September, 24 2005
Mittal Steel India in, on government terms
Jharkhand government has given its assent to the Mittal Steels proposal to set up a Rs 42,000 crore 12 million tonne green field steel plant after several deliberations and negotiations after Mittal Steel has given up their demand to export at least 30 per cent of the iron ore and is ready not to press hard for any special tax holiday
Decks have been cleared for signing of the MoU between the Mittal Steel and the state government within a fortnight and the company officials hinted at the presence of its Chairman Mr LN Mittal for signing
Mr Sudhir Maheshwari, VP Finance of Mittal Steel told local press that the proposed steel plant in Jharkhand would aim exclusively at domestic market.
A Mittal Steel team led by Mr Narendra Chaudhary, Corporate Director Operations, conducted aerial survey of tentative sites for the plant at Manoharpur, Chandil, Kandra and Chakulia and would suggest the likely site soon
Labor unrest paralyses IISCOs Gua mines
Fresh labor unrest has started at the IISCOs Gua iron ore mines in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, as temporary workers refused to give any more time to the management to meet their demands.
The over-600 contract workers, under the banner of Supply Mazdoor Sangh, resumed an indefinite strike from Thursday morning, paralyzing completely civic activities and upkeep of the town. Mining activities, too, were partially hit as loading and unloading of materials were obstructed.
The Sangh had initially started an indefinite strike in the second week of this month demanding permanent employment in the company and wages at par with the counterparts working in the Burnpur plant of IISCO. The contract laborers had raised these demands since they felt the permanent workers of IISCO would get higher salaries after the merger of IISCO with SAIL was finalized.
It is understood that the contract workers outnumber the permanent employees and the management depends heavily on these contract laborers for operations
Gujarat NREs investment reopens coal mine in Australia
India's first investment in coal mining in Australia is under way on the New South Wales south coast as the Minister for the Illawarra, Mr David Campbell, has officially opened the colliery West Bellambi Colliery at Russell Vale north of Wollongong in New South Wales for Gujarat NRE to mine up to 1 million tonnes of coal a year
Gujarat NRE Australia chairman Mr Arun Jagatramka believes the mine is viable despite the 19 km distance to reach the coal. "That is why in two or three years' time we are looking at a new access in the vicinity of the lease, so that the access is very near to the place where we are mining," he said.
Gujarat NRE has also purchased another former mine, the Avondale south of Wollongong, and plans to start mining there in the next two years.
TATA Steel against iron ore export
No country in the world exports iron ore, said TATA Steel MD Mr B Muthuraman while underscoring the point that the limited iron ore reserves need to be judiciously exploited and Indian steel makers were competent enough to do so.
Mr Muthuraman conceded that the difficulty was in evolving a uniform policy for all the minerals and one cannot impose a blanket ban on export. For instance the case with chromite or for that matter bauxite is different to that of iron ore when one takes into account the power consumption of ferro chrome, aluminium and steel making.
He added that while it is makes economic sense to allow export in some cases, it is undesirable to export in others like iron ore. Why is the US not exploring its oil and gas reserves? He remarked driving home the point that we do not have the luxury to export iron ore.
Tata-L&T JV declares to make Dhamra port environmental friendly
Faced with opposition from wildlife lovers and environmentalists to the proposed all weather port at Dhamra, the promoters of Dhamra Port Company Ltd DPCL on Thursday sought to clear the air saying the project would be environment-friendly.
Environmentalists and wildlife groups including Greenpeace are up in arms against the port on the assumption that it would destroy the ecology and pose a threat to the endangered olive ridleys arriving for mass nesting at nearby Rusikulya mouth.
Tata Steel and L&T are equal stake partners in the project, slated for first-phase commissioning in mid-2008. The steel major entered the fray a year ago after Singapore-based International Sea Port Ltd withdrew from the project with L&T.
DPCL, which has an equity capital of Rs 330 crore, when completed, would be the countrys largest port with 13 berths to handle 80 million tonne of cargo and bulk carriers of up to 180,000 dwt capacity. It is learnt that the financial closure of the Dhamra Port project will be completed by end of this year and construction work will commence in January 2006. The port will initially have a capacity of 12 to 15 million ton per annum for bulk cargo and the vision is to increase this to 25 million ton in the second phase. It also envisages laying of 65km of railway line connecting the existing broad gauge line at Bhadrak to the port
L&T plans Rs 15,000 cr aluminum plant in Orissa
L&T has joined hands with the Dubai Aluminium Company Ltd for setting up an integrated aluminium project in Rayagada district envisaging a 15,000 crores, three million tonnes per annum capacity alumina refinery, smelter, bauxite mining and development of associated infrastructure like port etc
Dubal would have equity of 74 per cent and L&T's equity would be 26 per cent. The project will be known as Raykal Aluminium Ltd, named after the two backward but bauxite-rich districts of Rayagada and Kalahandi.
While the refinery would be located in Rayagada district, the site for the smelter and 80 mw captive power plants was yet to be decided, the first phase of 1.5 million tonnes alumina stream was expected to be commissioned in 2010
SAIL's BSP bags PMs Trophy again
Bhilai Steel Plant of SAIL has bagged the Prime Minister's Trophy for the sixth time as it was adjudged the best performing integrated steel plant in the country during 2003-04
Announcing this at the 33rd Annual General Meeting of the company, SAIL Chairman Mr VS Jain said the company's performance touched a new peak during 2004-05 with net profit zooming by 171 per cent to a record level of Rs 6,817 crore and turnover touching Rs 31,800 crore.
While drawing attention to the emerging constraints relating to raw materials, especially coking coal, Mr Jain said the company was contemplating equity participation in certain coal mines. Discussions were on to forge joint ventures and alliances for development and up gradation of mines.
On SAIL's future expansion plan, aimed at enhancing hot metal production capacity of the company by 8 million tonnes by 2011-12, the Chairman also disclosed that capital schemes valued at over Rs 3,500 crore were under various stages of implementation.
Panel clears 20 million tonnes coal linkage for power units
The coal linkage committee approved monthly coal linkage of more than 20 million tonne for power utilities and captive power plants. The linkage has been granted for the October December quarter at a time all utilities are facing acute coal shortage and have to resort to imports as a short term measure to meet requirements.
It is reported that 9 million tonne has been approved for the power plants of National Thermal Power Corporation NTPC, 2.75 million tonne for Maharashtra State Power Generation Company, 1.5 million tonne for the Gujarat Electricity Board, 1 million tonne each for Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Punjab State Electricity Board and Rajasthan and the Haryana State Electricity Board has been granted 8 lakh tonne.
Nearly 2.5 million tonne of coal linkage for 80 captive power plants has also been approved. Some of these major plants include Hindalco 2.98 lakh tonnes, Bharat Aluminium Company 1.23 lakh tonne, Grasim 17,000 tonne and National Aluminium Company 3.9 lakh tonne
Salzgitter Chief optimistic about steel demand and prices
Salzgitter AG is aiming to increase its sales to euro 7 billion this year as per CEO Mr Wolfgang Leese, which is close to its upper limit for organic growth
Turning to the current market conditions for the industry, Mr Leese told local press that the steel boom is still not over. Furthermore, he said steel prices will have to continue to rise, in the wake of higher oil and energy prices, and a weak dollar. 'In order to absorb these effects, prices for flat steel may rise further, to euro 60 per tonne in the next twelve months
Czech watchdog clears Evraz buy of Vitkovice Steel
The Czech antitrust office has announced unconditional approval of 7.05 billion crown ($289.9 million) sales of Vitkovice Steel by Russia's Evrazholding. It would be the biggest Russian investment in the Czech Republic.
"With the exception of existing import quotas there is nothing which would prevent potential competitors from entering the Czech market, so the merged entity will continue to face market competition," the competition office said.
Evraz won a government tender for 99 percent in Vitkovice, one of Europe's biggest makers of heavy plate, but the takeover has been halted by a decision of a Czech court at the request of a creditor of Vitkovice Steel's former parent company. Mittal Steel, which was ousted from the tender for Vitkovice Steel, has threatened to challenge the acquisition by Evraz at the European Union. Government officials have said the issue should be resolved soon and nothing should prevent the Russian firm from taking over the assets.
Vitkovice Steel made 870,000 tonnes of steel products last year, equal to about 6 percent of the total production of Evraz.
Bolivian El Mutn iron project bids extended to December 19
Bolivia's government will accept offers for a bidding process to operate the El Mutn iron project in Santa Cruz department until December 19, instead of previously set date of 23rd September. The government will open technical offers on December 21 and economic offers the next day,
The companies which have expressed interest in bidding include Mittal Steel, Rio Tinto, Jindal Steel, EMPX Brazil, Techint's Siderar, Essar, Severerstal, Teck Comico, CVRD and Luneng Shandong Group
El Mutn covers 60 sq km and boasts estimated reserves of 40 billion tonnes of iron ore. The project winner would team up with a state steel company specially created for the project, Siderrgica El Mutn. During the first year the project winner would have to perform final design and geological-mining studies before starting works in the second year.
Operations would start in 3 to 4 years, to reach minimum production of 1.5 million tonnes per year of iron metal. The project would develop four iron furnaces in Suez port's duty-free zone.
Terra Nostra SS caster on schedule in Zibo
Terra Nostra Resources Corporation, one of the leading copper producers in China, reports that the target date to commence trial production for the casting mill at its new integrated stainless steel plant Shandong Quanxin Stainless Steel Co, of which Terra Nostra owns a 51% interest, remains on schedule for October
The electric arc furnaces have been installed, and the installation of the continuous casting line is nearing completion. Testing of the furnaces, as well as the piping networks, oxygen generation, and power management is underway. For the rolling mill, the major pieces of equipment for the first rolling line have been delivered and installation is underway, with trial production scheduled for November.
The integrated stainless steel plant, in Zibo City, employs electric-arc furnaces and will have a casting mill with initial production capacity of 180,000 MT. The downstream rolling mill is to be phased in over the next two years having a design capacity comprising 90,000 MT of stainless steel rod, 60,000 MT of stainless steel strip, and 30,000 MT of stainless steel welded tube.
Brazilian long majors Gerdau, Belgo, Barra fined for price fixing
Gerdau SA and two other steelmakers will have to pay fines of 7 percent of 1999 gross sales after Brazil's antitrust regulator found they colluded to set prices. The regulator's board voted 4-1 to fine Gerdau, Belgo- Mineira and Barra Mansa for price fixing
According to the complaint to the agency, made by construction industry associations in Sao Paulo state, the steelmakers set up a system of fake discounts to divide the market among them and prevent competition.
Porto Alegre based Gerdau will have to pay about 160 million reais, based on the 2.26 billion reais of 1999 gross sales. Similar figures were not available for Arcelor controlled Cia Siderurgica Belgo-Mineira and Cia Siderurgica Barra Mansa, a steelmaker controlled by Grupo Votorantim, Brazil's largest industrial group.
The three steelmakers make long-steel products such as concrete reinforcing rod, wire, nails and I-beams used primarily by the construction industry. The companies also make angle irons and other shaped products used to build electricity transmission towers and the frames of cars, trucks, busses and agricultural equipment.
Inco opens Asia Pacific office as it splits global business operations
Toronto based Inco Ltd is opening a base in Australia to concentrate on Asia's runaway appetite for metals and has announced to splits its global operations in two distinct units Asia/Pacific and North America/Europe. As part of the reorganization Inco will establish an Australian office to oversee Asia Pacific operations, which accounts for almost 60% sales
A company spokesperson said "This new organization supports our aggressive growth and our drive to be the world's leading nickel company. In particular, it recognizes the growing importance of our Asia Pacific operations as we build the Goro project in New Caledonia, and expand our PT Inco operations in Indonesia. We expect China to remain a key driver of the nickel market and our Asia Pacific operations are ideally positioned to meet growing demand from China and the rest of Asia going forward"
Inco, which opened a sales office in Shanghai in 1994, has acquired more facilities near Shanghai and Dalian
As part of the shuffle, Inco has named Executive VP Mr Logan Kruger as President of Asia/Pacific and Mr Mark Cutifiani, former President of Ontario operations, becomes President of North America/Europe operations.
South Korean stainless steel scrap imports down
South Korea's import of stainless steel scrap fell during the first half of this year as the country imported only 208,000 tons of SS scrap, down by 18.1% compared to the same period last year.
Imports from Japan totaled 82, 000 tons in the first half of the year, with American imports totaling 34,000 tons, 21,000 tons from Holland and 19,000 tons from Russian.
Smorgon upbeat about outlook
Smorgon, which has three main businesses metal recycling, steel making and metals distribution, commented on its outlook in its annual report and expects strong demand for its products to continue amid high levels of construction activity, global mining production and steel production.
The company said Australian construction activity had the largest impact on its revenues and profitability and while there was some weakness in the housing sector, this was offset by high infrastructure spending.
"We see infrastructure continuing to be strong in 2005/06," Smorgon said.
"Mining production is expected to continue at high levels globally, indicating continuing strong demand for the company's grinding media and railway wheel product lines.
Timken to close South Carolina plant
The bearings and steel supplier Timken Company plans to close its Clinton, SC plant, with production being phased down over the next two years, as part of an ongoing program to increase the competitiveness of its Automotive Group by reducing fixed costs and creating more focused factories.
The Clinton plant produces a broad array of components and bearings for automotive power train and chassis applications. The plant also manufactures bearings for industrial applications, such as transmissions and outboard engines. The products from the Clinton plant will be integrated into other facilities throughout Timken's manufacturing base in US.
The Clinton plant opened in 1961 as part of The Torrington Company. In 2003, Timken acquired Torrington. Timken initiated the Automotive Group restructuring at the end of July, and it expects to announce further actions related to the restructuring in the next few months.
Midwest Tube Mills sold
Tarpon Industries of Marysville, Michigan has signed an agreement to purchase Midwest Tube Mills Inc at $27.5 million. The sale is expected to close before the end of the year, Tarpon said.
Midwest Tube Mills was established in Edinburgh, Indiana, in 1993, by Mr Rick Russell, which he moved to his hometown in November 1999.
Midwest Tube Mills manufactures and distributes steel tubing for industrial, commercial and residential uses. The company has six manufacturing plants with revenues of about $25 million
Tarpon Industries makes and distributes structural and mechanical steel tubing and engineered steel storage rack systems.
Hurricane affects Northwest Pipe sales
Northwest Pipes has announced that its income in the third quarter will be lower than previously expected. "A combination of events headed by Hurricane Katrina, related transportation issues and delays at some of our key suppliers are delaying the receipt of critical raw materials," said Mr Brian Dunham, President and CEO. "Additionally, we have closed our Houston facility temporarily in anticipation of Hurricane Rita as requested by authorities.
Accordingly, we will not hit our revenue or earnings targets for the third quarter. We had expected to report record revenues in this quarter, but instead, have had to cut back production temporarily at four of our facilities. Total revenues are now expected to be approximately the same as we reported last quarter."
The cost of steel, the Portland-based company's primary raw material, is increasing rapidly, which impacts Northwest Pipe's tubular products group, Mr Dunham said.
Trade union at Coruss Workington plant keeps their hopes alive
Corus has announced, in last February, that it would close the rail making Mossbay plant in Workington on July 28th 2006 and move the business to Corus Scunthorpe Rail Service Centre, but the trade unions, however, have not given up the fight and are to make a last ditch bid to keep production alive at the sprawling site.
Mr Denis Tytek, chairman of the joint branches of the Community union and the sites multi-union group, believes there should be a new review into the demand for its speciality short rails.
He said: We will be making a presentation to management in October and the rationale behind our presentation will be the continuing demand for our short rails by Network Rail, by Irish Railways and by the London Underground. The Underground uses only short rails and there is a big new demand for the upgrading of that network in time for the Olympics.
Arch Coal honored for best reclamation practices
Arch Coal has announced that one of its mines was honored by the director of the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining for demonstrating the best reclamation practices of the past year. It is the second year in a row that an Arch Coal subsidiary won the highest excellence award in surface mining.
The award went to Arch of Wyoming's Seminoe I mine in Hanna, located in the Carbon Basin of southern Wyoming, for establishing a diverse and productive grass and shrub community that enhanced the wildlife population's quality of life.
St. Louis based Arch Coal Inc is one of the largest coal producers of US, providing the fuel for about 7 percent of the electricity generated in the United States.
ThyssenKrupp progresses in reorganization of construction business
ThyssenKrupp, under a best owner solution, has decided to sell Oberhausen based Hoesch Contecna Systembau GmbH. The company, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Hoesch Bausysteme GmbH, is involved in the design and installation of steel roof and wall cladding elements and sales of around Euro 40 million.
An agreement to sell Hoesch Contecna Systembau was signed on September 20, 2005 with Franzen Holding GmbH & Co. KG, a medium-sized company group based in Kottenheim in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate region.
Franzen operates in the construction sector and specializes in the realization of turnkey industrial and commercial building projects and has annual sales of Euro 70 million.
