By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter
POSCO has acquired the rights to a nickel mine in New Caledonia for 30 years, which the Korean steel maker expects to help it tide over price fluctuations on international markets, a POSCO spokesman said Monday.
``The price of the nickel to be imported by us can't be revealed,'' Lee Sang-chun, POSCO's public relations officer, told The Korea Times in a telephone interview. ``But the cost for one ton of nickel to be smelted after excavation is below $10,000.'' POSCO needs about 60,000 tons of nickel, and the New Caledonian mine will provide about half of its annual needs.
Presently, other nickel mines spend between $13,000 and $17,000 for the production of one ton of nickel, while international prices fluctuate between $23,000 and $52,000 per ton. Nickel is a key metal needed for stainless steel. POSCO is one of the top three stainless steel makers.
POSCO said the deal has formed two joint ventures _ a joint mining firm, and a smelting operation _ with POSCO owning a 49 percent stake in each. New Caledonia, consisting of islands in the Southwest Pacific, is a French protectorate and will decide on whether to become independent from France in 2014.
POSCO officials said that its effort to form a partnership with New Caledonia faced opposition from residents, who were worried about pollution from foreign companies exploiting their resources, but the deal was signed after two years of negotiations.
The deal comes at a time when Korea is launching direct flights between Incheon International Airport and New Caledonia's capital, Noumea.
Lee said his company was investing a total of $350 million in the project, with the smeltering facility becoming operational in September.
The New Caledonian head of state was scheduled to visit Korea to celebrate the deal with POSCO, but canceled the trip at the last minute. ``We don't expect the leader to visit Seoul anytime soon,'' Lee said.