Teck Resources Ltd. is evaluating alternatives for its steelmaking coal business, including the possible spin-out of an interest in that business to its shareholders.
Teck made the comments at the request of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the New York Stock Exchange after Bloomberg reported that the company was planning to spin out the division. “For management to shift its line of thinking, the value proposition from such a transaction may be more immediately accretive than we previously envisioned.”
Steelmaking coal prices averaged US$278 per tonne in the company’s fourth quarter, compared with US$164 per tonne for 2019. The company has maintained that steelmaking coal will be crucial to the transition because of the expected demand for the metal, but steelmakers are under pressure to reduce emissions.