TATA Steel has raised its bid for Corus to $9.2 billion on Sunday. The new cash offer of 500 pence per Corus share is up by 45 pence per share from its previous cash bid of 455 pence. It is also higher by 25 pence per share over the indicative offer from Companhia Siderurgica Nacional at 475 pence per share.

Corus board met on Sunday afternoon to consider the CSN approach but no firm offer from the Brazilian company had been put on the table so far and accepted the revised bid from TATA Steel.

Corus Group Plc and TATA Steel said in a joint statement that the terms value the entire existing issued and to be issued share capital of Corus at approximately 4.7 billion pounds. Corus and Tata Steel said further details of the revised offer would be released in a circular, which would be posted to Corus shareholders shortly. Corus shareholders last week voted to adjourn a meeting to December 20th 2006.

Mr Jim Leng chairman of Corus described the revised offer as a substantial increase from before. Mr Leng in a statement said that "Accordingly, the Corus board is pleased to recommend this to Corus shareholders.

Mr Ratan Tata chairman of TATA Steel said that he was confident of his company's latest approach. He said We remain convinced of the compelling strategic rationale of this partnership and the revised terms deliver substantial additional value to Corus shareholders.

TATA Steel won approval from Corus board on October 20th 2006 for its initial offer at 455 pence per share, but an indicative and conditional offer from CSN forced Corus board to postpone its shareholders meet to accept TATAs initial bid to December 20th. As per reports, CSN has completed due diligence on Corus Group and is likely to table its offer this week.

CSN declined to comment on the revised bid by TATA Steel.

Indian watchdog Communist Party of India has reiterated that it is opposing POSCOs steel plant project at Paradip in Orissa on several grounds, although it is not against industrialization in the country as such.

Mr AB Bardhan general secretary of CPI told media that "We are opposing the POSCO project on several grounds at its present chosen site. If it can be shifted somewhere else where few people are affected and agricultural land is not required, no one will have any objection.

Mr Bardhan said that the main objections against the POSCO project near Paradip stemmed from the fact that it would need a huge area, comprising mostly farm land and the port it planned to build nearby would adversely affect the functioning of the Paradip Port. He added that besides, the MoU signed between POSCO and the Orissa government had a clause whereby the POSCO would export huge quantities of iron ore without any value addition to which the CPI objected. He said that POSCO would also require huge volumes of water from Mahanadi River which could affect irrigation in several coastal districts and drinking water supply to some towns.

Mr Bardhan added that some POSCO officials had met him in Delhi to explain the company's stand but were unable to communicate properly as to what they planned to do.

It is reported that a recent study commissioned by POSCO, National Council for Applied Economic Research has concluded that reserves of high and medium grade iron ore in India would last for a mere 19 years even if exports are capped at the present level turning India from iron ore surplus country to a deficit position sooner than expected.

NCAER has suggested that steel companies setting up manufacturing units in India would have to rework their strategies to sustain operations. If true, this could change the dynamics setting up steel industries with huge investments.

Incidentally, the report has come at a time when a committee of secretaries set up on iron ore exports failed to reach any consensus on capping and reducing iron ore export levels due to extreme views on the matter and could be quoted by steel makers to make its case for ban on iron ore strong.

Ministry of Shipping of India has reported called for reduction in customs duty on import of ship building equipment from current average of about 37%, to sharpen the ship building industrys global competitiveness.

An official of ministry of shipping told that "Our thrust for the coming budget is on making the shipping sector globally competitive. Given the growing demand for ships and vessels to meet the increasing trade volumes, we have asked the ministry of finance to consider either lowering the duties on imported machinery or doing away with it altogether".

The incidence of customs duty differs for different equipment. More than half of the shipbuilding equipment, like main engines, oil water separators, deck machinery, steel plates and paints, is imported. On an average, the Customs duty for such equipment works out to a stiff 37%, it is understood. Besides, as much as 80% of the equipment for shipbuilding and ship repair is imported, since it is not available indigenously. They are mainly imported from the US, UK, Japan, Singapore, Norway and Australia.

The government has been trying to push investments in the shipbuilding industry and has even gone to the extent of offering a subsidy of 30% for every new shipbuilding contract as well as announced plans for setting up two international size shipyards.

The Indian National Committee of World Mining Congress is hosting the 87th meeting of the International Organizing Committee of the World Mining Congress at New Delhi from 11th to 13th December, 2006. This IOC meeting will witness the assemblage of global leaders of coal industry. The Indian National Committee is organizing an International Coal Congress & Expo, concurrent with this meeting of IOC on the theme.

Coal is vital for global energy security and is available and affordable as a reliable energy source. There is no doubt, whatsoever, that in the future global energy mix also, coal will have a key role to discharge. Coal will also be a major source for a host of chemicals and as source of hydrogen for the future hydrogen-based global economy. The Congress therefore, will provide an ideal international platform to look into the emerging role of coal for sustaining human civilization.

This Congress offers a comprehensive program to help you keep up with the changes and developments as well as the new trends in the coal industry around the world. It will focus on subjects such as the latest technology, equipment and services used in exploration, extraction, environmental issues and the coal preparation. This Congress will bring to you the latest information and ideas to keep you ahead in the coal industry worldwide.

The Congress will witness convergence of Global Leaders, Engineers, Technocrats, Scientists, Policy makers, Academicians, coal equipment manufacturers & handling agencies. Experts from all over the world will gather to debate and discuss new technologies and issues on the theme of Sustainable Development of Coal for Energy Security. The Expo 2006, will be held concurrently with the Congress, where new technology, products and service providers can showcase their strength, meet and interact with their customers face-to-face.

Participation expected from over 1000 mining specialists and over 70 stalls 30 countries expected to be represented namely Australia, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mozambique, Poland, Russia, South Africa, UK & USA etc.

PTI has reported that power ministrys plans for setting up another mega power equipment manufacturing unit, parallel to BHEL, have been shot down by the heavy industries ministry in favor of expansion of BHELs capacity due to unnecessary expenditure on Greenfield facility and longer gestation period.

Mr Sushilkumar Shinde power minister have said in the past that BHEL with more than Rs 40,000 crore of orders in hand at present, was overburdened and there was a need to establish another state owned supplier and has suggested that NTPC Ltd should venture into equipment manufacturing.

While the power ministry claims that BHEL has been lagging behind in meeting orders, the ministry of heavy industries has said that orders have been placed in the last year of the Tenth Plan and this led to shortfalls in meeting targets. AS per reports, the power ministry has been able to utilize only 66% of BHELs capacity for ordering power equipment in this Plan period. In the Eighth Plan period, BHELs capacity utilization was even lower at 48%, while in the Ninth plan it was 58%.

As per heavy industry ministry, BHEL has also gone in for capacity expansion and by the end of 2007 the company will be able to handle equipment manufacture for 10,000MW per year. This means in case the PSU works on 100% capacity utilization, the company can cater to almost 50,000MW capacity in the Eleventh Plan.

It is reported that thermal power plants near to the coast line, most of which are on the drive to expand power generation capacity, are looking towards imported thermal coal as the source of fuel rather than depend on traditional supplier Coal India Limited to fire their boilers mainly due to lower cost, availability and higher calorific value.

As per reports, cost of Indonesian coal to TNEB would be around INR 2,900 a tonne as against INR 3,100 for the comparatively more ashy Raniganj coal due to sea and rail freight and other expenses such as port handling charges. Moreover, the ash content in Indonesia thermal coal is much lesser as compared to coal from some of the mines of CIL and posses higher calorific value. Consistent availability from CILs subsidiaries is also tilting the scale in favor of imports as the boom in power sector is increasing the demand for thermal coal.

Tamil Nadu Electricity Boards Tuticorin thermal power station is going in for a capacity addition and as per reports the proposed plant would be fired mostly by Indonesian coal. Similar is the case of Gujarat SEB which fires its Sikka Power House using South African and Indonesian coal. However, Indias largest power utility NTPC still prefers CIL as most of its big plants Korba, Kahalgaon, Talcher and Faraka are located far off coastal lines.

It is reported that TATA steel in an attempt to promote agriculture in Seraikela Kharsawan district of Jharkhand distributed steel bullock carts among farmers.

Dr T Mukherjee deputy MD steel of TATA Steel handed over 20 carts to the villagers of Kolabira, where most of the people are engaged in farming. The company has sanctioned around 100 steel carts for the farmers of Rural Entrepreneur Development Centre, a unit for developing the entrepreneurial skills of villagers.

Dr Mukherjee also attended the graduation ceremony of Rural Entrepreneur Development Centers vocational training unit at Kolabira. TATA Steel Rural Development Society was formed in 1979. It was a pioneering effort of the company to fulfill its social responsibility in tribal dominated areas in the southern part of the then Bihar.

ET has reported that a 30:70 consortium of GAIL (India) and Silver Wave Energy of Singapore has signed a contract with Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise for the A-7 block, located in the Rakhine offshore area in Myanmar. A GAIL spokesman told ET that Spudding of wells is being carried out in these blocks and is exploring various options to bring the gas to India.

Gail already has a stake in the A-1 and A-3 blocks in Myanmar. As per report the A-3 offshore block was originally awarded to Daewoo International Corporation of Korea by the government of Myanmar in February 2004, who subsequently agreed to associate with an Indian consortium comprising GAIL (India) and ONGC Videsh for exploration and production.

GAIL now holds a participating interest in 17 exploration blocks along with national and international consortium partners. Of these, 7 are inland blocks and 10 offshore blocks. Within the country, Gail has interest in 13 blocks across basins in Mahanadi, Bengal, Gujarat-Saurashtra, Mumbai, Cambay, Assam-Akaran and Cauvery. The GAIL consortium has also won 3 blocks in the latest round of bidding for coal bed methane blocks in India.

Mr Ma Kai minister of the Chinas State Development and Reform Commission while addressing the national development and reform working conference said China's gross domestic product is estimated to exceed RMB 20 trillion ($2.56 trillion) in 2006 up by 10.5% over 2005.

Mr Ma Kai said that the country's economy has been developing fast this year with good efficiency and low inflation. Stable economic operation has benefited the people and will power future development. He said that the Chinese people have benefited well from the steady and fast economic development.

Mr Kai warned that the basis for economic development is not solid enough, the GDP growth rate is still too fast, and the cost is too much. He said that "It's necessary to keep clear headed.

As per SDRC estimates, the per capita net income for farmers and urban residents is expected to grow by 6% and 11% respectively. The consumer price index will rise by 1.3%. In the first 11 months, the investment in fixed asset went up 26.6% YoY with the growth rate down by 4.7% points from the first half of the year. Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that in 2005 China's GDP hit 18 RMB trillion.

It is reported that a group of miners and logistic players has been granted a mandate by the Queensland state government to build a A$1 billion freight railway in northwestern Australia. The group includes Xstrata, Anglo American, Northern Energy Queensland Rail, Industry Funds Management, Australia Transport, Energy Corridor and Anglo Coal.

The 129 mile rail link will connect coal mines in the Surat basin with the major coal export terminal at Gladstone.

The Queensland Government had announced plans last month to build a new A$1 billion coal export terminal at Wiggins Island, near Gladstone which would have a final capacity of 60 million tonnes to 70 million tonnes after completion in 2010-11.

Corus Group has ordered Siemens I&S to supply a new tandem cold mill, which will be coupled with an existing pickling line and a new hot dip galvanizing line for the company's plant in IJmuiden in The Netherlands to further expand its product range capabilities for the automotive and construction industries, including the production of Advanced High Strength Steels. The new plant is scheduled to start production in mid-2008.

The new 4 stand, 6 high tandem cold mills will be equipped with control elements such as hydraulic roll gap control, intermediate roll shifting units, work roll bending systems in addition to cooling and roll gap lubrication.

The new hot-dip galvanizing line will have an annual capacity of 550,000 metric tons and is designed to produce various types of high quality coated steel materials.

Corus Group operates an integrated steelworks at IJmuiden with an annual capacity of 6.9 million tons of liquid steel from which hot rolled, direct rolled, pickled and oiled, cold rolled galvanized and organic coated strip products are produced.

AP had recently reported that Ukraine is open for talks over the ownership of Nikopol signaling that it was ready to make peace with owners previously accused of improperly snatching up the state property in a rigged auction in 2003. Ms Valentyna Semenyuk head of the State Property Fund said "We got a memorandum of intent. If we get real propositions we will consider them.

Ukraine's Supreme Court had ruled in last January that the sale of Nikopol to Mr Viktor Pinchuk was illegal and ordered it returned to the state. The decision was part of a sweeping probe into murky privatizations carried out under previous regime. But the State Property Fund failed in its efforts to get back shares of the factory because of contradictory court decisions.

Mfr Pinchuk asked another court to rule that he had bought Nikopol without any violations and he won that case in September. The Property Fund challenged the ruling but Mr Pinchuk responded by asking the state to reach a peace agreement that would allow him to hold onto the mill.

Sandvik Mining and Construction has announced bagging of an order worth SEK 400 million for materials handling system for Maritza East 1 project from Alstom. The order comprises a turnkey lignite and limestone handling system at the Maritza East 1 power station southeast of Sofia in Bulgaria.

The new system has a capacity exceeding 32,000 tonnes per day. The Sandvik delivery will include a train unloading station, stacker & reclaimers, belt conveyors, crushers and a limestone handling system. The coal fired power plant is scheduled to start operations in 2009.

Sandvik has completed the delivery of a materials handling system for coal and iron ore for the port of Burgas in Bulgaria earlier this year.

Mr Mark Glyptis president of the Independent Steelworkers Union said that the US Department of Justice has recently given Mittal Steel time till January 28th 2007 to decide which US mill it will sell to settle antitrust issues over its merger with Arcelor SA. As per industry sources, although Mittal Steel has not made a final decision, its first choice would be Weirton, a historically high cost producer and the largest tin operation.

Weirton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2003 and was bought by International Steel Group Inc which subsequently sol it to Mittal Steel. Weirton still has attractive assets in both its hot end and its tin, pickling and tandem mills and Mittal Steel has said it has at least 10 potential buyers.

Mittal Steel had planned to sell Canada's Dofasco Inc as part of its merger with Arcelor, but an independent trust controlling Dofasco said earlier this month it would not allow the sale. That forces a choice between its other assets in US including the former Weirton Steel Corp in West Virginia and the Sparrows Point mill in Maryland.

The ISU has a successor ship clause in its contract that essentially gives it veto power over a change in ownership and Mr Glyptis said the union will scrutinize all interested parties. The union is eager to see business plans that secure existing jobs, encourage growth and commit to reinvestment in a mill that once employed some 13,000 people.

Interfax has reported that the city of Yanzhou in Shandong Province recently sealed off a huge coalfield due to concerns of potential damage to local land resources.

Mr Zhang propaganda director with the Yanzhou municipal government told Interfax "We think that the development of the coalfield should be started when related extraction technology is mature enough and no waste or damage to the land can be caused. Mr Zhang said that the government made the decision to seal the coalfield and save the coal resource for future generations.

The coalfield is located in Xiaomeng County and has more than 200 million tons of proven coal reserves.

South China Morning Post citing Mr Qian Pingfa chief of the industrial economics research department of the State Council's Development Research Centre reported that the prices of coal in China may increase next year due to rising production costs including for mining rights, environmental protection, safety measures and staff benefits.

Mr Qian said that the costs of the coal next year are expected to rise by 50 to 70 yuan per tones.

In the first 10 months of this year, the industry's average selling price for coal was 303.50 yuan a ton, the report added.

It is reported that Portland based Esco Corp has sold its engineered metals group to Samuel Son and Co Inc. The sale will be completed December 29th 2006. The business will operate as a stand-alone company. Terms were not disclosed.

As per reports Esco has made this move in order to focus on the company's core casting businesses for engineered products and turbine technologies for the mining, construction, aerospace and industrial gas turbine markets.

Samuel, Son & Co is a stainless steel distributor that does value-added processing with divisions n Portland, Denver, Los Angeles and Hayward and Calif.

Lennard Shelf zinc mine in Western Australia is restarted on January 2007.and it is expected to ramp up relatively sedately to full production of 80,000 tonnes per year of contained zinc.

Mr Dan Gignac GM of Lennard Shelf zinc mine told that he is confident that the January deadline will be met, an increasingly unusual phenomenon in the country, which is suffering from severe shortages of skilled personnel due to the ongoing mining boom. He said We're going to wrap this thing up, firing things up the middle of January and shortly thereafter we should be in a position to begin production.

Lennard Shelf zinc mine was closed in 2003 after the collapse of previous owner Western Metals but the rise in zinc prices prompted a restart decision by new joint owners Teck Cominco and Noranda

During recent years, China iron & steel industry witnesses quick development with sharply rising capacity. Medium plate capacity also booms up in a fairly short term, casting considerably great pressure on medium plate market. Violent ups and downs are seen in market prices. At the same time, China s shipbuilding industry also grows up speedily, posting strong demands for medium plate, which helps to effectively alleviate the great pressure of medium plate market.

I. Shipbuilding Industry's Growth of Demands for Medium Plate Always Higher than Medium Plate Output Growth

1. Shipbuilding Industry's Quick Development
During 10th Five-Year Period, China's ship industry presents drastic expansion. Ship output growth even averages some 28% per year during recent years. The growth even surged to hit some 45% during 2003-2005. In 2005, China's ship output broke some 10 million DWT to 12.12 million DWT, hitting a new high. And the nation's ship output has already accounted for 17% of the world's total by 2005, ranking third in the world. The nation's fresh orders even exceeded Japan's during the first half of this year, ranking second in the world.

Along with the constant development of shipbuilding industry, the industry's demands for shipbuilding steel, especially shipbuilding plate, accounting for over 80% of total shipbuilding steel consumption, also balloon up.

2. Rapid growth of China's medium plate outputs
During recent years, China's medium plate capacity sees rapid growth with constantly rising outputs. About 12 medium plate rolling lines are put into operation only in 2006. Thus, the soaring supplies press domestic market. According to statistics, domestic medium plate output mushroomed by some 39% year on year on average during 2003-2005. Although the growth fell down during Jan-Sep, 2006, it still reached 24%.

Price index for medium plate in domestic markets was higher than that of HRC before 2004. But the former one has been lower than the latter one since 2005, demonstrating that domestic medium plate market is now under great pressure.

II. Rising Shipbuilding Plate Prices Underpinning Common Medium Plate Prices

Driven by fast developing shipbuilding industry, domestic shipbuilding plate prices always linger on a high level and underpin domestic medium plate prices. Under the influence of Chinese government's macro control policies and booming fresh capacities, domestic steel market prices sharply slid in 2005. The same situation was also seen in shipbuilding plate market. However, shipbuilding plate market prices only saw limited declines compared with other steel products and were about over 1000 Yuan/ton higher than prices for common medium plate and HRC.

Shipbuilding plate prices continued going ahead on a high level in 2006. Even during Jun-Jul when domestic steel product prices fluctuated, shipbuilding plate prices reported slighter changes than other varieties. And the price has been some 400 Yuan/ton higher than that of other specifications since Jul. Though gap between prices for shipbuilding plate and common medium plate was gradually narrowed, it still underlay common medium plate prices.

III. Forecasts on Demands for Shipbuilding Plate from Shipbuilding Industry

1. International Shipbuilding Market to Remain Prosperous
During these years, rocketing international oil shipping market and bulk cargo market encourage quick development of shipbuilding industry. By the end of 2005, fresh shipbuilding orders in the world has already reached some 106.4 million CGT, able to secure the existing shipbuilders' steady outputs during the following three years.

And it is expected that ship orders will continue to rise in the future, underpinning the prosperous shipbuilding market.

2. Chinese Shipbuilding Industry to Develop Fast
China's shipbuilding industry will continue to quickly develop. Chinese government also stipulates relative policies to support the industry. As planned, China will rank top and second in the world for bulk cargo ship outputs and oil ship outputs respectively by 2010. The nation will hold over 20% international market shares of LNG. During the following five years, the nation's shipbuilding capacity will soar up to 24 million tons with over 25% international shipbuilding market shares and US$ 12 billion of exports. By then, there will be 4-5 Chinese shipbuilders among top ten shipbuilders in the world.

Besides, low costs for build ships sharpen Chinese enterprises' competitive edge. Actually, shipbuilders in Japan and S. Korea are now setting up factories to produce some parts of ships. Under such circumstances, China's shipbuilding technology and quality are greatly elevated, helping to further develop the industry.

3. Shipbuilding Industry to Report Strong Demands for Shipbuilding Plate Continuously
During the first nine months, about 102.2 million DWT of transactions were conducted, up 58% year on year, among which China accounted for 30%, ranking second. By the end of Sep, there were about 288 million DWT of orders, hitting a new high. Among the total, China occupied some 61.21 DWT, up 65% year on year. China is expected to become the top shipbuilder in the world in ten years.

Over 50 million tons of shipbuilding steel plate will be consumed during the following three years, among which more than 40 million tons will be used in China, Japan and S Korea, representing annual consumption of some 14 million tons. If ship order continues going up, more shipbuilding steel plate will be needed.

At present, S. Korea is able to produce 3.6 million tons of shipbuilding plate per year while it needs about 5.6 million tons. Japanese steel makers' medium plate is not so competitive owing to their high prices. China's shipbuilding plate not only can completely meet domestic demands, but also can be supplied to foreign users. Thus, Chinese medium plate enterprises still have potential opportunities during the following several years.

Against such backgrounds, demands for shipbuilding plate from both international and domestic markets will remain strong, firmly sustaining medium plate market.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

It is reported that the Luni and Marri tribes of Balochistan have signed an agreement last week for resuming coal mining activities in Chamalang region of Pakistan.

Discovered 35 years ago, Chamalangs coal reserves are among the largest in the world. However, they have not been exploited for about 33 year due to a dispute between the Luni and Marri tribes over their ownership. A large number of people have lost their lives in fighting between the two tribes.

According to officials, the coal reserves in Chamalang are worth Rs 200 billion. The site is estimated to produce Rs100 million worth of coal a day, thereby handing an annual earning of Rs1.24 to provincial and district governments.

VNEconomy has reported that the central province of Thanh Hoa in Vietnam is home to 57 iron ore mines with total reserves estimated to exceed 10 million tonnes as per latest exploration results.

As per reports, the province is currently working on a plan for the mining and processing of ore until 2020, which will be submitted to relevant authorities for approval in December next year.

Under the plan, from now to 2010, the province will focus on exploring 10 mines. It will also invest in two iron mills with a combined annual capacity of 130,000 tonnes.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc has announced the appointment of Mr Richard R Mehan to lead its newly created Cliffs Asia Pacific business unit. Mr Mehan is currently MD and CEO of Cliffs controlled Portman Limited. Mr Mehan will be based at Perth in Australia.

As the new head of Cliffs Asia-Pacific, in conjunction with his continuing oversight and board responsibilities at Portman, Mr Mehan will coordinate identification and execution of mergers and acquisitions.

Mr Joseph A. Carrabba CEO Cleveland-Cliff said "Richard has demonstrated effective leadership at Portman and has extensive hands-on experience in the Asia-Pacific region. We look forward to his added contributions in this new role."

The search for a new Managing Director of Portman Limited will begin immediately, the Company announced.

Australia based GVM Metals expects to complete the pre feasibility study at its flagship 56 million ton Holfontein coal project by the end of this month and expects to finalize the bankable feasibility study by March next year and commence production in the first half of 2008.

Holfontein coal project, located in the traditional coal mining area south west of Witbank in South Africa, represents a high grade metallurgical coal opportunity supported by a smaller amount of thermal coal identified for local consumption. The cost of development of the Holfontein project is estimated at R15.6 million.

Current estimates are that Holfontein will be a 1.2 million ton per annum mine, with 400 000 tons being soft coking coal and 800 000 tons of thermal coal.

Grande Cache Coal Corporation has announced the appointment of Mr Eugene H Nagai to the position of VP marketing and transportation effective December 11th 2006.

Mr Nagai is a marketing professional with over 25 years of negotiating and sales experience in a variety of bulk commodities including sulphur, potash and petroleum coke. He also brings significant transportation experience to Grande Cache Coal having worked for over six years in the marketing and sales group of Canada's largest railway company.

Mr Robert Stan president & CEO of Grande Cache Coal Corporation said "We are very pleased to have Eugene join Grande Cache Coal in this important position. With his track record of delivering positive results and building and maintaining successful, long term business relationships, we are confident he will play a very important role in implementing our marketing strategy."

Grande Cache Coal is an Alberta based metallurgical coal mining company produce metallurgical coal for the steel industry from coal leases covering over 22,000 hectares in the Smoky River Coalfield located in west central Alberta.

AFX has reported that Western Mining Co Ltd, a mainland producer of zinc, nickel and copper, plans to raise about $500 to $600 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in the first quarter of next year

The company, based in Qinghai`s provincial capital Xining, specialises in exploration and mining of lead, zinc and copper and non ferrous metal resources primarily for export to Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Its Xitieshan lead zinc mine, the biggest independent mine in China, has an annual production capacity of over 1.5 million tonnes of lead zinc minerals and 160,000 t of lead and zinc metal.

Nucor Steel recently served more than 150 hamburger lunches to truckers responsible for bringing raw materials and supplies to the plant in Jewett.

Mr Jim Darsey VP and GM said they wanted to recognize the contribution the drivers make to their daily operations. He said "It's good to know that as our business grows, we can count on these drivers to keep giving us the world class support and service we need.

He said that an estimated 70,000 trucks come through the facility in a year.