China's miners to step up overseas push

Chinese mining companies will be on the prowl this year to acquire more firms or forge joint ventures in regions ranging from Africa to Latin America to Southeast Asia as they try to feed the country's voracious appetite for the iron ore and precious and industrial metals vital for an economy that has slowed but is still expanding at a healthy clip.

Industry data shows China accounted for nearly 14 per cent of all mining merger and acquisition activity by value last year, but the number of transactions slid to 21 from 34 and their value declined to US$5 billion from US$6 billion in 2012, according to a research report by PwC.

Last year was one of the worst years for global mining mergers and acquisitions in nearly a decade, with the deal value at its lowest since 2004, the PwC report said.

The sour mood in the sector was exacerbated by soft metal prices that in turn reduced profits at mining companies, it said.

This caused those firms to focus on reducing debt and controlling costs instead of acquiring mines, PwC said.

China's share of global mining deals might be bigger this year, said Ken Su, the China mining and metals leader at PwC.