Top copper smelter in takeover bid

Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group, China’s biggest copper smelter, agreed to pay US$66 million for a 51% stake in Inner Mongolia-based Chifeng Jin Jiang Copper Co, Bloomberg reported. Anhui-based Tongling will buy the stake from five shareholders, the firm said yesterday in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, where Tongling is listed. China is the world’s largest consumer of copper. This year has seen Chinese metals firms Chinalco, Jiangxi Copper and China Metallurgical Group look to investment in copper mines in Peru and Afghanistan to secure supplies.