we're looking at the small-and medium-sized mineral ore mines," Shanghai-based Yue said. "We're talking to the Chinese companies and haven't had any targets in mind or a time frame."
The supply of mineral ores from BHP Billiton and Chinese mining companies are not enough to meet rising demand for raw materials in the world's most populous nation, Yue said. Chinese mining companies are showing "keen interest" to acquire assets and BHP Billiton has the expertise in exploring and excavating mineral ore mines, he said.
"For Chinese mining companies, there is keen interest in acquiring assets overseas and we're also looking for such assets," Yue said. "If we find suitable assets, we can cooperate and develop these projects."
BHP Billiton and rival Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, are demanding an iron ore price increase for annual contracts starting tomorrow that would exceed the 71 percent gain won by Brazil's Cia. Vale do Rio Doce.
"The annual price negotiations are always difficult," Yue said. "We have a standard global pricing level for the minerals and the pricing varies only in transportation costs."
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary