Japan and South Korea link up to ensure supplies of rare metal

飞雪寒冰

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。

飞雪寒冰

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。

飞雪寒冰

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。