Mr P Chidambaram finance minister said that $ 320 billion investment is needed in 5 years to improve the countrys infrastructure to meet the demands of a growing economy. He promised more action on the infrastructure front in the run up to the Union Budget 2007-08

Mr Chidambaram announced the setting up of a committee under Mr Deepak Parekh chairman of HDFC to go into various aspects of long term financing of infrastructure projects, especially the public private partnerships. The committee would submit its report in six weeks.

Citigroup, the global financial service major is in discussions with the government for starting an equity fund to finance infrastructure projects.

The Orissa Gana Parishad alleging that the Orissa government is keen to protect the interest of private industries rather than that of the state, has demanded that mineral wealth should not be handed over to private companies and all mines in the state of Orissa should be kept with the state owned Orissa Mining Corporation. OGP said that the state government was deliberately delaying formulation of a mining policy, as it was not willing to be bound by rules.

Mr Bijay Mohapatra chief of OGP at a press conference said that "All the opposition parties are of the opinion that all minerals should be kept under the OMC which should be purchased by various industries as per their requirement. There is a consensus on this." Mr Mohapatra citing the court ruling that the chrome ore deposits should be kept under OMC, urged the government to extend the same policy to all other minerals including iron ore.

Mr Mohapatra also questioned the move of Orissa government to allot Khandadhar iron ore mines in Sundargarh district to POSCO, stating that there had been 131 applicants for the Khandadhar mines for decades including the OMC and it was already allocated to the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited in 2003, which has already spent crores on exploration work. He said "But the government has cancelled the allocation to Kudremukh Steel so that it could allot the mine in POSCO's favor.

ET has last week reported that TATA Group is negotiating a $ 1 billion deal to acquire 30% to 35% stake in Indonesian PT Bumi Resources PT Arutmin Indonesia and PT Kaltim Prima. However, as per ET reports a TATA group spokesperson said that We do not wish to comment on speculation.

PT Bumi has indicated its intention to sell coal assets the two entities along with Indo Coal Resources to PT Borneo Lumbung Energi, which is an affiliate of Renaissance Capital in a deal valued in the range of about $3.2 billion. But it was called off in August 2006 this year due to some disputes with Renaissance Capital.

PT Arutmin Indonesia has 4 thermal coal mines in Senakin, Satui, Mulia and Batulicin along with a coal export terminal. PT Kaltim Prima Coal with reserves in the Sengatta and Bangalon areas had marketable reserves of 786 million tones and was earlier part of Rio Tinto and British Petroleum who had sold their stake to PT Bumi Resources in 2003

TATA Power has recently emerged as the lowest bidder for the imported coal based ultra mega 4,000MW Mundra power project. TATAs bid to acquire the coal companies will ensure long term supplies for its power projects.

BS has reported that JSW Steel is looking to acquire a small facility in Europe for around $2 million. The report cites Mr Sheshagiri Rao director finance of JSW as saying that The EU market is ready to grow in the near future and we are acquiring a firm that will help us cater not only to Europe, but the US as well.

The Confederation of Indian Industry has urged the Union government to reduce the excise duty rate from the present 16% to 14% arguing that most of the manufactured products attracted 16% excise duty and 12.5% value added tax.

CII wants the excise duty cut in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Indirect Taxes.

CII also sought reduction of excise duty on processed foods, pesticides for agriculture, energy efficient fluorescent lamps, electric fans and two wheelers from 16% to 8%, on all types of cars from 24% to 16% and on cement from INR 400 to INR 350 per tonne.

Business Line has reported that Uttam Galva Steel Limited has reduced galvanized steel product prices by INR 3,000 a tonne to INR 48,500, effective immediately.

Uttam Galva Steels is a major manufacturer of cold rolled, galvanized and color coated steel products. UGSL has reported a 2.79 times growth in net profit at INR 275.6 million for the quarter ended Sept 30th 2006 as against INR 98.9 million for quarter ended Sept 30th 2005. Sales for this period increased by 78.58% to INR 6568.3 million from INR 3678 million in Q2 of 2005-06.

Indian government will allocate over 23 million tonnes of coal per year for five thermal power stations NTPC Dadri TPS Stage-II, NRPC Badarpur TPS Stage-II, NTPC Delhi & Haryana JV Jhajjar TPS and DVC Koderma and Bokaro TPSs to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Capital during the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Mr Dasari Narayana Rao minister of state for coal said these power stations had been accorded priority for granting coal linkages in view of the Games.

The capacity of Dadri TPS is proposed to be increased by 2x490MW, Badarpur TPS by 2X490MW, Jhajjar TPS by 3X500MW, Koderma TPS by 2X500MW and Bokaro TPS by 1X500MW. It will increase power generation capacity to the tune of 4960 MW before the Games.

Coal India Limiteds Mahanadi Coalfield Limited has provided 1,430 jobs till the end of November in current financial year as a means of rehabilitation in Talcher and IB valley Coalfield.

Dr Dasari Narayana Rao minister of state for coal informed Rajya Sabha recently that MCL had given these jobs as per the policy of the state government in accordance with the decision of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committees.

POSCO has acquired a 9.8% stake in Uzbekistan's Aral gas field possibly in a move to stabilize energy resources for its steel business.

South Korea's state owned Korea National Oil Corporation already has a 10.2% stake in the same gas field since August 2006, when it signed a $20 million production sharing pact with the Uzbek government for a 36-million tonnes of LNG

According to estimates, the Aral field is expected to have around 8-trillion cubic feet of gas, although the final reserve figure will be confirmed only after appraisal drilling.

Arcelor Mittal president & CEO Mr LN Mittal's Mittal Investments has already been acquiring a interests in oil fields.

miningmx.com has reported that South African coal prices could rise by another 15% in April 2007.

Mr Andre Boje CEO of Wescoal said South African coal prices could rise by another 15% in April 2007 and that will bring export parity pricing to the market. He said local coal price rose some 27% in the first half of the year and another 20% in October as exports siphon coal out of the country and the long time it takes to get new order prospecting and mining permits from the government.

Mr Boje said There is a massive shortage in the inland coal market. These price increases will bring coal to export parity levels. Weve convinced our customer base that unless they pay export parity prices they have to change to other energy sources.

He said We have at least three to five years of this fantastic growth, printing money and by then we want our own supply lines to improve our margins.

Mr Boje said new mines that will come on stream will be the Xstrata (African) Rainbow Minerals Goedgevonden coal mine, which will produce 12.3 million tonnes of coal, of which 3 million tonnes will be exported and another 3.6 million tonnes will go to state power utility Eskom. Goedgevonden will start production in 2009.

Wescoal is one of the largest suppliers in SA of domestic coal to industrial users, and has 288 clients who predominantly use steam coal to fire boilers.

Reuter citing company sources has reported that Arcelor Mittal is not going to sell its stainless business after enjoying a strong year and is more likely to invest in its stainless business rather than seek a buyer although earlier statements from the company and market talk had indicated a sale was on the cards.

The report cites a company spokesman as saying that "Arcelor Mittal is focusing on further reinforcing the performance of its global stainless operation, which is a value adding and growing business. The company spokesman insisted Arcelor Mittal was keeping its options open. He said "No decision on strategic options has been taken regarding the stainless business."

Earlier in the year statements from the company and market talk indicated that a sale was on the cards. In November, executive VP Mr Jean-Yves Gilet told a conference that It was possible.

Arcelor produced around 2 million tonnes in 2005 at sites in France, Belgium and Brazil, while Mittal Steel never produced SS.

It is reported that, for the first time since the lockout of hourly employees at AK Steel Corps Middletown Works plant in March 2006, the locked out union's Executive Committee has endorsed a proposed contract, which, if accepted by AK Steel, would end the 10 month labor dispute.

Mr Jim Tyler a spokesman of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said that "The committee took a major step by endorsing the October 10th package."

The Executive Committee and Machinists brass agreed late Friday that AK Steel's October 10 proposal, with modifications, would end the lockout although the members of the union have voted down the company's October 10 offer by a more than two to one margin.

The latest modifications proposed by the union to the October 10 offer include providing hourly employees the ability to dispute disciplinary action taken against them during the six month return to work period. The Executive Committee's latest proposal also includes a request for $10.2 million. About $5 million would be used to settle outstanding profit sharing, grievances and settling all litigation; the remaining $5 million would be used to provide employees $300 per week until they are recalled to work.

Earlier Friday, the union presented the company with a counterproposal the company said "substantially widened" the gap between the parties.

It is reported that the NSW government will not appeal a last months court ruling regarding the Anvil Hill coal mine. Mr Frank Sartor Planning minister of NSW said that the implications of the decision could be managed without a legal appeal and that he has instructed the NSW director general of planning not to appeal the ruling. Mr Sartor "We intend to accept the judge's decision and try to work within the new requirements.

He said "We believe that this approach should address the concerns expressed by the court and provide a reasonable balance to ensure the assessment process works efficiently and effectively."

He added that "In addition, the department is preparing ministerial guidelines which will inform future assessments of developments, particularly complex proposals such as industrial and mining projects.

Ms Justice Nicola Pain had ruled the NSW director general of planning should not have accepted Centennial's environmental assessment because it did not adequately consider the impact of the mine's greenhouse gas emissions.

JFE Steels West Japan Works announced that it is expects the raw steel output will be 21.5 million tonnes in fiscal 2007 starting from April 2007 as compared with estimated 20.5 million tonnes in fiscal 2006 and 18.66 million tonnes in fiscal 2005.

JFE Steel plans to clear the target of 21.5 million tonnes under 3 year plan to fiscal 2008 a year ahead to meet growing demand for high valued steel from manufacturers. The output will increase by 10% to 20.5 million tonnes including 9.94 million tonnes in the first half and 10.5 million tonnes in second half for fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005.

It is reported that the provincial government has suspended coal mining exploration activities in the Lake Sebu town because huge trucks used are destroying a road connecting farms to the market.

Ms Daisy Avance Fuentes governor said that Vehicles carrying farm products were often stuck when the coal mine drilling was in full operation and using heavy equipment that vibrates, causing adverse effect to the construction of the road section, She added that the roads got damaged because of the chains wrapped around the tires of the heavy equipment to ensure better traction against the slippery mud and that piles of timber were placed on the road, aggravating the condition.

Residents in Lake Sebu have complained that they are having difficulty bringing their farm produce to the market because of the damaged road. The heavy vehicles using for bringing equipment and timber to the exploration sites destroy about two kilometers of the road connecting Upper Sepaka in Surallah town and Ned.

Exploration activities in Ned are done by Daguma Agro Minerals Inc, its sister company Bonanza Energy Resources Inc, and MG Mining & Energy Corp.

Techint has announced that it is coordinating with MMK for a quick repair of pickling line to minimize the plants production losses and that the first cargo flight carrying spares has left from Genoa airport.

MMKs pickling line No 1 was seriously damaged because of a fire that broke out at MMK plant on November 28th 2006.

The pickling line has a capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per year with very high process speed of 300 meters per minute for maximum strip width of 1850 mm. It also has an acid regeneration plant of 11000 liters per hour capacity.

Proto Resources & Investments Limited recently announced the purchase of the Barnes Hill nickel project in Tasmania from Discovery Metals Limited, which is actively rationalizing its Australian assets in line with commitments in Botswana. Discovery Metals will receive one million fully paid shares in Proto along with a one for one attaching option, exercisable for 20 cents on or before 31st August 2011.

The Barnes Hill nickel deposit contains a 12.1 million tonne JORC compliant indicated resource of 0.83% nickel and 0.07% cobalt equating to 120,000 tonnes of in ground nickel metal and 840 tonnes of in ground cobalt.

Mr Andrew Mortimer chairman of Proto said "Proto plans to quickly assess the historical databases available and embark on scoping work including new metallogenic studies to define an appropriate processing technique. The company feels Barnes Hill project acquisition is a significant step forward in Proto's bid to become a nickel producer in the long term. More than this, Proto feels that nickel has a strong demand future to look forward to."

Canadian nickel producer LionOre Mining has announced that it has completed the sale of nickel properties in Western Australia to Kagara Zinc. The sale was previously announced in November and the assets in the Forrestania region of the state were valued at A$25m.

LionOre said it wants to focus on its core priority of achieving vertical integration via its Activox technology which is being rolled out in Botswana.

Kagara has historically been a zinc producer but has recently diversified into copper production and now appears to be looking at the possibility of nickel production.

South Korean SK Corp has announced that it will invest about $28 million next year to mine soft coal in Australia. SK Crop in coordination with Korea Resources Corp. early this year requested permits to take part in three additional coal projects this year.

The move is following the governments policy to increase public and private companies investment in overseas minerals as steady supply of coal is becoming more important as high demand in China drives up prices.

Korea uses up to 76 million tonnes of coal per year mainly for power generation, while it produces only 22.2% of its requirement. Its total coal imports reached 69.3 million tons last year and domestic production amounted to only 15.4 million tons in 2005.

Mr Alexander Kuznetsov MD of Krasnoyarsk Krai branch of SUEK said that its coal production at 28.5 million tonnes in 2006 has surpassed that in 2005 by 1 million tonnes.

Mr Kuznetsov said that For coal miners the year 2006 was both good and bad. We have never had a more irregular production pattern than in 2006, it was a difficult year, first of all because of weather conditions.

Interfax has reported that the investment program of the Urals Mining and Metallurgical Company will total about RUB 30 billion in 2006 70% more than in 2005.

Mr Andrei Kozitsyn GD of UMMC told Interfax "UMMC is closing this year quite effectively taking into account the world situation for those types of metals that we produce. Thanks to this, we reviewed the investment programs of UMMC enterprises and for 2006 overall they will total about RUB 30 billion maybe even a little more."

Mr Kozitsyn said investment projects are now being implemented at virtually all the holding's enterprises, but the biggest projects concern expansion of production and modernization in the mining sector, He said "By 2011 we should virtually complete the modernization of the holding's mining enterprises."

Mr Kozitsyn said, The company has carried out a number of major resource project, including the launch of a new mining and concentrating works in the Altai territory and the mine at the Tarnyerskoye deposit in the Sverdlovsk region, He said The concentrating plant at Svyatogor was upgraded for Tarnyerskoye ore and its capacity expanded by almost 50% to 2.5 million tonnes.

Mr Kozitsyn said in the steel sector, UMMC has completed the modernization of the Serov Metallurgical Plant, and in December broke ground on a new steel plant in Tyumen. UMMC Stal has been set up to manage the group's steel assets, and it will soon also create a network of scrap yards.

UMMC combines over 40 enterprises in 11 Russian regions that are run by management company UMMC Holding. UMMC produces about 40% of Russia's cathode copper, and controls a quarter of the domestic market for nonferrous rolled products and more than half of the European market for copper powders.

United Profit International Sdn Bhd plans to issue bonds worth $50 million by the first quarter of 2007 to help finance its coalmine purchase in Indonesia, which has an estimated coal reserve of about 30 million tonnes. Affin Investment Bank Bhd is the lead arranger for the debt paper sale.

Mr Mohd Fakri Mohd Ariffin chairman of UPI said the proceeds from the bond sale would be used to buy equipment and increase its production capacity to 2 million tonnes from 500,000 million tonnes. He said Our target market is China, given that the market needs 2 billion tonnes of coal per year.

UPI, established two years ago, exports steam coal to China and the Asia Pacific region for power generation plants. It owns Indonesian based PT Gunung Harang Sejahtera, which owns the coal concession exploration rights to a 2640 hectare mine in south Kalimantan.

TMKs Taganrog Metallurgical Works has announced that a planned audit on compliance with the European Standard DIN EN 10210-1 was done by representatives of the Product Experimental Laboratory of the Italian University of the city of Breshia as well as experts of the company ASSOTUBI Spa and that Taganrog Metallurgical Works has confirmed its right for release of products in accordance with the European Standard DIN EN 10210-1.

Taganrog Metallurgical Works said all submitted samples of tube products and technological processes successfully passed the audit and that the auditors marked efficiency of the Quality Management System operated at the company.

US mining equipment manufacturer Joy Global Inc announced recently that its profit in August to October climbed by 52% due to strong demand, particularly in Australia and the UK. Its net income during the period climbed to $85.2 million from $56.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Sales during the period also rose by 21% to $689 million from $568 million a year earlier.

Mr Mike Sutherlin CEO of Joy Global said that In this growth phase of the mining cycle, equipment availability has the single largest impact on producer profitability. We continue to pursue means of increasing our realizable capacity, particularly to service the critical aftermarket needs of our customers."

Joy Global said that it expects sales of $2.7 to $3 billion during the next 12 months underpinned in part by its recent acquisition of Stamler in July. A company statement said "The outlook for the majority of the companys markets remains strong as increasing demand for coal, copper, iron ore and oil reflects global economic growth.

Mikhailovsky GOK has announced that it has increased production of all kinds of commodity products in January to November 2006 as under.

Agglomerated ore to 2 million tons form 1.11 million tons in 2005.
Blast furnace ore to 653.5 thousand tons form 453.5 thousand tons
Iron ore concentrate to 15.6 million tons from 13.7 million tons
Pellets to 8.9 million tons from 7.6 million tons in 2005

It is reported that Merrill Lynch, as sole bookruner, has priced a dual tranche $325 million fund raising exercise for Indonesian coal miner PT Berau Coal. The deal, launched in late November, consists of a $225 million 5 year non call three fixed rate tranche and a $100 million amortising 5 year FRN. Both tranches priced at the tight end of revised guidance.

Merrill initially marketed the deal at 9.75% for the fixed-rate notes and 400bp over Libor for the FRN, however, as the deal picked up traction, Merrill tightened guidance to a range of 9.375% to 9.625% and 375bp to 400bp over, respectively.

The deal garnered strong demand, closing with a final order book of $3 billion, an oversubscription ratio of just over nine times with over 120 accounts taking part. The order book was split 75% into the fixed-rate tranche and 25% into the FRN.

Geographically, the fixed rate deal was sold 55% into Asia, 21% into Europe and 24% into the US. Indonesian accounts made up 9% of the Asian book. By investor type, this book was split 64% into funds, 28% banks, 2% insurers and 6% went to public banks and others. For the FRN, 54% of the book went to Asian accounts, with 15% of that being bought by Indonesian investors, 27% went to Europe and the remaining 19% went to the US. By investor, funds bought the majority accounting for 63%, followed by banks with 36% and public banks and others taking the remaining 1%.

PT Berau Coal is 60% owned by PT United Tractors, 39% by PT Armadian Tritunggal 30% and 10% by Nissho Iwai Corporation. PT Berau Coal produces a range of typical Indonesian sub bituminous coal, with low ash and relatively low sulphur content and moderate heating values.

State Owned Russian railway is planning to attract about $9 billion in investment in 2007, 20% more than in 2006.

Russian Railways said that this year's investment in the rail network is expected to total $6.65 billion, of which $6.60 billion will be Russian Railways' own funds and that the company's investment program for 2006 had attained the declared objectives of increasing traffic, cutting maintenance costs, developing an IT based logistics system, and introducing resource saving technologies.

Mr Vladimir Yakunin president of Russian Railways said "Next year, according to macroeconomic forecasts next year, we will have to increase cargo traffic by 3.5% and passenger traffic by 2.7%; this will be achieved primarily by efficient use of trains and capital investment."

Mr Yakunin said that in 2007 the company would launch a two year investment program, which had been approved by the government. He said Russian Railways would also start a series of projects, including the reconstruction of a northwestern railroad and of rail approaches to ports in the southern part of the Gulf of Finland, which will altogether provide a shorter and cheaper rail link for exports from major cargo hubs. "

Mr Yakunin added In 2007, the company will substantially expand acquisition of rolling stock, in particular freight carriages.

A Maltese flagged ship was rescued after it ran aground off Gelibolu town of Aegean city of Canakkale. The captain of the Maltese St Western vessel asked for help as his personal efforts to rescue the ship did not bear fruit. The ship was pulled by a Turkish tugboat and anchored at the Gelibolu bay.

The St. Western is 3,019 gross tons in weight and 96 meters in length. It was carrying 3,767 metric tons of steel wires en route from Russia to Tunisia when it ran aground.