August, 30 2005
Gas leak in Bokaro claims two lives
Two employees of the Bokaro died while 17 others were hospitalized due to a poisonous gas leak which occurred last night at the plant in Jharkhand, about 100 km from here.
"Two of our employees died early this morning and 17 others who fell unconscious are under treatment. They are likely to be discharged in the evening," BSP Chief Communication Officer Basant Thakur told newspersons.
The leak occurred in the blast furnace of the plant when the employees were at work. They were immediately taken to Bokaro General Hospital, he said.
Steel Authority of India Limited Chairman V S Jain had ordered a high-level inquiry into the leakage.
TATA Steel signs MoU with Nippon for Orissa plant
Tata Steel took another step towards establishing its proposed six million ton per annum steel plant at Kalinganagar, by signing a MoU at Jamshedpur with Nippon Steel Corporation NSC for technical assistance, planning and layout for the steel plant. The MoU was signed by Tata Steel MD, Mr B Muthuraman and Mr NSC MD Mr H Shima in presence of Mr Bhaskar Chatterjee, principal secretary, steel and mines department, Government of Orissa.
TATA Steel chose to partner with Nippon Steel in this area as it is the best steel technology company in the world said Tata Steel MD, Mr B Muthuraman. Tata Steel has also partnered with NSC in the past for the one million ton and 2.4 million ton growth plans and the Cold Rolling Mill in its Jamshedpur steel works.
L&T initiates talks with Posco to build steel plant in Orissa
Engineering and construction major L&T has expressed its interest to Korean steel major Posco, for building the latters upcoming steel plant in Orissa and is one of the companies short listed for the Posco project. L&Ts Chairman Mr AM Naik, is currently on a trip to Korea and Japan, where he will be meeting senior Posco officials to discuss the plan. L&T is
In June, Posco had announced that it will build a $12 billion steel plant in Orissa. The companys plan is to build an integrated steel plant in the state and produce 12 million tonne of steel annually by 2015.
Fire closes HSM at BlueScope
BLUESCOPE Steel's hot strip mill at its Western Port operations in Victoria has stopped operating because of a fire.
The nation's largest steel maker said the fire occurred on August 22 in the electrical control room of the hot strip mill, which provides feedstock for Western Port's cold rolling, metallic coating and painting operations. No other plant or equipment outside of the electrical control room sustained any damage.
BlueScope said an initial assessment of the damage to the electrical systems and cabling in the electrical control room affected by the fire had now been completed. "Preliminary engineering estimates indicate that restoring the hot strip mill to normal operating levels could take in the order of 12 weeks," it said.
Rescue work ceases in flooded coal mine, 123 announced dead
The rescue operation at a flooded colliery in southern China was stopped Monday and the local authority announced that 123 miners were killed in the fatal accident. Experts at the site asserted Monday that there could be no chance of survival for the miners in the flooded coal mine after such a long time. In addition, the geological situation is too complicated to continue the rescue operation.
With the approval of the Guangdong Province, the rescue headquarters ordered the cessation of the rescue work on Monday afternoon, finding no hope of survival for the 117 miners who had been trapped for 23 days in the Daxing Coal Mine of Xingning City in the province. The bodies of six miners killed in the accident were found earlier.
The accident occurred at 1:30 p.m. on August 7 and only four miners escaped.
ThyssenKrupp sees flat carbon steel demand rising in Q4
ThyssenKrupp AG expects demand for flat carbon steel to improve from around end-September this year compared with the July-September period this year, a company spokesman said.
He said ThyssenKrupp has slightly cut the prices of its flat carbon steel for deliveries in the July to September quarter this year compared with previous quarter.
Baosteel expected to post record high net
Top steelmaker Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. is expected to post its fastest pace of quarterly earnings growth in two years, riding a US$3.3 billion asset infusion from its parent and resilient margins, but it could see earnings growth slow sharply through the rest of 2005 after slashing fourth-quarter prices amid a domestic glut.
Baosteel's second-quarter net profit is expected to surge 83 percent to 4.1 billion Yuan (US$506 million) from 2.24 billion Yuan a year ago, according to a median of forecasts by analysts. The results are due Wednesday.
Baosteel said last week it would slash prices on core products by about 10 percent in the final quarter, bringing the world's No. 6 steelmaker into line with POSCO, which cut prices in June, and domestic firms such as third-ranked Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd., which did so for the third quarter.
Praxair licenses CoJet(R) technology to WCI Steel for BOF
Praxair Inc has announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with WCI Steel, Inc, an integrated, flat-rolled steel producer, for use of Praxair's patented CoJet(R) gas injection system in their basic oxygen furnace in Northeast Ohio. WCI Steel has two 180 ton converters that can produce up to two million tons of steel a year in a wide variety of carbon, alloy and high-strength chemistries. The installation of the CoJet gas injection technology is scheduled for first quarter, 2006 and is likely to result in improved yield, more efficient decarburization and lower steel oxygen levels, all leading to significant operating cost reductions."
Praxair's CoJet gas injection system delivers a laser-like coherent jet of oxygen into the molten steel bath. This coherent jet penetrates more deeply into the bath than a conventional supersonic jet stream, providing a more controlled and intense bath mixing, which can increase productivity and reduce costs at a steel mill.
Praxair's CoJet gas injection system is fully implemented at the Usiminas melt shops and the Cosipa steel mills in Brazil and at US Steel's Gary Works and installation on ThyssenKrupp Stahl AG steel mills in Germany is currently underway. With this latest signing, Praxair now has licensing agreements with five customers for the CoJet technology to be used in 12 basic oxygen furnaces.
Praxair Metals Technologies is the business unit responsible for the development, marketing and licensing of Praxair's technologies for process control software and technical services in energy conservation, product quality and productivity in ferrous and non-ferrous metals customers around the world. Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2004 sales of $6.6 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric and process gases, and high-performance surface coatings.
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Based in Warren, Ohio, WCI Steel was formed as an independent steel company in 1988. However, the plant's steelmaking history dates back to 1912, when the Trumbull Steel Company first began making steel on the current WCI site. The company offers 185 grades of high-quality steel for use by various industries and manufacturers.
Steel prices on the rise in Vietnam
The national steel industry in July 2005 produced 240,000 tons and sold 210,000 tons according to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA). In January July period, steel companies of the VSA manufactured 1.45 million tons, nearly 20% up from the same period last year. In early August, the association had a stockpile of 250,000 tons of finished steel products and 200,000 tons of steel ingots.
The above figures show abundant supply in the first 7 months of this year which was an outcome of positive growth of the steel industry. Meanwhile, as it was raining season, the domestic demand for construction steel remained smaller than supply.
After hovering $325 335 per ton, billet prices in the world market have been on the rise since the beginning of July resulting in prices of finished steel products in Vietnam by VND100, 000 200,000 per ton
As domestic steel manufacturers have to import 70% of volume of steel billets they need, they will be influenced by the anticipated rise in prices of billets by 2 3% in September
MGOK to deliver 1.33 mln tones of iron ore products in September
JSC Mikhailovsky Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise MGOK, Kursk region intends to ship 1.33 million tones, including 412,000 tones of concentrate and 775,000 tones of pellets to various steel mills
MGOK is the largest Russian enterprise principally engaged in the production of iron ore raw materials. The mine reserves comes to over 11 billion tones. Company's revenue for the year 2004 amounted to 23.6 billion rubles, net income made up 6.9 billion rubles.
Bolivian Govt set to auction El Mutn iron ore
Bidding for the El Mutn iron ore property in Bolivia's Santa Cruz department is ready and could start in September as per mining and metallurgy minister Mr Dionisio Garz. Bidding director Alfredo Villegas had previously said that El Mutn bidding could kick off in July 2005.
Creating Empresa Siderrgica de El Mutn, a steel making facility, is one of the project's requirements and will fall under an agreement between the national government and the winning bidder.
Bidding delays have not diminished interest in the project competition and more than eight companies that have shown interest in continuing with the process. Some of the interested companies are CVRD and Rio Tinto. Companies that bought bidding rules for a previous round include Grupo Techint of Argentina, Sidersul of Brazil, Lurgi of Germany, Outokumpu from Finland's, Fermy Investment of USA and a group of companies from Bolivia & Argentina
El Mutn, one of the world's largest iron ore deposits with some 40Bt of reserves grading 50% iron, is close to the Bolivian-Brazilian border, 41km south of the city of Puerto Suez.
Showa Denko KK starts production of 32 inch Graphite Electrodes
Japanese SDK has started commercial production of 32-inch-diameter graphite electrodes, the largest size on the world market, for use in electric-arc furnaces for steel production. SDK will start delivery of this product in November this year to Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co., Ltd.'s Okayama Plant. This will be the first time that 32-inch-diameter graphite electrodes are commercially used in Japan.
Graphite electrodes are used mainly in electric arc furnaces that melting steel scrap, because they are resistant to thermal shock under severe temperature conditions, have sufficient mechanical strength to prevent breakage in the event of a collision with falling scrap steel and possess physical properties suitable for passage of heavy electric current. Graphite electrodes are also used for the production of stainless steel and specialty steel.
Graphite electrodes with larger diameters ensure higher steel-production efficiency as the amount of electric current increases in proportion to the size of electrode's cross section. However, to produce uniformly graphitized, large-sized electrodes, a high level quality control is required in the coke baking and graphitization processes.
While SDK will produce the 32-inch graphite electrodes only at its Omachi Plant in Japan for the time being, its U.S. subsidiary Showa Denko Carbon, Inc. in South Carolina will also start production when demand grows further. Thus, the SDK Group aims to secure a 50% share in the world's 32-inch graphite electrode market.
Solidarity threatens strike at Mittal Steel
After a couple of days of threats, the trade union Solidarity said it would go ahead with a strike next Tuesday, September 6, unless Mittal Steel amends its stance on wage irregularities. Solidarity released a statement last Wednesday that 1 500 of its members in key positions in Mittal Steel may come out on strike soon in several of the companys plants. This after a dispute over compulsory overtime at the Vereeniging plant could not be resolved, and a certificate was obtained from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
Solidarity had talks with the management of Mittal Steels Vereeniging plant again this morning. Unfortunately the company failed to respond to Solidaritys demands. The Mittal negotiating team attempted to convince artisans not to proceed with protest action, rather than to address the problem of irregularities in the wage structures of the various plants, Solidaritys general secretary for the Metal and Engineering Industry, Johan Pieterse said.
Tami Didiza, Mittal Steel South Africas General Manager for Corporate Affairs, said the Company had met with Solidarity last Friday to try and find a solution. Didiza said that Mittal Steel SA additional compensation issue was governed by the three-year wage agreement, which was signed by all the unions, including Solidarity, last year. This agreement specifically excludes negotiations on any conditions of employment that have a cost implication, which is the case in this situation. The current agreement with the unions expires in July 2007 and Didiza said the Company remains committed to renegotiating when it lapses. Mittal Steel SA says that that it will be filing an application with the Labor Court to have the strike certificate set aside.
Chinese A Grade Trading plans investment of $200m in Argentinean
Chinese company A Grade Trading plans to invest US$200mn in a complex in southern Argentina's R Negro province to process iron from the Sierra Grande mine. In January 2005 the Chinese company took control and started reactivating the Hiparsa industrial complex, which includes the Sierra Grande mine of 250M-300Mt in iron ore reserves.
A Grade Trading's initial plan for Hiparsa involved investing close to US$21mn gradually to reactivate the mine to produce on average 3.2Mt of pellets. The decision to invest US$200mn marks a major expansion in the project, although officials could not specifically describe where the additional US$179mn will go.
A Grade Trading's motives for expanding the investment resulted from two factors that favor the installation of an industrial complex, low energy costs and access to water. The Hiparsa complex includes an iron ore mine, an industrial area, a 32km rail line to transport slurry concentrate, a pelletization plant and port storage and loading equipment.
Iron pallet production will start in September the first shipment to China is expected in October
Argentinean Govt to extend benefits schemes for metal sector
Argentina's finance ministry will keep incentive programs alive for the metallurgical sector after they expire this year and sustain measures such as value-added tax refunds, accelerated amortization and tax subsidies.
The government made the decision after the country's metallurgical association ADIMRA showed figures indicating the industry is reporting positive results and asked the government to extend the measures, according to local press reports.
The industry bills US$4bn annually and is a growing source of employment, according to ADIMRA figures. In addition SMEs in the sector normally export 8% of their business and aim to expand foreign sales.
Among government incentives is the 14% bonus to compensate for the lack of an import duty on imported capital goods serving the productive sector. Producers have received the bonus, which expires on December 31, since 2001.
Al Tuwairqi plans $820m steel plants in UAE
One of the largest Saudi private sector steel and value added products manufacturing groups, Al Tuwairqi Group of companies (ATG), is investing over $820 million in major steel projects in the UAE.
ATG is planning setting up am integrated steel facility of one million tons per annum capacity consisting of DRI plant, billet caster and a rolling mill at Sharjah's Hamriyah Free Zone, to cater to customers' requirements for heavy steel structures being used in high rise buildings, bridges, oil rigs, airports, and other load bearing structures
ATG has also finalized order for Cut and Bend Factory in Dubai was with a local UAE firm for a capacity of 300,000 tons of cut and bend steel and 30,000 tons per annum of fabricated heavy steel
Other projects of ATG group include DRI plants in Dammam and DRI cum Steel Melt shop in Karachi. The group also acquired a closed billet making plant in UK in 2003 and turned it around to produce 700,000 tons of billets per annum.
Mr Aamir Barlas, director of ATG, told that as part of their long term growth strategy to achieve five million tons of steel capacity by year 2010, they are in the process of establishing steel manufacturing facilities in the Gulf region, and in other Islamic countries
ATG, established in Saudi Arabia a little over 25 years ago is engaged in diversified manufacturing and trading activities including steel. Over the years ATG has emerged as the largest privately owned group of companies engaged in steel sector with two billets manufacturing facilities, one hot rolling mill and one downstream facility for cut and bend, wire mesh and epoxy coating etc.
Investment in Iran slowed by import threats
Iran produced 3 mln and 10 thousand tons of unprocessed steel in the four months to July recording a 7% increase against the figure for the corresponding period last year. Production of iron rods reached more than 580,000 tons in the period, showing a 32.2-% rise.
Iran has planned to increase steel production capacity to 40 mln tons by 2010, but it is felt that steel industry would fail to achieve the targets if the government does not increase steel import tariffs to protect domestic mills
Steel production units are under mounting pressures due to excessive imports. Steel import duties stand at 15% and average steel imports have reached 4.5 mln tons in recent years. Experts say excessive imports would discourage private companies from investing in steel projects.
Rio Tinto subsidiaries seal Korean contract
Rio Tinto has announced its subsidiaries Hamersley Iron and Robe River Iron Associates have sealed a long-term contract with Korea's leading steel producer POSCO. Under the contract, Rio will supply POSCO with about 128 million tonnes of iron ore products from its Western Australian operations over the next 10 years.
Pilbara iron's external affairs manager, Matthew Coomber, says the deal further underwrites Rio's $1.6 billion expansion at several Pilbara operations.
Mr Coomber says the contracts have been finalized ahead of the expiry of existing deals.
"Korea, as I said, has been an important customer of ours since the early '70s, the average tonnes that we move out there I think we moved just over 12 million tonnes out there last year," he said. "So when you think that total iron ore sales from Rio Tinto in 2004 are around 140 million tonnes, you can see it's a small but significant part of our customer base."
Mobarakeh Steel exports 360,000 tons of steel
Mr Mehdi Taj, Director of Marketing and Sales MSC has announced that the company has exported 360,000 tons of steel products in the first four months of the current Iranian year starting March 20th to France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, China India, and several countries in the Middle East.
MSC has planned exports of one million tons of steel by the end of the year, as exports of between 25 and 28 percent of production is the objective of the company to garner foreign exchange for various development projects
V&M Tubes appoints sales managers in OCTG division
Mr Brett Mendenhall, Mr John Slaughter and Mr Allen Williams are newly appointed sales managers for the new North America oil country tubular goods (OCTG) division of V&M Tubes.
Mr Brett Mendenhall will be OCTG sales manager, responsible for both distribution and end-user accounts. Previously, he worked as both an inside and outside sales representative for North Star Steel.
Mr John Slaughter will be sales manager for coupling stock and drill pipe. Prior to joining V&M Tubes, he was distribution sales manager for another pipe manufacturer.
Mr Allen Williams will also be an OCTG sales manager, responsible for both distribution and end-user accounts. Previously, he was a major account manager for VAM PTS, a world leader in premium threading based in Houston and also part of V&M Tubes.
Coal boom has Shenhua eyeing further expansion
China Shenhua Energy, the mainland's biggest coal producer, may buy assets from its unlisted parent and pick up some smaller mines owned by independent operators. The Beijing-based company, which sold shares in Hong Kong in June, has its eye on some of the 1,400 small mines in coal-rich Shanxi province that are expected to be closed by the provincial government in a bid to spur consolidation in the disaster-prone industry, says company chairman and executive director Chen Biting. It "depends on the quality of the coal mines and whether they are located at a convenient place for transportation,'' he said.
The coal producer, which is 81.2 percent-owned by China Shenhua Group, may also buy assets from its parent. One possible target is a coal liquefaction project in Inner Mongolia in which China Shenhua Group has invested five billion yuan (HK$4.8 billion), Chen said. The facility is set to begin commercial production by 2007-2008.
In March, the listed unit bought two mines with combined reserves of 687 million tons of coal. China Shenhua Energy is in the midst of an expansion drive that's seen capital spending of 10.5 billion yuan in the first six months of the year, half the 20.4 billion yuan it plans to spend in 2005. Huang said the company's annual production capacity will climb to 117 million tons this year, up from 101.3 million in 2004.
The company sold 68.2 million tons of coal in the first six months, up 6.4 percent from the same period last year, with domestic sales accounting for 56.2 million tons. About 81 percent of its coal was sold under contract and the rest on the spot market, giving the company a safety net should coal prices fall.
Fitch rates CSN Export certificates BBB
Fitch Ratings has applied its BBB- rating to export 2005-1 certificates issued by Brazilian steelmaker CSN, Fitch said in a statement. The series 2005-1 certificates will pay down the remaining balance on the company's previous US$125mn series 2003-2 certificates. Certificates also will add to the existing 2004-1 series certificates worth US$162mn and the 2003-1 series certificates worth US$142mn.
The 2005-1 certificates are backed by the future sale of the following steel products produced by CSN and sold to Luxembourg-based CSN Export: slabs, hot- and cold-rolled products, tinplate and galvanized products. CSN Export will then sell the products to buyers outside Brazil. In 2004 exports represented 28% of CSN's total sales.
Fitch's BBB- rating is higher than CSN's BB- foreign currency rating as the transaction mitigates some of the sovereign and corporate risks associated with CSN, Fitch said.
The Sao Paulo-based steelmaker recently reported 2Q05 net profit of 419mn reais (US$183mn) compared to net profit of 424mn reais in 2Q04
Acepar workers complain over management
Workers at Paraguayan steelmaker Acepar have sent a letter to President Nicanor Duarte complaining the factory is "falling apart" because of poor management, newspaper Ultima Hora reported.
The workers, represented by union Sitrasa, are concerned over company plans to lay off 300 workers.
In the past the union has complained the company has not invested enough in the plant. In turn, Acepar management says it must pay the state for company ownership before carrying out major investments.
HK CITIC Pacific makes general offer for Daye Steel
Hong Kong conglomerate CITIC Pacific Ltd said that it is making a general offer for the 41.9% stake it doesn't already own in Shenzhen-listed Daye Special Steel Co. at a below market price, to meet takeover regulations.
CITIC said in a disclosure that it is offering CNY2.62 a share for the 167 million freely tradable shares it doesn't already own in Daye and CNY1.953 for the 21.1 million non-tradable shares it doesn't own. Daye closed unchanged on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Monday at CNY3.25, well above CITIC's offer price, hence making the offer unattractive to minority holders.
The Hong Kong-listed company, which is building a portfolio of special steel production assets, bought a 39% stake in Daye at auctions in December, taking its total shareholdings to 58.1% and triggering the requirement to make a general offer.
CITIC said it was making the below-market offer as it has yet to be granted a waiver from making a general offer by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and to expedite the completion of the 39% stake purchase.
But CITIC said in an announcement Tuesday that it wanted to keep Daye's status as a listed company, hence the below market offer, which is based on a weighted average of the previous 30 days of trading in Daye's stock.
Slovenian Merkur profits hit by plunging steel prices
Slovenian group Merkur reported a net profit of Euro 5.34 million for H1 of 2005 on a revenue of Euro 356.5 million, up by 4.7% over last year
Merkur had posted a 50% growth in sales and earnings in this segment during last year. The situation reversed this year, as there is overcapacity on the market and the prices of steel, especially grades typically sold by wholesalers, have been dropping.
Merkur sold 176,000 tonnes of metallurgic products in the January-June period. This is on par with 2003, but 12% less than in the same period last year. However, the group managed to boost sales by 13% in other segments, which represent about two-thirds of the revenues.
