TATA Steel has made it clear the company would bid for Corus only up to a price where it made strategic sense and does not endanger or jeopardize the strength and health of its shareholders.

Mr Ratan Tata chairman of TATA Steel during an interview with NDTV said that he was not sitting on an ego issue but would go for a price that reflects the right valuation of Corus. He said "First of all it is not an ego issue. What drove me to look at the acquisition was that strategically and in terms of synergy, we had an opportunity unequalled."

Mr Ratan Tata said that strategically due to synergies, the merger of both the companies would help them become a global entity but the best deal for his shareholders was more important than becoming the world's fifth largest steel company. He said "It would not be appropriate to say that we would not go for a higher bid but there is a limit to which one might consider the enterprise value to be. I think pursuing beyond that would be giving way to your emotions, which I am sure Tatas will not do.

Mr Ratan Tata described the takeover battle as unfortunate He said "I do not want to comment on the bidding war that is unfortunate.

TATA Steel and Brazilian Companhia Siderurgica Nacional are locked in a takeover battle for Corus. While TATA Steel has made a revised bid at 500 pence a share, CSN has bid at 515 pence and now with the intervention of UKs takeover panel, some result is likely by January end.

Indian iron ore export has been 38.42 million tonnes during April to September 2006, an increase of 8% as against 35.48 million tonnes during the same period last year.

Mr RK Sharma secretary general of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries said that most of the exports were priced between $ 50 and $ 54 per tonne FOB and most of it had 63.5% iron content. He added that 80% to 85% of the exports were to China on spot basis.

India exported 90 million tonnes of iron ore in 2005-06, out of which almost 70 million tonnes were sold to China.

National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd announced that it will sign a MoA with the Government of Sri Lanka and Ceylon Electricity Board for the development of a 2X250 MW coal based power project with investment of INR 25 billion at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka on BOOT basis.

The project would be developed through a joint venture company between NTPC and Ceylon Electricity Board. NTPC is likely to hold 50% stake in the proposed joint venture while Ceylon Electricity Board will hold the remaining 50% stake. The 500MW plant will be built in one go and would be run on imported coal. The annual requirement of coal would be around 2.5 million tons. Power from the plant will be sold in Sri Lanka.

Mr Naveen Patnaik chief minister of Orissa while addressing the conclave of chief ministers of 3mineral rich states Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, criticized the policies governing the mineral sector asking for increase in royalty given to state governments and that delay in the revision of the minerals would leave the mineral rich states high and dry even through the current period of economic boom.

Mr Patnaik said The mineral rich states are left at the mercy of the concerned ministries of the central government, which are reluctant to revise the rates on royalty on major minerals while the Centre has been benefiting from the rapid growth of industrialization by way of increased flow of central excise.

He added that the policies of the Centre have only favored the trend to the detriment of mineral rich states. He said The freight equalization system of the Centre have for many years knocked away the location advantage of the mineral rich states to the advantage of the consuming states.

The Orissa chief minister pointed out that the royalty on major minerals such as iron ore remained a small fraction of the sale price of this mineral. At present, it worked out to barely 1% to 2% of the price of iron ore while the coal royalty had not been revised although it was due since 2005.

It is reported that Shipping Corporation of India, Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai Port Trust and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust are considering forming a consortium for carrying out dredging projects in the country. The JV will primarily target the domestic dredging requirements and at a later stage, it will also cater to international dredging demands.

This JV will challenge the monopoly of Dredging Corporation of India, in which the Central government holds 78.56% stake. Due to the shortage of dredgers, DCI was unable to undertake many dredging requirements of the country and several dredging works for major and minor ports are pending.

As per reports, SCI will be leading this dredging consortium and the technological expertise will be provided by Mazagon Dock, which has experience in building dredgers and other advanced ships.

The Indian market size for dredging is estimated INR 700 crore to INR 800 crore accounting for 2% of the global market, which is estimated at Euro 7 billion with an annual growth rate of about 5% to 6%. US and China controls over 50% of the market which is closed to competition and the other half of the market is open or partially open which is controlled by countries in Europe, Middle East and Latin America.

Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde union power minister handed over the letters of intents to Globeleq Singapore Pte Ltd & Lanco Infratech Ltd for the Sasan ultra mega power project and to TATA Power Company for the Mundra project. Mr Shinde said that it will herald a new dawn for the power sector. He said “The two UMPPs of 4000 MW using environment friendly technology will mean a huge capacity addition and will change the power scenario of the county drastically.”

Bids for these projects were received earlier and Lanco and Globeleq had emerged the lowest bidder quoting the per unit tariff of Rs 1.19 for the Sasan project which would be a pit head coal based project while TATA Power’s bid was lowest at Rs 2.26 peer unit for the imported coal based Mundra project. Both these projects would entail a total investment of Rs 32,000 to 40,000 crore.

Indian government has envisaged a capacity addition of 100,000 MW to meet its mission of “Power For All by 2012” and has decided to setup 9 ultra mega power projects of 4000MW each based on super critical boiler technology for reducing cost of power generation and reducing emissions on BOO basis within a span of 6 to 8 years.

It is reported that the high carbon wires and galvanizing division of Vizag Profiles Ltd was inaugurated last week in Vizag.

Mr Suresh MD of the Vizag Profiles said that the group had acquired a sick unit and spent Rs 5 crore on it. He said "The plant has a capacity of 2,000 tonnes per month. The raw material special steel wire rods and zinc will be sourced from the Vizag steel plant and Hindustan Zinc. That is a great advantage for us.

Mr Y Sivasagara Rao CMD of Rashtriya Ispat Nigma Limited on the occasion promising all possible help said that many such user industries should come up in the vicinity of the steel plant, making use of the steel produced there.

ET has reported that railway ministry is planning to levy 4% to 6% cess on cement and steel freight carriage in the budget for next year.

As per reports, railway is thinking in terms of demand management to devise a pricing policy for reducing the wide demand disparity over the busy and lean seasons and the surcharge will depend from season to season.

Indian home ministry had called for a high level meeting in Bhubaneswar to strengthen the states' security mechanism in view of the Maoists' stand to oppose such developmental efforts in the iron ore rich states of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh region, which have opened their doors to setting up steel plants center is keen on ensuring a safe environment for them to operate in the Naxal affected region.

Measures to combat the Naxalite problem, needs of the police force in such areas, Intelligence inputs and a review of developmental work were taken up at a high level meeting of top police and home department officers of 13 states.

A senior home ministry official said "The idea is to provide foolproof security which is important for the economic development of the entire region. The success of these investments will turn out to be the best antidote to poverty and backwardness which are considered the main reasons for the rise and spread of Naxalism."

Surana Strips Ltd has informed the BSE that a meeting of the company board would consider decision for sale of plant and machinery and that the board will fix the date and venue of the EGM for the approval of the notice for the sale of its closed and loss making manufacturing units.

As per the announcement Surana Strips plans to sell land & building, plant & machinery, stores & spares among others individually or together situated at Plot No 6 and 20 Phase IV of IDA Patancheru at Medak District in Andhra Pradesh and Survey No 337 & 429 of Chitkul Village in Medak District of Andhra Pradesh.

According to the China Iron & Steel Association and the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters, the 2007 requirements for iron ore import licenses have been tightened up with higher entry thresholds. Two documents, named "Threshold Requirements for Qualified Iron Ore Importers for 2007" and "Promotion of Agency System in Iron Ore Import" have been formed. The regulations would officially take effect from Feb 1 2007.

Now, steelmakers or trading companies applying for licenses must have a registered capital of over RMB 20 million ($2.56 million)as compared with RMB 10 million in the previous version of the requirements and applicants should also have imported more than 700,000 tons of iron ore in 2005 against the previous requirement of 300,000 tons. Other requirements include limits on pollution, emissions and energy consumption levels at steel production facilities.

The qualified ore importers are prohibited from reselling of imported iron ore to steelmakers operating against the nation's industry policies. Any licensed importers proved of such reselling to steelmakers outfitted with blast furnaces of less than 200 cbm shall be deprived of license to import the steelmaking ingredient.

Currently there are 118 steelmakers and trading firms that are licensed for iron ore imports and the number will decrease when reviewed under the new requirements. All iron ore importers are required to submit their applications to the CISA and CCCMC for review by January 12th 2007.

China began a system of automatic import licensing for iron ore imports in March, 2005, in order to curb speculative trading in iron ore and prevent prices of the mineral from rising too high and cut the number of iron ore importers from 523 to 118.

Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute has reported that the United States imported a total of 3,389,000 net tons of steel in November 2006, including 2,766,000 net tons of finished steel down by 13% and 10% respectively as compared to Octobers final data.

Year to date imports in these categories are now up by 45% and 46% respectively as compared to the same period in 2005. On an annualized basis, based on YTD 2006 imports, total and finished steel imports at 46 net tons and 36.5 net tons respectively would set all time records easily surpassing the previous record of 41.5 million net tons and 34.7 million net tons set in 1998.

Key products with large increases in November as pared to the month before include pipe for piling up by 527%, rails standard up by 84%, bars hot rolled up by 14%, structural pipe and tubing up by 14% and strip hot rolled up by 13%.

The rise in YTD 2006 imports compared to the previous year remains pronounced for countries especially in Asia including Taiwan up by 213%, Thailand up by 164%, China up by 135%, India up by 95%and South Korea up by 60%.

In November, for the fifth month in a row, China was the single largest source of steel imports to the United States at 521,000 net tons 274% higher than in November 2005.

Mr Andrew G Sharkey III president and CEO of AISI said While imports are down slightly in November, the real story here looking at the year to date totals is that steel imports are on a pace to reach over 46 million net tons setting an all time record level far outreaching the previous record of 41.5 million net tons set in 1998. We also see the same disturbing pattern with year to date steel imports from Asian nations up 100%, led by China. This trend underscores the need for the NAFTA governments to more aggressively press China to abandon its currency manipulation, export subsidies, trade barriers and other anti-competitive practices that deny North American steel producers a level playing field. It is imperative that the problem of unfair trade, which continues to confront this and many other US manufacturing industries, be fully and firmly addressed.

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce has concluded the iron ore and blast furnace pellet price negotiations for 2007 with Italys largest steelmaker Ilva SpA.

As an outcome of these negotiations, iron ore prices for Southern System fines (SSF) and Caraj Fines (SFCJ), FOB Tubar and Ponta da Madeira, respectively, increased by 9.5% relatively to the 2006 reference prices and the new reference prices, on a metric ton basis, are $ 0.8146 per F unit for the SSF and $ 0.8470 per Fenit for the SFCJ.

Regarding the pellet prices, the blast furnace pellet prices FOB Tubar and Ponta da Madeira increased by 5.28% relatively to the 2006 reference prices and the new reference prices, on a metric ton basis, are $ 1.1796 per Fe unit for the Tubar pellets and $ 1.2108 per Fe unit for the Ponta da Madeira pellets.

Ternium SA announced that, in a private transaction, it acquired from ompanhia Vale do Rio Doces wholly owned subsidiary CVRD International SA 16,860,000 shares or 4.85% of Siderar SA for an aggregate purchase price of $107.5 million.

The price per share paid to CVRD is $6.376 which reflects a discount to market price. Upon consummation of this transaction, Ternium has increased its ownership in Siderar to 211,701,012 shares, or 60.93%.

Siderar is Argentinas largest steel company. It manufactures hot rolled, cold rolled, hot dip galvanized, electro galvanized, pre painted and tinplate steel sheet products. It has five manufacturing centers in the province of Buenos Aires in San Nicol, Ensenada, Haedo, Florencio Varela and Canning.

Ternium is one of the leading steel companies in the Americas, offering a wide range of flat and long steel products. Ternium has operating locations in Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela that provide it with a strong position from which to serve its core markets.

Canadian steelmaker Ipsco Inc lowered its fourth quarter earnings outlook citing a larger than expected decline in demand for steel plate and tubular shipments. Ipsco said that customers were reducing their inventories more than it had expected and poor weather and reduced drilling activity in Western Canada had cut demand for steel tubes.

However it said that it expects the inventory reductions that have cut demand to end in the early part of 2007 and it still expects strong results next year. Mr David Sutherland CEO of Ipsco had told analysts in early December that the company expected to benefit from strong oil and gas drilling markets in the coming year.

Reuters has reported signing of a revised iron ore mining deal between Liberian government and Arcelor Mittal, with concessions protecting Liberian national interest

Ms Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf president of Liberia old a news conference in the Liberian capital Monrovia "We are most pleased to report that after a long session of negotiations in New York, the Mittal Steel agreement was signed today." She added that "There were major concessions made and we believe that the national interest has now been protected. Mittal Steel can start its operations.

Liberia said in October that it wanted to revise parts of the $900 million 25 year iron ore concession granted in 2005 to Mittal Steel by the previous government with the main point being control of Liberia's main port of Buchanan and a railway line, which would have made Liberian government pay to Arcelor Mittal for use. Her government had also raised questions about clauses in the agreement relating to pricing and royalties as the original deal allowed Mittal steel to establish prices for iron ore, thereby setting its own royalty tax payments.

Corporate governance campaign group Global Witness had said in an October report that Mittal Steel had exploited a legal void in war torn Liberia to snap up the country's enormous iron reserves and dispossess local communities of land.

Evraz Group announced that its subsidiary Oscar Acquisition Merger Sub Inc has extended its offer to buy all outstanding shares of Oregon Steel Mills Inc for $63.25 each until 5 PM New York time on January 9th 20077. Evraz also did not rule out extending the offer further.

The cash offer, which values $2.3 billion and represents a 7% premium over the stock's value when the deal was announced on November 20th, was scheduled to expire at midnight. Evraz said as of 5 PM on Wednesday it received 9.6 million shares in response to its offer. As of October 25th 2006, Oregon Steel had 35.8 million shares outstanding.

Peabody Energy has appointed Mr Eric Ford to the position of executive VP & COO. Mr Ford will be reporting Mr Gregory H Boyce president and CEO of Peabody. He will join Peabody in the first quarter of 2007.

Mr Ford will be responsible for company's global mining operations, as well as the areas of safety, operations improvement, engineering, and environmental and geologic services.

Mr Ford has 35 years of extensive international management, operating and engineering experience and most recently served as CEO of Anglo Coal Australia Pty Ltd. Mr Ford is currently deputy chairman and a member of the Executive Committee of the Coal Industry Advisory Board of the International Energy Agency and is vice chairman and director of the Minerals Council of Australia

Reporting to Ford will be Mr Kemal Williamson group VP of western US operations, Mr Jiri Nemec group VP of eastern US operations, Mr Ian Craig MD of Australia operations, Mr Walter Scheller senior VP of operations improvement, Mr David Beerbower VP of safety and the senior VP of engineering and technical services, an open position.

St Louis based Peabody Energy is one of the world's largest coal producers.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co has agreed to buy the net assets and business of the Encore Group of metals service center companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The companies included in the Encore group, which is headquartered in Edmonton at Alberta of Canada, are Encore Metals, Encore Metals (USA) Inc, Encore Coils and Team Tube. The transaction is expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2007.

Encore specializes in the processing and distribution of alloy and carbon bar and tube, along with stainless steel sheet, plate and bar and carbon steel flat-rolled products. It has 17 facilities located mainly in Western Canada.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co is one of the largest metals service center companies in the United States. It has more than 160 locations in 37 states and Belgium, Canada, China and South Korea.

Japanese ministry of economy, trade and industry announced that Japans demand for steel products will be 26.99 million tonnes in January to March 2007, which is 0.5% lower than October to December 2006 and 4% higher than same period of 2006.

The ministry expects that the steel shipment demand represents 29.1 million tonnes of raw steel output, which is 3.5% lower than October to December 2006 and 3.9% higher than same period of 2006.

It also said that the raw steel output will increase to second high of 117.32 million tonnes for full year to March 2007, which is 4.1% higher than previous year.

TMKs subsidiary Seversky Tube Works has celebrated the completion of the assembly of a new piercing mill under its strategic investment program for creating a modern high tech seamless pipe production complex at the enterprise.

The assembly of the mill was begun in October 2006, startup and adjustment work will be done in January 2007, and the completion of warranty testing is scheduled for February2007.

The new piercing mill was built at Elektrostaltyazhmash. It will replace the technological link that included a piercing press, a warming oven and elongating mill.

The continuous casting machine, on which startup and adjustment work is also being done, and the new piercing mill will work in a single complex with the continuous rolling mill and arc jet steelmaking oven that the company is planning to launch at Seversky Tube Works in the next two years.

Novolipetsk Steel announced that it has completed the disposal of its stakes of 14.11% in OJSC Lipetskenergo, 14.11% in OJSC Lipetskenergosbyt, 2.7% in OJSC TGK-4, 14.11% in OJSC Lipetsk supply network, 19.39% in OJSC Lipetskoblgaz and 51% in OJSC LGEK in line with NLMKs recently announced sustainable growth strategy for 2007-2011.

One of the key elements of this strategy is an optimization of the asset portfolio of the Company and according to the decision of the Board of Directors of February 2006, NLMKs stakes in energy assets were classified as non-core investments. Minority stakes in regional energy companies are not considered strategic since they do not lead to control or influence over those companies operating activities.

Before the transaction was agreed, an independent evaluation of the energy companies was performed. Most of these companies are non public business organizations and the stakes in those companies are low liquid. The disposal was performed at 10% premium to the value established by the independent valuation or 3 month average market price of corresponding securities where available. The stakes in all energy companies were sold to Immenso Enterprises Limited, which is controlled by NLMKs main shareholder.
The transaction was closed at following prices
14.11% in OJSC Lipetskenergo RUR417 million ($15.83 million)
14.11% in OJSC Lipetskenergosbyt RUR11 million ($0.42 million)
2.7% in OJSC TGK-4 RUR1 032 million ($39.17 million)
14.11% in OJSC Lipetsk supply network RUR96 million ($3.64 million)
19.39% in OJSC Lipetskoblgaz RUR415 million ($15.75 million)
51% in OJSC LGEK RUR99 million ($3.76 million)

The total cash consideration received by NLMK is RUR2,070 million ($78.56 million). Proceeds from the transaction will be directed to the modernization and development of in house energy facilities.

Interfax has reported that the Tomsk region is considering selling its 51% stake in TomGDK Ruda, the company developing the Polynyansky section of the Bakcharskoye iron ore field.

Mr Viktor Kress governor at a press conference said a feasibility study is to be completed in 2007 concerning the development of the Tomsk region's iron ore deposits but added that "The results have already drawn the interest of two of the biggest industrial financial groups. It is possible that we will soon sell our stake in this project. Mr Kress said that the Bakcharskoye field is one of ten so called "gold" projects, so the regional authorities plan to seriously consider the proposals of investors and that he expects interested companies to make proposals on prospective deposits in 2007.

It was reported earlier that TomGDK Ruda plans to complete exploring the Polynyansky block and register its reserves in 2007 at the latest. Recoverable reserves with iron content of 37.5% are currently estimated at 500 million tonnes C1+C2, but following the completion of exploration, the reserve estimate could be increased to 2.5 billion tonnes to 3 billion tonnes.

According to the Tomsk region natural resources agency, the Bakcharsky ore cluster covers several hundred square kilometers in the Bakcharsky district and is split into 4 sections Western, Central, Southern and Eastern. The Eastern and Western sections contain most of the iron ore with resources of between 12 billion and 23 billion tonnes. The Fe content of the ore ranges from 34.7% to 53% and averages at 40%.

TomGDK-Ruda, which was set up to study and develop the Bakcharskoye field, won a public tender in October 2005 for the right to explore and mine the field's Polynyansky section.

BNamericas has reported that Glencore International has shown an interest in the upcoming auction of the Isla Riesco coal concessions in Chile. As per reports, BHP Billiton, which has the Estancia Invierno coal concessions also in Isla Riesco and local fuel alliance Ultramar-Copec Combustible, has also shown interest in the auction.

SEP, which administers Corfo's participation in state companies and handles the sale of the state agency's real estate and mining assets, launched the tender, through an option to purchase, of the Isla Riesco coal claims that cover the R Eduardo and Elena concessions, totaling 2,900ha, in southern Chile's Region XII estimated to hold 100 million tonnes of coal.

The bidding rules will be available as of January 2, , the consultation period will last until February 19, the data room will be open until March 2, offers can be made up until 11:59 AM on May 15 and the envelopes will opened at 12 PM the same day.

It is reported that China will impose 10% export tax on stainless steel ingot and the related semi finished products effective from January 1st 2007.

As per report the ministry had declared to continue a cap on high energy consuming steel product export. During January to November 2006, China had exported a total of 942 tonnes stainless steel products a 42% YoY fall.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

Brazilian MMX announced the issuance of the preliminary environmental license by the Rio de Janeiro State Environmental Agency FEEMA for the construction of the Acu Port in the municipality of Sao Joao da Barra in Rio de Janeiro State and that this represents the approval of the environmental feasibility of the Acu Port by the competent State authority.

MMX said that the construction of the Acu Port is now conditioned upon the granting of the appropriate construction license, which is subject to the customary legal requirements. Its construction will be executed by MMX subsidiary MPC.

The Acu Port is an integral part of the MMX Minas-Rio Integrated System and has been designed for the export of the iron ore produced by that System. MMX believes that the Acu Port may further develop into a new logistics infra structure hub for the Southeast region of Brazil.

SIDENOR SA announces that, after the agreement signed with VELDER Import - Export Ltd on March 22, its subsidiary company DOJRAN STEEL with registered address in FYROM, proceeded to the purchase, of VELDER installations in Nikolic Doiran in FYROM.

The installations located within 15 km from the border station of Doiran, include
1. A rolling mill of long products with production capacity of 200.000 tons per year
2. A production unit for structural mesh with production capacity of 20.000 tons per year and
3. A production unit for lattice girders with production capacity of 10.000 tons per year, as well as warehousing facilities and office space.

Sidenor added that the move is in the context of enhancing its competitiveness in the Balkans as the unit covers the increased need for steel construction products in FYROM, Kosovo and Albania. It added that it plans to continue with extensive upgrades to the machinery and equipment.

Mitsui Mining Cos subsidiary Mitsui Coal Mining has filed for bankruptcy protection due to lawsuits by miners with black lung disease and their family members in which it incurred debts of about 100 billion JPY ($842 million).

A company spokesman said Board members agreed on the liquidation of Mitsui Coal Mining and filed for bankruptcy protection with the Tokyo District Court.

MCM operated Japans largest coal mine Mitsui Miike on the southwestern island of Kyushu, which fueled the economy after the ashes of World War II. The mine became known for labor disputes and in 1963 suffered a deadly blast that killed 458 miners and injured 839 in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.

Japanese mining industry diminished quickly due to cheaper coals from overseas, leading Mitsui-Miike Mine to close in 1997 and the coal miner labor union to dissolve in 2005. MCM was also one of the companies sued by black lung patients and family members of deceased miners.

According to the American Iron and Steel Institute domestic steel makers saw there weekly output dip from the previous seven days.

Production of domestic steelmakers was about 1.81 million net tons for the week ended December 23rd. That was down about 4% from the 1.89 million net tons produced for the week ending December 16th Year to date production, as of December. 23, was about 103.4 million net tons. In the Pittsburgh Youngstown, Ohio, district, steel companies produced 186,000 net tons for the week ended December 23rd down from 189,000 net tons the previous week.

AISI is a Washington DC based nonprofit association of North American companies involved in the iron and steel industry. Its data is based on reports from companies representing about 75% of the domestic industry's raw steel capacity.

The world's 3rd largest shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries Co has announced that it would more than double purchases of steel plate from China in 2007 because it can't get enough from suppliers in South Korea and Japan. Samsung Heavy said in a statement said that We need more steel plate because the South Korean and Japanese makers aren't producing enough for our needs.''

As Per report Samsung Heavy Industries will rely on China next year for 21% of the 5 millimeter to 20 millimeter thick slabs used to make vessel hulls, compared with 9% in 2006, Seoul based Samsung Heavy. The company has a preliminary agreement to buy 150,000 tons of the slabs from Shougang Group of China, bringing next year's purchases from the country to 250,000 tons.

According to National Development and Reform Commission of china, coal demand in 2007 would grow at a slower pace to 2.5 billion tones, amid tighter but better administrative environment.

Mr Ouxinqian deputy director in charge of NDRC while addressing an industry conference said that the coal demand is forecasted to grow at a slower pace next year to 2.5 billion tonnes, along with nicer governmental macro control policy and tighter curb on production with high energy consumption.

Mr Qu said that in a series of reforms in thermal coal pricing system during past three years, China finally managed to make thermal coal price more flexible from the beginning of this year, gradually shaking off the convention that government set coal prices for designated enterprises at RMB50 to RMB100 per tonnes lower than actual market price.

Mr Ou said that in the first ten months coal output increases by 8.1% YoY to 2 billion tonnes and coal output is expected to reach around 2.4 billion tonnes in 2006. The capacity of consolidated coal sector is estimated to reach 2.35 million tonnes and 800 million tonnes of fresh capacity will gradually come on stream.

Industry experts attribute Mr Ou's opinions as the capacity is likely to decrease when China will further close 4800 unqualified small mines and as such accidents are always affecting the existing capacity.

Taiyuan Steel Group successfully rolled out X70 pipeline steel with thickness of 16mm to 19mm and width of 2100mm. This is the widest pipeline steel that the steel maker's 2250mm hot continuous mill is able to produce.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)