Japanese trading houses on the prowl for assets with US$50b war chest

Tokyo

JAPAN'S trading houses are scouting for assets as they enjoy their best profit outlook in six years, driven by higher prices for commodities from metals and coking coal to oil and natural gas.

Equipped with a nearly US$50 billion war chest, trading houses are looking to bolster their global commodity supply chain networks, eyeing gas fields in Australia, oil in Iraq and coal and copper assets.

But - still smarting from huge writedowns in the last investment cycle - big debt-fuelled acquisitions look to be off the agenda, with the focus on greenlighting undevel…