The Australian newspaper won’t let go of its story that China is plotting a takeover of Australia.
We jest not, although the proxies here are China’s resource-hungry steel mills and Australia’s resource rich mining beacon, BHP Billiton.
From the Australian on Thursday (published Wednesday afternoon, BST):
BEIJING is poised to take greater control of China’s push to secure Australian iron ore assets, amid speculation that Chinese entities are considering a $22 billion-plus share raid on BHP.
A week after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned that Australia would play hardball on iron ore price negotiations and there would be no favours on pricing, China’s top planning agency yesterday said its state-owned enterprises needed greater “macro-guidance” to reduce risks and competition, given the spiralling value of iron ore assets.
The National Development and Reform Commission flagged that it wanted a greater say in how state-owned Chinese companies would invest in Australian iron ore miners.
“With iron ore prices rising explosively, many domestic firms are very enthusiastic about investing in overseas mines, which needs strengthened macro guidance from the country,” the NDRC said. “Globally, iron ore mines that are of high quality and easy to exploit are basically in the hands of major multinational companies,” it said.
“Our firms need to pay a high cost to mine iron ore resources abroad. Their exploitation risks and costs are increasing.”
Related links:
Stoush! Stoush! - FT Alphaville
The guessing game surrounding China’s BHP/Rio strategy - FT Alphaville
Reports of Chinese merger meddling down under - FT Alphaville
