The Hindu Business Line : Hong Kong co eyeing Indian mining sector

GENERAL Nice Resources (Hong Kong) Ltd, a Rs 2,500-crore trading company with interests in steel and related areas in Hong Kong, plans to expand its operations in India.

According to Mr Jaffe Lau, Executive Director, General Nice Resources, India is top on its list of priorities in expanding its operations in trading and mining operations.

With India in the process of opening out its mining sector, General Nice Resources hopes to invest in mining in India, which heads the company's list of investment destinations that include Brazil and South Africa.

Announcing the opening of a liaison office here, Mr Lau said that the company has interests in the entire gamut of steel industry including iron ore, coal and metallurgical coke. In the next few years over 40 per cent of its business operations would be associated with India. It is to facilitate this growth that the company has set up an office here.

Elaborating on the company's business plans, Mr Ravi Shankar, Executive Vice-President, said that initially the company is looking for technical collaboration here to offer its expertise to merchant cokeries to set up coke ovens. It would also consider investing in such ventures.

It will also increase its supply of coking coal to India and support coal importers tie up stock financing to fund imports through Hong Kong-based banks. In the first year it hopes to make available about Rs 350-crore of funding through this route.

According to Mr Ravi Shankar this will save importers at least 4 - 5 per cent in transaction cost on each shipment.

The company hopes to double its trading volume of its commodities to about 3.5 million tonnes this year against 1.7 million tonnes last year. In three years it hopes to touch 10 million tonnes, he said.

The company sees India and China as its major growth areas. General Nice is among the largest merchant coke manufacturers and exporters in China. It hopes to export steel to India and use this as a platform to access markets in Sri Lanka and the West Asia, he said.

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