December, 04 2005
SAILs BSP planning an iron ore facility through JV route
SAIL is planning to set up an iron ore beneficiation plant and along with it a pellet production unit at the captive mines of Bhilai Steel Plant in collaboration with a private party. Both these two units are likely to be grouped into one composite industrial unit and it would be located near the Hitkasa slime pond next to the Dalli Iron Mines in Chhattisgarh. The private player would be asked to set up the whole unit. Capacity of the proposed pellet plant has been pegged at 0.5 million tonnes per annum. It would be producing only blast furnace grade pellet.
For this project, SAIL would be offering the land and water to the private partner and the two would have a special agreement. Sources said that the infrastructure would be set up by the private player but it would cater only to SAIL's needs. Accordingly, it would be paid off on a cost conversion basis.
SAIL has already sought expressions of interest (EOI) from the interested parties.
Pakistan allows import of mild steel structures from India
Pakistans Commerce Ministry on Saturday amended the import policy and issued an SRO to allow import of mild steel structures from India. The amendment permits import of mild steel structure from India at normal import duty of 25 percent, with immediate effect. The order has been issued to all Collectors of Customs for implementation. The amendment in Imports and Export Act was introduced on the special request of Federal Relief Commission (FRC). He said FCR wanted import of mild steel structure from India for earthquake-hit region. Mild steel structure can expedite construction work in earthquake hit areas.
The SRO (I)/2005 reads as "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950 (XXXIX of 1950), the federal government introduced further amendment in the Import Policy Order, 2005. It added that in the Order in appendix G, after serial number 772 in column (1) and the entries relating thereto in columns (2) and (3), the following new serial number and the entries relating thereto shall be added 773 respective headings-mild steel structures".
Previously, import of mild steel structure was allowed from other countries, except India. It may be noted that Pakistan Steel had opposed import of any kind of steel or products thereof from India in a recently held meeting. The PS had claimed that import of steel or any steel products from India would hit local steel industry and push it into complete disarray.
The government of Pakistan through the import policy Order 2005 had notified a list of 722 items that import of which is allowed in Pakistan from India, and the new notification states that the mild steel structures will be the item number 773 imports of which has been allowed from India.
Tata Metaliks to decide on expansion plans
Tata Metaliks, one of the largest pig iron manufacturers of the country, is mulling a foray into steel making and setting up a casting unit, too. These new businesses are estimated to cost the company about Rs 1,000 crore. The new facilities are likely to come up in Kharagpur in Bengal where the companys existing plant is located.
At present, Tata Metaliks manufactures only foundry-grade pig iron and wants to get into forward integration to diversify the risk of a single-product business. The steel making facility, which could have a capacity in the range of 0.5-0.8 million tonnes, will produce basic-grade pig iron for making billets
Tata Steel holds a 46.6% in Tata Metaliks.
Suzuki to turn Gurgaon into Detroit
Suzuki has promised to turn Gurgaon into an automobile city like the US's Detroit. The company will also make all its future investments in Haryana alone, Mr Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki told
The car manufacturer, that brought a virtual revolution in India in the small size segment by launching Maruti-Suzuki 800 in 1983, had established a manufacturing plant at Gurgaon and is now coming up with its second manufacturing unit at Manesar near Gurgaon.
Suzuki said his company had been dealing with Haryana for the last 23 years and never faced any problem and would encourage key vendors to set up their units in Haryana to supply parts to Maruti.
Maruti-Suzuki is the largest car manufacturer in India since the last over two decades.
KIOCL staff to file review petition with Supreme Court
Even after the Supreme Court had rejected their appeal, the labor leaders Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited KIOCL have not withdrawn from their effort to convince the Apex Court. They have now decided to appeal to a six member Bench of the SC requesting it to review the decision taken by the three members Bench of the Supreme Court.
Their bone of contention is that the SC had not heard them while ordering for the closure of KIOCL and that the same judges who ordered for closure were in the three members Bench too.
KIOCL has so far not given any clear picture about what it would do to protect the interest of laborers. It has also not agreed to any of the demands put forth by the labor unions. However, it has assured to give work, though not clarified on where and when it would give the work.
Record production by ECL in November
The Eastern Coalfields Limited ECL has surpassed its two decade old record by producing 2.864 million tons of coal in November as against 2.701 million tonnes in 1988
ECL CMD Mr Dipak Chakraborty informed that sale of coal in November was also a record at Rs 351 crore and assured that the ECL would be a profitable unit very soon.
Ms Patkar to support the tribals' cause in Jharkhand
Social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan protagonist Ms Medha Patkar t expressed concern over the likely displacement of tribals in view of industrialization in Jharkhand and hinted at launching agitation for the safeguard of the tribal.
She said it was imperative to unite the tribal, who were on the verge of losing their land due to large scale industrialization. She said the state government should understand that massive industrialization was not the only way to development and industries were more interested in mineral wealth rather than public welfare. She cautioned that the proposed steel plants in the Singhbhum region would destroy the natural resources of the state.
Tribal and the moolvasi here had already taken up arms and lodged vehement protest against the land acquisition by the Jindal and the Tata Steel in Asaboni and Tentoposi in East Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts respectively.
SICAL to raise funds for Ennore iron ore terminal
South India Corporation (Agencies) Ltd (SICAL) will go in for a combination of measures a rights issue, a preferential allotment of equity shares and a preferential allotment of optionally convertible redeemable preference shares to raise funds to be used to retire a part of its debt and to fund equity in a special purpose vehicle that it intends to create to implement an iron ore terminal project at Ennore port.
These decisions were taken by an internal committee of the company at its meeting today. The committee also proposed to change the name of the company to SICAL Logistics Ltd, as it plans to hive off subsidiaries and become a pure play logistics company.
NBU buys all the foreign currency used in Kryvorizhstal sale
The National Bank of Ukraine purchased over a two-day period all the foreign currency tendered by Mittal Steel in its $4.84 billion purchase of Kryvorizhstal.
The currency was purchased at the rate of UAH 5/$1. "As a result of the transaction, the NBU's foreign currency reserves now exceeds $19 billion, a NBU release states. This level of international assets is enough to provide the security and stability of the Ukrainian currency in the mid-term.
China shifts macro-control focus onto industrial oversupply
The Leaders of China's economic macro-control, which was originally aimed to solve shortages of coal, power, oil and transportation, are now shifting focus onto oversupply. The latest executive meeting of the State Council, chaired by Premier Mr Wen Jiabao, underscored the importance of the structural adjustment of industries that have an oversupply problem.
"The structural adjustment of industries that have an oversupply problem is a vital and arduous task for macro-control," the meeting acknowledged. The excessive investment in some industries such as iron and steel, cement and non-ferrous metal has caused a serious oversupply problem characterized with a price slump, stockpile increase, profit drop and deficit rise, the meeting participants said.
New projects in these industries are still emerging one after another in some places, which is exacerbating the oversupply problem, participants said. "China's production capacity is increasing due to years of sustained high growth in investment," said Mr Wang Jian, secretary general of the Society of Macro economy of China.
Enterprises wasting resources, polluting the environment and with unqualified safe production conditions have to be closed, the meeting said.
Exploreco Pipe extends OCTG distribution agreement with Bao Steel
Exploreco Pipe Ltd EPL has renewed its agreement with Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. of Shanghai China to market their oil country tubular OCTG products within the US. The contract, which is an extension of a distribution agreement reached in 2002, is expected to generate annual sales in excess of $60 million. The company also announced plans to continue the development of a proprietary premium tubing connection which is a JV with the Chinese pipe producer.
EPL has been marketing the Baosteel products since 1997. The products, which enter via the Port of Houston, are stored and processed within the Greater Houston area and stocked in several locations within the US. EPL also has similar arrangements with other foreign pipe manufactures known for their quality products.
Baosteel is has one of the most modern seamless pipe mills in Asia and manufactures high quality seamless oil country tubular goods which range from 1 inch to 7 inches in diameter.
Henan coal mine flooding traps 42
Forty-two miners were trapped beneath the ground when a coal mine in Xin'an County, central China's Henan Province, was flooded at 11:40 Friday.
Information from Henan Provincial Bureau of Coal Industry said altogether 48 miners were working underground as the flooding took place late Friday night at Sigou Coal Mine in Shisi Township of Xin'an, a county northwest to Luoyang City. Only six miners escaped the site of the flooding.
Rescue for the miners trapped in the coal mine is being carried out.
Ukraine crude steel production down by 1% in 11 months
The Industrial Policy Ministry has reported that crude steel production fell by 1% to 35.13 million tonnes and pig iron production was down by 2% to 27.99 million tonnes during January-November.
Ukraine's steel mills are reported to have produced approximately 29.24 million tonnes of finished steel. The steel pipe production soared by 123% to 2.12 million tonnes
Scrap supplies to steel mills fell by 8% to 5.83 million tonnes in the 11 months.
Iron ore concentrate production rose by 5% to 48.43 million tonnes. Sinter production was up by 1% to 43.28 million tonnes, pellet production grew by 8% to 16.1 million tonnes and crude ore production grew by 4% to 62.63 million tonnes.
Ukrainian coke production fell by 15% to 17.28 million tonnes, ferroalloy output was down by 17% to 1.37 million tonnes and manganese ore production fell by 3% to 2.03 million tonnes.
The ministry said that decrease in output was caused by a sharp downturn on the world market for steel products in the second quarter, which forced steel mills to curtail production.
China's coal stockpile climbs for seven consecutive months
According to figures released by the Coal Transportation and Sales Association, China's coal stockpile climbed to 139 million tons in October up by 3 million tons. That was the seventh consecutive monthly rise in the stockpile.
By the end of October, the coal stockpile at power plants reached 28.91 million tons up by 2.33 million tons, also the seventh consecutive monthly increase.
Although the stockpile continued to increasing, the coal price remained stable. The coal price in Qinhuangdao, which is said to reflect the general situation on China's coal market, did not drop while the price of some categories of coal increased by RMB 5/ton (USD 0.62/ton).
Taiwans China Steel pretax down by 59.6% YOY in November
Taiwan's China Steel Corp announced that it earned a pretax profit of T$2.4 billion ($71.4 million) in November, down by 59.6% over the same period last year.
Its sales for November amounted to T$14.06 billion ($418.5 million) down by 11.6% over last year.
Hylsamex merging main subsidiaries by December 1
Mexican steelmaker Hylsamex will merge its main subsidiaries and affiliate Galvak under the Hylsa group by December 1.
The companies to be merged are rebar and wire rod producers Hylsa Norte & Hylsa Puebla, traders Aceros Prosima & Aceros Masa and coated products maker Galvak.
DaimlerChrysler sues supplier Lear
DaimlerChrysler AG has taken the rare step of suing a major supplier to ensure a steady stream of parts, and a judge has ruled that Lear Corp. must continue shipping parts to the automaker for now. Oakland County Circuit Judge Colleen O'Brien issued a temporary restraining order requiring Lear to continue supplying seats and interior trim to Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler. She called a Dec. 14 hearing on whether to extend the order.
In Lear's case, the major issue is the rising price of oil, which is used to make resin for plastic parts. Two of Lear's suppliers told the company this fall they were raising prices, in part because of hurricane-related costs, according to a court filing. Lear informed DaimlerChrysler it would absorb those increases for one month but after that it would transfer the increases to DaimlerChrysler. The supplier also said it would stop shipping parts to DaimlerChrysler, according to the lawsuit. DaimlerChrysler said it depends on Lear parts and would lose $54 million per day if Lear stops shipments. The automaker said it would have to close 12 plants in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Germany within two days if the shipments end.
DaimlerChrysler said its contract with Lear prevents Lear from raising prices. That contract is in place through the 2006 model year and will likely be phased out in the summer of 2006 when automakers begin building 2007 models.
China to reduce number of small coal mines
China will shut half of its small coalmines over the next three years after a recent deadly explosion and years of pollution. The official Xinhua news agency reports that 10,000 of the country's 24,000 mines will stay open.
The head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety Supervision, Mr Zhao Tiechui, said Saturday 4,000 mines would be closed each year over the next three years. Mr Zhao said the closings won't affect the demand for coal but would reduce the pollution level and other safety hazards created by the mines.
Japans iron ore imports up in October
Japans iron ore imports for October were up 8.1% compared to the same period last year. Iron ore imports totaled 11.4 million tons for the month.
For the first ten months of the year, Japan imported a total of 110. 5 million tons, down 0.7% compared to the same period of last year.
The average price of imports for October was 5,368 per ton, 1.6 times more than the same period last year. The average import price for the first ten months of the year was 4, 419 per ton, up by 39.4%.
Quanex Q4 profit up by 67%
Quanex Corp, a maker of steel products, announced that its fourth-quarter profit surged 67% on strong sales in the company's key automotive and building segments.
Quarterly net income grew to $31.2 million from $18.7 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $483.3 million, up 14 % from $425.7 million, as sales in its vehicular business rose 28% while building products sales jumped 48%.
For the year, earnings ballooned to $155.2 million from $54.5 million in 2004. Annual revenue increased 37% to $1.97 billion from $1.44 billion a year ago.
CEO Mr Raymond A. Jean said that "overall segment demand was off in the quarter compared to the very strong demand experienced in the year-ago period. Consequently, engineered steel bar shipments were down from last year's unusually high levels,".
Japan's steel exports down by 4.2% in October
Japan's steel exports in October dropped 4.2% volume from a year earlier to 2,429,000 tons, the fourth monthly decline in a row, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said Friday. The fall came as steelmakers continued to reduce shipments overseas for inventory adjustment, due to price declines for general- purpose products in Asia caused by stepped-up production in China and other countries.
By destination, exports to South Korea declined 4.2% to 635,000 tons, while those to China fell 6% to 431,000 tons. Shipments to Thailand and Taiwan surged 20.5% to 335,000 tons and 42.6% to 307,000 tons, respectively
On the other hand, the value of steel exports in the month rose 13.3% to 2,316.03 million dollars, increasing for the 26th consecutive month.
Mr Chen is the new president of Guangzhou Steel
Mr Chen is appointed as the President and the CPC Secretary of Guangzhou Iron and Steel Group, Board Secretary of Guangzhou Steel Mr Yang Yaoxing announced.
Mr Zhang Ruosheng, the General Manager of Guangzhou Zhujiang Iron and Steel Co. Ltd, one of the group's subsidiaries, will hold concurrent posts as the general manager, vice president and deputy CPC Secretary in the group, Mr Yang added.
But at the same time, the fate of Mr Yuan Jinxi, the group's former President and CPC secretary, is still unknown.
NE China Province to Close down 200 Coal Mines
Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province will close down 200 small sized coal mines with serious hidden dangers against production safety, said Vice Governor Mr Liu Haisheng at Qitaihe. The official said the government's decision was made after a production safety overhaul toward all the coal mines in Heilongjiang.
The overhaul was performed after a disastrous blast took place on Nov. 27 in the Dongfeng Coal Mine run by the Longmei Group, which killed 169 miners, with two others still missing. Mr Liu said the overhaul targeted at such problems as the overtime running of mines, poor ventilation systems, bad coal-dust-proof equipment and over gas density underground.
The official said many small coal mines in Heilongjiang, including some run by the state, have more than one above-mentioned problem and are forced to stop production to remove the hidden dangers. By the end of this year, 200 mines that still don't meet the national standards of production safety will be shut down and all their power, water and explosive supplies will be cut off, Mr Liu said.
New partner likely as Impala pulls back from nickel project
Impala Platinum has opened the doors for other miners to take part in a Madagascar nickel project after it announced intention to withdraw from a JV. Impala announced that it would withdraw from the Amatovy nickel project, citing escalating costs since the feasibility study was completed in February as the reason for the withdrawal. While there were synergies for Impala' own nickel production cost profile in Impala' view, the project as a whole would not meet Impala' hurdle rates, it said.
In January, Canadian miner Dynatec announced that it had acquired 100% of the project from New York Stock Exchange-listed Phelps Dodge Corporation. Subsequently, the project became a tri-partite affair with Impala and Sumitomo entering the project. Impala on Wednesday met with the other stakeholders in the project, Dynatec Corporation (37.5%) and Sumitomo Corporation (25%).
The project is more likely to attract a smaller company than one of the majors, such as Russia's Norilsk Nickel.
Georgetown Steel pays $7.5 million to creditors
As per a statement of Attorney Michael Beal of LLC Liquidating Trust, it made initial distributions of about $7.5 million to unsecured creditors Georgetown Steel Company. That amount of money is 13.62 percent of allowed claims, he said.
Georgetown Steel Co. LLC owned the steel mill in Georgetown. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 21, 2003 and closed its doors on that date and was purchased by International Steel Group in June 2004. The ISG Georgetown mill reopened and began production in August of last year. In the spring of 2005, ISG merged with Mittal Steel, forming the worlds largest steel company. The local mill has been renamed Mittal Steel USA Georgetown.
Mr Daniel K. Thorne, the owner of Midcoast Industries which in turn owned Georgetown Steel, successfully sought a reduction in value of the steel mill, for property tax purposes. He had paid some $53 million for the mill and land when he purchased it in May 2002. When he sold the mill at the bankruptcy auction, ISG paid some $21 million, including assuming some liabilities for Georgetown Steel.
