Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Posco, Asias most profitable steelmaker,...

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Posco, Asias most profitable steelmaker, will aggressively pursue investments in mines as the costs of iron ore and coal escalate with the economic recovery.

The company will pursue investments in overseas mines more aggressively to secure raw materials, Chief Executive Officer Chung Joon Yang said at a shareholder meeting in Seoul. Posco may buy a stake in a coal mine in Mozambique, it said in documents prepared for the meeting, without details on costs.

Steelmakers globally are facing soaring costs, with analysts forecasting that suppliers of coal and iron ore may ask for as much as an 86 percent jump in prices this year. The global steel market has bottomed and will grow by 9.2 percent in 2010 as demand rebounds in the U.S., Europe and Japan, the World Steel Association said last October.

To meet rising iron ore needs, Posco said it will buy as much as a 15 percent stake in the Roy Hill project in Australia. Last year, Posco bought a 16.7 percent stake in Jupiter Mines Ltd., it said today. The Korean steelmaker purchased a 10 percent stake in Macarthur Coal Ltd., the biggest exporter of pulverized coal, in 2008.

Posco is planning a record 9.3 trillion won ($8 billion) in capital spending for 2010, up from 4.9 trillion won in 2009.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the worlds largest exporter of coking coal, may raise prices to $240 a metric ton this year, up from $129 a ton a year ago, UBS AG said Feb. 18. Prices of iron ore may rise 40 percent this year, Moodys Investors Services analyst Matthias Hellstern wrote in a Feb. 22 report.

Posco is planning $30 billion of overseas expansion in India, Indonesia and Vietnam to regain its spot as Asias largest steelmaker.



Hummm....fits exactly into the MO of RIV. DYOR!!!

Cheers, Skip