POSCO has decided to wait for the opposition from villagers who do not want its mega project to be located near Paradip to die down rather than use police force to repeat Kalinga Nagar incident.

Mr Cho Soung-Sik MD of POSCO India told media "We are here to set up the project so that the people benefit from it. Opposition to any project if it displaces people is normal for any country. It happens everywhere, also in Korea. The company intends to try its best to help the people who would be required to part with their land. We want to help them with their livelihood make it better than before.

Mr Soung-Sik said The Company will not try to force its way at any stage and we will not seek police help to get the work done. We do not want another Kalinga Nagar to happen, If necessary, we are prepared to wait. We are hoping that the situation will change.

Mr Soung-Sik said that work, including construction of wall and leveling of ground, will start on the project once the stir dies down and if the situation permitted the company was looking to start ground leveling by April 2007.

It is reported that Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Engineers India Limited have shown interest in taking over ailing Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels Limited and have received permission to carry out due diligence from the ministry of heavy industry.

BHPV, which has been making losses for the last few years, has chalked a revival plan by this way. This plan has also got the approval from the Board for Reconstruction of Public Enterprises and has strong support from the workers' unions as well.

Bharat Yantra Nigams subsidiary BHPV is an engineering projects construction company serving sectors like refineries, petrochemicals, oil and gas, steel and metallurgy, power, defense, cryogenics and pharmaceutical sectors. BHPV had an order book of Rs 386 crore on 1st April 2006 and its turnover stood at Rs 122 crore in 2005-06.

Exim India has reported that Visakhapatnam Port Trust has deepened its inner harbor channel and berths and that the first phase of work for increasing its draught to 11 meters will be completed by September end. The inner harbor expansion work would ease the congestion at the general cargo berth in the outer harbor where lighterage operations are carried out for heavy vessels.

Mr MS Rao deputy chairman of VPT told Exim India that VPT would initially allow Handymax vessels into the inner harbor and later in a phased manner, Panamax vessels with 230 meter LOA.

As per reports the first vessel MV APJ Akhil has been chartered to call at the deepened inner harbor in the first week of October. The 210 meter LOA will be allowed to carry a load of 40,000 tonnes initially and later up to 50,000 tonnes.

Although Orissa governments official line on implementation of POSCO Indias mega steel plant proposal has been that the progress is satisfactory, the ground realities are absolutely different. As per reports the slow progress has worried the Central government and a review meeting is scheduled by the Prime Ministers Office in New Delhi.

More than one year has passed since a MoU was signed, but even the basic land survey of the project area has not started because of the stiff resistance put up by local people. The reports say that neither POSCO India nor the Orissa government officials have been able to enter a few villages which fall within the proposed project site.

It is reported that Sinosteel India is in preliminary talks with Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd for an equity stake in the Haridaspur-Paradip dedicated freight corridor project.

Mr Hongsen Wang MD of Sinosteel India told Business Standard We are in preliminary talks with RVNL for a stake in the dedicated Haridaspur-Paradip rail corridor that will be used to transport iron ore. If the Indian government will give us permission, we are also willing to buy stake in a port.

Haridaspur-Paradip Railway Company, a special purpose vehicle with 82 kilometer rail link costing Rs 660 crore is already financed by RVNL with 47% stake, government of Orissa with 1%, Paradip Port Trust with 10%, Essel Mining with 11%, Rungta Mines with 11% and Jindal Steel and Power Limited with 2%.

This leaves 18% stake to be taken by others to complete the financing. The reports say that POSCO India wants 10% and SAIL is considering 8% stake.

Sinosteel India exports iron ore from India to China.

Indias ministry of shipping is planning to make changes in bidding norms for port projects to avoid delays caused on account of security clearances for foreign bidders on the backdrop of delays encountered in privatization of Mumbai Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust and Vizhinjam port in Kerala.

It is expected that the cabinet committee on security meeting on September 20 will decide the new norms uniform ally applicable across all the ports in India.

Larsen & Toubro and HK based Hutchison Port Holdings was denied security clearance was denied for Chennai port and MbPT. Kaidi Electric Power Company, Zoom Developers and Chinese Harbor Engineering were also denied clearance for Vizhinjam port.

L&T replaced foreign partner Hutchison with Manila based International Container Terminal Services in May but Chennai port was awarded to PSA-SICAL combine although Mumbai Port has accepted L&T's request and postponed the deadline for submission of financial bids to October 9 to accommodate the company and its new partner.

Some of the experts have opined that POSCO Indias proposed captive port at Jatadhari, although close to existing Paradip port, would not pose any threat to Paradip port and said that POSCO India would save Rs 148 crore every year by reducing berthing time for its vessels as compared to using Paradip port.

Dr Jose Paul acting chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust while He speaking at a seminar Is Posco port a threat to Paradip port organized by Nagarika committee said Paradip Port does not have to worry about POSCO port and as such Orissa badly needs minor ports for its development. He gave the example of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, where there are several ports in some of the areas.

However Mr Paul cautioned that it was impossible to establish a port without causing disturbance to the local region. What is needed is to keep the disturbance within limits and locals concerns must be taken care of.

During the seminar Mr PK Mishra former chairman of PPT also supported POSCO Indias proposed port advocated economic justification for a new port to come up. He said that the littoral drift and sand traps would ensure that both the ports could co exist without adversely affecting each other.

However Mr PV Iyer, an expert on ports felt that PPT is capable of handling the traffic requirement and there is no need for another one at Jatadhari.

Gujarat NRE Coke is bullish on LAM Coke prices and expects to see another peak in 2007 going by the past cyclical trend that one has witnessed and that spot prices have recovered to $155-$160 now as against low of $120-$125 six months ago.

Mr Arun Kumar Jagatramka MD of Gujarat NRE Coke during an exclusive CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview said that We are bullish on Met Coke prices because for the last nine years that I have been managing the company, I have seen three years of boom and six years of downturn. If one sees June 2004, that was when coke prices had peaked and since then they have been going down. Now for 2007, we could see another peak year for coke going by the past cyclical trend that we have seen.

He said that We should be seeing that price around the Chinese New Year. That is the time when the coke market is tight due to the shortage of shipments from China and prices really move up.

It is reported that following protests by the anti POSCO groups, a POSCO sponsored radio campaign being aired by All India Radio has been called off shutting off an effective propaganda mechanism.

POSCO India, which is facing stiff opposition from the villagers on whose land it wants to build a mega steel plant has been experimenting with all methods to placate the villagers, but has hardly seen any substantial results.

The empowered committee of secretaries will meet today to discuss the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group led Reliance Natural Resource Limited's objections that two coal bed methane blocks TR-CBM-2005/III and MR-CBM-2005/III were awarded without following a transparent bidding process.

After the ECS meeting held on 10th of August it was decided to award the blocks.

Subsequently RNRL had made two submissions that "If the bids for the two blocks are evaluated on the objectively defined 97 points given in the BEC, the bid of RNRL led consortium would be the winner. In overall public interest and in the interest of transparency, the bids should be evaluated on the basis of objectively defined criteria of 97 points alone."

Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers have taken up modernization project at a cost of Rs 400 crore to enhance its productivity and meet the requirements of the Indian Navy better. The project is likely to be completed in 2 to 3 years.

Under the modernization project modular workshops would be set up and the slipways would be upgraded by installation of 3,000 tonne displacement ship lift and transportation system.

TOI has reported that Mr Wilbur Ross Jr is set to enter the Indian market by acquiring a majority stake in SK Birla groups OCM India and that the deal is expected to be closed soon. The report mentions that although the exact deal size has been kept under wraps, the Asset Reconstruction Company of India has put a price tag of Rs 170 crores to Rs 180 crore for OCM India.

Birla groups Birla VXL fell sick in the mid 1990s after its capacity expansion plans ran into rough weather following an industry downturn. OCM India was carved out of it some time ago to facilitate its sale and Arcil had bought over the financial institutions outstanding dues. It has a plant in Amritsar with capacity to produce 8.6 million meters of fabric and the OCM brand.

Japanese government has repeatedly asked China to cut crude steel output capacity amid fears that a delay in China's capacity reduction efforts may result in a global glut and a sharp price fall although it is highly unusual for one country to ask another country to scrap industrial production facilities.

As per reports Mr Tetsuhiro Hosono DG of the Japans manufacturing industries bureau of the economy, trade and industry ministry last week visited Beijing to make the request again to Mr Liu Tienan, director of the industry department of China's National Development and Reform Commission.

Mr Hosono asked the Chinese government to abolish small blast furnaces with a capacity of 300 cubic meters or less. He said that in exchange, Japan would help scrap the facilities, offer environmental protection assistance and energy saving technologies via major Japanese steelmakers.

Japanese government is worried over China's ever increasing crude steel output and believe that it may cause steel prices to plunge across the world, which would affect steelmakers worldwide and also the economy of Japan.

The Geraldton Iron Ore Alliance said that the announcement by Gindalbie Metals that it is building a pellet plant in China will not affect other mining companies in the mid west.

Mr Neil Roberts acting chairman of the alliance said that the move has actually increased confidence in the region. He said "I don't think it'll have an impact on other miners, I think what it does do though is give greater certainty to the mid west region that the iron ore industry is likely to develop.

Mr Roberts said that this is not the first time high costs have forced companies to move projects offshore. He said "The sorts of economic pressures that have led Gindalbie to this particular decision are at work throughout the state, it's not just the mid west. Differentials between Australia and China are quite real and play a very important part in determining what is the most economical and sensible way for these projects to get up."

Gindalbie had last week announced a $180 million construction deal with AnSteel to build a pellet processing plant in China.

UBS in a research note last week said that the steel exports from China are expected to continue to increase during the second half of 2006 despite Chinese government initiatives to limit new capacity as well as reduce existing production.

UBS analysts mention that Mysteel has cited a customs source as saying that preliminary data suggests a rise in net steel exports from China to 3.31 million tonnes in August.

UBS note said that the rising levels of Chinese steel exports continues to be a concern area, since against this backdrop, the rise in global inventory restocking and production may result in intensifying pricing pressure.

Despite the booming demand, surge in prices and low stocks of nickel, an analyst has forecasts that its prices will plunge in 2007 due to slower US growth, mine & smelter expansions increase supplies and rising interest rates globally.

Mr Justin Smirk senior economist with Sydney based Westpac Banking said The key is the downturn in US dwelling activity and the impact of a more cautious US consumer. In 2007, industrial production growth will turn from being a pillar of base metal price inflation to a drag.''

Westpac Banking believes that LME spot nickel prices could end up somewhere between $17,845 per metric ton and $22,919 per metric ton this year and then drop to $14,350 in 2007.

For the first eight months, spot nickel traded on the London Metal Exchange has averaged $20,266.LME spot delivery prices for nickel surged one day in late August to $34,750 per metric ton, its highest level ever.

Japanese Sumitomo Metal Industries plans to increase its molybdenum consumption by up to 1,500 million tonnes per year from 2010 after the production launch of 0.5 million tonnes of X100 grade steel pipes at an investment of Yen 10 billion ($85 million) at its 8 million tonne Kashima steel plant near Tokyo.

The pipes with yield intensity of 100,000 psi or more are classified as API 5L X100 grade pipes have yield strength of more than 100,000 pounds per square inch and contain 0.3% molybdenum, 0.5% nickel, and 1.5% to 2.0% manganese. The major advantages of X100 grade steel pipes over the standard X65 and X70 grade pipes are lower costs and shorter construction time due to reduced wall thickness

Sumitomo said that global demand for the X100 pipes is expected to increase. Energy majors BP, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips have asked Sumitomo to upgrade its steel production facility for the steady supply of high strength X100 steel pipes starting with supplies for 5,600 kilometers gas pipeline infrastructure connecting Alaska and Chicago by 2011.

Reuters has reported that China's Gansu province denied reports about plan to change the ownership structure of Chinas biggest nickel producer Jinchuan Group Ltd and has announced that it will retain it in state hands and have no plan to allow Jinchuan to list shares through an initial public offering.

An official with the planning division of the state owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission in Gansu told Reuters "Jinchuan's resources are China's resources. The government cannot put such assets to the market.

There was a report ion local media recently that the Gansu government plans to inject Jinchuan's nickel assets into another provincial owned firm, Lanzhou Sanmao Industrial Co Ltd, which is a listed textile and chemical maker.

Jinchuan operates China's largest nickel mine in Jinchang city and is a dominant producer of the nickel in the country.

Mr Gordon Toll co chairman of Fortescue along with Mr Andrew Forrest has dumped his entire stake in the company comprising of 750,000 shares in a number of on market trades beginning last Friday to collect $6.31 million through an average share price of $8.41. The shares were held in a company called Coffee House Group, in which Mr Toll holds an interest of 50%.

Mr Graeme Rowley director operations of Fortescue said that the board had no warning Mr Toll would be selling his shares; they were bought many years ago, well before they reached heights of $10 a piece. He said "Mr Toll is still the chairman of the company and we have had no indication to confirm otherwise.

Before the sell off, Mr Toll was Fortescue's 8th biggest shareholder. Topping the list is Mr Forrest, who holds 102.31 million shares worth about $870 million.

One of the world's largest producers of magnesia refractory materials Russian Magnezit Group has started developing a magnesia deposit at Goluboye in the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Siberia at an investment of more than a billion rubles ($37.3 million) to reduce its dependence on the purchases of raw materials from China, raise output quality and release new products. The supplies are expected to begin in late 2006 and early 2007.

The Goluboye magnesia deposit has proven reserves of 15.5 million tonnes of highest quality magnesia but the reserves could grow after additional exploration. The deposit is expected to yield 200,000 metric tons of raw magnesia a year.

Magnezit controls 69% of the Russian market of refractory materials.

Norilsk Nickel and Rio Tinto will select priority deposits for development under RioNor Geologorazvedka JSC, 51:49 JV, during January to February 2007.

Mr Denis Morozov a deputy GD of NorNickel said "We have chosen a number of deposits that our geologists are studying in collaboration with Rio Tinto experts. We hope to determine which deposits will be of priority importance for our joint work in January-February."

He said that prospecting work on the deposits was not being done and refused to specify the shortlist.

Turkish privatization authority OIB announced last week that tender for the sale of rights to exploit the Deveci iron ore field at Hekemhan in the eastern province of Malatya have been won by Turkish company Kolin Insaat with a bid of $21.5 million.

The sale was completed following a round of open bidding in which 6 other companies participated including former OYAK controlled Erdemir, Koza-IPek which owns several gold and silver mines in Turkey and former state copper producer Eti Bakir.

Kolin Insaat has interests ranging from construction to tourism but has no other mining operations.

Steelmakers Zimbabwe has decided to invest in a coal mining project at Chiredzi in the Masvingo mining district to secure coal required for its production of steel. Steelmakers said "The initial idea of applying for a mining special grant was to meet our internal demand, particularly in view of the fact that our Masvingo project was facing crisis owing to erratic coal supplies.

Steelmakers said it had purchased extraction equipment which was due to arrive in the country soon and the equipment would allow the company to dig deeper and process the coal on site and the quality is expected to improve in the short term.

Steelmakers added that "Though we are still in the process of setting up a processing plant, the response from the market has been overwhelming and we believe we will be in a position to meet this demand and serve local industries in need of coal. There are companies locally that are importing coal and once we install equipment at our plant we believe we will be able to cater for the greater section of industry in Zimbabwe and save foreign currency.

Steelmakers, which began coal production two months ago, aims to boost its coal production from the current 30,000 tonnes per month to 100,000 tonnes by March. Through its new coal mining subsidiary Chiredzi Ores of Athracite Lignites (COAL Zimbabwe), Steelmakers is mining coal for its own consumption at its iron and steel works in Redcliff and at its Masvingo sponge iron subsidiary Sponge Iron Mining Beneficiation Industry.

Steelmakers, which commenced operations in 1998, manufactures hot roll steel products for both the domestic and regional markets in the engineering, mining and agricultural sectors.

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha has secured a 25 year charter contract with the Liaoning province based Beitai Iron & Steel Group Co Ltd for the transportation of iron ore from Brazil.

Under the agreement, for the first 5 years of the contract, from September 2006 to August 2011, NYK will transport a total of 700,000 tons of iron ore from Brazil to China over 4 trips each year using the company's own 170,000 tonne bulk carriers. From the latter half of 2011, NYK will introduce a 300,000 ton bulk carrier to transport approximately 1.2 million tons of iron ore yearly for 20 years.

NYKs Chinese wing NYK Bulkship (China) Ltd was established in 2003 and has since concluded 5 long term charter contracts, each with a term of more than ten years, with 3 of China's major steel producers the Baoshan Group, the Jiangsu Shangang Group and the Beitai Iron & Steel Group.

According to South Africa's minerals and energy department South Africa's mining industry is valued at more than $24.4 billion per annum, contributes 7% to the countrys gross domestic product and creates more that 460 000 jobs.

Mr Sandile Nogcina GD of MED during the opening of the Electra Mining Africa Show in Nasrec said that the mining sector contributed about $19.2 billion in 2005 in terms of primary mineral and metal sales, with the big mineral contributors being gold, diamond, platinum and coal.

Electra Mining Africa is the second largest mining show worldwide and is the biggest trade exhibition in southern Africa. The show is recognized as a gateway into Africa for investors from around the world looking for new investment opportunities in the mining, construction, industrial and electrical industries. It showcases the latest developments, technology, trends, products and services in all sectors of these industries.

South Africa's state owned rail operator Spoornet said that the capacity of the line serving Richards Bay Coal Terminal will be less than the planned expansion of port.

Mr Burtie Maree an official of Spoornet told a conference in Johannesburg The rail line serving the terminal will have a capacity of 84 million tons of coal over 20 to 25 years.

RBCT, majority owned by BHP Billiton and Anglo American Plc, plans to spend R1.2 billion to increase annual shipping capacity to 91million tonne from present 72 million tonnes.

Platts citing analysts has reported that expanding ferrochrome industry in South Africa is suffering from oversupply that could last for up to 5 years.

TATA Steel has broken ground for a new 135,000 tonnes ferro chrome smelter near Richards Bay. Kermas and Samancor also had plans to more than double production to 2.7 million tonnes. Xstrata and its BEE partner Merafe have a capacity of 1.4 million tonnes and have confirmed that now 14 out of its 18 furnaces in operation and production was on the increase.

Mr Troye Brady of Nedcor Securities said "I think with the current expansions I think we are looking at oversupply lasting for about 5 years. I think the only way we are going to get high prices in the industry is to keep some of this supply back."

Mr Nick Van Rensburg of Peregrine Capital said that oversupply was a long term problem and said Xstrata's recent shutdown of 7 of its 18 furnaces in response to a slump in demand was a sign of the times. He said "I think when you have taken away 39% of your production just to stabilize the market; it is a sign of how serious things are."

South Africa has around 70% of the world's ferrochrome reserves and produces more than 7 million tonnes of ferrochrome per year.

Interfax has last week reported that Russia's ICT Group is negotiating the acquisition of the Voskhod chrome deposit in Kazakhstan from Britain's Oriel Resources citing market sources and that the deal could be closed this year.

As per reports ICT may use the chrome ore to feed its 135,000 tonnes under construction Tikhvin Ferroalloy Plant near St Petersburg.

Voskhod is one of the world's largest chrome deposits with estimated reserves worth $395 million. Oriel acquired the Voskhod field for an estimated $25 million in 2004.

Khaleej Times citing company CEO has reported that Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange will launch steel futures contracts by early 2007.

The launch was originally scheduled in the second quarter of 2006 as per an announcement made by Mr Framroze Pochara, CEO of DGCX in November of 2005.

Several other exchanges including the London Metal Exchange, China and others are in the process of developing steel market future contracts.

But steel industry is vehemently opposing steel futures. Mr LN Mittal during a conference sponsored by American Metal Market and World Steel Dynamics in June said that the way out of the steel industry's boom and bust cycle is through consolidation and not financial markets derivatives. Mr Mittal said "We are not working for the banks. We are working for the shareholders. If we can reduce the volatility, I don't think we need futures."

Mr Michel Wurth, has been appointed in Arcelor Mittal board last month with responsibility for Flat Europe, Auto, Plates and R&D.

Mr Michel Wurth, was previously VP of the Group Management Board of Arcelor and Deputy CEO with responsibility for Flat Carbon Steel Europe & Auto, Flat Carbon Steel Brazil, Coordination Brazil, Coordination Heavy Plate, R & D, NSC Alliance.

The merger of Aceralia, Arbed and Usinor leading to the creation of Arcelor in 2002 saw Mr Michel Wurth appointed as Senior Executive VP and CFO of Arcelor with responsibility over Finance and Management by Objectives.

Mr Michel Wurth joined Arbed in 1979 and held a variety of functions including Secretary of the Board of Directors, head of the Arbed subsidiary Novar and Corporate Secretary before joining the Arbed Group management board and Chief Financial Officer in 1996. He was named Executive Vice President in 1998.

Mr Michel Wurth holds a law degree from the University of Grenoble, a political science degree from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Grenoble and a Master of Economics from the London School of Economics.

Canadian nickel producer LionOre Mining International Ltd announced last week that it will choose one of six banks from which to borrow $300 million to finance almost half the cost of a planned refinery in Botswana by November.

Mr Peter Breese MD in an interview said We thought it would be prudent to raise about $300 million. There are six banks, both local and international, in line for this. We'll go with a single one.''

LionOre received approval from Botswana to build the $620 million nickel plant at its Tati mine, which will be funded by about $320 million from cash holdings and the rest by borrowings. The Botswana operation will produce 22 000 tons of metal a year by the third quarter of 2009.

LionOre's proprietary Activox technology allows it to mine deposits that were previously deemed to contain insufficient concentration of the metal.

Local media has reported that Chelyabinsk Region Court of Arbitration on September 12th 2006T has decided to involve director of the Bahamas offshore zone in a quality complaint based claim case filed by UK based Starwood Trading Ltd against Metallurgical Works of Zlatoust. The next hearing has been scheduled for late September

A spokesperson for Sovetnik Ltd the legal representative of Starwood said that Starwood Trading Ltd filed a claim against Metallurgical Works of Zlatoust concerning supplies of faulty produce on May 10th 2006. Zlatous supplied them with 4 shipments of bad quality rolled products and compensated only for the first 2 leading to this dispute.

The spokesman said The outcome will depend on to what extent we will be able to provide evidence of supplies having been faulty; the representatives of the works deny their guilt and refuse to make up for the damage voluntarily, even though we had meant to come to an out of court settlement.

Taiwans major stainless steel makers and processors Jaung Yuann Enterprise Co, Sinkang Steel Corp, Yeun Chyang Industrial Co, and Rodex Fasteners Co have seen their monthly sales touch record heights during August 2006.

The performance for August and January o August for some of the major players is as under

Focusing on the production of stainless steel fasteners, Rodex saw its August sales increase by 86% YoY to reach $8.29 million.

Norilsk Nickel and Fortum have called off a deal on the Finnish energy concern buying a stake in the biggest electricity producer in northwestern Russia Kolenergo. Fortum's press service said the decision was based on the conditions set by the Russian competition authority.

Under an agreement signed on November 25th 2005 Fortum was to acquire a 24.83% stake in Kolenergo. The deal would have also strengthened Fortum's position in Territorial Generation Company, TGC-1, which will be formed through the merging of the generation assets of Kolenergo, Lenenergo and Karelenergo. Now Fortum's ownership in TGC-1 will be just over 18%.

Russian electricity monopoly Unified Energy System said it was disappointed that the deal had fallen through. Mr Anatoly Chubais CEO of UES said "We are disappointed by the news that Norilsk Nickel and Fortum have failed to complete the deal to increase the Finnish company's stake in TGC-1." He called on the parties to continue talks and reach a compromise.

Fortum is the largest energy company in northern Europe specializing in electricity production, the extraction and refining of oil and maintenance of generating facilities.