Fortescue chairman Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest has declared he has no plans to sell part of his iron ore mining company to Chinese investors.
Mr Forrest says while Fortescue has held talks with potential investors, he doesn't want to reduce his 33 per cent stake despite the mining company being under pressure from plunging iron ore prices.
No new shares would be issued to investors unless the price reflected the company's underlying asset value, he told the Australian Financial Review on Thursday.
"We are here to build this company up, not sell out of it," he said.
"And no investor has ever been so undiplomatic to suggest a partial selldown of my own stake as it wouldn't reflect the overriding passion I have for Fortescue, the Pilbara and Australia."
Speculation about the possibility of Chinese investors buying into Fortescue have swirled this week, amid reports that Chinese companies applied to Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board about a possible investment.
The speculation has helped push Fortescue shares sharply higher in recent days, along with a recovery in iron ore prices to around $US63 a tonne.
Mr Forrest's comments came as a Chinese government think tank forecast prices to trade between $US55 and $US65 for the next two years.
Fat Prophets Resources analyst David Lennox said the worst of the iron ore price weakness had probably passed and Mr Forrest would only be forced to reduce his stake in Fortescue if his holding was highly geared and the share price tanked.
He said given that over the longer-term there was probably good value in the steel sector in China and India, Mr Forrest would want to hold on to his stake.
But Mr Lennox questioned Mr Forrest's recent attacks on rivals Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, who he wants investigated by a parliamentary inquiry to see if they have manipulated the iron ore market to drive out smaller players.
"He's trying to protect his baby any way he can," Mr Lennox said.
"If I was him I'd do the same, but maybe not yelling out let's have an inquiry."
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs analyst Christian Lelong has backed Rio and BHP for ignoring Mr Forrest's calls for them to consider cutting production.
Such calls were "misguided" and "counter-productive", his note said.
He added that a cartel would be difficult to achieve and production cuts would go against the prevailing trend of improving efficiency among the big three iron ore miners.
Fortescue shares rose seven cents to close at $2.43.
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