When Matt Latimore counts back to the moment the company truly began, he does not point to a registration date. He points to Japan.
“I mark the founding of the company in 2011 from the date of our first cargoes to our Japanese customers,” Latimore said.
This August, M Resources will mark its 15-year milestone with a celebration in Japan, a fitting nod to Nippon Steel, JFE Steel and Kobe Steel, which were among the first to support the young company’s growth and give it something money could not buy: credibility.
The company’s vision is defined by what steelmakers need most: reliable supply, deep product knowledge and partners prepared to think beyond the next transaction. As founder and president, Latimore now leads a company that has grown from its first cargoes into a broader platform across marketing, logistics, mining services and raw steelmaking materials.
“I think M Resources exemplifies what can be built out of the Japan- Australia relationship. Today we generate around $2 billion in revenue annually, but we remember that this success is built from those beginnings,” Latimore said.
“Our 15-year milestone neatly aligns with the 50-year anniversary of the treaty, which forms the foundation of the strong and enduring relationship between Japan and Australia.”
The connection with Japan runs deeper than trade volume. Latimore has long admired the precision, patience and manufacturing excellence of Japanese industrial culture, and has deliberately built the company around the qualities Japanese partners value most: reliability, consistency and a long-term approach that does not sacrifice relationships for short-term gain.
“Our 15-year milestone neatly aligns with the 50-year anniversary of the treaty, which forms the foundation of the strong and enduring relationship between Japan and Australia.”
Matt Latimore, President of M Resources
“I have always deeply admired Japanese culture and people, as well as Japan’s technology and manufacturing prowess,” he said.
Latimore’s connection with Japan began when he studied the language at Griffith University and later chose to live in Japan as a young graduate.
“After university, I lived for 10 months in the beautiful town of Saruhashi (in Yamanashi Prefecture). I’d often travel to Tokyo to experience the city culture and undertake research at the Japan External Trade Organization library. That was the start of our long and strong affiliation with Japan,” he said.
Today, the company has invested in OneRail, taken control of Mastermyne and built exposure to Stanmore Resources and the Illawarra Metallurgical Coal complex acquired in 2024. Each move reflects a broader effort to strengthen resilience and support customers through changing market cycles, an approach shaped by the patience and long-term commitment Latimore has observed in Japan.
“Our vision has always been to build M Resources into more than a trading company,” he said. “We are building a strong, asset-backed raw materials trading and marketing business focused on stability, certainty and long-term growth.”
Metallurgical coal remains central to steelmaking, while M Resources is expanding its focus to high-grade iron ore, scrap metal, manganese and critical minerals through its M Critical Minerals platform.
For Japanese industry, secure supply has become inseparable from broader questions of economic competitiveness, energy transition, infrastructure renewal and manufacturing resilience. M Resources sees its role as helping customers manage those pressures with confidence, built on strong relationships, backed by supply chain capability and informed by a strategic view of industrial change.
“We value the relationship and would like to do more together with Japanese partners, even joint asset investments, taking the partnerships to another level,” Latimore said.
Half a century after Australia and Japan formalized their modern economic partnership, M Resources is building on a long-standing trade relationship to support a broader industrial partnership, grounded in trust earned one cargo at a time.
