IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Albanese wants more

Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, is worth "much, much more" than the $165 billion BHP Billiton Ltd offered because metals may rise for another decade, Chief Executive Officer Tom Albanese said.

Labor shortages, rising costs and declining ore quality are limiting metals supplies as economic growth fuels demand from China and India, Albanese said in a New York interview. Rio Tinto jumped 59 percent on the London Stock Exchange in the past year as copper, gold and iron ore rose to records and BHP made its bid.

Investment sought

Indonesia's PT Krakatau Steel, in talks with AccelorMittal and Tata Steel Ltd, is seeking $3 billion from a partnership to build a second plant to meet rising demand in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Krakatau, owned by the Indonesian government, plans to form a joint venture to build a 2.5 million metric ton-capacity plant next to its existing facility, Muhammad Lutfi, head of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, said.

Parmalat rises

Parmalat SpA, the Italian dairy company that collapsed in 2003, rose the most since returning to the stock market after reaching legal settlements with Credit Suisse Group and UBS AG totaling more than 357 million euros.

Parmalat gained as much as 12 percent, the most since its shares began trading again in October 2005, in Milan. The Collecchio, Italy-based company unveiled the settlements after Italian stock trading ended on June 13.

Cheap iPhone

Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe's largest phone company, said it will sell the new version of Apple Inc's iPhone for as little as 1 euro to customers signing up for a two-year phone contract.

The Bonn-based company's T-Mobile wireless unit wants to boost the mobile use of the Internet with the new iPhone 3G, Philipp Humm, head of T-Mobile's German operations, said.

Danisco faces bid

Nordzucker AG may bid as much as 1 billion euros to buy Danisco A/S's sugar unit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, citing Chief Executive Officer Hans-Gerd Birlenberg.

A price between 700 million euros and 1 billion euros for the division is "realistic", Birlenberg said, according to the report in FAZ's Saturday edition.

Going green

Mercedes-Benz will team up with EcoCity Vehicles Plc to market a low-emission London cab to compete with Manganese Bronze Holdings Plc's model.

The six-seat taxi will be based on the Mercedes Vito Traveliner, London-based EcoCity, formerly KPM UK, said today in a statement. The vehicle will debut on June 26 and go on sale "shortly" afterward, the company said.

Dam plans

Mali plans to spend $100 million building a dam in the northern region of Taoussa to generate electricity and irrigate farmland, the country's economy minister said.

The project will be funded by the Islamic Development Bank, which finances development in Muslim countries and communities, Ahmadou Abdoulaye Diallo, Mali's minister for economy, industry and commerce, said.

Carrier climbs

Korean Air Lines Co, South Korea's largest carrier, climbed the most in more than two weeks in Seoul trading after the government doubled the maximum fuel surcharge that airlines can impose on overseas flights.

The carrier rose as much as 4.8 percent to 52,300 won and traded at 51,900 won at 12:03 pm. Asiana Airlines Inc, the country's second-biggest carrier, gained as much as 3.2 percent. The benchmark Kospi index rose 1 percent.

Agencies

(China Daily 06/17/2008 page16)