Jai Balaji to 5 million tonne steel plant in WB Report

It is reported that Kolkata based Jai Balaji Group will set up an integrated steel plant along with captive power plant and a cement plant with an investment of INR 18,000 crore in West Bengal.

Dr Sabyasachi Sen commerce and industry secretary of WB told UNI that ''The company had been scouting for land for 5 million tonnes steel plant and 4,500 acres of land in Raghunathpur area in Purulia district, which has been agreed upon in principle. Dr Sen however clarified that The project is at a preliminary stage. Several other steps would be required before the project takes off.

The Balaji Group has ingot manufacturing units having an installed capacity of 78,720 tonnes per annum at Durgapur and Burdwan in West Bengal and is in the process of setting up a captive power plant with a capacity of 12MW at its plant in Ranigunj and coal washery plant of 360,000 tonnes per annum and ferroalloy plant of 30,118 tonnes per annum.

Moody sees dip in Indian growth in coming years

Moodys Investors Service said that India may not be able to sustain a growth rate of 9% due to capacity constraints amid signs of overheating in the economy. Moodys expects Indias growth rate would be able to stay above its 6.5% long run potential for the next year or two, mainly due to on going availability of external liquidity to finance the growing current account deficit.

Moody in its annual report on India said that factors such as infrastructure shortages and shortage of skilled labor will begin to rein in Indias growth rate, whether triggered by changed external circumstances or the build up of domestic pressures.

According to Mr Kristin Lindow VP & senior credit officer with Sovereign Risk Unit of Moodys Investors Service Above potential growth is expected to continue for another year or so, but it is unlikely to continue beyond that point owing to capacity constraints. There are a lot of signs of overheating of the economy such as consumer credit and inflation, growth in consumer imports, widening current account deficit and speculative capital flows into equities.

Vedanta to tie up with a global steel maker for Orissa steel plant

Telegraph has reported that Vedanta Resources Plc is in talks with global steel firms for its already announced 6 million tonne plant in Orissa to mark its entry into iron & steel sector.

Mr Anil Agarwal chairman of Vedanta said that and expected to sign the agreement with his collaborator by the end of this year. Mr Agarwal said Our core competence is in mining and we will focus on iron ore mining, while the other company will make steel.

MoU was signed between the Vedanta group and the Orissa government in October 2004 for setting up a 6 million tonne steel plant at Palasponga in Keonjhar area of Orissa.

TATA Motors eying Daewoo Craiova in Romania

It is reported that TATA Group has submitted an offer for Daewoo Automobile at Craiova in Romania, but the value of the offer or the size of the shareholding sought is not disclosed. The American companies Ford and General Motors have also unofficially expressed their interest in Daewoo Craiova as well.

Romanian authorities had previously informed that they hoped to sell the company by June 2007. Romanian government last week constituted a commission to devise an expeditious and transparent auction and TATA group would soon begin due diligence.

Daewoo Craiova was established in 1994 as a 51:49 JV between the Daewoo group and the government of Romania. Daewoo was bought over by General Motors in 1999, but GM did not take over the Romanian venture. Romanian government bought out Daewoo's stake for $50 million and restructured the $10 million of the company's debt in August 2006. The plant currently has over 4,000 employees and produces annually 25,000 vehicles, although it has a capacity five times higher.

TATA Steel confirms agreement for acquiring Rawmet

TATA Steel has confirmed that it has entered into the definitive agreement to acquire 100% equity stake in Rawmet Ferrous Industries Pvt Ltd at an enterprise value of INR 101 crores, out of which INR 41.31 crores is towards equity of Rawmet. TATA Steel expects this transaction to be completed by end of February 2007.

Kamdhenu Ispat gets out of Orissa due to non allotment of iron ore mines

Kamdhenu Ispat Ltd has informed that due to the non allotment of mining rights of iron ore by the state government of Orissa, it has disposed off the 81.61 acres of its land situated at Jharsuguda in Orissa for an amount of INR 9.015 million.

The said land was acquired in the year 2004 for undertaking a project for manufacturing of Sponge Iron in the process of backward integration and the cost of acquisition of land was INR 10.340 million comprising cost of land of INR 6.973 million and CLU etc of INR 3.367 million.

Madhya Pradesh signs MoUs for 3350MW power

It is reported that entrepreneurs attending the Investors Meet-2007 at Khajuraho in the state of Madhya Pradesh have shown keen interest to invest about INR 40,000 crore in power, textile, information technology, business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing and construction sectors in Madhya Pradesh.

Mr OP Rawat industries principal secretary indicated that at least 19 MoUs for investment of about INR 40,000 crore would be signed between the government authorities and the investors during the two day meet.

While 5 MoUs were signed in power sector amounting to INR 14,650 crore, the rest 5 were in textiles, IT, foods, hotel and agro sectors. 3 of them were signed along with an EoI immediately after the inaugural function.

The detail of power sector MoUs is as under
1. JP Associates - 500 MW - INR 2000 crore
2. Torrent Power Ltds 1000MW - INR 4000
3. The Aryan Coal Beneficiations (P) Ltd 250MW - INRs 2250 crore
4. Kedia Power Ltds 600MW - INR 2400 crore
5. SJK Powergen Ltd 1000MW - INR 4000 crore

Indian Railways freight earnings up by 16.91% YoY in 9 months

Indian Railways have generated INR 30241.29 crore of revenue earnings from freight traffic during the first nine months of the current financial year ending December 2006 as compared to INR 25866.96 crore during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 16.91%.

Indian Railways carried 527.95 million tonnes of freight traffic during April to December 2006 as compared to 481.09 million tonnes carried during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 9.74%.

Earnings in crores
Volume in million tonnes

BHEL ties with Alstom for 800MW technology

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and French Alstom have entered into a technology transfer agreement for super critical plants. As per the agreement, Alstom will help BHEL develop a number of plants in the 800MW category.

The ministry of heavy industries said that BHEL and Alstom would be major players in India's effort to add 150,000MW of power capacity over the next ten years.

JSW Steel registers its power plant under CDM initiative

JSW Steel Ltd announced that it has developed a captive power plant using waste gases as Clean Development Mechanism initiatives, which is eligible for a total of 7,673,254 Certified Emission Reductions from April 2005 till March 2015.

JSW Steel Ltd said that its 100 MW captive power plant has been registered by the CDM Executive Board of United Nations framework Convention for Climate Change on January 12 and is required to appoint an accredited verifier for monitoring and verification of the CERs and has to apply to CDM Executive Board for issue of CERs.

The CDM executive board will then examine the request for CERs before awarding the CERs. The volume of CERs may vary during the process of monitoring, verification and issuance. CERs can be delivered to the prospective buyers. And the price of CERs is volatile and the amount realizable depends upon the market conditions and terms of sale at the time of actual conclusion of sate transactions.

BHEL to revive its rig business

It is reported that Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited is considering reviving its oil rigs business as part of its INR 3,200 crore investment during the 11th five year plan and is scouting for partners for the venture.

Mr AK Puri CMD of BHEL told PT We are considering reviving the business of manufacturing oil rigs. We already have some facilities in Hyderabad and may require marginal investments of up to INR 40 crore to renovate the facility. We are looking for good partners and have initiated talks with some companies for a possible tie up.

Mr Puri told that a team has been constituted by the company to prepare a feasibility report on this and the same would be placed before the board of directors soon and a final decision would be taken only after completion of the feasibility report.

BHEL was in rig manufacturing business 25 years ago and had supplied rigs to companies like ONGC and Oil India and same are being referred to BHEL for renovation. BHEL, since the first order for oil rigs in 1977, has manufactured and supplied 84 drilling and well servicing rigs to both ONGC and OIL.

Madhucons SPV achieves financial closure for highway project

It is reported that Madhucon Projects SPV for undertaking the 129 Kilometer stretch of the National Highway between Madurai and Tuticorin has achieved financial closure. As per report, a consortium led by Canara Bank syndicated the debt for the project.

BOT project is being taken up at a cost of INR 920 crore with a concession period of 20 years is the longest stretch awarded by National Highway Authority of India. The scope of the project includes design, engineering, finance, construction, operation and maintenance.

GPL to float IPO worth INR 1,200 crore

FE has reported that Gopalpur Ports Ltd is considering floating IPO of Rs 1,200 crore later this year for funding expansion and development of a special economic zone to tap the huge potential to export the vast mineral resources found in the region like coal, limonite, aluminium and iron ore.

Mr DP Singh chairman of the Gopalpur Ports Ltd consortium told that "Out of a total outlay of Rs 1800 crore for the project, we would go for IPO to raise Rs 1,200 crore from the market this year and the remaining money would be our equity."

However Mr Singh added that the decision is in its initial stage and the company is yet to acquire land and finalize the other formalities required to set up a SEZ.

Gopalpur Ports Ltd is a consortium comprising of Orissa Stevedores Ltd, Sara International Ltd and Noble Group Ltd and signed an agreement with the Orissa government to develop Gopalpur port into a fair weather port. GPL aims to develop the port in a manner that will be able to handle at least 75,000 tonne of cargo every month during January to October, 2007.

PFC to raise INR 1000 crore via IPO

It is reported that Power Finance Corporation plans to issue more than 11.73 crore shares in its initial public offer within a price band of INR 73 to INR 85 expecting to fetch about INR 1,000 crore. As per report PFC filed its red herring prospectus with the Registrar of Companies that would use the proceeds from its IPO to augment its capital base for meeting future requirements arising out of growth in the companys assets.

As per reports, PFC is offering 11,73,16,700 equity shares of INR 10 face value each to the public through a 100% book building process that 25,00,000 shares would be reserved for the employees of the company. At the lower end, the company would raise INR 856 crore, while at the upper end it could mop up over INR 997 crore. The issue would open on January 31st 2007 and close on February 6th 2007.

Enam Financial Consultants Pvt Ltd, ICICI Securities Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd are the book running lead managers to the issue and Karvy Computer share Pvt Ltd is the registrar to the issue.

PFC is the nodal agency for the development of ultra mega power projects in the country.

PFC is the first among four power sector PSUs that would tap the market with their IPOs over the next 3 to 4 months and the other three are Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, Rural Electrification Corporation and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation.

Eurofer considering trade action against China

The Guardian reported that Brussels based Eurofer, which represents Europe's iron and steel making industry, is threatening to launch an anti dumping suit against China unless the country curbs its rising exports volumes as that China's steelmaking capacity is increasing even faster than the country's appetite for steel and Europe risks being swamped.

Mr Gordon Moffat director general of the European Confederation of Iron & Steel Industries said that "We saw an enormous surge of Chinese steel into the European market last year. We have been able to cope because the market in Europe has been fairly strong, the market for steel has been fairly strong worldwide, but this is definitely changing."

Mr Moffat said Steel imports from China totaled 3.8 million tonnes in the first nine months of 2006 as against 1.2 million tonnes in the same period of 2005. In some sectors of the industry some 40% of European imports were from China, much of it at low prices. It is beginning to impact the market. We simply cannot bear that type of increase."

Mr Moffat said "They are exporting unemployment to the rest of the world. There's a glut of Chinese steel on the Chinese market and increasingly on the world market, notably in SEA, the US and Europe."

CVRD settles 2007 pellet prices with BaoSteel

World's largest iron ore producer Companhia Vale do Rio Doce has concluded the blast furnace pellet price negotiations for 2007 with Chinas largest steelmaker BaoSteel Group Corporation.

As an outcome of these negotiations, the blast furnace pellet prices FOB Tubar and Ponta da Madeira, increased by 5.28% relatively to the 2006 reference prices.

The pellet agreement follows a benchmark iron ore price deal on December 21st between CVRD and Baosteel, which represented the Chinese steel industry. The pallet deal matches a similar deal with Japanese steel mills on Monday.

Nucors Point Limas DRI plant commences production

Nucor Corporation announced that the heat up of the direct reduced iron facility, Nu-Iron Unlimited, commenced on December 5th 2006, followed by the start up of DRI production on December 30th 2006. It added that in the second week of production, the Nu- Iron team completed a 5 day performance test surpassing an average production of 220 tons per hour, achieving excellent metallization and producing DRI containing more than 2% carbon.

Mr Dan DiMicco chairman, president & CEO of Nucor said "We are extremely pleased with the start up of Nu-Iron in Trinidad, as it represents the largest current component of our strategy to control six to seven million tons per year of high quality metallics for the Nucor steel mills. Our team in Trinidad from construction to operations has done an outstanding job relocating and expanding the capabilities of the plant."

In September 2004, Nucor acquired the Louisiana assets of American Iron Reduction having 1.4 million tons per year DRI plant utilizing MIDREX(R) MEGAMOD technology. Nucor relocated the assets to Point Lisas in Trinidad in 2005 and increased the capacity to 2 million tons per year. The Trinidad site benefits from a low cost supply of natural gas and favorable logistics for receipt of Brazilian iron ore and shipment of DRI to the US.

Mechel reports operational results for 2006

Russias leading vertically integrated mining and metals company Mechel announced its operational results for 2006.

Volume in million tonnes
Change is YOY wrt 2005

Mr Alexey Ivanushkin COO of Mechel's said "Last year was extremely successful for our company's operational activity as we increased output of all core products. Total coal output increased significantly, mainly due to expensive coking coal. Such growth of production volumes was supported by successful implementation of our programs for technical modernization and commissioning of the Olzherasskaya Mine which utilizes unique Russian technology. The year was also successful for our iron ore facilities and the Korshunov Mining Plant showed record results. More than 15 years ago, three times the number of employees would have been needed to reach that production capacity compared to today. The favorable environment for non ferrous metals allowed us to considerably increase output of nickel, a division our company plans to develop in the future. In the metallurgical segment, we also achieved positive results. Having approximated last year production volumes of steel and rolled products, we managed to increase the output of more expensive products including flat products and hardware. This growth was supported by the commissioning of new spring wire production equipment at Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant. Urals Stampings Plant increased specialty steel products output due to reducing production volumes of its normal products, which resulted in a slight decrease of stampings output."

Mechel is one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore, nickel, steel, rolled products, and hardware.

ISSF & Nickel Institute launch ad campaign

It is reported that the International Stainless Steel Forum in conjunction with the Nickel Institute, this week launched an advertising campaign designed to inform the public that stainless steel is one of the world's most recycled materials.

The forum said that opinion surveys had indicated that the public did not consider stainless steel to be a highly recycled material, despite the fact that it was probably the most recycled of all materials. Stainless steel is recycled more than paper or glass.

The campaign consists of a print component and an online video component and the ISSF encouraged other metals associations and stainless steel development associations worldwide to use the advertisements in their local print media campaigns.

NDRC sees China's 2007 crude steel output at 462 million tonnes

Chinas National Development and Reform Commission has reported that China's crude steel output in 2007 will reach 462 million tones up by about 10% YoY as compared to 2006.

NDRC said that continuing high level of fixed asset investment will keep prices of production materials at a relatively high level and the price of the 4 major steel products will be around CNY 3800 per ton."

IFMs ferrochrome smelter commissioned

International Ferro Metals Ltd announced that it has started production at its ferrochrome smelting facility in South Africa more than 3 months ahead of schedule. IFM in a statement said that "Construction of the integrated facility remained within its cost budget and the additional ferrochrome production from this early start up will generate sales revenue commencing from February 2007."

The first of the two ferrochrome with capacity to produce 133,500 tonnes of charge chrome yearly furnaces at its Buffelsfontein facility in the North West province was commissioned on January 8 and produced ferrochrome. IFM plans to produce 267,000 tonnes of saleable ferrochrome yearly.

Stephen Turner, managing director of IFM said that "The continuing strength of the ferrochrome market should provide an ideal market for the additional production that IFM's early start up achieves."

China may tighten controls to deter foreign steel makers

POSCO and Arcelor Mittal are among steelmakers eagerly seeking to strengthen their presence in China through acquiring Chinese steel mills leveraging their managerial expertise, state of the art technology and ample capital. It's still unclear how long the ownership restriction would stay in place given China's blistering economic expansion and apart from that, foreign investors could bypass the roadblock through acquiring shares of a target company from the stock market.

China's steelmakers are becoming targets because of their low prices and because Chinese demand is likely to sustain strong growth as the nation takes years to urbanize. China's steel sector is down in the industrial valley at the moment, with both the product price and steel stock price perching at an extremely low level. Buying into Chinese mills therefore is fairly good bargain for foreign investors.

Ms Xie of Baosteel's in a recent speech said that "Relying on existing barriers against foreign takeovers is not a permanent solution. Once foreign capital takes control of domestic companies, it will threaten the steel industry safety of our country.''

Mr Zhu Jimin president of Shougang said The Chinese government is urged to increase scrutiny of overseas investment and hammer out new policies in share reform and industrial safety for heading off hostile takeover bids and protecting the integrity of its backbone steel industry.

The positive side is that foreign investors have intensified the competition in domestic market, prompting domestic steel producers to speed up steel consolidation, which has made slow progress so far at home. Those smaller inefficient mills have been faced with a tough dilemma, teaming up with either domestic bigger players or foreign rivals.

Arcelor Mittal already has a 29.5% stake in China's Hunan Valin Steel Tube & Wire Co, awaiting Chinese government approval to buy a 38% stake of Laiwu Steel Corp and has held talks to buy as much as 49% of Baotou Iron & Steel Group.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

Yuzhkuzbassugol may float IPO in 2007

Interfax, citing sources familiar with the plans, has reported that Yuzhkuzbassugol could hold an all Russian IPO like another Russian coal companies Raspadskaya which raised USD 317 million by selling 18% of its shares in its IPO towards the end of last year.

Troika Dialog and Morgan Stanley have been mandated to arrange the IPO. The report said that the size of the IPO was still under discussion but Yuzhkuzbassugol could raise more than USD 500 million with the IPO but that the final amount would depend on the company's funding requirements and that the IPO was planned for the end of the second or start of the third quarter. It is said that the IPO could be one of the leading Russian IPOs of 2007. The report mentions that Yuzhkuzbassugol might yet opt to float some of its shares as GDR on the London Stock Exchange but as an additional option to the Russian market.

It first emerged that Yuzhkuzbassugol was planning an IPO in the summer of last year, when the Late general director, Mr Vladimir Lavrik, said the company was holding an IPO tender. Mr Lavrik did not elaborate, saying only that the company's development is inconceivable without this procedure. Mr Vladimir Lavrik was killed in a helicopter crash in October and his son, Mr Georgy Lavrik, took over as general director.

Yuzhkuzbassugol, half owned by the Evraz Group and half by management, is Russia's biggest producer of underground mined coal with 12 underground mines, which produced 16.1 million tonnes of coal in 2006. Yuzhkuzbassugol accounts for nearly a quarter of all coal produced at deep mines in the Kuzbass coal basin and around 18% of Russia's entire coal.

USs November steel shipments down by 7.8% YoY

The American Iron and Steel Institute reported that for the month of November 2006, US steel mills shipped 7,991,000 net tons, a 7.8% decrease from the 8,665,000 net tons shipped in November 2005 and an 8.4% decrease from the 8,725,000 net tons shipped in October 2006.

A YoY comparison of year to date shipments shows the following changes within major market classifications
1. Service centers and distributors up by 2.7%
2. Automotive up by 8.5%
3. Construction and contractors products up by 11.4%
4. Oil and gas up by 17.5%
5. Machinery, industrial equipment and tools up by 5.9%
6. Appliances, utensils and cutlery down by 5.8%
7. Containers, packaging and shipping materials up by 1.1%
8. Electrical equipment up by 16.5%

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI is comprised of 32 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 125 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry representing more than 75% of both US and North American steel capacity.

China faced 86 AD cases & trade probes in 2006

Xinhua citing Chinas ministry of commerce, reported that China was subject to 86 anti dumping and trade protection probes in 2006, a YoY increase of 37%. According to the ministry, the investigations, involving a combined value of USD 2.05 billion, included 63 cases of anti dumping, 2 cases of government subsidy and 21 cases of investigation involving protectionist measures.

The investigations were launched by 25 countries and regions, and 48 cases reached adjudication in 2006, of which 21 ended without taking measures. The number of AD cases in 2006 by the US was low, by the European Union against China remained high with a record 12 and by developing countries such as India and Turkey accounted for 71% of all anti dumping and trade protection probes against China in 2006.

US rebar makers increase domestic prices

Platts has reported that Southwest US rebar producer, Border Steel, has confirmed increasing the price of rebars by USD 15 per short ton effective February 1, citing rising scrap and other raw materials costs.

As per report, several other major rebar producers in US including Nucor, Gerdau-Ameristeel and CMC have also already announced price increases of USD 15 per short ton as well as merchant bar, angles, channels, rounds and flats effective from February 1.

CVRD & Erdemir settle 2007 iron ore and pellet prices

World's largest iron ore producer Companhia Vale do Rio Doce has concluded the iron ore and blast furnace pellet price negotiations for 2007 with Turkish steelmaker Eregli Demir Celik.

As an outcome, prices for iron ore fines from Carajas and Southern System increased by 9.5% relatively to the reference prices for 2006, while the reference price for blast furnace pellets increased by 5.28%.

Erdemir, the only flat steel producer of Turkey, is pursuing a large investment program to increase its crude steel production to 8 million tons per year and its flat steel production to 8.5 million tons from the current 3.9 million tons per year to meet Turkish market's demand for high value added products.

Mittal Steel SA extends labor agreement till December 2007

It is reported that Mittal Steel South Africa has reached an agreement in December 2006 with its three main unions National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, Solidarity and the United Association of South Africa to extend a no forced retrenchment agreement for one more year till December 2007. The agreement was first implemented in 2004 and was extended in February 2005 for a further year until December 2006.

This agreement focuses on the principles of natural attrition and voluntary separation packages to achieve its labor cost targets. The agreement also provides for restructuring and redeployment of employees to achieve business efficiencies and better optimization of its employees and no operations will be forcibly retrenched during the period of the agreement.

Mr Rick Reato CEO of Mittal Steel SA said that the signing of the agreement, which followed from the one successfully implemented in 2004, established a stable and conducive organizational climate for Mittal Steel South Africa and its employees. He added that the agreement provided benefit to both the company and its employees while still providing those who want to pursue other opportunities an avenue to exit the company voluntarily.

Vietnam targeting 37 million tonnes coal output in 2007

The Vietnam Coal and Minerals Industrial Group has announced a target of 37 million tonnes of coal in 2007 and that it will pour more investment in increasing the capacity of coal mines and factories as well as speeding up the construction of projects such as Son Dong and Cam Pha electric power plants, Bao Lam bauxite mine and Nhan Co project.

Vietnam Coal and Minerals Industrial Group produced and sold 36.85 million tonnes of coal in 2006 up by 22% YoY as against 2005, out of which over 21 million tonnes of coal were exported up by 44.6% YoY. The sectors total earning last year reached VND 27,500 billion up by 20.6% against the previous year.

Chinese plate pricing scenario

This week, Chinese hot rolled steel plate prices keep steady amid booming market sentiment although there was some correction reported in domestic prices and as such there is no great change to export price as compared with last week.

Yingkou origin 14mm to 20mm plate is being offered at RMB 3980 per tonne, 10mm at RMB 4320 per tonne, down slightly by RMB 20 per tonne than Monday, but regarded only as correction.

Mysteel learned from trading sources that a Hebei province based steel maker is quoting its SS400 10mm to 60mm plate at USD 520 per tonne FOB to USD 525 per tonne FOB for March shipment up by USD 35 per tonne FOB to USD 40 per tonne FOB from last month. While another steel maker in North China have lifted SS400 12mm to 60mm plate at USD 530 per tonne FOB and another Hebei based steel maker has started to forward SS400 plate offers to South Korea for April shipments at USD 540 per tonne CFR.

As per reports, some large sized and famous plate producers also have been in negotiations with overseas for April shipment and a Jiangxi based steel maker is tagging USD 600 per tonne FOB for its heavy plate exports to EU with April shipment.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

Union Pacific moves 194 million tonne coal in 2006

It is reported that USs railroad operator Union Pacific set a record by removing 194 million tons of coal from Wyoming's Southern Powder River Basin during 2006 to meet the US coal demand.

Union Pacific moved 895 more train loads of SPRB coal during 2006 than it did in 2005, which is equivalent to 15 million tons of coal.

Mr Jim Young president & CEO of UP said that Our employees are stepping up to the challenge to help meet our nation's crucial energy needs. Their ideas and dedication helped fuel the increases we experienced in 2006, and together we are continuing to develop new ways to handle rising demand. Investment in expanding capacity and developing new transportation processes helped UP achieve the increase in tonnage. Also the addition of several rail lines, including one in Wyoming and several others to be added soon, improved the overall system.

NRP closes acquisition of coal reserves from Dingess-Rum Properties

Natural Resource Partners LP announced that it has closed its previously announced transaction with Dingess-Rum Properties Inc.

The transaction includes the purchase of 92 million tons of coal reserves and approximately 33,700 acres of surface and timber. NRP issued 2,400,000 common units to Dingess-Rum. The transaction is effective January 1, 2007 and is immediately accretive to NRP unitholders.

Mr Nick Carter president and COO of NRP said that "We are pleased to announce that Greg Wooten and the staff in the Logan County, WV office of Dingess-Rum, have elected to join the NRP team and will continue to manage these properties as well as other NRP properties."

Natural Resource Partners LP is headquartered in Houston with its operations headquarters in Huntington in West Virginia. NRP is a master limited partnership that is principally engaged in the business of owning and managing coal properties in the three major coal producing regions of the United States: Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and the Powder River Basin.

Peabodys Coal Trade appoints Mr James as director of trading

Peabody Energy announced that its COALTRADE LLC subsidiary has named Mr David A James as director of trading, reporting to COALTRADE president Mr Stephen Miller. Mr James will be responsible for developing and implementing coal trading strategies, coordinating the corporate emission allowance position and developing structured transactions. He will be based in Peabody's St Louis office.

Mr James holds a Bachelor of Science from Illinois State University and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Mr James spent more than 17 years with Ameren, including the last seven years in coal procurement and trading in the Ameren Fuels and Services Department. He currently serves as a director of the Coal Trading Association.

Peabodys COALTRADE markets high quality Eastern coals under term brokerage and sales agency agreements and provides generators and industrial customers with Powder River Basin and Colorado coals on a delivered basis at Midwest river terminals.

Mr LN Mittal supports UKs Labor Party with contribution

Mr LN Mittal president & CEO of worlds largest steel company Arcelor Mittal is reported to contributed GBP 2 million to UKs ruling Labor Partys fund. As per reports MR Mittal, with an estimated fortune of more than GBP 14 billion, is believed to be the 5th richest man in the world.

Mr LN Mittal in a statement said "I am a long term supporter of the Labor Party and the work it has done in the United Kingdom to improve the overall prosperity and prospects of the country since coming to office in 1997."

Mr Tony Blair prime minister of UK said "I am delighted that Mr Mittal, who is one of the worlds most successful businessmen, has made such a generous donation. I thank him for his continued support for the Labor Party."

UKs Labor Party is reported to be facing financial crisis as it reaches a series of deadlines to pay back loans to other millionaire backers who lent the party a total of GBP 14 million in the run up to the 2005 general election. However, as per reports Labor Party sources insisted that the money from Mr Mittal would not be used to pay off its existing loans.

In 2001, Mr Mittal was at the center of ethics allegations against Mr Blair's government as Mr Mittal donated GBP 125,000 to Labor Party just weeks before Mr Blair wrote a letter to Mr Nastase prime minister of Romania supporting Mr Mittal's bid to buy Romania's state steel company Sidex. Mr Blair said at the time that he did not know Mr Mittal was a Labor donor and was trying to promote British interests.

Universal Stainless names Mr Matz as president

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc announced today that Mr Kenneth W Matz has been named president of the Company, succeeding Mr Clarence M McAninch, who assumes the new title of chairman of the board in addition to being CEO, a post he has held since founding the Company in 1994.

Mr Matz, metallurgical engineer from Cleveland State University and graduate in business management at Case Western Reserve University, has more than 25 years of experience in the processed metals industry with responsibilities over the course of his career ranging from engineering, quality and materials sourcing to operating and executive management. He most recently served as president of the Processed Metals Group of Gibraltar Industries.

Mr Mac McAninch chairman & CEO commented "Our choice of Ken Matz as the new president of Universal Stainless & Alloy Products reflects both the ideal combination of skills, experience and leadership qualities he brings to our Company as well as our confidence in our opportunity and future. We are very pleased to add an individual of Ken's caliber to our executive ranks. I look forward to working with him to shape and execute the strategy of this Company. I am also proud of our entire management team that has enabled Universal Stainless to achieve the size and industry position we have today. Ken will help us reach the next level of growth as we continue to pursue the enormous potential we see."

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc, headquartered at Bridgeville in Pennsylvania, manufactures and markets a broad line of semi finished and finished specialty steels, including stainless steel, tool steel and certain other alloyed steels.