Pittsburgh based Alcoa Inc announced that Mr Ratan Tata, chairman of TATA Sons Ltd has been appointed a new director on 11 member board off world largest aluminum producer.

Mr Alain Belda chairman & CEO in a company statement said Ratans global business acumen and his depth of knowledge about quality and customer satisfaction will make him a valuable addition to our board of directors.

Mr Ratan Tata who joined the TATA Group in 1962, became chairman of the holding company in 1991. Under his leadership, the TATA Group has grown, primarily through acquisitions. TATA Sons is the holding company of the TATA Group, India's largest private sector conglomerate.

Mr Ratan Tata is also a director of Fiat SpA and serves on the international advisory boards of Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group and JP Morgan Chase. He is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Advisory Committee to the New York Stock Exchange and chairs the advisory board of RANDs Center for Asia Pacific Policy. He is also a part of Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS and the program board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations India AIDS initiative. In India, Mr Ratan Tata is chairman of the Governments Investment Commission.

Alcoa, which reported revenues of USD 30 billion in 2006, is the worlds leading producer and manager of primary aluminum. The company has 123,000 employees in 44 countries. There has been speculation on Alcoa's future after London's Times newspaper reported that mining companies BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Ltd. were both considering bids worth about USD 40 billion for the aluminum manufacturer.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd will be celebrating its silver jubilee from February 18th to February 20th 2007 and Mr Ram Vilas Paswan the union steel minister will address the function.

The foundation stone for the plant was laid by Ms Indira Gandhi in 1971 but due to a fund crunch the project could not be taken up and finally the plant could become operational in the early nineties. The plant had started with an initial loss of INR 2,000 crore and achieved a turnaround by 2002.

Mr Y Sivasagara Rao CMD of RINL during a press conference recalled that he as an engineering student took part in agitation in the late 1960s for setting up a steel plant in Andhra Pradesh in which 32 persons had lost their lives. He said "I did not imagine at that time that I would head the steel plant and it is a matter of great honor and pride for me that during my tenure the expansion of the plant from 3 million tonnes to 6 million tonnes is being taken up.

RINL has planned to gradually increase its capacity from 3.2 million tonnes to 16 million tones by 2017-18.

Godawari Power gets environmental nod for Boria Tibbu iron ore mines

Godawari Power & Ispat Ltd announced that the ministry of environment & forests has accorded the environmental clearance for operation of its Boria Tibbu iron ore mines at Village Boria Tibbu in Chhattisgarh.

GPIL said that now it is awaiting forest clearance, on receipt of which, it can start mining at Boria Tibbu iron ore mines.

India's iron ore exports are likely to rise to 100 million tonnes in the 2006-07 from 90 million tonnes in 2005-06. More than half of India's iron ore production is exported, with a major portion of the shipments going to China, where it is sold in the spot market as it commands a premium over long term contracts.

Mr B Ramesh Kumar CMD of National Mineral Development Corp while addressing Metaljunction organized steel conference in New Delhi said that production was likely to rise by 15 million tonnes in 2006-07 from 155 million tonnes in 2005-06. Mr Kumar said the country would need to boost iron ore output to 300 million tonnes annually by 2020 to match the projected steel capacity of 180 million tonnes by that year.

Mr Kumar said state run NMDC's output was likely to be 26 million tonnes in the current fiscal, out of which about 11% is likely to be exported. He said NMDC had started the construction work on a new mine Bailadila 11 B in Chhattisgarh, which will initially have a capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum and would later be raised to 7 million tonnes per annum. Mr Kumar said the company was aiming to nearly double its iron ore production to 50 million tonnes by 2014-15.

Indian government is proposing to enhance penalty for violating various provisions of the Mines Act 1952. Mr Oscar Fernandes minister of labor and employment while addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting said that The proposal is under examination so that any contravention of the law is prohibitive.

He added that efforts are also on for designated courts to deal with cases exclusively under the Mines Act.

Mr Fernandes said that overall improvement of safety in mines calls for updating the legislative provisions and suitable strengthening of the enforcement machinery.

Mr Fernandes welcomed the reduction in the average number of fatal accidents per year and informed that such accidents have come down in coal mines from 223 to 89 and in non coal mines from 64 to 51 since 1951-60 to 2000-06. He said that similarly the number of fatalities per year have also been reduced from 295 to 112 in coal mines and from 81 to 64 in non coal mines during the same period.

Reuters reported that TATA Steel will commission a new high capacity blast furnace at its plant in Jamshedpur by March 2008.

Dr T Mukherjee deputy MD steel of TATA Steel on the sidelines of Metaljunction organized steel conference in New Delhi told Reuter that the capacity of the BFs would be raised to 10 million tonnes per annum by 2010 and after that TATA Steel will not need any more blast furnaces at the plant in Jamshedpur.

Dr Mukherjee said the company would be investing in other facilities such as a steel melting shop etc.

TATA Steel has a production capacity of 5.2 million tonnes per annum crude steel at Jamshedpur.

Ranchi Express reported that Mittal Steel has completed its site selection process for setting up a 12 million tonne steel plant in Jharkhand. Mittal Steel officials did not reveal the site finalized or the timeframe for its announcement

Mr Sanak Mishra CEO of Mittal Steel's Jharkhand project said that "We have completed the site selection process in Jharkhand, which is crucial to our India plans. We are in constant dialogue with the State government over all the issues."

The report cites state government officials as saying that Arcelor Mittal has narrowed down on a site in Seraikela Kharsawan and an announcement for which could well be made within a month if things shape up as per plans.

JSW Steel reaffirmed their plans to more than double its steel output to 10 million tonnes a year by 2010 from current 4 million tonnes.

Mr Jayant Acharya senior VP sales & marketing of JSW steel during Metaljunction organized steel conference in New Delhi said added that In the decade to 2020, it would look to raise capacity by another 30 million tonnes.

Tamil Nadu Maritime Board announced that it signed a MoU with Good Earth Maritime to build a shipyard worth INR 1,000 crore at Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Ship building is scheduled to begin in three years and is planning to build ships with 45,000 DWT to 80,000 DWT.

The companies floated a special purpose vehicle Good Earth Shipbuilding Pvt Ltd for the purpose. The project will be implemented in two phases and an amount of INR.500 crore will be invested in the first phase.

IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects Ltd has announced that the Order Book Position of the Company has improved by INR 516.09 Crores having bagged various orders as detailed.

1. Water Supply and Lift Irrigation Projects of the value of INR 411.01 Crores
(a) Construction, operation & Maintenance of Dehani Lift Irrigation Scheme under Bembla River Project awarded by Bembla Project Division, Yavatmal in the state of Maharashtra INR193.83 Crores
(b) JBIC Assisted Kerala Water Supply Project Contract Package 4 Service Reservoirs under Thiruvananthapuram, Meenad, Kozhikode and Pattuvam Schemes awarded by Kerala Water Authority, Thiruvananthapuram INR 147.67 Crores
(c) Water Supply Projects viz. Arrah Sasaram and Muzaffarpur Phase I awarded by Public Health & Engineering Department Government of Bihar INR 69.51 Crores

2. Rural Electrification works of the value of INR 65.00 Crores
(a) Rural Electrification Works in Lakshisarai & Munger District of Bihar under RGGVY Scheme awarded by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd INR 38.36 Crores
(b) Rural Electrification Works in Madhubani & Sheohar District of Bihar awarded by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd INR 26.64 Crores.

3. Buildings work of the value of INR 40.08 Crores awarded by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India, Hyderabad.

Local media has reported that there may be an investigation into whether Algoma Steel took too long to notify the public that it was in takeover talks. Market Regulation Services, the body that monitors trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is recommending that the Ontario Securities Commission look into the case to see if Algoma broke the exchange's timely disclosure rules. Market Regulation Services has decided to forward the case to the OSC for a possible follow up and is not making any accusations against Algoma.

Trading activity in Algoma Steel shares began to rise sharply on Monday with trading of almost 700,000 shares and the stock jumping by CAD 3.25 to CAD 40, followed by 841,000 shares on Tuesday and 1.2 million shares on Wednesday with the stock reaching to CAD 44.68.

Market Regulation Services had heard rumors that Algoma was in takeover talks and the sudden interest in Algoma shares was obvious. Mr Mike Prior director of market surveillance at Market Regulation Services told CBC News "We called the company Tuesday morning At that point in time, they said there was nothing going on." Barely 32 hours later, after the markets closed Wednesday, Algoma revealed that it had been approached by an unnamed third party and was in talks that could lead to a takeover. The following afternoon, it confirmed a report that the company was Salzgitter AG of Germany.

As per reports, Algoma officials denied misleading regulators or the market, saying the Salzgitter offer did not come until Wednesday afternoon. Algoma Steel spokesperson Brenda Stenta is denying any impropriety in the company's disclosures. She said "We had nothing to disclose until we were approached."

Under timely disclosure rules, a company must report all material information about their business to investors in a timely and fair manner.

China's coal exports in January 2007 decreased by 20.4% YoY to 3.29 million tonnes as compared to January 2006 and by 44.2% MoM from 5.9 million tonnes in December 2006.

China coal import in 2006 was 38.25 million tons valued at USD 1.62 billion up by 46.1% YoY and 17% YoY respectively. Its coal export decreased by 11.7% YoY to 63.3 million tonnes for the third consecutive year. Analysts expect China to become a net coal importer in 2007 as robust domestic demand pulls back more resources from international market after China canceled export rebate and imposed a 5% export tariff on the product.

Statistics also show that China exported 1.3 million tons of coke and semi coke in January 2007 up by 38.7% YoY.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

The European Commission said its inquiry into the proposed merger between Voestalpine AG's scrap trading operation Voestalpine Rohstoffhandel GmbH and the German steel and metal recycling company Scholz AG is set for March 22nd 2007.

The two companys metal scrap trading activities will be merged in Austria and the Czech Republic. Scholz will hold 60% of shares in the JV, while Voestalpine will take a 33.4% stake. The remaining shares will be held by Voestalpine Rohstoffhandel GmbH''s two previous shareholders steel manufacturers Bohler Edelstahl GmbH and Stahl und Walzwerk Marienhutte Gesellschaft mbH.

The market will continue to keep a close watch on nickel stock movements in determining future price direction, as critically low inventories and signs of further tightening in the near term boosted London Metal Exchange nickel prices last week. The three month nickel pushed to an over one week high of USD 37,800 a metric ton up roughly by 5%. Nickel prices have jumped roughly by 16% since the beginning of the year.

Although nickel stocks have increased roughly 30% from levels one week ago, nevertheless, they remain at critically low levels of about 2000 tonnes, which is less than half a day's worth of global nickel consumption.

Looking forward, some analysts expect the market tightness to abate due to an increase in nickel stocks and the potential for accelerated substitution. Commonwealth Bank of Australia said recently that global nickel prices will fall from current supercharged levels in 2007 although prices will remain at a structurally high level by historical standards.

Timken announced that it will spend USD 60 million and team up with Daido Steel of Japan to increase its capacity to produce high tolerance special bar quality mill products for the auto market including for Japanese automakers with plants in the US.

As per report a 76,000 square feet mill addition will be built at Timken's Harrison Steel plant near its Canton in Ohio headquarters. The project will include expanded rolling, finishing and inspection capabilities. Construction is expected to be completed in mid 2008.

The investment will enable Timken to competitively produce steel bars down to 1 inch diameter for use in power transmission and friction management applications for a variety of customers.

Mr James W Griffith president and CEO of Timken said that We are making investments across our company to strengthen the differentiation of our technology and product portfolio. The expansion of the firm's small bar steel capabilities is part of a corporate strategy of taking advantage of strong market opportunities throughout the economic cycle.

7 miners were killed and 8 others injured in a coal mine gas explosion at Qiupigou Coal Mine of Nanpiao Mining Administration in Huludao City of Liaoning province.
Liaoning government officials have reached the scene to guide the rescue, and the mine's production has been suspended. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

The Qiupigou Coal Mine is a low gas coal mine built in 1958 with an annual production volume of 500,000 tons. Nanpiao Mining Administration bankrupted last year.

Brazil's mining institute Ibram told BNamericas that Brazilian iron ore shipments to China could increase by 15% YoY in 2007 and that the total Brazilian exports of iron ore are due to expand by more than 10% this year over some 260 million tonne in 2006.

Ibram said that China imported 80 million tonne of iron ore from the South American country last year adding the forecast increase in volume reflects ongoing strong demand in Asia.

Brazil is the home of several global iron ore miners including CVRD, J Mendes, MBR and Mhag.

Azerbaijans Baku steel announced that it resumed production on February 14th 2007 after accumulation of raw material. Baku Steel had ceased its activities due to the absence of raw materials at the beginning of 2007.

Mr Ali Askeri VP of Baku Steel Company said that We set up production to avoid financial difficulties, particularly those related to the payment of salaries in the local market.

Mr Askeri said currently the company is involved in the collection of raw material for further production and unless it succeeds in collecting the necessary volume of raw material, it will again have to cease its operation in a month.

The production capacity of Baku Steel is 350,000 tonnes a year and it produced 300,000 tonnes in 2006.

ThyssenKrupp Steel AG has awarded to SMS Demag an order for modernization of the roughing train of the hot strip mill in Bochum.

The aim of the modernization is to improve the width tolerances of the hot strip, to increase the yield and to heighten the rolling stability in the finishing mill by minimizing the formation of camber in the transfer bar. This modernization will allow ThyssenKrupp Steel to increase the annual capacity of the hot strip mill.

The order includes the installation of a new, fully hydraulic edging stand which is to be flanged to the existing roughing stand. The supply scope also comprises new hydraulic side guards, work roller tables in the area of the roughing stand, renewal of essential components of the horizontal stand, electrical systems for the mechanical equipment and the complete automation of the roughing train.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co announced that its Q4 profit rose despite higher stainless steel prices and a bigger than expected charge for inventory accounting. Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co net earnings in the quarter were USD 74.6 million as compared with USD 60.6 million in Q4 of 2006.

Mr David H Hannah CEO of Reliance Steel said the company is optimistic about business conditions in 2007 but it expects growth at a slower rate than in 2006. He said that The Company expects relatively stable pricing in 2007with steel trending upward and aluminum softening.

Interfax reported that Interpipe's biggest pipe production asset Nizhnedniprovsky Pipe Rolling Work posted net profit of UAH 564.29 million in 2006 up by 6.5% YoY and its retained earnings stood at UAH 570.5 million at the end of 2006. It increased pipe output in 2006 by 8.7% YoY to 586,200 tonnes.

NDTZ will hold their annual general meeting on March 30, when they will review results for 2006, distribution of profits and plans for 2007. They will also discuss changes on the management board and the audit commission.

Its shareholders decided at a meeting on February 9th 2007 to rename NDTZ as Interpipe Nizhnedniprovsky Pipe Rolling Works as part of the restructuring of the Interpipe group. Interpipes Niko Tube seamless pipe plant and Nikopol Pipe Company were similarly renamed recently by adding Interpipe to the beginning of their names.

Russian UGMK has announced that it is planning to build up Zinc plant with capacity to produce 140,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes of zinc per annum. As per report the new enterprise is to be put into operation in by 2012 at an estimated cost of about USD300 million to USD 350 million.

As per reports, the plant will also develop supplementary precious metals production since 1 tonne of zinc raw materials contains 200 grams to 300 grams of silver and about 4 grams of gold.

Vietnam may have to import coal especially metallurgical coal from 2015 to meet increased demands.

Industry Ministry of Vietnam predicted that Vietnam would have to import 5.9 million tonnes of several kinds of coal in 2015, 15.4 million tonnes in 2020, and 54.4 million tonnes in 2025, to serve increasing demand for the fossil fuel of its energy thirsty industries, including metallurgy and thermoelectricity.

The minister said Vietnam is estimated to consume 29 million tonnes to 32 million tonnes of different kinds of coal in 2010, 47 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes in 2015, 69 million tonnes to 72 million tonnes in 2020 and 112 million tonnes to 115 million tonnes in 2025.

According to the country's General Statistics Office, Vietnam has total coal reserves of 6.1 billion tons, of which nearly 2.6 billion tons, mainly anthracite coal, can be exploited.

Vietnam exported nearly 29.8 million tons of several types of coal worth USD 927 million in 2006 mainly to China, Japan and South Korea, posting respective YoY rises of 65.6% and 38.5%.

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce announced that it will file an application with the Brazilian Securities Commission for the registration of a public offer for the primary and secondary distribution of the common shares of its subsidiary Log-In Logtica Intermodal SA as follows.

a) The primary and secondary public distribution on the Brazilian over the counter market will be coordinated by Banco UBS Pactual S.A., pursuant to the procedures set out under CVM Instruction N 400, of December 29, 2003;
b) The secondary public offering of shares of Log-In Logtica will be carried out by CVRD;
c) Efforts will also be made to place the shares outside Brazil, through transactions exempt from registration.

Log-In Logtica is a logistics company that offers inter modal services, with integrated solutions including port services and door to door transportation of containers by sea and rail, complemented by short haul trucking, as well as the handling and storage of containers at land-based cargo terminals.

New Zealand Steel and Tube has posted a half year profit of NZD14.75 million, down 17 % drop because of the headstrong Kiwi dollar and sluggish construction market. The result compares to a result in December 2005 of NZD 17.68 million. Its sales rose by 3% YoY to NZD 229 million but NZD 16.9 million of this was from a new stainless steel business acquired in April 2006.

Mr Nick Calavrias CEO of Steel and Tube said the business was at the mercy of world events, particularly a slowdown in economic growth in New Zealand where construction activity was down by 6% and the strengthening New Zealand dollar made inventory replacement expensive. He said any relief in cheaper prices for imported steel was soon lost as customers demanded lower prices because of the strong dollar

He said Commercial construction is expected to remain soft near term and then to pick up towards the end of the year. The rural and manufacturing sectors will continue to be under pressure for the foreseeable future.''

Steel & Tube distributes wire, reinforcing steel and roofing iron to the building industry.

Steel distributor and seller Olympic Steel Inc said announced that its Q4 profit was nearly halved from the year ago period, partly due to a weak market whereas net income for the quarter was USD 3.8 million down from USD 7.3 million for the Q4 of 2005.

Net income for the full year was USD 31 million up from USD 22.1 million in 2005. Revenue for the year was USD 981 million up from USD 939.2 million in 2005.

Mr Michael Siegal chairman & CEO said High Q4 service center inventories, as reflected by the Metals Service Center Institute, clearly caused a deteriorating market at year end.

He said We believe that situation will be remediate by the end of the first quarter of 2007, as demand is increasing, imports are being significantly reduced, input costs are on the rise again, and domestic steel production appears in control.

China Precision Steel announced that its revenue for the second quarter of 2007 increased to USD 15 million up by 52% from the second quarter 2006 of USD 9.9 million. Gross profit increased by 22.2% to USD 3.4 million in the second quarter 2007 from USD 2.8 million in the comparable period a year earlier. Net income was USD 2.9 million up by 7.5% YoY for the second quarter 2007 from net income in the second quarter 2006 of USD 2.7 million.

It said that the increase in revenue is due to increased volume which offset the decrease in average selling price during the quarter and that the decline in the average selling price is attributed to increased sales of low carbon precision steel which it began to sell in international markets during the quarter. It did not have any international sales in the second quarter 2006.

China Precision Steel is a niche precision steel processing company principally engaged in producing and selling high precision cold rolled steel products and provides value added services such as heat treatment and cutting medium and high carbon hot rolled steel strips. China Precision Steel produces high precision ultra thin CR steel products primarily for automotive components, food packaging materials, saw blades and textile needle manufacturing companies.

Fitch Rating, based on Brazils Samarco Mineracao SAs conservative financial profile and strong ownership structure comprising two industry leading parent companies, has affirmed its ratings. The ratings also consider Samarco's favorable competitive position as low cost producer and exporter of iron ore pellets, as well as the positive outlook for the iron ore industry over the near to medium term.

Samarco is currently constructing a second pipeline, and a third palletizing plant with a capacity of 7.5 million tons. The plant is due to begin operations in early 2008. The project is estimated to cost USD 1.2 billion and is approximately 40% completed.

Samarco is the third largest iron ore miner in Brazil and ranks as the world's second largest exporter of iron ore pellets. Samarco mines relatively low grade itabirite iron ore in the State of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. Iron ore is processed into concentrate and transported from Samarco's mines via a 396 kilometer slurry pipeline to the company's palletizing plants near its Atlantic port facility. The concentrate is then processed into pellets and pellet feed.

Essentially all of Samarco's pellet and pellet feed sales of 16 million natural metric tons in 2006 were exported to Asia 49%, the Middle East & Africa 21%, Europe 21%, and North and South America 9%. In 2006, Samarco captured a 33% share of the Brazilian pellet export market of 49 million tons and a 17% share of the global seaborne iron ore pellet trade of approximately 93 million tons.

Diversified industrial group Wesfarmers Ltd has delivered a decrease in its interim profit, with lower export coal prices taking its toll on the bottom line. Wesfarmers posted a net profit of USD 391.9 million for the half year ended December 31st 2006 down by 12.3% YoY as compared to AUD 446.7 million in last year. The result included a pretax profit of AUD 24.9 million on the sale of non current assets compared with AUD 1.1 million YoY.

The coal division reported a 6.6% slump in revenue to AUD 587.4 million down on the previous corresponding period's AUD 629.1 million. EBIT for the coal division suffered a 47.1% fall to AUD 168.1 million.

Mr Richard Goyder MD of Wesfarmers said that it had been a good six months for the majority of its operating divisions but as expected, coal division earnings were down due to lower export prices and higher costs.

He said that lower export coal prices and cost pressures would have a negative impact on profit in 2006-07.

Mr Goyder said that The company stands to benefit in the future from the contribution of recent acquisitions now being integrated into our operations, the ongoing growth initiatives in each division supported by record capital expenditure outlays."

Wesfarmers said price negotiations for Curraghs' metallurgical coal output was continuing, with 65% of the 2006-07 contract volumes already settled. The company expects to produce between 6.2 million and 6.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal from Curragh in 2006-07.

Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Group has signed a contract worth USD 200 million to build three large oil tankers for the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Group PetroVietnam. Vinashin will build 105,000 tonne tankers, each valued at USD 60 million to USD 65 million as per the latest international standards of shipbuilding.

Mr Nguyen Quang Nam deputy director of PetroVietnam said that the contract is part of PetroVietnams plan to grow the companys oil tanker fleet to 10 vessels of over 100,000 tonnes each by 2025.

Vinashin intends to invest VND10 trillion to increase the proportion of local content in its shipbuilding operations to 65 % by 2010 and help Viet Nam become the worlds fourth largest shipbuilder To this end, the company will focus on producing rolled steel for ship hulls, 300 to 30,000 horsepower diesel engines, steering systems and onboard cranes.

Irans ministry of industries and mines is in talks with an unidentified European company to invest USD10 billion in Iran's steel industries.

Mr Mohsen Shaterzadeh Irans deputy minister for economic affairs said that the negotiations pertain to the establishment of new steel mills with foreign investment and a supply of energy including electricity and gas for the project.

Mr Mohsen said "Once the project is finalized, Iran will ink a MoU with the European company to invest the aforementioned capital in steel industries, power plant and gas refinery installations."