JSW Steel Ltd has announced that its board of directors at a meeting held on January 22nd 2007 has decided for taking on record JSW Steel (UK) Ltd, JSW Natural Resources Ltd, JSW Steel Processing Centres Ltd as the wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

1. JSW NATURAL RESOURCES LTD, a Company incorporated in Mauritius on November 27th 2006 to pursue acquiring coal assets & other assets relating to steel business.

2. JSW Steel (UK) LTD, a Company incorporated on October 20th 2006 in UK to strengthen and widen the companys presence in the International market and also to identify and speed up the acquisitions in steel related businesses.

3. JSW STEEL PROCESSING CENTRES LTD, a Company based in India, to set up service canters with a view to expand the reach of CRCA and HRPO steel products manufactured across the value chain and to meet the exacting demands of the user industry.

Bhushan Steel & Strips Ltd announced that its board of directors in a meeting held on January 22nd 2007 has approved the following projects.

1. Setting up of Integrated Steel Plant in the state of West Bengal for with facilities including slab plant, coke ovens and captive power plant etc.

2. To set up a 6 million tonne per annum integrated steel plant as an expansion of its existing plant being set up at Meramandali in Orissa.

The mining industry, in its pre Budget presentation to the finance ministry, has sought easy grant of mining licenses and their transferability at a premium while 100 % foreign direct investment is allowed in mining as a complex license regime has discouraged investment.

Mr RK Sharma general secretary of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industry said. Our representations are based on those made by the Hoda Committee."

He said the committee has favored in making mining leases seamless that would guarantee mining lease on the basis of a first in time principle from the time reconnaissance exploration permit is given and the recommendation for obtaining licensees is anywhere from 5 to 10 years. Since major mining States have poor infrastructure, investment on a large scale would be required to promote mining.

Mr Sharma said higher depreciation allowance at 40 % against the current rate of 20% to 25 % has been sought on the use of mining equipment, and the royalty charged by the States on mining is sometimes higher than the cost of production of certain minerals and wants it to be on the lines prevailing in Australia and Brazil.

The mining industry, which contributes 2% to 2.5 % to GDP has a good potential following the international boom in prices of various base metals.

The News International reported that some of the Pakistani iron and steel traders fear that mild steel and galvanized iron sheets imported from India for exclusive use in quake hit areas might be sold elsewhere in the country as has happened in the past. They fear that some people might take benefit of this decision and stock the Indian steel sheets for selling in other areas when the construction work begins across the country.

A per report construction work is taking place in those areas due to cold weather now and it is anticipated that rebuilding work will not gain any momentum before April 2007.

The Pakistan government recently allowed the import of steel products from India for the use in reconstruction of areas in the NWFP and Azad Kashmir which were hit by the 2005 earthquake. The decision on import of the products from India has come into force from Jan 18, and will remain operative till March 31. According to the notification, the import of mild steel (MS) reinforcement bars grade 40/60, mild steel angle iron sections graded 40/60 and corrugated galvanized iron sheets SWG falling under their respective headings from India would be allowed via land route as well, for exclusive use in the reconstruction of earthquake affected areas on the recommendations of the ERRA.

Pakistani traders had imported around 12,000 tonnes of galvanized corrugated steel sheets from India during the last year after the government had allowed to import.

An agreement for coal transportation was signed between East Central Railway and Rosa Power Supply Company Limited for transportation of coal from central coalfields mines to Rosa Thermal Power Station.

As per the agreement RPSCL will build own and operate 600 MW coal fired power station at Rosa in UP. The Railways will undertake to transport coal from mines of central coalfield limited to RTPS. The railway will get committed coal traffic of 2.7 million tonnes per annum from RPSCL for a period of 25 years.

Obligations of Indian Railways
1. Indian Railways will have to transport 2.7 million tonnes of coal annually to the company.
2. Indian Railways will deploy required number of wagons to ensure delivery of coal to the company.
3. Indian Railways will maintain a coal stock at the powerhouse to the tune of 0.285 million tonnes.
4. Railways have undertaken and guaranteed irrevocable placement of rakes, transportation and delivery of coal as provided in the agreement.
5. 5 % of freight charges will be paid by the Railways on the shortfall quantity if cumulative amount of coal delivered is less than or equal to 95 %.
6. Railways will have to pay 100 % of freight charges for short fall quantity if the coal supply is below 85 % and coal stock at power station is equal to or less than 19,000 tonnes.

Obligation of RPSCL
1. The company will be responsible for loading and unloading of wagons.
2. Maximum of 92 rakes in a month will be loaded and unloaded by the company excluding such additional rakes, which may be required to maintain the coal stock amount.
3. A premium equal to 5 % of the freight charges will be paid by the company on each tonne of coal loaded up to 2.7 million tonnes.
4. If the railway transports coal in excess of 2.565 million tonnes in any year, the company shall pay to the railways a bonus of 5 % of the freight charges on the additional quantity actually transported.
5. If the company fails to offer the scheduled quantity in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, the company shall pay capacity charges to the railways. These charges will depend on the actual detention of rakes.
6. If the company fails to load or unload the rakes placed by the railway in accordance with the rules, certain coal quantity will be deemed to be delivered depending on the hours of detention.

This is the first agreement between railways and any public or private entity for transportation of coal and such agreements will become a norm in future as more and more independent power producers enter the power generation sector.

Ramsarup Industries Ltd has announced that it has commenced execution of Indo Bangladesh Border fencing contract bagged from CPWD INR 27.78 crores.

The release said that the total time frame for completion of the Contract is 9 months.

Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd has announced the following unaudited results for the quarter ended December 31st 2006.

NLC posted a net profit of INR 1526.60 million for the quarter ended December 31st 2006 as compared to INR1364.50 million for the quarter ended December 31st 2005.

NLCs total income decreased from INR 6875.70 million for the quarter ended December 31st 2005 to INR 6428.20 million for the quarter ended December 31st 2006.

Business Standard has reported that Danish logistics major AP Moller Maersk will invest about INR 10 billion for developing a new container berth at the Pipavav port in Gujarat.

As per report, the port will set up the new container berth with 385 meter quay length in addition to the existing 350 meter container berth.

Pipavav Port currently has the capacity to handle 500,000 twenty foot containers a year and the capacity is expected to reach 1 million twenty foot containers. The port also handles a variety of bulk cargoes including coal, fertilizer, cement, steel and soda ash and at present, the port has the capacity to handle 3 million tonne of bulk cargo.

Karnataka government is expected to float tenders for two major road projects in Peripheral Ring Road and Inner Core Ring Road under public private partnership within the next two to four months.

The total cost of the peripheral ring road project is estimated to be INR 3,700 crore including the cost of land. The government will contribute INR 1,000 crore in terms of land acquisition while the private entrepreneurs will invest the remaining for the eight lane peripheral ring road. The road will stretch across 116 kilometer connecting Hosur and Tumkur highways. The PRR project will be completed in two phases with the phase I expected to cover 65 kilometer costing INR 1,600 crore and phase II covering 51 kilometer costing INR 1,075 crore. The final notification for land acquisition for the project will be issued by January end 2007 and the project will be completed by 2010.

The ICRR project, which covers 29.5 kilometer, will be completed at an estimated cost of INR 1,800 crore. It will be funded by the government and BOT operator on equal basis. The government will finalize ICRR project by March 2007 after which a BOT operator will be identified. The tender for the project will be floated by April 2007.

Mr P Chidambaram union finance minister has approved 23 foreign direct investment proposals recommended by foreign investment promotion board in its meeting held on 12th January 2007 amounting to total financing of INR 5910.66 crore.

The proposals relate to Ministries and Departments, namely, Commerce, Industrial Policy & Promotion, Information & Broadcasting, Power, Shipping, Telecommunications, Tourism, and Economic Affairs.

The approval includes FDI of INR 5 crore by VISA Minmetal AG of Switzerland into VISA Comtrade Limited of Kolkata, which is engaged in high end sales, wholesale/cash and carry trading, imports and export, direct sales to public sector undertakings etc.

World DRI production for the countries reporting to the International Iron and Steel Institute is reported to be 49.433 million tons in during 2006, which is 9% higher than 2005.

India leads the pack with 37.8 YoY growth in 2006 and 28.4% YoY growth in December 2006.

In million tonnes
Source IISI

Mittal Steel Company NV announced that the President of the Rotterdam District Court denied ThyssenKrupp AGs petition for an order directing Mittal Steel to cause Arcelor SA to initiate legal proceedings against the Strategic Steel Stichting, which currently owns 89% of Dofasco Inc, with a view to forcing the Stichting to dissolve.

As per release, among other reasons for its decision, the Court stated that Mittal Steel cannot be expected to do more than it has already done in order to seek dissolution of the Stichting.

Mittal Steel defended ThyssenKrupps suit on the grounds that the Letter Agreement did not require it to initiate legal proceedings against the Stichting because the prospects for success of such a lawsuit were remote, based on advice received from Dutch legal experts. As previously announced, the respective Boards of Directors of Mittal Steel and Arcelor decided on January 9th 2007 not to commence such litigation, based on such advice.

ThyssenKrupp sued Mittal Steel in the Rotterdam District Court on December 22nd 2006 alleging that the Letter Agreement, dated January 26th 2006, regarding the sale of Dofasco, required Mittal Steel to cause Arcelor to bring suit to dissolve the Stichting and seeking a Court order directing Mittal Steel to do so.

On April 3rd 2006, Arcelor transferred 89% of Dofascos shares to the Stichting, thereby preventing Mittal Steel or Arcelor from selling Dofasco unless the Stichting is dissolved and returns the shares. The Letter Agreement can be terminated if the sale is not completed by April 26th 2007.

It is reported that Severstal has increased its steel production in 2006 by 4.8% YoY to 17.6 million tonnes.

Severstals production of pellets in 2006 grew by 8% YoY to 9.5 million tonnes from 8.8 million tonnes, iron ore concentrate increased by 15.4% YoY to 4.5 million tonnes from 3.9 million tonnes and coal concentrate increased by 8% YoY to 5.4 million tons from 5 million tons in 2005.

As per reports, Severstal is planning to increase production of coking coal concentrate by 30%, pellets by 5.3% and iron ore concentrate by 2.2% in 2007.

Following the courts decision that the release of Dofasco from the Dutch foundation cannot be enforced by court action, as chances of acquiring Dofasco by ThyssenKrupp are now very remote, ThyssenKrupp announced that it will therefore swiftly pursue its plans to build a new steel mill in the USA.

The aim of this Greenfield project is to significantly strengthen the position of ThyssenKrupp Steel and ThyssenKrupp Stainless in the North America region.

Central to the Greenfield project is the construction of a hot strip mill which will be used primarily to process slabs from ThyssenKrupps new CSA steel mill in Brazil.

According to a recent working conference jointly held by China Iron & Steel Association and China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters and attended by 74 steel mills in Kunming, the qualified ore importers would be trimmed to no more than 90 this year along the lines of new rules. China has kept shortening the list of qualified ore importers in recent years, cutting it to 118 in 2006 from 500 in 2005.

The move is taken to regulate the ore imports market, and in turn help Chinese steelmakers gain better negotiating position in future ore talks. Mr Luo Bingsheng deputy director of CISA said China has too many and highly fragmented ore importers. Lacking of one unified voice and self discipline leads to blind scare buying and price bid up.

The criteria for all importers include a registered capital of at least RMB 20 million and minimum import volume of 700,000 tonnes in 2005. Applicants should also have imported more than 700,000 tons of iron ore in 2005 as against the previous requirement of 300,000 tons. The criteria also includes a requirement that the importer has an overseas iron ore investment, a bank facility of over RMB 400 million and certain iron ore warehousing facilities. The steelmakers must have a minimum crude steel output of 1 million tonnes and meet certain environmental, coal and water consumption standards.

(Sourced fromMysteel.net)

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce announced that its senior management has approved and will submit to the board of directors a proposal for dividend payment of USD 1.65 billion to shareholders in 2007. The dividend proposed for 2007 represents an increase of 27% over the total dividend paid in 2006 of USD 1.3 billion and a raise of 77.6% over the average annual dividend for the last 5 years.

The payment will be made in two equal installments, on April 30th 2007 and October 31st 2007 and corresponds to USD 0.68289232 per outstanding common and preferred shares. Payments will be made in Brazilian reais, converted to the US dollar according to the Brazilian real/US dollar exchange rate published by the Central Bank of Brazil on the business day prior to the Board of Directors meeting that approves the dividend proposal.

Allegheny Technologies Incorporated announced that its board of directors has approved the expansion of its titanium and nickel based super alloy capabilities at facilities located in the Carolinas at an investment of USD 215 million. ATI expects this self funded project to be substantially completed by the end of 2009.

The purpose of the capital project is to meet growing demand from the aerospace and defense, electrical energy, medical, and oil and gas markets.

The project includes
1. Additional forging capacity. ATI plans to add an integrated 10,000 tonnes press forge, 700mm rotary forge, conditioning, finishing, and inspection facility to support increased forged product requirements. The new forging capacity is expected to be operational by the third quarter 2009. Forging is a hot forming process that produces wrought forging billet and forged machining bar from an ingot.

2. Additional Plasma Arc Melt capacity to support premium titanium alloy growth requirements. ATI expects this fourth PAM furnace to begin production by the fourth quarter 2008. Plasma arc melting is a superior cold-hearth melting process for making alloyed titanium products for jet engine rotating parts, medical applications, and other critical applications.

3. Additional vacuum arc remelt capacity to support premium nickel-based super alloy and titanium growth. ATI expects one new VAR to be in production in the first quarter 2008. The remaining four VAR furnaces would be installed as needed. VAR melting is a consumable electrode re-melting process that improves the cleanliness and chemical homogeneity of the alloys.

Mr Patrick Hassey chairman, president and CEO of ATI said that "This strategic growth project further strengthens ATI's leadership position in the production of technically demanding premium titanium and nickel based super alloy long products."

Allegheny Technologies Incorporated is one of the largest and most diversified specialty metals producers in the world with revenues of USD 4.4 billion during the most recent four quarters ending September 30th 2006.

Evraz Group announced that it has completed its acquisition of Oregon Steel Mills Inc via a short form merger of Oregon Steel with Evraz's wholly owned subsidiary Oscar Acquisition Merger Sub Inc.

The merger follows the announcement on January 12th 2007 of the successful closing of the cash tender offer by Oscar Acquisition Merger Sub Inc to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of Oregon Steel for USD 63.25 per share, in which more than 90% of the shares were tendered for which payment has already been made.

Mr Alexander Frolov chairman and CEO of Evraz said that "We appreciate the fact that Oregon Steel shareholders have accepted our offer and that we have completed the transaction in a timely manner. And we welcome Oregon Steel's employees into the Evraz family, and look forward to jointly building a world class company with efficient operations, diverse revenue streams and high margins.

Mr Jim Declusin president and CEO of Oregon Steel Mills said "We are pleased to join with Evraz and become part of a leading global steelmaker with complementary strengths and markets. As part of Evraz, we will have the critical elements needed to compete in new and growing markets."

Chinese steelmaker and nonferrous metals smelter Jiangxi Metallurgical Group Corp plans to make RMB 60 billion (USD 7.71 billion) in revenues by 2010.

JMG also plans to construct a steel sheet production line with subsidiary Xinyu Steel and promote collaborations between its other subsidiaries Hongdu Iron and Steel and CITIC Pacific.

JMG posted RMB 30.28 billion (USD 3.89 billion) in revenue for 2006 year up by 30.81% YoY and profits of RMB 578 million (USD 74.28 million) up by 49.16 % YoY. In 2006, JMGs output of crude steel was 7.71 million tons up by 25.58 % YoY, pig iron 6.27 million tons up by 20.16% YoY, steel products 7.36 million tonnes up by 18.91%. It exported 0.4 million tonnes of steel products in 2006 almost seven times the figure of 2005.

RBC reported that Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works has made yet another step towards placing its shares on a foreign stock exchange,

The Russian Federal Financial Markets Service issued a license for floating 3.02 billion of the company's shares, on a foreign market, although MMK is likely to place no more than 10 to15 % of shares during the IPO. Despite having received a license from FFMS, MMK has not yet revealed its IPO plans.

Report mentions that MMK has made a decision to issue additional shares in order to increase its share capital from RUR 10.63 billion to RUR 12.08 billion while FFMS registered an additional issue of 1.45 billion common shares.

Chinas National Development and Reform Commission, in a 5 year blueprint for the coal industry, outlined that China will consolidate coal mines and boost output of good quality coal while controlling overall production and that the total production will be capped at 2.6 billion tons annually by 2010.

NDRC said "The key mission during the period is to control output, form big players, consolidate small and medium size suppliers and eliminate those with low recovery rates and poor safety.

China's coal mining industry is highly fragmented, with tens of thousands of small mine operators. The government also has announced plans to consolidate the industry by requiring that operations in any single coal field be controlled by only one company, to help improve technology and safety in the notoriously perilous industry. In 2005, small mines accounted for just over 1 billion of China's total coal output. By 2010, planners expect small mines to provide only 700 million tons of total supply. The government plans to form between six and eight large scale mining conglomerates able to produce more than 100 million tons of coal a year as against Shenhua Energy which reported coal output of 136.6 million tonnes in 2006.

China is the world's biggest producer and consumer of coal, with output last year at 2.33 billion tons compared with demand of 2.25 billion tons. The country exports some of its low grade coal and imports high grade coking coal to meet the needs of its steel industry.

IPSCO announced to add a new USD 40 million plant in its Blytheville pipe mill in Arkansas to produce heat treated oil country tubular goods. The new facility will produce heat-treated OCTG in 2 3/8 inches through 5 inches diameters. Commercial production is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2007.

IPSCO said that combined with the company's four existing plants in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Canada and another planned in Texas, overall heat treated OCTG production will increase by 100,000 tons to 575,000 tons annually.

Mr Joseph Russo senior VP of IPSCO said "We believe this expansion will enhance our competitive position in the United States and better serve our customers through expanded product offerings."

IPSCO has a combined annual steel making capacity of 4.3 million tonnes. Steel can also be further processed at IPSCO's five temper leveling or coil processing facilities. IPSCO produces oil and gas well casing and tubing, line pipe, standard pipe and hollow structures, as well as premium connections for oil and natural gas drilling production. With the expansion of new mill, the overall production will increase by 100,000 tons to 575,000 tons annually.

Japanese Mitsui & Co. will buy a 25 % stake in a Chinese ferrosilicon smelter in the northern province of Inner Mongolia for about CNY 1 billion (USD 129 million). Mitsui will buy 600 million new shares at a minimum of CNY 1.3 each to be issued by the smelter. Mitsui & Co will also buy 300 million shares from one of the smelter's existing shareholders Erdos Cashmere.

Following the transactions, Mitsui will hold a 25 % stake in the smelters expanded share capital while Erdos Cashmere's stake in the ferrosilicon maker will be diluted to 45 % from 54 %.

The ferrosilicon mill, established in early 2003, is also involved in coal mining and power generation.

(Sourced fromMysteel.net)

Harris Steel Group Inc announced the closing of the acquisition of the business and assets of LEC Steel Inc of Brantford in Ontario. The transaction was structured as an asset purchase and the purchase consideration paid on closing was approximately CAD 17 million in cash. The signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the LEC business and assets was announced December 18th 2006.

LEC is a processor of wire, mesh and construction accessory products.

Harris Steel Group Inc is engaged in the fabrication and placing of concrete reinforcing steel including epoxy coated reinforcing steel, the design and installation of concrete post tensioning systems, the manufacture & distribution of wire & wire products, welded wire mesh and cold finished bars and the manufacture and distribution of heavy industrial steel grating, aluminum grating & expanded metal.

Shanghai Daily, citing a senior official at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, reported that China's zinc futures are being reviewed for approval by a government body.

Mr Chen Jianping senior director of the marketing department of the SFE said that The exchange is confident that the futures will be launched this year.

Commodities trading broke records in China in 2006 as it has become the biggest consumer of commodities.

Bloomberg reported that Indonesia has ordered that any company wishing to export tin to register within one month as part of a plan to prevent illegal mining and smelting. The new rules will be enforced from 23rd February 2007.

Mr Diah Maulida the director general of foreign trade at the ministry of trade said that only those mining companies with the correct licenses and who have paid royalties will be allowed to export tin.

He said "Up to now, everybody can export tin ingots without regulation. We decreed a month from now, exports of tin ingots of 99.85% purity can only be by registered exporters. They must have mining licenses and must show proof they have paid the royalty."

Illegal mining and smelting in Indonesia has been hampering tin prices for two years. An industry expert said that "Tin prices have been lagging behind the other metals because of supply from Indonesia. The new rules are expected to help boost tin prices to an average of around USD 11,000 per tonne as compared to last years average of USD 8,734 per tonne.

Chinas National Bureau of Statistic has reported domestic production levels for various items in 2006 as under

Volume in million tonnes
Change is wrt 2005

(Sourced fromMysteel.net)

Reuter reported that Mittal Steel Temirtau plans to raise liquid steel production to 4.4 million tonnes this year from 3.7 million tonnes in 2006.

Mittal Steel Temirtau had planned to produce 4.7 million tonnes of steel in 2006 but its production fell by 10.5 % due to a strike in September and October.

China's demand for nickel might not be hampered by high global prices as its nickel imports during January to November 2006 increased by 7.6% to 86,908 tonnes as compared to the same period of 2005.

Mr Zhu Limin from Shanghai Securities told Interfax that "The high international nickel prices partly reflect high demand from the market, especially from China. Nickel shortages and low stockpiles on the world market are pushing prices higher.
Analysts believed that China's stainless steel output will increase by one third this year from last year's 6 million tonnes with production capacity to hit 10 million tonnes by the end of this year.

BlueScope Steel Ltd has signed an information technology services contract with Computer Sciences Corporation. The contract, which includes a 4 year base period and two 2 year options, has a potential value of USD 378 million, if all options are exercised.

Under the agreement, CSC will be responsible for managing and delivering a diverse set of IT services ranging from consulting, applications development and support, disaster recovery, systems integration and end-user services on a variety of technology platforms.

CSC has provided similar services to BlueScope since May 2000 and is the company's largest provider of IT services across Asia, New Zealand and North America.

Steel Dynamics Inc reported that its fourth quarter earnings grew to USD 105.1 million up by 62% YoY as compared to USD 64.9 million in October to December 2005 and its quarterly sales climbed by 47% to USD 839.8 million from USD 569.6 million a year ago.

SDI shipped 1.2 million tons of steel in the quarter which is up by 27% YoY but down by 6%QoQ from the Q3. Its average selling prices were up by 16% YoY to USD 720 a ton from a year ago but decline slightly from USD 733 a ton in the third period.

For 2006, the company posted earnings of USD 396.7 million versus USD 221.8 million in 2005 and its sales increased to USD 3.24 billion from USD 2.18 billion in 2005. Consolidated shipments for 2006 grew by 30% to 4.7 million tons. All three of the company's Indiana steel mills established annual records for sales and profits.

Mr Keith Busse president and CEO of SDI said that "During 2006 we were able to take advantage of numerous marketplace opportunities as a result of the production capabilities we've put into place over the past several years. With the exception of some softening of demand for flat-rolled steel in the fourth quarter due to market oversupply, the markets for our products were strong all year. With prices for steel scrap and energy costs remaining relatively stable or declining, and selling prices relatively strong, we were able to achieve stronger margins. All in all, should the economy remain strong and stable, 2007 could be another record year."

Poland's coal miners and the government have reached an agreement on restructuring plans that will avert a strike.

Miner trade union leaders said that they suspended plans for a 24 hour strike on Wednesday and those for a general strike in February after the government backed out of some of its plans for a restructuring of the industry. Earlier, the miners were all set to support strike plans in protest of the restructuring, which would endanger jobs and cut earnings.

Mr Dominik Kolorz the head of miners' solidarity trade union said, "You can never agree 100 % but I must admit that I am quite pleased with this agreement."

According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service the Russian Federation increased steel pipe production in 2006 by 17.7% YoY to 7.9 million tonnes.

As per media reports, Russia's 3 major pipe producers accounted for 6.441 million tonnes of pipes

Volume in million tonnes