Reuters | October 23, 2023
Elkview is one of Teck’s four steelmaking coal operations located in British Columbia, Canada. (Image by Teck Resources).
India’s JSW Steel Ltd’s discussions with Canada’s Teck Resources over buying a possible stake in its coking coal unit have yielded “nothing concrete”, JSW Steel chief executive Jayant Acharya told Reuters on Monday.
Last month, Reuters reported that JSW Steel, India’s largest steelmaker by capacity, had slowed down the process to buy a stake in Teck Resources because of a diplomatic spat between New Delhi and Canada.
“There is nothing concrete on Teck. We are in discussion with strategic possibilities among which Teck is one,” Acharya said in an interview.
Teck did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comments.
Ties between India and Canada deteriorated after New Delhi and Ottawa expelled each other’s diplomats following the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in the Canadian province of British Columbia in June.
Acharya said the diplomatic row should not impact business decisions, adding “let us see how those situations evolve”.
Acharya said the company was exploring overseas coal assets in different countries, including Australia, without elaborating.
He further said an increase in prices of coking coal, used in steelmaking, in the last one and a half months would affect costs during October-December unless they moderated.
The steelmaker reported a second-quarter profit last week, helped by robust domestic demand and lower input costs.
It imports coking coal from Australia, Canada, the US and some grades from Russia, he said.
Acharya said the company would continue to focus on sales in the local market because of strong demand.
“We are not pursuing exports since domestic demand is very strong,” he said, adding that exports were likely to be in the range of 10-15% of overall sales.
The company’s presence in the Middle East was also “very minimal”, he said, sheltering the company from any impact from the conflict in the region.
(By Neha Arora and Divya Rajagopal; Editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Barbara Lewis)
Japan’s JFE Steel eyes stake in Teck’s coal business – sources
Reuters | October 20, 2023 |
Teck’s Coal Mountain operations are located about 30km southeast of Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. (Image courtesy of Teck Resources)
Japan’s JFE Steel Corp is in talks to buy a stake in the metallurgical coal business of Canada’s Teck Resources, two people aware of the development told Reuters, adding to the list of suitors that also includes miner Glencore.
Major steelmakers are seeking to diversify their supplies of coking coal due to sanctions on Russia, one of the leading producers.
The previously unreported talks between JFE and Teck have been ongoing since September, another source said. The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorized to speak publicly.
“We will continue to consider the acquisition of interests in coking coal, but we cannot answer individual questions,” a spokesperson for Tokyo-based JFE Steel said in an email. JFE is one of Japan’s largest steelmakers.
Teck said it does not comment on speculation and referred to its earlier statement that the company is engaging with various counterparties regarding the steelmaking coal business.
The talks are early and may not result in a deal, one of the sources added. It was unclear what stake JFE was seeking or what price it was offering.
There are only handful of steelmaking coal producers in the world, with the biggest in Australia, Canada and Russia.
Japan’s Nippon Steel has previously said it was looking to buy a 10% stake in Teck’s coal business for C$1.15 billion, valuing the overall business at about C$11.5 billion, with an option of increasing its stake to 17.5%.
Teck has been considering splitting its coal and copper businesses since March, but shareholders voted down its original proposal. In April, Teck rebuffed a $22.5 billion unsolicited takeover offer for the entire company from Swiss mining and trading firm Glencore.
Glencore has said it will consider buying the coal business for about $8.5 billion.
Teck shares were trading down 0.6%, while the benchmark Toronto share index was down 0.1%.
JFE Steel holds 15% equity in India’s JSW Steel, which was also exploring an investment in Teck’s coal business. But Reuters reported in September the process had slowed down due to India-Canada diplomatic tensions.
Earlier this month, Teck CEO Jonathan Price said the company had received multiple suggestions from investors on how to separate its coal and metals businesses and he was hoping to make a decision on the split by the end of this year.
Price said the company had two options — a 100% sale of the coal business for cash or a partial sale of the coal business, with proceeds going to growing the copper business.
(By Divya Rajagopal and Neha Arora; Editing by Denny Thomas, Nick Zieminski and Rod Nickel)
Reuters | October 20, 2023 |
Teck’s Coal Mountain operations are located about 30km southeast of Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. (Image courtesy of Teck Resources)
Japan’s JFE Steel Corp is in talks to buy a stake in the metallurgical coal business of Canada’s Teck Resources, two people aware of the development told Reuters, adding to the list of suitors that also includes miner Glencore.
Major steelmakers are seeking to diversify their supplies of coking coal due to sanctions on Russia, one of the leading producers.
The previously unreported talks between JFE and Teck have been ongoing since September, another source said. The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorized to speak publicly.
“We will continue to consider the acquisition of interests in coking coal, but we cannot answer individual questions,” a spokesperson for Tokyo-based JFE Steel said in an email. JFE is one of Japan’s largest steelmakers.
Teck said it does not comment on speculation and referred to its earlier statement that the company is engaging with various counterparties regarding the steelmaking coal business.
The talks are early and may not result in a deal, one of the sources added. It was unclear what stake JFE was seeking or what price it was offering.
There are only handful of steelmaking coal producers in the world, with the biggest in Australia, Canada and Russia.
Japan’s Nippon Steel has previously said it was looking to buy a 10% stake in Teck’s coal business for C$1.15 billion, valuing the overall business at about C$11.5 billion, with an option of increasing its stake to 17.5%.
Teck has been considering splitting its coal and copper businesses since March, but shareholders voted down its original proposal. In April, Teck rebuffed a $22.5 billion unsolicited takeover offer for the entire company from Swiss mining and trading firm Glencore.
Glencore has said it will consider buying the coal business for about $8.5 billion.
Teck shares were trading down 0.6%, while the benchmark Toronto share index was down 0.1%.
JFE Steel holds 15% equity in India’s JSW Steel, which was also exploring an investment in Teck’s coal business. But Reuters reported in September the process had slowed down due to India-Canada diplomatic tensions.
Earlier this month, Teck CEO Jonathan Price said the company had received multiple suggestions from investors on how to separate its coal and metals businesses and he was hoping to make a decision on the split by the end of this year.
Price said the company had two options — a 100% sale of the coal business for cash or a partial sale of the coal business, with proceeds going to growing the copper business.
(By Divya Rajagopal and Neha Arora; Editing by Denny Thomas, Nick Zieminski and Rod Nickel)
Teck CEO “very confident” about selling company stake to JSW despite India-Canada geopolitical row
Teck Resources CEO says the company wants a continued partnership with India given that trade in steelmaking coal will only increase in the future.
Ashima Sharma and Smruthi Nadig
Teck Resources CEO says the company wants a continued partnership with India given that trade in steelmaking coal will only increase in the future.
Ashima Sharma and Smruthi Nadig
October 5, 2023
Jonathan Price, the CEO of Teck Resources, addressing the audience at the FT Mining Summit on 5 October.
Credit: Ashima Sharma/Smruthi Nadig.
In the first signs of a diplomatic spat affecting trade between India and Canada, India’s largest steelmaker, JSW, has slowed down the process of buying a stake in Teck Resources.
Speaking at the FT Mining Summit in London on Thursday, Jonathan Price, the CEO of Teck Resources said: “We are still very confident in the process we have on foot here, and the news about geopolitical events between Canada and India is not something that is causing us to slow down.”
In August 2023, JSW Steel said it planned to pick up a 20–40% stake in Elk Valley Resources, a coal unit of Teck Resources.
Teck produces high-grade metallurgical coal required for steelmaking. India is heavily dependent on imports of steelmaking coal, with the country’s coal imports increasing by 30% to 162.46 million tonnes in the 2022–23 financial year. As JSW plans to double its steelmaking capacity by 2030 to 50 million tonnes, the deal with Teck is key to the company’s expansion.
Given the Canadian company is being acquired by a foreign entity, Canada’s industry ministry said it would require a national security review under the Investment Canada Act for the deal to go through.
Price added: “India is a significant growing customer for steelmaking coal, and they are also a significant buyer of metals. We would like to continue to maintain very long-standing trade relationships.”
As part of expanding trade and investment between Canada and India, the two countries had two-way merchandise trade – international trade in which countries import and export the same or similar goods – of $10.1bn in 2019.
However, on 1 September, Canada unexpectedly paused talks on a proposed trade treaty with India, three months after an initial agreement this year.
After attending the G20 summit held in New Delhi this September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of having a “credible link” to the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead in Canada in June.
While India has strongly rejected any such allegation, trade talks have been put on hold between the countries amid a diplomatic row.
Canada and India have been talking about an economic partnership agreement since 2010. On 15 September, Canada postponed its trade mission to India planned for October. On social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted, “We discussed the full range of India-Canada ties across different sectors.”
Earlier in June, Glencore, one of the world’s largest coal producers, had proposed to buy the whole of Teck’s steelmaking coal business for $8bn.
In the first signs of a diplomatic spat affecting trade between India and Canada, India’s largest steelmaker, JSW, has slowed down the process of buying a stake in Teck Resources.
Speaking at the FT Mining Summit in London on Thursday, Jonathan Price, the CEO of Teck Resources said: “We are still very confident in the process we have on foot here, and the news about geopolitical events between Canada and India is not something that is causing us to slow down.”
In August 2023, JSW Steel said it planned to pick up a 20–40% stake in Elk Valley Resources, a coal unit of Teck Resources.
Teck produces high-grade metallurgical coal required for steelmaking. India is heavily dependent on imports of steelmaking coal, with the country’s coal imports increasing by 30% to 162.46 million tonnes in the 2022–23 financial year. As JSW plans to double its steelmaking capacity by 2030 to 50 million tonnes, the deal with Teck is key to the company’s expansion.
Given the Canadian company is being acquired by a foreign entity, Canada’s industry ministry said it would require a national security review under the Investment Canada Act for the deal to go through.
Price added: “India is a significant growing customer for steelmaking coal, and they are also a significant buyer of metals. We would like to continue to maintain very long-standing trade relationships.”
As part of expanding trade and investment between Canada and India, the two countries had two-way merchandise trade – international trade in which countries import and export the same or similar goods – of $10.1bn in 2019.
However, on 1 September, Canada unexpectedly paused talks on a proposed trade treaty with India, three months after an initial agreement this year.
After attending the G20 summit held in New Delhi this September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of having a “credible link” to the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead in Canada in June.
While India has strongly rejected any such allegation, trade talks have been put on hold between the countries amid a diplomatic row.
Canada and India have been talking about an economic partnership agreement since 2010. On 15 September, Canada postponed its trade mission to India planned for October. On social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted, “We discussed the full range of India-Canada ties across different sectors.”
Earlier in June, Glencore, one of the world’s largest coal producers, had proposed to buy the whole of Teck’s steelmaking coal business for $8bn.
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