POSCO secures Australian iron ore
South Korean steel giant POSCO announced today that it agreed to a 10-year
iron ore contract with Australian mining company
Rio Tinto.
In line with the deal, POSCO will buy 128 million tons of
iron ore from
Rio Tinto's Hamersley Iron, in which
Rio Tinto owns a 100 per cent stake, and Robe River Iron Associates, in which
Rio Tinto owns a 53 per cent stake.
The new contract, which is an extension of the existing
iron ore contract with the Australian
iron ore giant, will provide POSCO with a stable source of
iron ore for its
steelmaking operations over the next decade.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in November 2004, POSCO signed a contract with
Brazil's Companhia
Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) to purchase 103 million tons of
iron ore for 10 years. Also, in December 2004, POSCO signed a memorandum of understanding with
Australia's
BHP Billiton to extend the contract to purchase 125 million tons of
iron ore for an additional 10 years.