Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group has announced that Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group has invested US$1.15 billion in the FMG Iron Bridge Joint Venture, established to develop the FMG Iron Bridge Project, which is 88 percent owned by Fortescue and 12 percent owned by China's Baosteel.
Accordingly, Formosa will acquire a 31 percent stake in the joint venture for a consideration of US$123 million. The transaction is subject to Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and Taiwan Investment Commission approval, which is expected in September 2013.
Formosa is currently investing in the construction of a 22 million mt per year integrated steel mill at Ha Tinh in Vietnam. The greenfield Ha Tinh project is the largest of its kind in the steelmaking industry globally and the first of the company's six planned blast furnaces. It is expected to commence production in 2015. Formosa will purchase up to three million mt of iron ore from the project at market prices each year to supply Formosa Ha Tinh Steel mill when commissioned.