Mitsui & Co., Japan’s second-largest trading company, may increase iron ore production from its own mines by as much as 49 percent by 2015 as demand from China will remain brisk.

“Supplies of iron ore will remain tight with increasing demand from China and emerging economies,” Masami Iijima, 59, president and chief executive, said in an interview yesterday.

Rising steel production in China, the world’s largest producer, has spurred competition for iron ore and driven contract prices from Asian mills up by 90 percent. Vale SA, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group may demand a 30 percent to 50 percent increase in the price of iron ore in the July quarter, China Steel Corp. said last month.

Mitsui, the world’s fourth-largest iron ore supplier in terms of volume, wants to increase output from its own mines to 60 million to 70 million metric tons by the year ending March 31, 2015. It plans to produce 47 million tons this year, 52 million tons by March 2012 and 53 million tons by March 2013.

The company will increase its rights in existing mines in Brazil and Australia and study new mining projects in other regions, said Iijima, who became president in April 2009 after leading the company’s metals and minerals business unit.

Mitsui has a 33 percent stake in Australia’s Robe River Iron Associates mining operation and 7 percent stakes in the Mount Newman, Yandi and Mount Goldsworthy joint ventures. The company also owns a 15 percent stake in Valepar, the holding company of Vale, the world’s largest iron ore producer.

The company forecast higher profit this year as surging prices for iron ore and steelmaking coal boost revenue.

Mitsui plans to invest 240 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in its minerals and energy business in the year ending March 2011, up 71 percent from last year, Iijima said. Of this, 100 billion yen will be invested in the metals and minerals sector, he said.

“This can change. If there are promising projects, we can be flexible,” Iijima said.

--Editors: Jarrett Banks, Richard Dobson

To contact the reporters on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net; Ichiro Suzuki in Tokyo at isuzuki@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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