January, 12 2006
SAIL to support preservation of national monuments
Steel Authority of India Ltd SAIL has decided to spend close to Rs 1.5 crore as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative, on conserving, preserving, restoring, maintaining and landscaping five ancient monuments at Lodi Gardens in the Capital. A memorandum of agreement to this effect was signed between SAIL, the Archaeological Survey of India and National Culture Fund.
The project to conserve Sikandar Lodis tomb, Sheesh Gumbad, Bada Gumbad mosque, Mohammad Shahs tomb, Athpula old Lodi bridge and their environs in the sprawling Lodi Gardens is part of ASIs efforts to restore, upgrade and maintain national monuments under the Ancient Monuments Archaeological Sites & Remains Act, 1958.
The Lodi Gardens in the heart of New Delhi was originally a village surrounding monuments surviving from the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties in15th to 16th century. The British relocated the villagers in 1936 in order to create the lush green gardens around the architectural structures. The eight-piered Athpula bridge is believed to have been built during the reign of Emperor Akbar of the Mughal dynasty.
Rourkela cut off for second day
The steel city remained cut off for the second day as the blockade at its entry points launched by tribal agitators continued. The agitators armed with bows, arrows and axes commenced the economic blockade on Monday demanding among other things the return of surplus land by Rourkela Steel Plant, taken 50 years ago, to the original owners.
Orissa CM Mr Naveen Patnaik today urged PM Dr Manmohan Singh to intervene into the problems of displaced tribal of the Rourkela Steel Plant as Centre has the responsibility to solve the genuine demands of the displaced tribal as the RSP was a central public sector undertaking. CM regretted that despite repeated reminders to the RSP authority, to resolve the issue of the tribal, the plant authority had not taken any step to fulfill the demands.
The displaced tribal have been demanding that the RSP should return the unused land to them and provide jobs to the members of the families displaced by the steel plant.
Meanwhile, the Revenue Divisional Commissioner has rushed to Rourkela to negotiate with the agitating tribal. RSP sources today said production in the plant would be affected if the economic blockade would continue for some more days.
100% FDI in captive coal mining likely
The government may allow 100% foreign direct investment FDI through the automatic route in captive coal and lignite mining by steel and cement companies. At the present, FDI in the sector is capped at 74%.
According to government sources, the group of ministers on FDI, which met recently, had decided to recommend to the Cabinet that the captive mining of coal and lignite and mining of diamonds and precious stones should be allowed to attract 100% FDI through the automatic route instead of seeking the nod of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
Electrosteel to raise $75 million through FCCB
The leading ductile iron pipe manufacturer Electrosteel Casting Ltd will raise $75 million through foreign currency convertible bonds FCCB. It will use the proceeds to develop a coal mine in Jharkhand and set up a sinter plant at Khardah Calcutta. The projects will together cost Rs 400 crore. While Rs 330 crore will come from the issue, the rest will be generated through internal accrual.
The company will invest Rs 330 crore to develop the coal mine, for which it will get the lease in two months and will start development work in six months from now. The block at Parbatpur, Jharia will generate 0.5 million tonnes of coal annually after it is fully developed. Electrosteel also proposes to set up a coal washery unit there to reduce the ash content from the Jharkhand mine.
The company has set up a coke oven plant and a waste heat recovery power plant at Haldia. At present, it imports the coking coal required there. After the mine is developed, the captive coal will be used instead of imports, resulting in substantial savings for the company.
In Khardah, where the companys ductile iron pipe factory is located, the sinter plant with a capacity of 850 tonnes per day will be set up for increasing the liquid metal availability from blast furnace. There will be an investment of Rs 66 crore. Recently, it set up a ductile iron fittings plant at a cost of Rs 50 crore. The plant will provide complete corrosion protection to DI fittings.
This is the second time in less than a year that the company is scouting for overseas funds. The $45 million global depository receipts were issued in September to expand the mini blast furnace and ductile iron pipe facility and pay debt.
VISA Steel files draft for IPO
Kolkata based VISA Steel Ltd announced an investment of Rs 1,146 crore for its proposed 0.5 million tonne special and stainless steel plant in Orissa. VISA Steel project of 0.5 million tonne special and stainless steel is expected to go on stream by 2007.
The investment of Rs 1,146 crore would be funded in a debt-equity ratio of 65-35. The company had already tied up a term loan of Rs 745 crore with various banks, said Mr Vishambhar Saran, VISA Group Chairman. "The balance of Rs 401 crore will come from internal accruals and additional equity of the Group," he said. VISA Steel has also approached market regulator SEBI for an initial public offer to sell 35 million shares of face value of Rs 10.
"We have already grounded an investment to the tune of Rs 252 crore at our plant in Kalinganagar, Orissa, in blast furnace and coke oven batteries," he said. The integrated steel and stainless steel plant in Orissa will have features of coke ovens and ferro chrome furnace.
Expressing confidence that the company would not be affected by the slump in steel sector, the VISA group chairman said: "Our production cost will be low as the company enjoys a strategic advantage of being close to all raw materials, port and railway network." And the company would capture 25% of Indian stainless steel segment soon after it starts commercial production, he said.
Contract coal prices seen to fall on increased supplies NAB
Contract coal prices are likely to be settled at lower levels following increased supplies in response to surging demand in the Asia region exerting downward pressure on prices, National Australia Bank Ltd NAB minerals & energy economist Mr Gerard Burg said in a market outlook report.
Mr Burg said the downward pressure on coal prices is being exacerbated by weaker demand conditions. He expects contract prices for thermal and metallurgical coal to fall for the 2006 Japanese fiscal year starting April 1 to levels below previous NAB and consensus forecasts.
NAB is now forecasting contract prices for thermal coal to fall to $41.5 a metric ton from $52.5. It expects semi oft metallurgical coal benchmark prices to be settled at $55 a ton, down from $85 for fiscal 2005-06 while hard coking coal benchmark prices are forecast to ease to $120 from $125
Mr Burg noted Indonesian thermal coal exports have surged since 2003 in response to soaring regional demand. But, he said, despite overtaking Australia as the world's leading thermal coal exporter in 2005, longer term growth of Indonesian exports is likely to be limited by relatively small and low quality reserves, insufficient infrastructure and an uncertain investment climate. "Market fundamentals for thermal coal have weakened considerably primarily driven by expanded supply from Indonesia and weaker demand in North Asia following a mild summer," Mr Burg said.
China mills to push for cheaper iron ore
Chinese steel mills are refraining from building iron ore stocks ahead of 2006 price talks, with weak domestic steel product prices undermining their confidence following explosive capacity expansions. Officials from the steel and shipping industries said spot iron ore prices from India slipped towards $66 CNF from around $70 early this month as orders dried up in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holidays in January.
I dont think the market will go up before the Chinese New Year, said an official at a shipping company. The steel market in China is bad. One by one, mills have disclosed they have a lot of stocks inside their warehouses.
An official at the China Iron and Steel Association said large steel mills would meet in Handan in Hebei province tomorrow. They would discuss how to ward off a rise and possibly win a price cut from miners in talks this month. With most Chinese steel product prices falling by 30 to 40% last year, mills in the worlds top producer and consumer have said they would push for price cuts, especially in view of what they called a global supply surplus in iron ore. Every steel mill is under huge pressure to control costs to survive in such a market, said an official at a steel producer. Its quite obvious there will be more supply than demand in steel in China this year.
VSA predicts 2006 to be a bad year for Vietnamese steel companies
Vietnamese steel mills, most of whom suffered big losses in 2005, are set for another bad year mainly due to excessive supplies, a senior official warned. Mr Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association VSA predicted a supply overhang based on the fact that only 3 million tons of steel were sold last year though domestic output was 5.6 million tons. This is a direct consequence of recklessly issuing licenses without considering the situation, he said.
Mr Cuong said one of the main reasons for the dismal performance was the governments capping of prices at VND8 million (US$502) a ton. The steel mills had had to pay higher prices for steel billet imports in the early part of 2005 after global prices jumped to nearly $400 a ton. Later, the billet prices dropped to $350 but the companies were left high and dry since demand had plunged. Their stocks too began piling up.
The demand for construction steel would continue falling this year since the real estate market remained sluggish and companies would struggle to get rid of the inventories they had piled up, he said.
VSA has called upon its members not to sell steel at below production costs estimated to be around VND7.3 million ($458) a ton.
In 2005 the steel industry put in its worst performance in the last five years with 44 of the associations 50 members reporting losses.
Kuzbass coal production reaches record high level
Kuzbass, the coal mining sector of the Kemerovo Region in Russia, produced 167.1 million tons of coal Mr Yevgeny Rosstalnoy, head of the fuel and energy department of the regional administration, told. The 2005 coal output became the greatest in the history of Kuzbass coal mining.
Mr Rosstalnoy added that in 2004 coal production in the Kuznetsk coal fields in Kuzbass amounted to 158.7 million tons of coal.
Chinese coal companies and users slow on supply deals
Chinese coal companies and power producers made slow progress in coming to terms on supply contracts for the coming year. Price appeared to be the major roadblock as negotiations continued past the previous deadline at the annual coal procurement conference in Jinan in Shandong Province.
The two sides signed deals for 810 million metric tons of coal yesterday, said Mr Feng Yu of the China Coal Transportation and Sales Association, which organizes the annual negotiations. But the contracts represented only 60% of the total amount of coal up for grabs at this year's meeting. Mr Feng declined to provide details on prices.
The government decided to allow buyers and sellers to bargain freely during this year's negotiations, based on an expected balance in domestic coal supply and demand. At last year's meeting, power companies agreed to an effective coal price increase of 14%, but this year market analysts think the companies have a stronger bargaining position thanks to higher coal inventories. Because of the new pricing system, almost no major contracts were signed by the scheduled close of the meeting on Tuesday, forcing the parties to extend the talks for another two days.
Market participants, however, said coal suppliers are seeking price increases of 20 yuan ($2.5) to 30 yuan a ton, or an increase of 5% to 8% because the government said it wouldn't intervene if prices don't go too high.
Chinese demand for coal this year is forecast at 2.17 billion tons, compared with a supply of 2.2 billion tons, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
German crude steel output down 1.6% YOY in December
Crude steel output in Germany in December fell 1.6% YOY to 3.53 million tonnes, while pig iron output was down 3% to 2.47 million tonnes, the Federal Statistics Office said.
On a month-on-month basis, crude steel production was down 1.9% in December, while pig iron production jumped 10.4% the office said.
Court monitor confirms that Stelco has no suitors
The monitor overseeing Stelco's bankruptcy protection says the steelmaker has received absolutely no takeover offers in the last few months. Stelco has not been approached by, or received any expression of interest from, any party interested in buying the firm, court monitor Mr Alex Morrison of Ernst & Young said late Tuesday. The monitor's report rejects some of the shareholders' concerns, saying that Stelco's forecasting processes have been thorough and comprehensive. The confirmation came one week before the steelmaker hopes a judge will approve its final restructuring plan.
The Hamilton-based company's creditors approved its restructuring plan in December. On January 17th, a sanction hearing will be held, where the company will seek approval from an Ontario Superior Court judge to begin implementing the plan so that it can emerge from its two-year bankruptcy protection process.
Shareholders, including Toronto investment firm Pollitt & Co. and AGF Management Ltd., are fighting the plan, which essentially wipes out Stelco's current stock. The shareholders allege that Stelco's restructuring plan is based on overly pessimistic steel forecasts for 2006, which wipe out value in the company.
Australian farmers hoarding steel scrap
Australian farmers are hoarding an average of 14 tonnes of scrap steel on their properties. The discovery's been made by the Smorgon Steel Group, which began a national scrap round-up nearly a year ago. The scrap includes everything from cattle crates, old rainwater tanks, tractors, fencing wire and corrugated iron.
Chief executive of Smorgon's Recycling Division, Mr Shane Grice, says he has never seen anything like it. "It's a dead set graveyard for scrap metal," Mr Grice said. "We know farmers generally are hoarders and they've got lots and lots of free space so we expect to collect something like 300,000 tonne of scrap out of a potential 1.1 million tonnes in the survey we did.
BHP Billiton resumes Western Australia iron ore shipping
BHP Billiton announced that it has resumed normal activity at its iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia after it suspended shipping from its Port Hedland facility when the region was hit by tropical cyclone Clare Monday.
"Our WA Iron Ore has returned to 100% normal operations, including all port operations," a BHP Billiton spokeswoman said. "We began loading ships again yesterday, immediately following the reopening of the port," she said.
The company's iron ore mining operations were not closed by the cyclone.
Ternium files for IPO on NYSE
Latin American steel group Ternium, which started operating last year, has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a planned initial public offering, Ternium said in a statement. Ternium, owned by Argentine-Italian conglomerate Techint, aims to use the money from the IPO to pay down debt, the company said.
The IPO would entail placing 24.8 million American Depositary Shares to raise about $434 million on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TX, according to Ternium, which has not said when the IPO would occur. Each ADS represents 10 shares of common stock.
Ternium holds the Techint Group's investments in flat and long steel manufacturing, processing and distribution businesses, including its controlling direct and indirect equity interests in Argentina's largest steel company, Siderar, Venezuela's largest steel company, Sidor, the recently acquired Hylsamex, one of Mexico's largest steel companies, and Techintrade.
Coal prices set to fall AME
Coal analysts are warning Australia's thermal coal producers to prepare for a big drop in contract prices when agreements are set in the next few weeks.
AME Mineral Economics spokesman Mr Graham Wales says contract prices with Asian buyers for last year were set around $53, reflecting increasing demand. But he says thermal coal spot prices have now fallen below $40 and Indonesia is emerging as a serious competitor.
"We would expect the term prices certainly to move into the 40s but there's still a little while to go," he said. "The spot prices have actually turned up a fraction the last month or so, so it remains to see how things go, whether Indonesian export growth slows.It's been spectacular this year, so a few more things to happen before the serious negotiations commence.
2008 Beijing Olympic Games medals design competition
The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) today launched a nationwide competition for the design of the medals for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The competition will be run in partnership with BHP Billiton, the Diversified Minerals and Medals Sponsor of the Games. As part of its sponsorship agreement, BHP Billiton will provide financial support to the medals design competition, sit on the judging panel and supply the raw materials for the gold, silver and bronze medals.
The medals design competition is the first time in Olympic history that the design of the much coveted medals has been open to the public. Design proposals are expected to interpret the themes and values of the Olympic movement with Chinese culture, style and spirit. Entries open on 11 January 2006 and close on 26 March 2006. The winning design will be officially unveiled in mid 2006.
BHP Billiton CEO Mr Chip Goodyear said the competition would be an exciting part of the lead up to the Olympic Games. This competition will provide Chinas artistic and design community with the rare opportunity of being able to get personally involved the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This is a far reaching community program that gives talented people throughout China the chance to create their own Olympic legacy. As a company with a long and proud association with China, we are very honored to be so intimately involved with the Games and the medals design competition.
Collision sparks coal port scramble
BHP Billiton is rushing to negotiate extra coal port access in Queensland following a collision between one of its coal loaders and a ship at its Hay Point terminal that will cut capacity at the terminal by 30% for two months. BHP has struck deals to divert deliveries for January through the neighboring Dalrymple Bay terminal and Gladstone port further to the south. However, it still needs to secure additional capacity for February or risk delays to customers. According to industry sources, some spare allocations are likely to be available at Dalrymple Bay in February.
The accident occurred on December 28 when one of Hay Point's two ship loaders collided with a ship-mounted crane as it moved between holds. While the ship suffered only minor damage and sailed two days later, the loader suffered cracks, and will now have to be dismantled before being repaired. The loader is out essentially for all of January and February and ship loader number two will be running at full capacity," said BHP Billiton spokesman Ian Dymock. He said loading capacity at the port would be cut by about 30 per cent for those months, which is equivalent to almost 2 million tonnes of coking coal, worth $US200 million
The problems at Hay Point, 40km south of Mackay in northeastern Queensland, again highlights the vulnerability of Australia's coal export industry to infrastructure constraints in the wake of the commodities boom.
Hyundai Heavy cuts ship assembly time
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said yesterday it reduced the time needed to assemble a 105,000-metric-ton crude carrier onshore from 85 days to 55 days. Two years after succeeding in onshore assembly, Hyundai Heavy cut the duration between keel laying and loading out to a level similar to normal shipbuilding on water by making the blocks larger.
The world's No. 1 shipbuilder developed the onshore construction method in 2004 to build more vessels while its docks or the water between piers are fully occupied. The two tankers assembled on dry ground in 55 days are to be taken by Russia's Novoship. Hyundai Heavy has already built six ships based on the new method and received orders for another 10 vessels to be assembled on the ground.
Centennial Coal awarded new export coal contract by Taiwan Power
Centennial Coal Co Ltd said it has won a 500,000 metric tons a year export contract from Taiwan Power Co, the government owned power utility. Under the five year contract, which took effect on January 1, premium thermal coal will be supplied via the Port Kembla coal terminal at Wollongong on the south coast of the state of New South Wales. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Centennial, which historically has supplied most of its coal to electricity generators in New South Wales, said the new contract with a major international coal purchaser is further recognition of its position as a growing coal exporter.
To ensure the long-term availability of Centennial's thermal coal to meet growing export demand, the company recently was granted approval by the New South Wales government to extend its Clarence coal mine by the addition of four new lease areas, adding 21 years of extra mine life.
Additional job cuts at Mittal Steel Weirton
The original number of job cuts at Weirton Mittal Steel has grown to 950 according to plant manager Mr Brian James. Mr James said back in November when Mittal Steel announced the 800 cuts the number included the jobs associated directly with the hot end operations. The 150 additional cuts are coming from the support group and staff. Those jobs include people who work at all areas of the plant and provide support and maintenance to all operations. Mittal Steel officials said 150 additional job cuts is in no way related to any additional units going idle at the plant.
Mr James said now that the hot end is idled indefinitely, downsizing the support staff is necessary. Mr James said this figure of 950 jobs is the official number handed down to the union when they received a letter notifying them of cuts which is mandated in the WARN Act.
Nova Steel Processing fined for health and safety violation
Nova Steel Processing, a company that operates a steel processing plant in Stoney Creek Ontario was fined $75,000 on January 6, 2006 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in a serious foot injury to an employee. A Ministry of Labor investigation found there was no lockout procedure to prevent movement of the component when workers were on the machine removing blades.
On July 21, 2004, a worker was helping to remove used cutting heads and spacers on a slitting line, when the worker's foot got caught in a pinch point between a stationary component and a moving component that contained a blade. The force of movement resulted in amputation of the worker's right foot. The component had been activated by a second worker to enable the cutting heads to be removed.
Nova Steel Processing pleaded guilty, as an employer, to failing to ensure a part of the machine that could endanger a worker's safety was equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevented access to the pinch point, as required by Section 25 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. This was contrary to Section 25(1) (a) of the act.
Hungarys Competition Office approves Diosgyor sale to Dunaferr
Hungary's Competition Office GVH has approved 59 applications for mergers it received last year, considering each case carefully, but finding little that might give the applicants an unfair market advantage.
GVH approval included the sale of the Diosgyor steel mill to Dunaferr. The sale involved the purchase of assets from a company under liquidation, which is an important element in the GVH's consideration
G Steel eyes 5% rise in gains
Thai HRC maker G Steel Plc projects its revenue will grow between 5% and 10% this year, with the firm planning to boost production of high-grade steel later this month.
Mr Somsak Leeswadtrakul, CEO and president of G Steel, said the Thai steel industry is expected to be brighter this year due to higher domestic demand.
The HRC sector is likely to grow at between 6% and 8% this year because of a Chinese government policy to restructure steel factories in June, resulting in a loss of between 60 and 80 million tonnes in annual production capacity. China has a total production capacity of 250 million tonnes per year. ''We'll probably see steel prices stabilize again in the fourth quarter of this year,'' Mr Somsak said.
The company currently has a 22% market share in the domestic HRC industry, second to Sahaviriya Steel Industry's 35% share. Other players include Nakornthai Strip Mill at 10%, with another 33% share comprised of imports. Currently 78% of G Steel's products are sold locally with the rest exported to the US, Canada, the UK, Italy, China, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.
The company plans to almost double its annual production capacity to 3.4 million tonnes from 1.8 million tonnes. G Steel assistant CEO Mt Ryuzo Ogino said the proceeds from the IPO, delayed from last year due to poor market conditions, together with new debentures would be used to finance production expansion plans.
Brazil's Unigal steel JV could expand output by 11%
Brazil's Unigal steel joint venture could increase galvanized steel plate output by 11% to meet automobile industry demand by the second half of 2007. Unigal operates a continuous hot dip galvanizing line and a recoiling line and produces 400,000 of steel products per year
Unigal expect the local automobile industry to stimulate steel demand this year. Domestic automobile sales grew 8.6% in 2005 to 1.7 million vehicles from the previous year while analysts are bullish on 2006
Unigal, based in Minas Gerais state, is owned by Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas 79.34% and Japan's Nippon Steel 20.66%.
Iron Mining Association names 2006 board members
The Iron Mining Association of Minnesota IMA has announced its officers and members of the IMA Board of Directors for 2006. Officers serving on the IMA Board of Directors are Mr Joe Scipioni Chairman of US Steel Keetac and Mr Mike Mlinar VC of Northshore Mining Co. Mr Jonathan Holmes of Minorca Mine of Mittal Steel US will serve as Immediate Past Chair.
Newly elected and continuing members to the IMA Board are Mr Dana Byrne of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc; Mr David Ellefson of DOM-EX, Mr Tom Farrell of P&H Mine Pro Services, Mr LaTisha Gietzen of US Steel Keetac, Ms Margaret Hodnik of Minnesota Power, Mr John Hyduke of Westmoreland Flint, Mr Tom Jamar of Jasper Engineering & Equipment Co., Mr Peter Chipper Johnson, of Hoover Construction Co, Mr Ed LaTendresse of Hibbing Taconite Co, Mr Larry Lehtinen of Ferrometrics Inc, Ms Art Lind of Lind Industrial Supply Inc, Mr Brian Maki of Lakehead Constructors Inc, Mr Bruce Mars of WP & RS Mars Co, Mr John Nielsen of Mittal Steel US, Mr Dennis Quirk of US Steel Minntac, Mr Todd D Roth of United Taconite Company LLC, Mr Tim Tomsich of Hibbing Taconite Co, Mr Scott Vagle of US Steel Minntac and Mr Jeff Washburn of ME Elecmetal.
Retiring members of the board are Mr Robert Bozich of Malton Electric Company and Mr Jeremy Fryberger of Hallet Dock Company.
Rios rating raised by Goldman on iron ore forecast
Rio Tinto Group's share rating was raised by Goldman Sachs Group Inc after the bank increased its iron-ore price forecast for 2006. Goldman lifted Rio's rating to outperform'' from in- line'' analysts led by Mr Peter Mallin-Jones said in a report. The bank also increased its 2006 earnings forecasts for Rio, BHP Billiton and Anglo American Plc.
Iron-ore miners last month started talks with steelmakers for supply contracts that will take effect on April 1. Iron ore prices will gain another 18% in 2006 as China's steel industry, the world's largest, continues to grow, according to Goldman. There is no idle capacity at iron ore mines around the globe,'' Mr Mallin-Jones said.
China will need an extra 50 million metric tons of iron ore this year, Mr Mallin-Jones said, citing an estimate from CVRD.
Timken to expand production at Virginia bearing plant
The Timken Company has announced plans to invest approximately $10 million in its bearing plant in Altavista Virginia, enabling expanded manufacturing of replacement wheel hub bearing assemblies for light duty pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.
"The Altavista facility has been a strong performer for Timken, and we are adding capacity to capitalize on a significant opportunity for profitable growth in the automotive aftermarket with this expansion," said Mr Jack Cameron, Timken's general manager for the North and South American automotive aftermarket. Timken is a leading supplier of automotive wheel-hub bearing assemblies to both original equipment manufacturers and the automotive aftermarket.
Belarusian pipe mill Mogilyov increases output by1.2% in 2005
Mogilyov Metallurgical Plant a producer of iron & steel pipes from Belarus raised output by 1.2% to 95,100 tonnes of steel pipe in 2005.
It also increased production of iron castings by 71.3% to 2,600 tonnes. Plant also produced 4,760 tonnes of fine shot, down 23.6% from 2004, and 6,640 tonnes of cast iron shot, down 25.8%.
Magilyov plant produces electro welded straight seam pipes, water and gas mains piping and shaped pipes.
Morgan BSE rebar rolling mill commissioned in Taiwan
Morgan Construction Company, together with business partner Badische Stahl Engineering BSE has successfully commissioned the first mill to implement their multi-strand slit rolling technology. The new 15-stand mill in Taiwan is designed to produce rebars from 10mm to 32mm in diameter, with 10 and 13mm production utilizing 4 strand slitting and 16mm utilizing 2 strand slitting.
Morgan provided the pass design for the mills entire product mix while mechanical equipment supply included guide equipment, multi-strand uploopers, and converging troughs for the slit-rolled products. In addition to mechanical equipment, the partners provided services to ensure successful implementation of the new process. BSE and their sister mill Badische Stahlwerke BSW conducted 12 days of pre-commissioning training for the Taiwanese mill operators in the BSW bar mill. At commissioning, Morgan and BSE worked together to ensure the successful transfer of process and equipment knowledge necessary for maximum productivity of small diameter rebars.
Multi-strand slitting provides flexible alternatives to costly mill revamps required to produce small diameter rebar on a rolling mill that was not originally designed for such production. New mills also can be installed with less mill equipment and smaller space requirements if layout planning includes multi-strand slitting.
GM backs out of Daewoo Craiova Romania bidding
General Motors Corp. pulled out of the bidding for an ex Daewoo car factory in Craiova and currently talks with Ford Motor Co and the Renault-Nissan alliance about buying engines built at the plant.
Mr Nick Reilly CEO of GM Daewoo's South Korean division said that the company did not need to buy the Craiova factory. His division needed some 60,000-70,000 engines it currently buys from the plant, and planned to increase this to 100,000 a year. Mr Reilly expressed hopes that the Romanian government, which oversees the sale of the plant, will force any buyer to keep supplying the engines to South Korea, but he also said that he had talked to Ford and Renault-Nissan, which are the most likely possible buyers.
The Daewoo Automobile Company Romania was set up in 1994 as a Korean -Romanian company in which Daewoo held a 51%. The Romanian state controlled then 72% of the remaining 49% stake. In December 2002, Americans from GM took over part of the Daewoo assets when the Korean company started to go through difficult times. The agreement however did not include the Romanian based plant. The Romanian Government decided in autumn 2005 to take over the assets of Daewoo Romania in order to resell a majority stake to a strategic investor.
Ukraine used 68% of plate quota for exports to US in 2005
It is reported that Ukrainian steel companies received licenses for the supply of 88,279 metric tons of cut to length carbon steel plate to the United States in January through December 2005, which was almost 68% of last year's annual quota set at 130,289 tons, the Economy Ministry said.
TopWheatland Tube Co for sale
Mr John Maneely co-owner of Wheatland Tube Co has acknowledged it may be sold to a private investment firm. The company is holding talks about the possible sale, and a deal could be reached as soon as this quarter, according to Mr Mark Magno, Wheatland's vice president of marketing.
The transaction would include the sale of Maneely's two divisions along with Wheatland and another company it owns, Seminole Tubular Products. The name of the possible buyer has not been disclosed.
Schnitzer tags $11 million for penalties
Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. said Monday that it expects federal regulators to impose penalties of $11 million to $15 million over accusations the scrap-metals recycler and steel maker broke anti-bribery laws.
The US Justice Department and US Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating allegations that Portland-based Schnitzer made improper payments to Asian buyers of its scrap steel, probably in violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The company made an SEC filing Monday indicating it has set aside $11 million as a "contingent liability" to cover the likely fine. Company officials said they could not tell when a settlement would be reached.
Mittal Steel Kryvorizhstal posts 1.4 billion hryvnias profit in 2005
Kryvorizhstal, Ukraines largest steel maker owned by Mittal Steel, the worlds No. 1 steel producer, reported net profit of about UAH 1.4 billion in 2005, the company said quoting Narendra Chaudhary, the acting board chairman, as saying.
TopCarpenter Technology elects Dr Jeffrey Wadsworth to Board
Carpenter Technology Corporation announced that Dr. Jeffrey Wadsworth, Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and CEO and president of UT-Battelle LLC, the operating contractor for the Laboratory, has been elected to the engineered materials company's Board of Directors. Dr. Wadsworth will serve on the Board's corporate governance and human resources committees.
Mr Wadsworth is also senior vice president for U.S. Department of Energy Science Programs at Battelle, a global science and technology enterprise headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Previously, he was director of Homeland Security Programs at Battelle and part of the White House Transition Planning Office for the newly formed U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Carpenter Technology, based in Wyomissing, Pa., is a leading manufacturer and distributor of specialty alloys and various engineered products.
Coal takes centre stage at climate change conference
The worlds biggest polluters gathered in Sydney to discuss ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with debate over burning coal dominating proceedings. Promoting technologies that reduce emissions of carbon dioxide in coal with names like gasification, oxy fuel and geo sequestration grabbed the spotlight at the inaugural two-day meeting of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.
The Sydney meeting brings together senior ministers from the United States, Australia, Japan, China, South Korea and India along with executives from energy and resources firms. The countries account for nearly half of the worlds global greenhouse gas emissions, the Australian government said.
All this attention, coal executives say, is simply an understanding that coal is a crucial energy source for many countries at the meeting and will remain so for decades to come. The reason for continued interest in coal is the simple recognition that with global energy demand growing at a rapid rate, that demand cant be met without coal, said Mark ONeill, executive director of Australian Coal Association which estimates that coal generates a quarter of the worlds energy.
Rather than banish it, coal advocates say it makes more sense to find ways to allow it to be burned more cleanly or to prevent the carbon dioxide produced from coal-fired power plants from reaching the atmosphere.
Ukrainian SCM seeks to create subsidiaries
System Capital Management SCM Ukraine's largest owner of mining and metallurgical assets will examine the creation of subsidiaries at a stockholders' general meeting on Jan. 16, the company said in a statement.
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