By Jonathan Soble in Tokyo, Jack Farchy in London and Javier Blas in New York

Itochu, the Japanese trading house, has beaten global commodities and mining rivals, including Glencore and Xstrata, to secure a 20 per cent stake in Colombian coal assets owned by Drummond, a family-owned US mining company, for $1.52bn.

The deal, announced on Thursday, is the clearest sign of the renewed appetite among Japanese traders for thermal coal, the commodity used to fire power stations, as the post-tsunami nuclear crisis threatens the future of electricity generation in the country.

The transaction values the assets at $7.6bn, well above the $6bn that other bidders were prepared to pay, highlighting the rapid appreciation of coal assets driven by strong demand from Asia.

China and India have joined traditional buyers such as Japan and South Korea in competing for supplies, which has driven up prices. Berlin?s decision to phase out nuclear power in Germany could also boost demand in Europe.

Drummond said that the transaction would give Itochu ?rights? to market coal produced in the Colombian mine into Japan.

Usually, Japan buys coal from Australia, Indonesia and South Africa, rather than far away Colombia. But the surge in demand is forcing utilities in Asia to scout for supplies from distant sources.

Itochu?s bid outflanked Glencore, the world?s biggest trading house, and Xstrata, one of the largest coal miners. However, having solicited bids last year, Alabama-based Drummond has since backed away from a sale of the entire business. Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore?s chief executive, said on Tuesday that Drummond had ?pulled out of the sale process?.

Itochu is Japan?s fourth-largest trading company, or sogo shosha, and a major commodities investor in its own right. The acquisition is part of a strategy to increase its coal production from 8m tonnes a year to more than 20m tonnes by 2015.

Garry Drummond, the chairman and chief executive who runs the company founded by his father, acquired mining rights in the 1980s to a thermal coal-producing area in northern Colombia. Since then, he has developed the asset into a world-class coal mine, extracting about 27m tonnes of the commodity, or almost 4 per cent of global seaborne supplies.

Drummond said the Itochu investment would help finance an expansion to 40m-45m tonnes a year.

Itochu was advised by Nomura and KPMG. Drummond was advised by BofA Merrill Lynch.

?The Financial Times Limited 2011