October, 01 2005
OP Jindal group lines up merger of investment cos
The $4 billion OP Jindal group is reported to be exploring the possibility of bringing together various investment companies as a single entity in a bid to rationalize their holdings in group companies and facilitate fund-raising exercises as per an article in press.
The group has over 10 investment companies which hold varying stakes ranging from 2% to 28% in the group companies. The plan is to consolidate these investments in a single company which could be listed and subsequently used to raise resources to meet the groups future expansion program.
Group officials had earlier indicated their intention to raise large amounts of funds to acquire raw material assets both within and outside the country. The move is in line with the current competitive situation in the steel industry, where ownership of coal and iron ore resources would help control operating costs. This merger plan is also learnt to have figured in discussions between group executives and financial institutions, with the later pressing for an early settlement to the cross holding of investments in group companies.
The plan however does not include any move to merge the four operating companies JSW Steel, Jindal Stainless, Jindal Steel & Power and Jindal Saw, on the grounds that it would be difficult to marry the varied production processes and diverse markets.
The OP Jindal group is one of Indias largest integrated steel conglomerates with annual steel making capacities of about 8m tonnes and total revenues grossing Rs 18,000 crore. The group has a presence in almost all categories of steel from hot rolled coils to stainless steel, with each company managed independently by the late Mr OP Jindals four sons, while Mr Sajjan Jindal heads JSW Ltd, Mr Naveen Jindal heads Jindal Steel & Power Limited, Mr Ratan Jindal heads Jindal Stainless Limited and Mr PR Jindal heads Jindal Saw Limited
Welspun to supply 199.5 Km pipes to Indonesian PGN
State gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara PGN has awarded contracts amounting to some US$132.4 million to three companies to provide goods and services for the pipeline connecting gas rich South Sumatra to West Java, enabling the project to start construction in November.
PGN will buy coated pipes from PT KHI Pipe Industries, a subsidiary of state steel producer PT Krakatau Steel, for a 38.88 kilometer pipe segment connecting Muara Baju and Rawamaju, the company said.
Indian large diameter pipe maker Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd will supply pipes for the 199.5 kilometer segment connecting Grissik and Pagardewa
The pipeline is expected to be completed by October next year
Baldota Group of Companies Chairman passes away
Mr Abheraj H Baldota, Chairman of Baldota Group of Companies passed away after a brief illness. He was 90 and leaves behind wife and son Mr Narendra Kumar Baldota, Managing Director of MSPL Ltd Hospet.
Mr Abheraj Baldota, a law graduate from Bombay University started his illustrious career as a lawyer in Bombay in 1943 and was also founder Chairman of The Greater Bombay Co-Operative Bank. He later shifted to Hospet and took up iron ore mining business and was a pioneer in exploring export market for iron ore. Under Mr Abheraj, MSPL saw many developments and diversifications in the areas of production of industrial gases (Vijaya Oxygen Company) and Wind energy. MSPL produces 140 MW of power, largest in the country with an investment of 650 crores.
Mr Abheraj Baldota received Capexil award for export excellence, Justice of Peace award by Govt. of Maharashtra and Samaja Bhushana award by Vibhudesha Thirtha Swamiji of Admar Mutt, Udupi.
MECON organized a workshop on alloyed pig iron
Mecon Limited organized a workshop on the use of alloyed pig iron in mini steel plants and foundries. The aim of the workshop was to disseminate the knowledge base among designers, engineers, entrepreneurs of this technology.
The workshop was held in association with the department of mines and department of science and technology, Government of India
Coking coal prices to remain high
Coking coal prices are forecast to remain at high levels until the end of 2006 but increasing supply from Australia is limiting further gains in prices, analysts said. They said the current benchmark term price of 125 USD a metric ton for coking coal, which more than doubled on April 1, is supported by recovering steel prices and the supply of coking coal remaining tight.
But, Citigroup Smith Barney analysts said in a research note that a surge in coking coal supply from Australia, whose exports jumped 23 pct in the first half of 2005 compared to a year earlier, is limiting further rises in the price of coking-coal. The increasing supply from Australia led the Citigroup analysts to moderate their price forecasts for next year to a rollover in the current contract price. Previously, the Citigroup analysts had forecast a rise to 135 USD a ton.
Commodity analysts said Australia's ability to supply more coking coal shipments is currently hampered by port capacity at key export terminals such as Dalrymple Bay, which services the Bowen Basin mines in the Australian state of Queensland. But Citigroup analysts noted Australian miners are overcoming the infrastructure constraints by exporting coking coal at the expense of lower priced thermal coal.
Despite the prospect of rising Australian supplies, Macquarie Bank commodity analysts said, in a research report, a reported rise in cash costs for US producers to 80-100 USD a ton will act as a significant support for prices. They expect this to be the case until new lower cost capacity comes on stream in Indonesia and Australia.
The Macquarie analysts are also tipping that benchmark prices will remain at current levels following the completion of the annual price negotiations with Japanese and Chinese steel mills, which will soon get underway.
China's steel production may rise 25% in 2005
China, producer of a third of the world's steel, may increase output of the alloy by 25 percent this year, pushing down prices and increasing demand for steelmaking raw materials including iron ore and coking coal.
China's crude steel output will probably grow at the fastest pace in at least nine years to reach 340 million metric tons in 2005, according to the median forecast from five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Output in 2006 may increase as much as 15 percent to 390 million tons, according to analysts including Shanghai-based Lance He from UBS AG.
"It's going to get worse unless they close some capacity," said Mr Paul Scott, London-based analyst at CRU International, an adviser to the mining and metals industry. "It's likely to bring global prices under pressure."
China's surging output has forced Shanghai-based Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the country's largest steelmaker, and rivals including Korea's Posco and Taiwan's China Steel Corp. to cut prices. It may also push up prices for iron ore and coking coal.
China will consume 300 million tons of steel this year, according to the country's top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, in a report June 18.
China's steel prices have declined. Prices of flat products, used in car bodies and home appliances, have fallen 13 percent so far this year to Sept. 23, outpacing a 5.1 percent drop in long products used in construction, according to the China Iron and Steel Association. Baoshan Steel, which supplies almost half the country's auto steel, cut the price of flat products by as much as 17 percent for the fourth quarter.
ThyssenKrupp plans to raise steel prices further by Q1 2006
ThyssenKrupp AG said it plans to raise steel prices further by the first quarter next year. 'In light of the continuing high raw material costs we aim to increase the steel prices further for the first quarter 2006,' said a spokesman for the company's steel division ThyssenKrupp Stahl AG. However, he added that no decision has yet been taken.
The company also said it is confident it will implement the steel price hikes that it has already announced in the fourth quarter this year.
ThyssenKrupp said earlier this month it will be raising its prices for flat carbon steel products by 20-30 euro per tonne in the fourth quarter, arguing the hike is 'urgently required' due to high raw material costs.
Arcelor gains control of Brazil steelmaker Acesita
Arcelor announced that it has exercised its option to buy an additional 6.1 million shares for about $116.4 million to acquire a 25 percent voting stake in Acesita held by a group of Brazilian state run pension funds Fundacao Petrobras de Seguridade Social (Petros) and Caixa de Previdencia dos Funcionarios do Banco do Brasil (Previ) in Brazil's Acesita giving it majority control of the stainless steel producer.
Prior to the deal, Arcelor held 28 pct of Acesita's total share capital and 39 pct of its voting shares, while Petros and Previ jointly controlled 24.7 pct of Acesita's voting shares, representing 15 pct of the total capital meaning that it raised its voting stake in the company to 63.9 percent.
The deal, which was expected, comes as the Luxembourg-based Arcelor is consolidating its Brazilian assets into one company, to be called Arcelor Brazil. The process includes grouping Belgo Mineiro, Companhia Siderurgica de Tuburao, or CST and Vega do Sul into one company listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.
Arcelor Brazil will operate 25 mills producing 11 million tonnes of steel a year, making it Latin America's largest steel producer. The restructuring is expected to be completed by mid-November.
South Korean steelmaker confidence low BSI
The business confidence of South Korea's steel producers is expected to remain weak due to hot competition from Chinese rivals in the fourth quarter, an industry body said Friday. According to the Korea Iron and Steel Association, the 259 domestic steelmakers' business survey index (BSI) stood at 73 for large producers and 77 for smaller producers for the October-December period. A BSI reading below 100 means those who are pessimistic about future business conditions hold a majority.
The steelmakers held bright prospects for productivity, facilities utilization and sales, while they were gloomy about upcoming product inventories, product and raw material prices.
"Though they managed to evade a panic in the third quarter, the psychological effect of low-price imports from China is weighing down still on their business confidence," said an official of the association. POSCO, South Korea's largest steel maker, cut the domestic prices of its 11 steel products this week in a bid to compete with a surge in imports of Chinese products
MMK to invest US$2.6 billion in its development in 2005-2010
Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works MMK plans to invest US$2.6 billion in its development in 2005-2010. The realization of investment program will enable to provide smelting of 13.5 million tones of steel including 4 million tones of electric steel as well as to reduce production costs.
In 2004 the Works reached high production capabilities. The production of sinter amounted to 10 million 361 thousand tons, coke production was registered at 5 million 870 thousand tons, the production of pig iron and steel reached 9 million 654 thousand tons and 11 million 294 thousand tons respectively.
OneSteel sees strong Aussie steel market
OneSteel Ltd has restated its forecast of a strong domestic steel market in the coming year driven by the mining and manufacturing sectors. In the steel maker's annual report MD Mr Geoff Plummer said domestic steel trading activity was expected to remain strong with non-residential and engineering construction continuing to increase.
"As these sectors drive more than 45 per cent of OneSteel's revenue it will offset the softening that has occurred in the residential sector," he said. "The mining and manufacturing sectors are expected to grow, offsetting the slowdown in the automotive and rural sectors."
Mr Plummer said the $325 million project to convert OneSteel's Whyalla steel works to magnetite ore from hematite ore would be a key task for management this year, with the focus on meeting time and cost targets.
Mittal Steel US restarting Indiana plant blast furnace
Mittal Steel has decided to restart a blast furnace in East Chicago Ind, at about the time another is going down in Cleveland. The moves are part of the company's ongoing effort to balance its supply of steel with the demand for its products in the marketplace and the needs for maintenance of various iron making and steelmaking equipment.
Mr John Mang, executive vice president, operations west, said IH3 BF at Mittal Steel USA Indiana Harbor will be restarted in mid-October. It has been idle since early May.
At Mittal Steel USA Cleveland, one BF was down for three months because of a combination of accelerated maintenance and market conditions. It returned to service in August, when the company announced that Cleveland's other BF will be cooled for maintenance in October.
BHP Billiton sees new upswing in China construction
The world's largest diversified miner, BHP Billiton Ltd Plc said on Friday that the outlook for demand in China for key commodities remained very strong.
"We are actually seeing a new upswing in construction activity in China," Chief Commercial Officer Mr Marius Kloppers told the Merrill Lynch Australia Investment Conference in New York. "All of the leading indicators are actually pointing towards greater growth in the next couple of quarters."
Mr Kloppers said he expected an improvement in the European steel market.
"We actually see steel demand bouncing back in Europe in the next couple of quarters. We believe that production will pick up. We see that market as quite favorable," he said.
Steelmakers form joint venture at Follansbee coke plant
Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel and a subsidiary of Severstal North America have announced the formation of Mountain State Carbon JV which will produce coke at four batteries in Follansbee, West Virginia.
Dearborn, Michigan based Severstal North America makes flat-rolled sheet steel mainly for the automotive, converter and service center markets. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Russian steel producer OAO Severstal.
Wheeling Pitt emerged from bankruptcy in August 2003 and has facilities in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Mittal Steel Poland wants to buy Stalprofil steel distributor
Mittal Steel plans to buy shares of listed Stalprofil from its employees and to build a distribution network. Stalprofil was acquired by the investor together with PHS
Mittal Steel Poland deputy CEO Mr Jerzy Podsiadlo is reported to have told press that without a controlling stake in Stalprofil the company could not build a network. We are to receive an official proposal to buy our shares. We have not received any letter yet. We will make decision when we get it
It is further reported that Mr Roeland Baan CEO of European operation has mentioned that Mittal Steel will build two servicing centers.
Polish distributors fear that Mittal Steel Poland will try to oust them from the market. We can understand that producers want to maximize income and acquire the delivery chain but in developed markets, 65 percent of sales of steel products are conducted by distributors, including independent ones, Mr Andrzej Ciepiela, the head of the Polish Union of Steel Distributors said.
Arcelor built such a centre in Bytom for Euro 21.7 million, while Voest Alpine is going to build one in Tychy for Euro 18 million. Both companies will be able to deliver over 150,000 tonnes of flat steel for automotive industry and home appliances producers.
Shougangs New Works aims at auto grade steel within 3 Years
Shougangs new works in Caofeidian will produce auto steel within three years. The company announced recently to set up a joint development center for auto steel with Beijing Technology University.
Experts predicted that Chinas consumption of steel for auto could top 10 million tons by 2010, while import material is currently accounting for more than 50% market share. The project is conducive to reducing cost of steel for auto and pushing on a healthy development of domestic auto industry.
Novamerican Q3 profit down
Canada based Novamerican Steel Inc has announced that declining steel prices depressed its third-quarter sales and profit
The company earned $4.3 million, or 41 cents per share, for the three months ended Aug. 27, compared with $21.6 million, or $2.17 per share, a year ago.
Net sales declined 12 percent to $191.2 million, down from $201.7 million a year ago, even though the company sold more steel than it did last year. Novamerican sold 454,000 tons of steel in the quarter, 6.4 percent more than the 427,000 it sold in the same period a year ago. Profit was also down when compared with the second quarter, when the company earned $8.7 million
The company said it believes steel prices hit the bottom in July and expects prices to rise in the fourth quarter.
Novamerican makes and sells steel products in the U.S. and in Canada.
General Steel, Baotou Steel sign joint venture agreement
General Steel Holdings Inc Tianjin, a manufacturer of hot rolled steel sheets primarily for use in tractors, agricultural vehicles, and other specialty vehicles, today announced that the General Steel Holdings and Baotou Iron and Steel Group Company Ltd have signed a joint venture agreement
The name of the joint venture will be Baotou Steel General Steel Special Steel Joint Venture Company Ltd. The joint venture will establish a hot rolling facility in Kundulun District, Baoutou City, Inner Mongolia for production of specialty steel products including alloy and carbon structure steel, as well as finished steel for industrial use in Chinese market and abroad.
Market price of steel in Liaoning tended to fall
Owing to the abundance of steel supply in the market construction steel and special steel had a falling price trend in Liaoning as per a release from Metallurgy Depart of Liaoning Economic Committee
The report indicates reduction in ordinary wire rod and deformed bar by RMB150 per ton, round bar RMB200 per ton, medium plate by RMB250 per ton, SBQ plates by RMB200 per ton. Some of the special quality steel is also reported to have reduced, high carbon steel by RMB200 per ton and bearing steel by RMB600 per ton.
The committee says that the construction steel supply is plenty at present and the demanding is nervous now. So the price will be steady for a time, with no sharp increase or decrease. And the falling of ship sheet is for that the capacities is extending, leading the over plus of the products; meanwhile the price war between steelworks also contributes to the price falling.
ThyssenKrupp Senstahlcenter celebrates anniversary
ThyssenKrupp Stahls wholly owned Remscheid based subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Senstahlcenter celebrates its 125th anniversary in the historic Stadthalle Wuppertal.
ThyssenKrupp Senstahlcenter is among the world's leading suppliers of flat rolled steel for saw and knife manufacture. Its products include hot rolled coils, cut to length hot rolled plates, mild and hardened cold-rolled strip as well as quarto plates, which are processed and cut to size. Over 13,000 tons of plate and strip steel in various grades and dimensions are sold per year.
Saws have been manufactured in Remscheid and the surrounding area for over 200 years. A large part of the European saw industry is concentrated there, making circular saws for various uses.
ThyssenKrupp Senstahlcenter also has a long history. Back in 1853 the Hagen-based company Asbeck, Osthaus & Co established a warehouse in Remscheid, which is shown on a construction drawing dating from 1880. A hand written document of the family owned company contains a request for the "Granting of a Concession". The Hagen works began supplying puddled steel to the warehouse in Remscheid in 1855. Over the course of the years Asbeck, Osthaus & Co specialized in the supply of special starting material to tool and above all saw manufacturers.
In 1937, the company traded under the name Stahlwerke Harkot-Eicken. The next decades saw various mergers. In 1978, the company was taken over by Friedrich Krupp Httenwerke AG. Following further amalgamations and the steel merger in 1997, Thyssen and Krupp Hoesch combined their operations in the "Circular saws and knives sector. In 1999, the former warehouse on Industriestrasse in Remscheid became an independent subsidiary, ThyssenKrupp Senstahlcenter GmbH.
Nangangs focusing on API plate gauge coil
Nangangls medium plate coil works adjusted production structure and concentrated on manufacturing hard-to-get products such as X60-series and X42-series pipeline which are badly needed in the market.
The works has made out producing schedule in details and appointed technical experts to check and instruct during the whole process.
Worthington Industries announces extension of credit facility
Worthington Industries Inc announced that it has amended and restated its long-term revolving credit facility with a consortium of banks led by Scotia Capital and PNC Bank. The amendment provides for an extension of the facility commitments to September 2010, beyond the maturity of the 6.7% Notes due 2009.
The facility may be used to fund general corporate purposes including working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and dividends.
Worthington Industries is a leading diversified metal processing company with annual sales of approximately $3 billion. The Columbus, Ohio, based company is North America's premier value-added steel processor and a leader in manufactured metal products such as metal framing, pressure cylinders, automotive past model service stampings, metal ceiling grid systems and laser welded blanks.
Beiman Special Steel exported 33,659 tons during Jan-Aug 2005
Beiman Special Steel exported special steel of 33,659 tons during January to August this year and earned US$26.81mln, equivalent to twice over the whole year of 2004.
The company exported special steel of 16,721 tons during July to August with export value of US$10.894mln, steel ingot of 2,952 tons, forged products of 3,025 tons and rolled steel of 10,745 tons.
Philippines' Palawan has 414 mln tons of nickel ore deposits
A research conducted by the Kilusan Love Malampaya and Federal State of Palawan Movement FSPM based on the data of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources DENR disclosed that Palawan has 414 million tons of nickel ore with the biggest deposit found in barangay Berong, Quezon town.
Caesar Ventura, KLM member and FSPM convener, said that barangay Rio Tuba, Bataraza where the multimillion nickel project is located, only has 9.6 million tons.
The said nickel processing and limestone mining jointly operated by Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. and Coral Bay Mining Corp. comprising of Sumitomo Mining and Metals Corp, Mitsui Co Ltd and Nissho Iwai Corp of Japan, is included in the 10-point legacy of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
It is reported to have an investment portfolio of US$180 million while the expected income is US$318 million.
Wuhan Steel joins share reforms
Wuhan Iron & Steel Co Ltd, China's third largest steelmaker, became the latest major corporation to join the Central Government's effort to float US$250 billion of non tradable State holdings in listed firms and will convene a shareholders' meeting Tuesday to hammer out specifics.
"Trading in our company's shares will be suspended from Monday as we begin the process of reform," it said in a statement published in the Shanghai Securities News.
That move came after Baosteel listed the country's first warrants in a decade in August as part of its own State-share reform, and analysts have said they expect as many as 40 other companies will follow suit this year.
In a tightening of control intended to protect the value of government-owned assets, the government now directs companies to first gain approval from local level State asset management bureau.
Each provincial bureau must review corporate reform plans in detail, according to new rules published over the weekend by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission under the cabinet.
Mauritanias SNIM iron ore miner upgrading Guelb Rhein
Mauritanias SociNationale Industrielle et Minie SNIM iron ore mine, which is located in the Kedia dIdjil area of northern Mauritania, spending more than $200 million to further upgrade Guelb Rhein facility. It is also modernizing the railway and raising capacity to 13.5 Mt/y. SNIM plans to use EU funds to build a second loading facility for ships.
Miferma was created in 1952 to exploit iron ore deposits in the Kedia dIdjil area with port facilities at Nouadhibou on the Atlantic coast. Snim was created by the nationalization of the Miferma consortium in 1974. The Mauritanian government now owns 78% of Snim and Arab financial and mining organizations own the balance. In 2001, Snim formed a joint venture with Australias Sphere Investments to study options for open pit mining at a separate magnetite deposit at Guelb El Aouj. In early 2003, Kumba Resources acquired an earn-in option and, in January 2004, African Lion agreed to partially fund the first stage of a bankable feasibility study.
SNIM an annual production of 12 million tonnes with total proved and probable resources in 2004 were 1 100 million tonnes and total measured and indicated resources in 2004 were 2 400 million tonnes and accounts for 12% of Mauritanias GDP.
Jigang blast furnace No.3 had the first iron production smoothly
Jigang head office's No.3 blast furnace, which has a capacity of 1,750 cube meters, had the first iron production smoothly on 19th Sept.
This means that the head office entered a new phase of structure reforming, and that the molten pig iron system would step into a stage of large scale, automation and high efficiency.
The mismatch between the capacities of iron and steel will be completely solved
InterMoly to complete Greenland moly project study in Q1 2006
International Molybdenum plans to complete a definitive feasibility study on its Malmbjerg and Flammefjeld molybdenum deposits in Greenland by the end of the first quarter of 2006, the UK based company said
InterMoly said believes at this stage that it will be able to produce 22.5 mil lb/year of molybdenum trioxide concentrate, containing around 16 mil lb of molybdenum equivalent to around 4% of current world production. The estimated cash production cost is around $4.50/lb within an overall breakeven cost of $8/lb including capital repayment and financing costs.
"For optimized economics, it is planned that mining operations at Malmbjerg will be carried out underground. This will mean that the challenges of mining on a 12-month a year basis at a location within the Arctic Circle are also met. Mined production in the winter months will be warehoused for transportation when there is full access to clear tidewater," the company said.
Moly oxide prices have eased from record highs around $40/lb in recent weeks, but are still well above their long-term average level; the Platts dealer moly oxide price was set this week at $32.50-34.00/lb. For the period 2000-2004, the price averaged just over $6.00/lb.
Chrome miner IFM to raise 80m with Aim listing
Australian based miner International Ferro Metals is to list on London's Alternative Investment Market on Friday and aims to raise 80 million pounds for the building of a chromite mine in South Africa.
IFM was formed in 2002 to buy and develop the Buffelsfontein chromite mine in northern South Africa, which is expected to produce 267,400 tonnes of ferrochrome.
The company said it has secured a market for 64 percent of the ferrochrome through contracts with a Chinese and a U.S. company. IFM said state-owned Chinese steel producer Jisco had agreed to take 120,000 tonnes of production a year once the plant goes into production. Jisco is also an IFM shareholder, after investing $34 million in the project. US steelmaker Commercial Metals has agreed to take 50,000 tonnes.
Mittal Steel files $3 bln mixed shelf with US SEC
Rotterdam based Mittal Steel Co NV said it may periodically sell up to $3 billion in debt securities, Class A common shares, warrants and units.
The company said in a shelf registration statement on Form F3 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including financing major capital spending and acquisitions.
Under a shelf registration, a company may sell securities in one or more separate offerings with the size, price and terms to be determined at the time of sale.
Greek Sidma SA Opens Steel Unit in Bulgaria
Greek Sidma SA started operating a steel company in Bulgaria with Packer Plada Ltd, a market leader in Israel's steel market
Sidma owns 75% of SID-PAC Bulgaria SA, with the remainder owned by PackerPlada. The stake was acquired through Sidma's wholly owned Cypriot subsidiary, SIDMA Worldwide (Cyprus) Ltd, a holding company for the Greek firm's stock abroad.
The company will build a steel service centre and establish a distribution network in Bulgaria.
Mittal Steel SA to host contractor lekgotla ahead of R8 bn spend
South Africa's leading steel producer Mittal Steel South Africa will host a contractors' briefing in Johannesburg before the end of the year in a bid to inform current and potential suppliers about the resources it might need for its R8 billion, three year capital expenditure program. No date has been set for the gathering, but regional initiatives have already been initiated in a bid to put potential suppliers in contact with the steel giant's procurement managers.
CEO MR Davinder Chugh says the conference will allow its procurement managers a chance to interact and talk to potential suppliers and gain insights into how they can help local contractors fulfill the group's requirements.
The capex program is set to last until 2008 and will involve a variety of asset-replacement projects and upgrading of existing facilities and is additional to the R1 billion already being spent on environmental projects.
Mittal Steel SA came in for criticism last year, when it let its R455 million market coke project in Newcastle, Kwazulu-Natal, to a Chinese led consortium, Citic Acre, which also brought in expatriate technical skills.
