January, 16 2006
Kalinga Nagar blockade enters 15th day
The indefinite blockade by tribal objecting to any displacement for establishment of industrial projects entered its 15th day on today. Agitating under the banner of the Bisthapan Virodhi Jana Manch, the tribals have set up road blockades at about 15 places on a five km stretch of the Daitari-Paradip NH-200 Expressway between Duburi and Gobarghati, completely paralyzing traffic. The blockade was started by the tribal on January 2 after 12 persons were killed in police firing.
"The blockade will continue till our demands are met," Chakradhar Haiburu, president of the manch, said. The demands, which virtually called for no further establishment of industries in the area, included compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the next of kin of the victims and Rs 10 lakh to the injured.
It also demanded that the Chief Minister Mr Naveen Patnaik, Finance Minister Mr Prafulla Chandra Ghadei and several other ministers should step down. The demands also included institution of criminal proceedings against then Jajpur District Collector and SP and provision of employment of the displaced jobless in existing industries.
CIL may divert coal to non core sectors
Due to reduce off take from thermal power sector Coal India Limited is actively contemplating slowing down production in the coming days and diverting it to the non-core consumers at a higher price. The two subsidiaries of CIL which are likely to be affected most are Mahanadi Coalfields Limited MCL and South Eastern Coalfields Limited SECL, which has the maximum core linkages with thermal power plants in Orissa and Maharashtra.
The price realized from the non-core sector customers is often substantially higher compared to core sector linked consumers, which include power, steel and sponge iron sectors.
The sudden slackness in demand from thermal power plants stems from the higher generation by hydel projects following heavy rains, which has increased flow of water in several rivers. The current stock at pitheads is at a record high of 19.2 million tonnes as against normal stock level of around 12 million tonnes. It may be recalled that sometime ago, the Coal Ministry had nearly decided to snap the core linkage of certain thermal power plants for their inability to lift adequate coal from the pitheads, which had resulted in rising inventories for the coal companies.
Iron ore cargo movement to Paradeep port blocked
Road blockades following the Kalinga Nagar firing incident at Badbil in Keonjhar district have seriously affected cargo traffic to Paradip port. Sources in Paradip Port Trust said that transportation of iron ore and other minerals from Sukinda valley through Daitari-Paradip express highway has been totally stopped for more than 14 days.
The truck traffic has reduced by half as only 1000 trucks were carrying iron ore to the port instead of 2000 earlier. The blockade had affected the transport of iron ore to the Paradip port as trucks were forced to make a detour of 25 km to skirt the troubled spot.
KIOCL waits for hearing in Supreme Court
Kudremukh iron Ore Company Limited KIOCL a public sector enterprise has stopped mining activity at Kudremukh from the midnight of December 31 in compliance with a Supreme Court order to protect the environment in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats region from the ravages brought about by years of mining iron ore.
KIOCL is now anxiously waiting for the apex court to take up for hearing in the last week of January two petitions filed by the company and its workers to determine whether any salvation is in store for them. "We have adhered to the Supreme Court orders dated October 30, 2002 and September 30, 2005. KIOCL has stopped mining activity at Kudremukh and has removed equipment to different places. We are now waiting for the Court to consider our petitions and the report of the monitoring committee,'' a company official said.
Meanwhile the company has made alternative arrangements to keep the pellet plant running. It has signed an agreement with the National Mineral Development Corporation to source 0.9million tonnes of ore up to March 31 this year. It is also looking at other suppliers and developing mines elsewhere in Karnataka to feed its pellet plant. The request for a mining lease in the Ramanadurg area with deposits estimated at 100 million tonnes in the State is expected to be taken up by the State Cabinet shortly. It would take three to four years for KIOCL to develop the mines and start mining.
KIOCL is India's largest exporter of iron ore and pellets with shipments of 0.7 million tonnes of ore and 3.80 million tonnes of pellets worth around Rs. 1,850 crore, mostly to China in 2004-05.
Mittal Steel likely to opt for MECON
Mittal Steel Jharkhand is likely to appoint a project consultant soon for its steel project and it is reported that. MECON, a public sector undertaking under the ministry of steel, is likely to bag the contract. MECON has a record of providing project consultancy services for most steel projects in India and also has a long standing relationship with Mittal Steel.
However, Mittal Steels person is reported to have said that it was too early to say who would be awarded the project consultancy contract. He however confirmed that the company is in the process of setting up a corporate office in Ranchi.
Three killed in steel mill in Orissa
At least three persons were feared killed and 15 others injured in a mishap at a steel plant near Athgarh in Orissa. The plant has been closed for sometime and layers of slag had been deposited, which caved in when almost 20 workers were removing the layers of the slag.
The slag layers came crashing down from a height and some are feared buried beneath the huge amount of slag. There was no official confirmation of casualty but locals insisted that already three bodies had been retrieved.
Mukand puts another plot up for sale
A little over a month after the Rs 221 crore sale of its Kurla plot, Mukand has puts its Vidyavihar land, which present holds the official address of Mukands wholly owned subsidiary Vidyavihar Containers, up for sale and the deal is expected to be finalized by March.
According to real estate experts, the one million sq feet land at Vidyavihar, located in Mumbais central suburb, will be worth almost Rs 300 crore.
The proceeds from the sale will be used to retire debt and finance expansion plans of the company. It will help Mukand finance the Rs 120 crore capacity expansions and create further downstream facilities at its Ginigera and Dighe plants. The expansion will increase the companys alloy steel capacity to almost half a million.
Maheshwari group to invest Rs 11 cr in steel
Amritsar based Maheshwari group is putting up a steel plant at Manawala in Amritsar with an initial investment of around Rs 11 crore. The unit, expected to start operations in the first week of February, will be a greenfield project, having an annual production capacity of 36,000 tonnes of special steel profiles and special sections, primarily for the export and exporting industries.
The group has two units engaged in manufacturing TMT bars and special steel wires. The TMT bar unit, Parvati Profiles, has a production capacity of 16,000 tonnes of TMT bars per annum. The other unit, Beas Wires and Nails, manufactures special steel wires and products like shoetacks, flat switch wire, reed wire, health wire. It is also engaged in manufacturing special wire sections like half round, triangular and rectangular hollow. The unit produces over 2,500 metric tonnes of wire per annum in various qualities including Hard Bright, Half Hard Bright, fully annealed and galvanized wires.
Rehabilitation package sought for KIOCL daily wagers
Tungabhadhra Ulisi Horata Okkuta has demanded that Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) announce the rehabilitation package for its daily wage employees. Okkuta president Mr Kalguli Vittal Hegde alleged that though it was the duty of the company to provide the rehabilitation package, the company had been trying to turn its daily wage employees against environmentalists saying that if the environmentalists did not oppose the extension of KIOCL mining, the company could continue to give jobs to them.
Misled by the company, the daily wage employees, instead of pressing for a rehabilitation package, have turned their anger against the environmentalists.
Dofasco duel - Bidding war erupts
Thyssen-Krupp has raised its bid for Canadian steelmaker Dofasco Inc to nearly $5.3 billion and posed a new challenge to rival Arcelor in a pre emptive strike. If Arcelor was planning to announce a new this morning at anything less than ThyssenKrupp's latest offer, yesterday's announcement would kill those plans, said the person close to the bid.
Arcelor spokeswoman Mr Jackie King said the company had no response to its rival's new offer.
Speaking from Germany, ThyssenKrupp spokesman Mr Christian Koenig said "we just want to show determination" with the new bid.
Iron ore negotiations to restart in Tokyo
Australian iron ore majors Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are expected to press for a significant hike in contract prices this week when they resume annual price talks with Japanese steel mills in Tokyo. But the most important meeting in Tokyo this week will be that between the mills and CVRD.
The Brazilians are rumored to have sought a rise of as much as 40% in initial negotiations to compensate it for a sharp rise in Brazil's currency, the real. But in the wake of last year's 71.5% rise and recent declines in steel prices, the market is forecasting a more moderate increase of up to 20%. However, the prospects of a settlement in the short term appear remote. When talks broke up in December, the Japan-based Tex Report noted that little common ground had been reached.
BHP is again expected to highlight the freight cost advantage of Australian iron ore over Brazil, but it isn't clear whether it is prepared to press for a compensating freight premium as it unsuccessfully did last year. BHP's stance last year was roundly condemned by the Chinese and Japanese mills.
Last week, China's Xinhua news service reported that there had been little progress in talks between its lead negotiator, Baosteel, and the miners. Despite the tight market conditions, the Chinese are demanding a price cut given the weakening steel market and the prospect of rising iron ore production. The China Iron & Steel Association and 16 of the nation's steelmakers, including Baosteel, met last Thursday to discuss the strategies for their negotiations with iron ore suppliers. But iron ore imports into China remain strong. Chinese imports for 2005 were up 32% on the previous year at 280 million tonnes.
Last week, ABN AMRO repeated its forecast of a 10% rise and Goldman Sachs revised its forecast to 18% price rise.
Anglo American begins de-merger
ANGLO American$70.6 billion London-listed mining giant with substantial Australian interests has assembled a team of heavyweight advisers to break itself up. Mining giant Anglo American PLC has appointed UBS, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to oversee a break up of the company.
UBS is to handle a de-merger of Anglo's packaging business, Mondi, which could be listed in London with a market value of about 3 billion sterling. Goldman Sachs is to oversee a disposal of Anglo's 51% stake in Anglo Gold Ashanti, the world's third-biggest gold producer. Separately, Citigroup has been appointed to sell Anglo's 79% stake in South African steelmaker Highveld Steel, which has a market value of about 876 million sterling.
The disposals were first mooted in a strategy review unveiled by the company last October. At the time, Anglo said it wanted to 'establish Mondi as a separate business' as part of an effort to focus on its core mining businesses. The group also said it planned to sell down its majority holding in Anglo Gold Ashanti, although it stressed that it intended to remain a 'significant' shareholder in the medium term.
Talks are under way with the South African Government about how the proceeds from a sale or demerger can be moved out of the country without incurring huge tax penalties.
NDRC figures cast doubt on coal mine closures in China
China's attempts to shut down illegal and unsafe coal mines have met with mixed success, the nation's safety watchdog has revealed. Only around 40 % of the pits on the government's 2005 closure list had stopped mining by the end of last year, according to a document released by the National Development and Reform Commission NRDC. The country had planned to shut down 5,001 unsafe coal mines last year, but only 2,157 had been closed, said the commission, China's highest economic planner.
The numbers, however, conflicted with those announced by the State Administration of Work Safety SAWS several days ago. SAWS Vice Minister Mr Zhao Tiechui said 5,290 coal mines had been closed down, and the government's 2005 goal of shutting down 4,000 had been met. Announcing that 21 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions had completed the "demanding task" in 2005, Mr Zhao praised most provincial governments for their increased closure efforts.
SAWS had praised Central China's Henan Province for shutting down more than 800 mines last year. However, the NRDC found that only 155 inferior coal mines in the province have been closed. North China's Shanxi Province, which accounts for nearly one-third of China's coal output, planned to close 1,200 pits, but only 276 had been shut down by the end of last month.
NDRC called on local governments to strengthen their efforts in the "closure campaign," and suggested punishing local officials who failed to perform their duties. The commission criticized a majority of provincial governments for their tardy reaction to the central government's decision and said only a small fraction of provincial governments had met last year's goal.
Polish miner killed by coal block in Czech OKD mine
A Polish miner succumbed to injuries caused by a released coal block in the Darkov mine in the Karvina vicinity, north Moravia, on Saturday evening, OKD mines spokeswoman Ms Vera Breiova said. The accident occurred some 700 meters under the ground after 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Ms Breiova said that no one is to blame for the tragedy, it was just an unlucky coincidence.
A commission comprising representatives of the mine management, trade unions and the District Mining Authority in Ostrava investigated the accident on the spot in the night.
Power utilities shifting to coal from gas
Coal is expected to make a comeback as a fuel for power generation, according to projections by leading power equipment makers Alstom, Siemens AG and General Electric Co, the Financial Times reported. The report said new technology that makes coal operations less polluting is behind the shift.
Alstom and Siemens have independently concluded that coal-powered generating equipment is increasingly in favor, with the newspaper saying that some 40 % of turbine orders in the next 10 years will run on coal while the share of gas-fired equipment will fall to between 25-30%. The FT said the trend was already evident in 2005, which saw orders for about 120GW worth of new generating capacity. Some 20-30% of orders were for gas-powered plants while 30-40% were for coal-fuelled generators.
Romanian president orders coal mine closure after explosion
Romanian president Mr Traian Basescu on Sunday ordered the closure of a 200 year old coal mine, one day after a deadly blast occurred there. "We are closing the mine ... we will seek solutions for Anina," Mr Basescu told a group of government officials, reporters and relatives of the dead.
The explosion occurred on Saturday in the southwestern city of Anina, killing seven miners and injuring five others. Local police said the explosion was due to an accumulation of methane gas in the shaft of the mine. An investigation is underway into the causes of the accident.
At more than 1,000 meters below the surface, the Anina coal employing 544 miners, is one of the deepest mines in Europe and produces 1,000 tons of coal every day.
Ukraine requires licenses for ferroalloy & stainless steel exports
Ukraine introduced licenses for the export of ferroalloys and stainless steel in ingots and other simple forms, products from scrap metal, copper matte, crude copper and copper anodes for electrolytic plating in 2006, the government said.
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