Thursday, July 9, 2009

Shougang Iron Ore Head Arrested

China's 21st Century Business Herald reported today that Shougang Corp.’s head of iron ore operations, Tan Yixin, was detained on July 7 for alleged business crimes as part of a crackdown on trading of the raw material in China, without citing anyone. Zhang Wenzhe, a Beijing-based Shougang spokesman, declined to confirm whether Tan was detained.

It isn’t known whether Tan’s detention is related to the recent detention of four employees of Rio Tinto, the 21st Century report said. Hu’s job is to sign long-term supply contracts with Chinese major steelmakers for Rio, it said. Hu visited Shougang in April and had communications with Shougang executives including Tan, 21st Century reported.

The 21st Century newspaper named the three other detained Rio Tinto officials as Stern Hu, an Australian national and head of Rio’s iron ore operations in China, Liu Caikui, a manager, and employees Wang Yong and Ge Minqiang, cited unidentified officials.

Source: Bloomberg

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