Japan's Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has agreed to lend 34.2 billion yen to JFE Steel's Australian subsidiary to help finance its 57 billion acquisition of a participation interest in Australia's Blackwater coal mine project in Queensland, eastern Australia.

The financing, also supported by Mizuho, MUFG, and SMBC, will to secure a stable supply of coking coal for Japan's steel manufacturing sector.

JBIC said that this loan will help JFE Steel's access to high-quality coking coal, an important resource for Japanese industries, thereby strengthening the nation's steel and iron supply chains.