China, India, Russia, Indonesia and other states of the CIS, dominate Asian mining.
These three countries are also major global producers of commodities such as
gold, diamonds, base metals, coal, tungsten, tin and PGE’s. Problems of
introducing foreign investment into these countries has led to infrastructure
seriously needing upgrading and lowered production. Even though these countries
have great minerals potential, government bureaucracy is to blame for several
foreign companies having to constantly review their investments. Several Asian
countries are nearing ore reserves depletion in many of their mines. There is
no evidence of real exploration being carried out to extend strategic metal ore
reserves.
Indonesia has been in the spotlight with its East Timor crisis, and the
decision whether or not Indonesia can remain as a unified country remains
unclear for the short term. This may impact foreign investment decisions.
Indonesia has had its fair share of scandal, one of them being the Bre-X
debacle. Indonesia is a major producer of coal, gold, copper and tin.
Accurate information on commodities produced in some countries is difficult
to obtain, in particular Russia and China. Although Russia, China and India are
major producers of most commodities, most of their production is consumed
domestically or purchased by central government banks as stockpiles. Although
Russia has a growing export mineral trade, it is still reliant on several
imports, especially since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Russia’s
largest export mineral product is natural gas, followed by crude oil and
petroleum products. The Chinese government is trying to convert its medium to
large state owned enterprises into corporate, so that these companies can
become more globally competitive. As a result several joint ventures with
foreign investors has been signed.
