Trafigura takes stake in smelter in China

Trafigura Pte Ltd., a global commodities trading firm, along with Trafigura Investment (China) Co. Ltd, has signed an agreement to acquire a 30 percent equity stake in the Jinchuan Group's newly established copper smelter in Fangchengang, China. The agreement, subject to regulatory approval, includes a multi-year supply and off-take arrangement corresponding to Trafigura's shareholding percentage for the 400,000-tons per year copper smelter, which began production late last year.

Yang Zhiqiang, Jinchuan’s group chairman, says, "The organizations have joined hands to bring into play their respective advantages. This will enhance the market competitiveness of Jinchuan in Guangxi (China) and widen the areas of cooperation between the two organizations. We expect that this new partnership will help promote local economic and social development and achieve a win-win cooperation."

"We are very happy to be given the opportunity to invest in Guangxi Jinchuan Smelter, which we believe is a first class copper asset," says Claude Dauphin, Trafigura’s chairman and CEO. "We have worked with Jinchuan Group for many years, and through this agreement we will further strengthen our relationship with them. Jinchuan Group has an excellent reputation in non-ferrous mining and smelting industries, both in and outside of China.”

Simon Collins, Trafigura's head of nonferrous and bulk, notes, "As one of the world's largest trading companies in non-ferrous metals we will bring our long-term relationships with producers, reliability and commercial experience to this partnership. We're proud to be the first international trading firm to make a major co-investment in a Chinese domestic smelting business."

Jinchuan Group is engaged in mining, concentrating, metallurgy and chemical engineering and deep processing. The company has operations that annually produce 0.2 million tons of nickel, 0.6 million tons of copper, 10,000 tons of cobalt and 2.8 million tons of chemical products.