South Korean trading companies are rushing to develop overseas natural resources as part of efforts to diversify their business portfolios and seek new growth engines, industry sources said Tuesday.

LG International Corp., the country’s leading coal trader, started commercial production this month at a coal mine in Inner Mongolia where it owns a 30 percent stake.

In 2008, LG International acquired the stake in the Wantugou mine, 60 kilometers south of the city of Erdos, from China’s energy group Boyuan.

The mine, which has an estimated reserve of 180 million tons of bituminous coal, started test production last year.

LG International expects the mine to yield 10 million tons of coal annually after an initial production of 5 million tons. The company said it plans to acquire other mines in the area also.

LG International currently produces 3 million tons of coal from its MPP mines in Indonesia and also has stakes in mines in Australia.

Daewoo International Corp., the nation’s second-largest trading firm, is developing gas fields off the west coast of Myanmar.

According to Daewoo International, a total of 4.5 trillion cubic meters of gas are explorable from the three gas blocks off the coast of the Southeast Asian country.

SK Networks Co., South Korea’s biggest trading company, invested $700 million in MMX Mineracao & Metalicos SA, a Brazilian iron ore miner, last year.

Under the deal, SK Networks will be able to secure more than 9 million tons of iron ore a year from the investment, which is equivalent to 16 percent of South Korea’s annual consumption, according to the company.

SK Networks last year also clinched a deal with Canada’s Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd. to buy up to 10 million tons over the next 10 years. 

The nation’s No. 3 trading firm Samsung C&T Corp. has been producing 16,000 barrels a day at an offshore oil field in the Gulf of Mexico in partnership with state-run Korea National Oil Corp. 

(Yonhap News)