South Korean POSCO and Japanese Mitsui in new JV

South Korean POSCO and Japanese Mitsui in new JV

Japanese trading company Mitsui and South Korean giant steelmaker POSCO are in preparations of establishing a new raw materials joint venture that will be owned 51% by POSCO and 49% by Mitsui. The joint venture will serve the purpose of a short-haul transport of steelmaking raw materials to Japan, China and other nations in the region, using POSCO's Gwangyang works as a terminal. The joint venture is planned to become operative in January and is expected to handle 2.3million tons of iron ore, coal, ferro alloys and pig iron in 2003 and than to rise and reach 4 million tons in 2007. According to POSCO, with Gwangyang becoming a Free Trade Zone, the company's spare storage yards will become very favourable for East Asian bulk materials. The company will operate on the basis of discharging bulk carrier cargoes from Australia, South Africa and Brazil and then reloading onto coastaltramps for shipment of smaller amounts to customers nearby. Mitsui and POSCO are already partners of Goldsworth iron ore mine in Australia.