Brazil-based Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) has reached an agreement with partners at Namisa to merge its iron ore assets into a separate company, according to media reports.
CSN did not disclose details about the decision, but the company has a 60 percent stake in Namisa, while the remaining 40 percent belongs to a consortium of Japanese-based companies, which include Itochu, JFE Steel, Kobe Steel and Nisshin Steel. Other partners include China Steel Corp of Taiwan and Posco, from South Korea.
The report said partners at Namisa have been negotiating the consolidation of the company’s assets since last year, and have been trying to solve their differences and avoid the dissolution of the partnership. The deal is still subject to the approval of local authorities.
CSN has a 21 million ton per year production capacity at its Casa de Pedra iron ore mine in Brazil's south-eastern Minas Gerais state.
Namisa owns two iron ore mines in Minas Geirais: the Engenho and Fernandinho mines. Together, both mines produced 4.6 million mt of iron ore in 2012, down from 6.4 million tons in 2011. Namisa and Casa de Pedra sold a combined 25.7 million tons of iron ore in 2013, according to reports.