October, 09 2005
Mittal Steel signs MoU with Jharkhand government
Mittal Steel chairman Mr LN Mittal today signed three MoUs with the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand government, committing to invest approximately Rs 40,000 crore to enter mining and steel making operations in the state, at the residence of Jharkhand CM Mr Arjun Munda in presence of Mr LN Mittals family members and state officials
Jharkhand CM MR Munda hailed it as a historic day
The first two MoUs are for imparting technical education and facilities in the area and the third MoU is for investment in steel and mining
Mittal Steel now intends to undertake a detailed project report (DPR) to identify location of the steel plant, iron-ore and coal mines and water resources. It will also study the possibility of setting up a mega plant of 2,500 MW and also townships for its employees, as part of the project, said a press releases
Neither the state government nor Mittal Steel has set a timeframe for the completion of the DPR. The project would be developed in two phases of six million metric tonnes each, with the first phase expected to be completed within 48 months of the agreement of the DPR and the second within a further 54 months after the completion of phase one.
India to become steel major in future
Mr LN Mittal termed India as one of the leading economies of near future and said the better economic policies of the country for past few years was now paying off.
Addressing a press conference here after signing a MoU with Jharkhand government for setting up of 12 mt steel plant as his maiden venture in India, Mr Mittal said, ''it is quite clear that India is fast becoming a leading economy of the world. The country has achieved some important milestones with the economic policies of past few years. I hope that the GDP growth rate of the country will touch 9 per cent mark in few years.''
He said the per capita steel consumption in India, which was about 30 kg at present, was also bound to increase and would come closer to that of China (80 kg) and West European countries (300 kg).
''The country will be leader in the field of steel production by 2020. Also for the huge demand of steel there will be no competition in this field. The total demand by 2020 will be around 100 mt. Even big players producing steel will not be able to meet the demand.''
Goas Ex-CM opposes monorail project in Goa
Alleging vested interest behind the proposed Rs 3000 crore monorail project in Goa, former CM Mr Manohar Parrikar today said the ''dream project has been tailor made'' to suit a Bangalore based party without identifying the party.
The global tenders for the project seeking expression of interest for undertaking the feasibility as also executing the project on BOO/BOOT basis was not legally tenable, the BJP leader said. The Government advertised seeking expression of interest without carrying out a survey of its own. The bidder had to do the survey, prepare a feasibility report and undertake the job also for the elevated monorail project which was not commercially viable
Supreme Alloys opts for Tempcore technology for DeBars
Ghaziabad based, Supreme Alloys has tied up with US SAL Tempcore for manufacture of thermo mechanically treated TMT reinforcement bars for construction
The unit will have a capacity of 15,000MT per month
Auto major Delphi files for bankruptcy
Delphi Corp, US's largest auto supplier, filed for bankruptcy on Saturday, sending shock waves through a US auto industry already weakened by high labor costs and falling market share. Delphi's bankruptcy, which is expected to result in plant closures and layoffs, is one of the largest in US history.
Delphi filed to reorganize its US operations in federal bankruptcy court in New York, where a hearing was held Saturday on requests that it be allowed to continue operating. Delphi's non US operations were not included in the filing.
Delphi Chairman and CEO Mr Robert S Miller said the company hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 in early to mid-2007. "We will make every effort to make this as quickly as possible," Mr Miller told press
Mr Miller, a restructuring expert who was hired in July, had threatened to take the company into bankruptcy if he failed to reach a restructuring agreement with Delphi's former parent, General Motors Corp., and its largest union, the United Auto Workers. Miller set a deadline of Oct. 17, when U.S. bankruptcy laws are scheduled to change.
Mr Miller said nothing will change immediately. Delphi will continue to pay its 50,000 U.S. employees and suppliers and will ship its products on schedule. Delphi has 31 plants in 13 states, including Michigan, Ohio, Alabama and California. The company has 185,000 employees worldwide.
Based in the Detroit suburb of Troy, Delphi has struggled to make a profit since GM spun it off in 1999. It lost $4.8 billion in 2004 and nearly $750 million in the first half of this year.
Delphi, No. 63 on the 2005 Fortune 500 list of the country's largest corporations, had listed $17.1 billion in assets and $22.2 billion in debt in Saturday's bankruptcy petition.
OYAKs winning changes privatization scenario in Turkey
As the Turkish Armed Forces Pension Fund, OYAK, won the Erdemir Privatization tender with $2.77 billion bidding, a different scene emerged in the frame of privatizations. The union members, who have been organizing demonstrations using the slogan "No to Erdemir Privatization," were also in the streets of Eregli on the day of the Erdemir tender. The workers waited until the open bidding ended and after they heard that their new boss was OYAK they did not organize their usual demonstrations. Instead they folded up their banners and went home.
The manner of the workers, who are famous for going to the courts with their files under their arm, surprised everybody. The presidents of the unions voiced their gladness. But, this conflicts with their demonstrations against other privatizations.
When OYAK includes Erdemir it will be the third biggest company in Turkey after Koc and Sabanci Holdings. OYAK's YTL 4 billion turnover will reach YTL 15 billion after Erdemir's turnover.
OYAK, which was established after the 1960 military coup under the title "Turkish Armed Forces Provident Fund" with a special law that ensures a 10% obligatory deduction from the salaries of army officers and noncommissioned officers and exemption of corporation tax, income tax and expenditure tax.
OYAK controls its more than 30 companies, ranging from the construction, food, automotive to the banking sector, under its own umbrella. The majority of its seven member executive board constitutes regular or retired generals.
Ferro Vanadium price continues to rise
The international ferrovanadium price is still keeping its high levels. In September, the ferrovanadium price continued to rise in the European market.
On September 23 the price was already 67 percent higher than the August 31 level of US$36-40 per kg at US$62-65 per kg. Moreover, vanadium pentoxide price also rose from US$8-10 per pound to US$13-14 per pound, showing a 50 percent increase.
The price of ferrovanadium in the Chinese market is strengthening and the price should continue to rise. At the beginning of September, the ferrovanadium (V50) price was RMB 135,000 PMT, which rose to RMB 240,000 PMT at the end of the month,
The reason is that demand for high tensile steel is up in the international market
Thailand to abolish Anti-dump tax on HRS
The Thailand Business Department has announced that they will abolish the anti dumping tax of 5.98% and 136.50%, imposed in September 2004 for 5 years on hot rolled sheets and plates
The tax was abolished after requests from domestic steel manufacturers.
There is a gap in supply and demand of HR sheets and Plates in the country of more than 200,000MT per year and can be met through imports only
China coal mine Heilongjiang plans 2006 IPO
Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Group, China's third largest coal mine, plans to raise more than $258 million in a Hong Kong public offering in the first half of next year. Heilongjiang Longmei had picked CITIC Capital as the IPO sponsor and it planned to bring in strategic investors before the deal.
This follows an IPO by China Shenhua Energy, the country's largest coal producer, which raised US$2.95 billion in June.
Heilongjiang Longmei was formed in December 2004 through a merger of four state owned coal producers as the northeastern province tried to emerge as one of the country's top coal producing bases. It produced 27 million tonnes of coal during the first half of this year and plans to raise annual output to 100 million tonnes.
Resource hungry China looks to North Korea
Investment in North Korea by Chinese companies jumped from a paltry 10.4 million yuan in 2003 to 1.36 billion yuan in 2004, according to an analysis of media reports by Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency. China is flush with cash but hungry for resources, while North Korea is economically destitute but rich in mineral deposits. It seems like a perfect match.
North Korea, long isolated from the international community for nuclear and human rights issues. It has faced almost insurmountable difficulty in attracting foreign investment and technology, which it badly needs to revive its shattered economy.
North Korea also claims to have about half the world's reserves of magnesite. It also boasts reserves of 1.2 billion tons of iron ore in a mine in Musan, northeastern North Korea, which are believed to be the largest in northeast Asia.
According to the Korea Institute for National Unification, a Chinese company invested 100 million yuan in the iron ore mine. In 2004, the mine exported 600,000 tons of refined iron ore to China. This year, it is expected to top 1 million tons.
Emirates Building System embarks on major expansion program
Emirates Building System (EBS), a Dubai Investment subsidiary which specializes in intricate steel structures in UAE, is currently implementing a major expansion program to double its annual production capacity to more than 50,000 metric tonnes a year, which will be completed by November this year. Under the expansion program, machinery from Europe is being installed for about AED50 million.
Mr Khalid Kalban, Chairman and CEO, Dubai Investments, said: "The current expansion plan has become essential following the massive order book position. In fact, our entire production has been exclusively booked till the second quarter of 2006. We are sure this capacity expansion will bring more benefits to the company apart from relieving the pressure on the order book position."
EBS has sales offices in six countries and has certified builders in 12 countries with plants located in Dubai Investments Park, Jebel Ali, to manufactures, sells and erects steel structures of international quality.
Iron ore shipments declined in June
Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway headed for regional steel mills declined by more than 1 million tons in June compared to a year ago. This June, 5.9 million net tons were shipped, a 16 percent decline compared to the same time a year ago, according to the Cleveland-based Lake Carriers' Association.
High steel inventories and weaker prices reduced production at North American steel mills, which use iron ore to make steel.
Iron ore shipments from Duluth in June were 887,345 net tons compared to 797,968 net tons in June 2004. Shipments out of Superior were 1,029,569 net tons in June, down from 1,497,901 net tons in June 2004. Shipments from Two Harbors were 1,272,755 net tons in June, down from 1,416,424 net tons a year ago and shipments out of Silver Bay were495,414 net tons in June, down from 687,530 net tons in June 2004.
Over the first half of 2005, shipments on the Great Lakes and Seaway were 22.5 million net tons, or 10.7 percent behind shipments over the same period in 2004. Overall, iron ore trade this year is 3.8 percent off its five-year average.
Stroytransgaz awarded 324 km long Arab Gas Pipeline
Russias Stroytransgas has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a 324 kilometer pipeline from the Jordanian border to the Al-Rayan area east of Homs for Syrian Gas Company (SGC). Construction is due to start in 2006.
The pipeline is the first phase of the Syrian section of the Arab gas pipeline, which will carry Egyptian gas to Europe via Jordan, Syria and Turkey.
An Egyptian, Syrian and Turkish JV will build the pipeline extension stretching from Homs to Kilis in southern Turkey. Construction of this section is expected to take 22 months, with first Egyptian natural gas to be exported to central Europe by 2007
Low demand hit Turkish rebar exports
Turkish mills have suffered a slow moving export market situation for rebar and billet products because buyers are waiting for the price to be lowered.
It is reported that Turkish mills are not able to maintain their rebar price at levels in line with the raw material prices as they are not able to find buyers at higher levels
It is reported that the present levels of $400 FOB Turkey for rebar prices may fall in near future. Wire rod export price have also fallen to the same level as rebar
SeverCorr & GE enter $440M finance deal
SeverCorr has received $440 million financial support from GE Commercial Finance to construct new steel mill in Columbus, Mississippi.
The steel mill will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons of flat rolled steel products. The products will be sold in the southern US steel market.
By the third quarter of 2007, SeverCorr, a partnership between SteelCorr LLC, owned by steel industry veteran John Correnti, and JSC Severstal, Cherepovets, Russia, expects to produce hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated steel product.
Bids submitted for palletizing plant of GIIC
Technical bids were submitted on 1 October for the infrastructure EPC contract, estimated at $90 million-$100 million, for expansion of the iron palletizing plant of Gulf Industrial Investment Company GIIC at Hidd,
from Kobe Steel, MAN Ferrostaal and Koch Transporttechnik. The contract entails construction of a jetty, a stockyard, power and desalination plants and seawater intake facilities.
For the main contract to expand the plant, which includes installation of a kiln, rollers and palletizing machines to double capacity at the plant at an estimated cost of $250 million - $300 million, bids from Kobe, Siemens, Outokumpu and Danieli are under evaluation & Company.
Sale of MetalCutting successfully concluded
The closing of the sale of the MetalCutting business unit was completed yesterday after regulatory approval was received.
The buyer is the US Company Maxcor, which is based in New York. The acquisition of MetalCutting expands Maxcor's product spectrum in the machine tool business.
The sale of the MetalCutting business unit completes the portfolio optimization of the Technologies segment. In the future, Technologies will concentrate on the business units with growth potential - Plant Technology, Marine Systems and Mechanical Engineering.
ThyssenKrupp Technologies is an international manufacturer of high-tech plant and machinery. On the basis of world-leading market positions and innovative system and engineering capabilities, it supplies systems, facilities, specialized machinery and components together with associated services
Prequalification bids for 50 kilometer long Gasco pipeline
It is reported that several companies have submitted pre qualifications bids to Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Company (Gasco) for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to supply and install a 36 diameter 50 kilometer long gas pipeline from Habshan to Bu Hasa.
A tender is due to be issued by late October for the estimated $35 million-40 million contracts. The US Fluor Corporation has carried out the front-end engineering and design (FEED) package.
The pipeline will transport gas to be made available from the proposed Habshan gas complex expansion, for which an award is due for the EPC contract.
Four bids for Al-Khafji platform
Four groups of contractors submitted bids on 3 October for the detailed engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract to build an integrated wellhead platform offshore the Divided Zone for Al-Khafji Joint Operations in about 15 months
The four bidders are J Ray McDermott of UAE, National Petroleum Construction Company of Abu Dhabis, Al-Rafid Trading & Contracting a Saudi Arabian & Malaysian JV and Ramunia of Egypt
The scope of works for the estimated $20-30 million contract involves the installation of a 1,000 tonne facility, about 40 kilometers offshore in a water depth of 30 meters, consisting of a two level deck, with a helipad, along with 12 well slots and a two bay vertical jacket, supported by driven, through-leg piles.
