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- Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Corporate Communications Division
Telephone: +81-80-5912-0321
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Main Contents
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga) has entered into respective agreements with JX Nippon Mining & Metals ("JX") to acquire JX's 3.60% equity share in the Collahuasi Copper Mine ("Collahuasi"), and with JX and Marubeni Corporation ("Marubeni") to sell Mitsui's entire 1.25% equity share in the Los Pelambres Copper Mine ("Los Pelambres") to JX and Marubeni in the proportion of 0.79% and 0.46%, respectively.
Collahuasi is a world-class copper mine, which boasts abundant reserves and resources. Mitsui has owned concessions in this mine for over 20 years since 1996 as the lead company in a Japanese consortium. With its high-grade, cost-competitiveness, the mine is an excellent asset with the potential for further enhancement of its business value through future production expansions. This additional acquisition will increase Mitsui's equity share from 7.43% to 11.03%.
In conjunction with the above-mentioned additional acquisition of equity in Collahuasi, Mitsui will divest its entire 1.25% equity share in the Los Pelambres acquired in 1997, as part of its strategic asset recycling.
Copper is a key metal for industrial use. World demand is expected to increase steadily over the medium- to long-term future, in line with infrastructure investment in emerging countries. As a result of above-mentioned transactions, Mitsui's equity copper production volume is expected to increase by about 15,000 tons per year on top of approximately 125,000 tons in the year ended March 2017. Mitsui will continuously optimize its portfolio by replenishing and accumulating high-quality assets from a medium- to long-term perspective.
Mitsui has identified the Mineral & Metal Resources and Energy segments as one of the core pillars in its Medium-term Management Plan, and strives to build a robust profit base and to reinforce its existing business. Mineral & metal resources are core materials for industry and will remain an important business area over the medium- to long-term future. While contributing to "nation development" of resource-producing countries, Mitsui will also contribute to drive the development of the world economy by ensuring stable supplies of competitive resources.
Profile of Collahuasi
| Shareholders | Anglo American: 44% Glencore: 44% Japan Collahuasi Resources (JCR): 12%* * Mitsui's shareholding in JCR will increase from 61.9% to 91.9% as a result of this transaction |
|---|---|
| Location | About 200 km southeast of Iquique in northern Chile |
| Production | 524,000 tons (result for 2017, copper content) |
| Reserves/ resources | Reserves: 28 million tons; Resources: 78 million tons (as of the end of 2016, copper content) |
Profile of Los Pelambres
| Shareholders | Antofagasta: 60% Nippon LP Resources (NLP): 25%* Mitsubishi consortium: 15% * Through this transaction, Mitsui will divest its entire 5% shareholding in NLP. |
|---|---|
| Location | About 200 km north of Santiago in Central Chile |
| Production | 344,000 tons (result for 2017, copper content) |
| Reserves/ resources | Reserves: 8 million tons; Resources: 31 million tons (as of the end of 2016, copper content) |
Changes in the Shareholdings
