Credit Suisse Bank will arrange $200 million in loans for the state-owned Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin), the Dau tu newspaper reported April 2. Seven international financial institutions have signed agreements to provide the loans which have a maturity of five years to Vinacomin. The Vietnam’s top miner plans to use the capital to invest in its bauxite and coal exploitation and processing projects. Recently, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation signed an agreement to lend $150 million to Vinacomin to ensure anthracite coal supply of between one and two million tons for Japanese partners per year. Vinacomin targets to produce between 46 million and 48 million tons of coal this year. The group plans to sell 43 million tons of coal in 2010, including 18 million tons for exports. Last year, the group produced 43.5 million tons of coal, including 23.8 million tons of coal for exports and 19.7 million ton for domestic sales.
