Matt Latimore’s M Resources looking at Sanjeev Gupta’s loss-making steelworks
Fresh from recording $111m in profits, coal trader Matt Latimore has emerged as a surprise bidder for Whyalla steelworks, competing with international giants for control.
Coal entrepreneur Matt Latimore will compete with BlueScope Steel and international players to buy Sanjeev Gupta’s Whyalla steelworks in South Australia out of administration.
The mining industry’s newest billionaire toured the loss-making steelworks – previously owned by the British industrialist’s GFG Alliance – last month.
His privately owned M Resources wants to grow its metallurgical coal business and is looking for counter-cyclical bets including troubled mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.
M Resources specialises in coal trading for steelmaking and has struck deals involving Indonesia’s Golden Energy and Resources and Indian steelmaking giant GWS.
It also has a longstanding relationship with POSCO, and in April signed a binding agreement with the South Korean heavyweight on a joint venture to invest in steelmaking raw material products in Australia.
Mr Latimore has maintained a relatively low profile outside of his social media following, where he is known for collecting Ferraris, but the lodgement of multi-year financial statements for M Resources confirms his wealth.
M Resources recorded net profit of $111.7m in 2024-25, up from $94.8m, and declared a dividend last year of more than $81m. He is its sole owner.
The result was achieved on $1.55bn of revenue (up from $1.3bn) and deals to acquire South32’s Illawarra metallurgical coal business via a joint venture with Singapore-registered Golden Energy and Resources, a company controlled by the Widjaja family.
M Resources also owns a 50 per cent share and management rights in OneRail, the rail and logistics business that was sold by Aurizon in 2023.
The rail business shifts about 65 million tonnes of coal a year and has been a big earner.
On the prospects for Whyalla, Mr Latimore said M Resources was interested in the steelworks and associated iron ore assets, and saw an opportunity to retrofit the plant for cleaner direct-reduced iron production.
“Needless to say, we really like the steelmaking raw materials business, which is met coal and iron ore for steel making,” he said.
“As an Australian company, we’re very interested in high-quality DRI-use iron ore in steelmaking. Steelmaking raw materials is our business globally, so it’s a natural fit of interest for our group.”
Mr Latimore said the federal and state government support package worth $2.4bn to Whyalla was crucial to adopting new technology to survive.
ASX-listed BlueScope Steel is leading a heavyweight international consortium in the running for Whyalla. BlueScope joined forces with Nippon Steel Corporation, JSW and POSCO to submit an indicative expression of interest in the Whyalla assets as far back as August that also involved lower-emissions steel production.
When it acquired the South 32 Illawarra mines, M Resources was able to sell down part of its interest to JWS and POSCO.
Mr Latimore thought the Whyalla sale process would take at least a few more months to play out.
Metallurgical coal for traditional blast furnace steelmaking would remain at the core of the M Resources business but it would happily diversify into high-grade iron ore for DRI steelworks and into the supply of scrap metal for the electric arc furnace steelworks that have attracted big investment in the US.
“We do believe very strongly in the narrative of particularly India and South-East Asia building significantly more blast furnace steel mills for supporting industrialisation and urbanisation, and effectively a greater standard of living for all of the residents there,” he said.
“My vision is to be a comprehensive supplier of steelmaking raw material. So, over the long term, we want to be involved in not only blast furnace feedstock, but also feedstock for those other ones.”
Mr Latimore was part of Queensland Premier David Crisafulli’s overseas trade mission where the Steel Authority of India talked about lifting production from 180 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes and then 500 million tonnes by the midpoint of the century.
He backed claims from BHP president for Australia Geraldine Slattery that India and other key steel customers are alarmed by job cuts and mine closures in Queensland under the weight of the state’s controversial royalties regime.
Mr Latimore, who started at Mitsui and then spent a decade as a coal trader and industry boss for Wesfarmers, said the Queensland royalties had been a factor in US exporters growing their market share in India.
“The demand profile in India for blast furnace-use metallurgical coal is going to be huge,” he said. “Unfortunately, in Queensland we have a situation where some of the bigger companies like BHP and others have actually publicly come out to say that they are not investing more in growth assets for met coal under the current royalty regime.
“That is something which would concern those steel mills offshore looking to secure stable supply, and they need more of it.
“If we can’t provide more of it, then they will have to look closer at the diversification options, which is why the US market share in India has grown substantially over the last 12 to 18 months.”
New York-listed Peabody Energy in August terminated a $5.7bn deal to buy five mines in the Bowen Basin from Anglo American because of the royalty scheme.
Asked about his interest in those Anglo mines, Mr Latimore said: “Almost every process that unfolds, we are involved. We’re involved in several ongoing processes at the moment, some that have been mentioned in dispatches … It is fair to say that we are still keen to expand our met coal business, including in Queensland, and particularly in Australia.”
Mr Latimore said the fact BHP and partner Mitsubishi were shedding 750 jobs and mothballing the Saraji South mine and other operations, including Bowen Coking Coal, would not dissuade him.
“It’s a cyclical business, and I think there’s a lot to be gained out of buying a raincoat or an umbrella on a sunny day, or vice versa,” he said.
M Resources is diversifying into critical minerals. It has drilled for vanadium and graphite in Queensland, and has interests in rare earths and copper. It owns 5 per cent of Stanmore Resources, where Mr Latimore is a non-executive director.
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