News Room - Steel Industry

Posted on 25 Jan 2010

Singapore firms are mad about metals

Local golfing equipment firm Transview Holdings is teeing off into a new sector — the booming resources field.

 

Responding to the red-hot commodities market, Transview has placed its chips on an Australian miner.

 

“We’ve identified the resource sector to be a growth engine, because of demand from China, India and the rest of the world,” said Transview executive chairman Tan Ching Khoon.

 

Last September, the company took a 10 per cent stake in Australia-listed mineral explorer Trafford Resources for A$1.55 million (RM4.7 million).

 

The share placement agreement also included the option to buy three million more new shares at 25 Australian cents a share. Last Tuesday, Transview said it has since exercised the option. This brings Transview’s stake in Trafford to 13 per cent, making it the largest shareholder at a total cost of A$2.33 million. Based on last Friday’s closing price of A$1.025, its stake is now worth A$9.53 million.

 

Tan, who will join Trafford’s board soon, is bullish about the investment. “Dividends from the investment in Trafford could surpass profits from the golf equipment retail business,” he said. Transview posted S$1.42 million (RM3.4 million) in net profit last year.

 

His upbeat outlook on commodities is well founded. The Standard & Poors (S&P) GSCI, a benchmark of commodity performance, posted a near 14 per cent gain last year. The rally was led by industrial metals, which saw an 82 per cent gain on the S&P GSCI industrial metals index.

 

Recently, Standard Chartered chief economist Gerard Lyons dubbed China a “superman” economy: “It goes up, up and away, with a fundamental flaw — kryptonite. China’s kryptonite is resources... That’s why it’s trying to buy up resources everywhere it can,” he said.

 

Trafford’s primary focus is in iron ore, copper, gold and uranium deposits. It has an 18.4 per cent interest in Robust, a gold mining company, and a 50 per cent interest in Ironclad Mining, an iron ore miner. Both are also listed on the Australian stock exchange.

 

Although Trafford posted a loss of A$1.59 million for the financial year ended June last year, Tan is not overly concerned about this. “All mining companies make losses until they begin production (of the resource),” he said.

 

“Demand for iron ore in China is overwhelming,” he said. “Ironclad has already attracted a lot of interest from Chinese parties.”

 

In a report released last month, Merrill Lynch analysts tipped gold to break through US$1,500 an ounce within the next 18 months.

 

With the exception of Japan, they say the supply of money in all currencies is increasing faster than the supply of gold, and this will force the price of gold up against most currencies. “However, gold will lag behind most other metals, like copper, this year,” Merrill Lynch commodity strategist Francisco Blanch said at an outlook briefing last week.

 

Even the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and Temasek Holdings, taking a long-term view of investments, have a footprint, albeit larger, in the resources sector.

 

Temasek put S$437.5 million into Olam International, the listed commodities supplier, in June last year. GIC bought an undisclosed portion of the US$2.2 billion convertible bonds that commodities trader Glencore issued.

 

Some of Singapore’s smaller listed firms are not just looking at investments in the commodities area but also changing their business focus. Last month, electronics manufacturer Esmart Holdings announced a S$307 million reverse takeover deal with Auzminerals Resource Group to acquire Solar Silicon Resource Group, a mining and mineral resources development company.

 

Another example is former logistics company RichLand which has transformed itself into Ramba Energy, an exploration and production player.

 

Chris Lim, chief executive of the mining operations of Malaysian gold-miner CNMC Goldmine which has plans to go public, said: “The growth of commodities is assured — it’s a scarce resource.”

 

However, not all attempts have succeeded. Last October, electronics components manufacturer Lion Asiapac, via a joint venture, attempted a A$78.6 million takeover bid for Australian-listed miner Polaris Metals. The deal fell through.

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An industry insider sounded a word of caution to other companies which want to try their hand at the resources game. “Particularly in Australia, there are environmental licences and levies... The cost of production can skyrocket.”

 

Last week, it was reported that Australian mining companies’ tax bills may soar with the proposed introduction of a so-called “rent” tax.