标题: Japan and South Korea link up to ensure supplies of rare metal [打印本页] 作者: 飞雪寒冰 时间: 2011-3-4 13:06 标题: Japan and South Korea link up to ensure supplies of rare metal Japan and South Korea have joined forces to secure supplies of a rare metal crucial to high-grade steel production, investing $1.8bn in a Brazilian mining group that is the largest producer of niobium.
为了保障对高级钢材生产至关重要的稀有金属铌的供应，日本与韩国已联手对巴西最大的铌生产商投资18亿美元。
Competition for niobium, which is used to increase the hardness of steel alloys, increased last year when East China Mineral Exploration and Development Bureau, a Chinese state-owned miner, struck a deal to buy a controlling stake in Globe Metals & Mining, an Australia-listed group with niobium assets in Africa.
铌主要用于提高钢合金的硬度。去年，中国国有的有色金属华东地质勘查局达成协议，将收购在非洲拥有铌矿资产的澳大利亚上市集团Globe Metals & Mining的控股权。此后，全球市场对铌的争夺变得更加激烈。作者: 飞雪寒冰 时间: 2011-3-4 13:07
China’s booming steel industry has made it the world’s top importer of niobium, leaving Japanese and Korean steelmakers wary of supply shortages that could disrupt production of the profitable high-end products in which they increasingly specialise, such as seamless pipes used in nuclear power plants and oil rigs.
随着钢铁行业的蓬勃发展，中国已成为世界最大的铌进口国，令日本和韩国的钢铁制造商开始提防供应短缺，以免中断高利润的高端钢产品的生产。使用铌的高端钢产品，例如核电厂和石油钻井平台使用的无缝钢管，正日益成为日韩钢铁企业的专攻领域。
The steelmakers are investing in Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracão, which has a mine in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais that is the source of an estimated 60-70 per cent of global niobium supplies.
日韩钢铁商正在投资的Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracão（简称CBMM）在巴西东南的米纳斯吉拉斯州拥有一座矿山，据估计将提供全球60%到70%的铌资源。作者: 飞雪寒冰 时间: 2011-3-4 13:07
The price of niobium has nearly doubled over the past decade to about $23,000 a tonne last year – a boon for CBMM and for Unocal, the US oil group that owns a large minority stake in the group, but a problem for steelmakers.
过去十年，铌价格几乎翻了一番，去年达到约每吨2.3万美元——对CBMM和持有其大规模少数股权的美国石油集团优尼科(Unocal)可谓好处多多，但对于钢铁制造商则是一个问题。
According to South Korea’s National Pension Service, one of the groups that is to invest in the company, a consortium of Japanese and South Korean steelmakers and government- affiliated bodies has agreed to acquire a 15 per cent stake.
据投资CBMM的集团之一——韩国国家养老基金(South Korea's National Pension Service)表示，一个由日韩钢铁制造商及政府附属机构组成的财团已同意收购CBMM 15%的股份。
Japanese steelmakers also confirmed privately that a deal had been reached, though no formal announcement has been made.
日本钢铁制造商私下也证实了已经达成了协议，只是尚未发布正式声明。