Brockman Resources Limited (ASX:BRM) has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sinosteel, China's largest iron ore importer.
Sydney, April 21, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Australian shares Wednesday opened stronger with 0.6 per cent in early trade. The market rose on hope of an overall corporate earnings recovery and on higher commodities prices. The Australian dollar was also up this morning as investors' risk appetite increased. Asian stock markets mostly rebounded yesterday. China's Shanghai Composite closed flat after a massive drop in previous trading session, with property shares remained weak.
Key Economic Facts and Figures
Westpac/Melbourne Institute today released leading index of economic activity. The index climbed to 7.2 per cent in February, up from 6.9 per cent in January. The result represents its fastest growth pace in 13 years, driven by global recovery. In particular, the rising prices for Australia's iron ore and coal could deliver an increase in corporate profits. "It is signalling that growth in the Australian economy will accelerate through 2010 to well above trend by year's end," said Westpac's chief economist Bill Evans.
The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) board meeting minutes on Tuesday tipped that the central bank is likely to further raise interest rate. RBA expects the economy might return to full strength this year while commodities trade was stronger than expected.
Company News
Brockman Resources Limited (
ASX:BRM) has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sinosteel, China's largest iron ore importer, for a purchase of up to 50 per cent of future production from Brockman's flagship Marillana project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This is Brockman's first agreement in respect of off-take from the Marillana Project and it also comtemplates the parties discussing wider strategic investment options by Sinosteel in the development of the project. Sinosteel could buy a maximum of 10Mtpa of production over an initial 5-year off-take period.
Viterra Inc. (TSE:VT)(ASX:VTA) said it has entered into a joint venture with the Chinese state-owned Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group to build a canola crushing facility in the province of Guangxi. The new plant is expected to crush 2,000 metric tonnes of canola per day, or approximately 680,000 tonnes annually. Viterra will earn a 49 per cent interest in the joint venture with estimated investment of approximately US$20-25 million. Construction will begin in May and is expected to complete in around 18 months.
BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) said today it achieved record petroleum production for the nine months ended March 2010 with strong growth in its high margin crude operations, following the successful start-up of Pyrenees (Australia) and strong performances from operations in the Gulf of Mexico (USA). Year-to-date production records were also achieved for iron ore on the back of projects delivered from the company's deep inventory of ongoing expansions. BHP also said it has reached agreement with majority of its iron ore customers to permanently move existing contracts to index based prices on a landed equivalent basis.
Contact
Michelle Liang
Asia Business News Asia Bureau
Tel: +61-2-9247-4344
Email: michelle.liang@abnnewswire.net
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