CHINA’S Sinosteel has all but won control of iron ore miner Midwest after four of the takeover target’s directors agreed to sell their shares.

Midwest chairman Jesse Taylor and directors Francis Ng, Steven Chong and Stephen de Belle said they would accept the $6.38 cash a share offer from Sinosteel for their collective 4.1 per cent holding in the company.

This will give Sinosteel, China’s second largest iron ore trader, a 49.68 per cent stake in Midwest.

The Chinese metals trader was also rumoured to have bought an additional 1 per cent of Midwest on market, taking it close to controlling more than 50 per cent of the company.

However, a compulsory takeover may still be a battle with Murchison Metals vowing to hang on to its 10 per cent stake in Midwest.

Murchison’s largest shareholder – Harbinger Capital Partners – also holds 9.11 per cent of Midwest’s share register, while two Midwest directors remain

NutraCea, a world leader in stabilized rice bran, has signed a definitive agreement with the Bright Food Investment Group, a subsidiary of Bright Food Group, to build the world’s largest rice bran oil refinery. The new refinery will process an estimated 500,000 metric tons of raw rice bran annually to produce rice bran oil, new patent-pending defatted rice bran, and stabilized rice bran, all of which will be used in a wide range of food applications.

The facility is estimated to be completed in 2010 and will be the world’s largest rice bran oil manufacturing plant, with the capacity to produce in excess of $200 million in annual gross revenues based on today’s market prices. Both companies are also anticipating future projects together, including constructing additional facilities of similar size.

According to the terms of the agreement, NutraCea will provide 80 percent of the capital and retain 72 percent of