Noble Group led consortium awarded India iron ore berth

13 May 2009 Hong Kong 

A consortium led by global supply chain manager Noble Group (SGX: NOBL) has been issued a Letter of Award (LOA) by The Paradip Port Trust (PPT) to build, operate and transfer (BOT) a mechanical facility for handling iron ore at Paradip Port, India for a period of 30 years. MMTC Limited and Gammon 
Infrastructure Projects Limited complete the consortium. 

The consortium, is designing the berth and associated infrastructure to accommodate a throughput of 10 million tonnes per annum of iron ore.  

The loading berth will be approximately 370 metres in length allowing loading of 185,000 tonne vessels upon completion.  

The total area reaches over 126,000 square metres and includes 370 metres of waterfront. Construction of the project is scheduled over a 3 year period which also features a stockpile area development of more than 82,000 square metres. 

Noble Group Vice Chairman, Harindarpal Singh Banga, commented “We remain focused on our core strategy of building businesses around strategic assets that add value and provide us greater control of the product flows through our supply chains. This investment provides us with an excellent opportunity to build out further our iron ore pipelines and complement our current operations in Australia, Brazil, China and India.” 

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About Noble Group 
Noble Group (SGX: NOBL) is a market leader in managing the global supply chain of agricultural, industrial and energy products. We operate from over 100 offices in more than 40 countries, serving 4000+ customers. Noble manages a diversified portfolio of essential raw materials, integrating the sourcing, marketing, processing, financing and transportation. 

With 2008 annual revenues exceeding US$36 billion, Noble continues its transition to owning and managing more strategic assets, sourcing from low cost production markets such as Brazil, Australia and Indonesia and supplying to high growth demand markets including China, India and the Middle East. Today Noble owns coal and iron ore mines, grain crushing facilities, sugar and ethanol plants, vessels, ports and other infrastructure to ensure high quality products are delivered in the most efficient and timely manner to its customers. 

In 2008, Noble debuted on the Fortune Global 500 (#349), was included in the new 30 security Straits Times Index, gained a top ten placing in the ACCA/CFO Asia "Regional Corporate Transparency Index (CTI)” and received a BBB- rating (investment grade) from Fitch. Noble was placed on the Forbes Global 2000 and Forbes Fab 50 while being included in the S&P Global Challengers and The Asset's Best 60 Corporate Governance Award. Noble also received the Corporate Governance Recognition Award: Classes Of 2006 - 2008 
- by Corporate Governance Asia and was chosen as one of FinanceAsia's Best Companies. In 2005, Noble joined the MSCI Singapore Index. During this period, the Group was recognized as one of BusinessWeek's Stars of Asia and a Best Employer by Hewitt Associates.