takeovers left right and centre

will be the agenda if this is as big as it sounds,read this report and have a look at who is trying to get in,good luck guys.
THE jostling for the right to develop a massive coalfield in Mongolia is getting rowdier by the day, but industry sources expect the winner to be known by the end of the month.

"The Tavan Tolgoi bidding process is in the intensive negotiation phase," said a person based in Mongolia familiar with the discussions.

Luiz Sarcinelli Garcia, a Brazil-based international coal consultant and director of Sage Consultoria Tecnica, said a result was possible by the end of next week.

"The process has already been dragging on for a year," he said.

Six groups have been short-listed for the rights to operate Tavan Tolgoi's western block, according to recent information from the Mongolian government. There is a Japanese-Korean-Russian consortium and a Sino-Japanese group, while other bidders include the US's Peabody Energy (BTU), Brazil's Vale, Xstrata and ArcelorMittal.

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The mine could produce as much as 10 million tonnes a year of metallurgical coal for global steelmakers, Mr Sarcinelli said.

Steelmakers are anxious to lock up metallurgical, or coking, coal supplies from new developments in Mongolia and Mozambique to slow rising costs, according to London-based researcher CRU Group.

Coking coal prices rose by 32 per cent in the second quarter, to a record high of around $US330 ($313) a tonne, after disruptions due to the Australian floods.

"With iron and steel production increasing, demand for raw materials has soared, placing further strain on the markets for metallurgical coal," CRU said in a report. "As demand for imports from China and India increases due to their strengthening steel industries, and western markets also continue their recoveries, questions are arising concerning supply, particularly where will it come from and at what price?

Two of the world's three biggest miners, Vale and Rio Tinto, are developing major new coalmine projects in Mozambique.

Mongolia is considered one of the "last frontiers" for development of large-scale metallurgical coal production.

This explains the Mongolian government's decision to retain basic ownership rights over the 5 billion-tonne Tavan Tolgoi reserves, in the Gobi Desert, while at the same time capitalising on the interest of global miners.

The private companies will develop the western block, at an estimated cost of about $US7.3 billion, while the government's Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi Ltd will develop the eastern block.

The Mongolian government is planning an initial public offering of shares in Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi in Hong Kong or London, which could raise as much as $10bn to develop the field.

According to Mr Sarcinelli, the mine's location on the border with China, its natural market, makes the project attractive.

China needed more coal to feed its massive expansion in steelmaking and could well become the world's biggest coal importer once the project was operating, displacing Japan, he said.

Vale marketing, sales and strategies director Jose Carlos Martins said in an interview with local newswire Estado last week that China was likely to produce as much as 700 million tonnes of steel in 2011, of which 650 million would be sold to the domestic market and 50 million tonnes would be exported.

Vale is reported to be interested in Tavan Tolgoi as it wants to become a global coal producer by 2015, with production of 42 million tonnes, up from about 11.6 million tonnes in 2011.