Gulf News reported that Al Gaith Groups based subsidiary Shadeed Iron and Steel signed a MoU with India's Jindal Saw International to set up a one million tonne per annum seamless tube plant in Oman's Sohar Industrial Port.

Mr Ali Al Gaith chairman of Shadeed Iron and Steel during a press conference said that more than 38% of the main Shadeed plant at Sohar has been completed and commercial production will start by the third quarter of 2008. Mr Al Gaith told Gulf News that a consortium of foreign, local and regional banks will finance the USD 4 billion for the mega project.

Mr PR Jindal vice CMD of Jindal Saw told Gulf News that the new plant is targeting more than 50% of the Middle Easts market of seamless tubes, where the demand is increasing sharply because of large scale expansion projects in the oil and gas industry. He added that "We are investing over USD 1 billion in the first phase of this project.

Indian Steel Alliance, in its pre budget proposal early this month has urged Mr Lalu Prasad union railway minister to work on freight rationalization, better services and quality for Indian steel sector in the Railway Budget to be presented on February 26th 2007 so that domestic steel industry can sustain its global competitiveness. ISA claimed in its presentation that freight costs are a major problem. Railway freight per 1,000 kilometer per tonne is three times higher in India than in the case of China and South Korea.

A top ISA official told IANS We have made it clear in pre budget presentations that steel items remain in the maximum freight classification. This has led to a huge competitive disadvantage for the Indian steel producers as freight accounts 10% to 15% of the operating cost of steel making.

ISA said that Indian Railways have targeted iron ore freight during the last two years. They increased freight tariffs by 68% either by changing the classification or by adjusting the slab rates and as a result, the cost of freight of moving iron ore over a distance of 554 kilometer has gone up by INR 275 per tonne on a busy route. The document claimed that for every one million tonne of ore freight movement, the additional burden on the industry was INR 27.54 crores.

ISA's presentations strongly emphasized on quality and services improvement by reminding Indian Railways that it is still living with an era of shortages mindset and customers have to run from pillar to post to extract services from the railways.

ISA outlined that For every tonne of steel produced in the country, transportation is required for 4 tonnes and trains are the preferred mode of transport for the steel industry with about 60% of raw materials and 35% of finished steel being carried by rail. Indian Railways have insufficient capabilities to handle even the current transportation requirements of the steel industry let alone the traffic that will be created by the planned expansions of steel capacity from 43 million tonnes per annum to 200 million tonnes per annum by 2020. Steel related traffic is expected to go up from the current 172 million tonnes to 800 million tonnes. But total traffic moved by rail was only 667 million tonnes in 2005-06.

Mr P Chidambaram finance minister of India is likely to extend infrastructure status to the coal sector besides lowering duties on capital goods imported for coal mines. In addition to other benefits, the infrastructure status would allow coal industry to claim tax holiday benefits under section 80 I A of the Income Tax Act.

The finance ministry, which was earlier not in favor of according infrastructure status to the coal sector, is now understood to be actively considering this move following the intervention of the Empowered Co ordination Committee headed by Dr Manmohan Singh, besides giving duty concessions on import of mining equipment.

Indias power sector is poised for a huge expansion and coupled with expansion plans in the domestic steel industry, the coal sector has to uncover 15 million tonne to 20 million tonne of new coal reserves every year from underground mines to meet the likely increase in demand. Extension of infrastructure status to the coal industry has been a long standing demand for much needed boost to this sector.

Indian Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has cleared a proposal of Indian Railways to construct the Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors at a total cost of INR 28,181 crore. The freight corridor projects are to be executed in a five year period.

Mr P Chidambaram Finance minister after the CCEA meeting told media that CCEA cleared a proposal to set up the Eastern freight corridor at a cost of INR 11,589 crore and the Western freight corridor for INR 16,592 crore.

He said that initially the special purpose vehicle for constructing the dedicated rail freight corridor would be owned by the Railways and will make the investment for the freight corridor from internal resources and market borrowings. The Railways will also get budgetary support and funding from multi lateral and bilateral agencies.

CCEA also cleared Indian Railways proposal to set up an electric locomotive factory at a cost of INR 1,294 crore at Madhepura in Bihar.

IANS reported that tribal in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh have launched a massive protest against TATA Steels proposed steel alleging that the administration and the company were forcing them to give up their land and that local police has arrested some of the people for fuelling the protest and warned them not to take law and order into their hands.

Mr Chitranjan Bakchhi local CPI leader told IANS In July August last year the district administration forcibly got the consent of villagers to acquire their farm land. Now the villagers have decided they will go to any extent to prevent the TATAs from setting up the plant on fertile land.

TATA Steel has signed a MoU with the Chhattisgarh government in June 2005 to set up a steel plant with an investment of INR 100 billion at Lohandiguda area of Jagdalpur town in Bastar district of Chattisgarh. As per report TATA Steel has promised an attractive package to the 10 villages to compensate for acquiring about 4,500 acres of land.

Hindustan Zinc Ltd announced last weekend that it had raised zinc prices by 4.2 % to INR 170,600 per tonnes with immediate effect and also raised lead prices by 1.5 % to INR 94,500 per tonnes.

Newindpress.com reported that the displaced villagers and management officials of Rana Sponge Iron industry in Dhenkanal district of Orissa had heavy scuffle over the conflict of interests on the rehabilitation and resettlement issue on the industry premises yesterday in which 13 persons were injured and 5 of them are said to be in a critical condition.

The report cites the local police terming the issue as a conflict of interests regarding R&R. It adds that, according to administration sources and land acquisition department, Rana Sponge started land acquisition without consulting the administrative department which this led to the conflict of interests and the consequent violence.

It is reported that Indian union government has initiated the process of phasing out central sales tax starting with a reduction in the CST rate from 4 % to 3 % from April 1st 2007. The CST phase out would mark the beginning of the process of a very significant tax reform measure in India, which is critical for the success of value added tax and for introduction of GST in future.

Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunshi parliamentary Affairs Minister said that a bill called Taxation Laws 2007 would be introduced for this purpose in the coming Budget session of parliament.

The cabinet is also understood to have given its approval for the compensation package to be given to the states for revenue loss on this account which is expected to comprise both monetary and non monetary measures. For this purpose necessary amendments are to be made in the Central Sales Tax Act 1956 and the Additional Duties of Excise Act, 1957. The Centre is likely in the first year to collect service tax on 77 identified services and pass on the entire proceeds in the form of cash to the states towards the CST compensation.

It is reported during a recent India Shipping and Logistics Finance Conference in Mumbai, various aspects of possible mergers, acquisitions and JVs in the domestic shipping & logistics industry, including financing options, were addressed.

Mr TS Bhattacharya MD of State Bank of India said the domestic banking sector was poised to support the shipping industry in a big way, as the outlook for the industry was bullish. He said the industry could grow from the present 13.7% to 20% within the next three years.

Mr PP Vora Director of Deloitte said that it was imperative to choose the right mix of financial instruments for projects. He elaborated on the various options ranging from bank loans and external commercial borrowings, leasing, private placement and venture capital to structured finance involving securitizations and collateralized debt obligation, FCCBs, GDRs, ADRs and IPOs.

Local media has reported that Jharkhand High Court has posted the hearing on matter related to allotment of land on lease for iron ore mining to Adhunik Alloys & Power Limited and other companies with whom the Jharkhand government has signed MoUs on February 27th 2007.

Adhunik Alloys & Power Limited had submitted to the court that applied for setting up a steel plant in the state of Jharkhand with an investment of INR 792 crore in three phases, which was recommended by the Director of Industries and subsequently a MoU was signed with the Jharkhand Government on February 26th 2004.

Jharkhand government had signed several MoUs for setting up of steel plants but is unable to meet its commitment of providing iron ore linkages for these projects.

Mahindra & Mahindra announced that in a JV with Renault and Nissan Motors, it has decided to set up a 400,000 passenger cars unit at Oragadam near Chennai with an investment of around INR.5 000 crore. Tamil Nadu government is likely to sign a MoU with the partnering companies for the project.

M&M will have the majority 50 % stake, while Nissan and Renault will each hold 25 % stake in the project.

The first vehicle to roll out of Chennai unit will be a variant of Renaults Logan, which will initially be manufactured at the Nasik facility of M&M. Subsequently, Chennai facility will serve as a major manufacturing base for Nissan's small car project for the global market.

Jaiprakash Associates subsidiary Jaiprakash Hydro Power announced that it has tied up with Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for setting up the transmission system for the 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric project in Himachal Pradesh.

The JV will be called Jaypee Power grid wherein JHPL will hold 74% of the equity and the remaining 26% will be held by PGCIL. Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corporation will execute the project.

Chinas domestic steel price has maintained strong rise for six straight weeks ahead of Chinese New Year Holiday and Mysteel believes that strong sentiment would stretch into the days after the holiday based on the analysis of market fundamentals. A summary of the likely scenario by MySteel is detailed below.

The market inventory of both flat products and long products has stayed at a manageable level at major cities before the holiday. Shanghai market reported 300,000 tons of rebar, 1.17 million tonne of flat products in stock till February 16th 2007, only half of that recorded the same time of last year. Similarly, lower than expected inventory also has been reported in Guangzhou and Beijing.

Meanwhile, big traders have held over 80% of market inventory before the holiday, and their dominant pricing power would translate into slim chance of price decline after the holiday. And the steady price rise in the past six or seven weeks is mainly the result of strong demand instead of market speculation, thus, dramatic price change is unlikely to occur in short term.

Domestic steelmakers have raise up the EXW price for steel products across the board, putting a strong floor under the market price. And the export boom has also alleviated oversupply pressure on the domestic market. China's steel products export adds up to 4.38 million tonne in January 2007, up 142% from the same period of last year; semis export amounts to 0.57 million tonne in January 2007 up by 93% YoY and 16% MoM.

Chinese authority is poised to put more teeth into reining in steel capacity expansion and export boom, however, the market analysts doubt whether the tightening policies can have a significant impact.

The government has stepped up a crackdown on polluting factories and power plants this year, forcing closures and refusing to approve projects by companies that violated rules. The move is taken mainly against steelmaking and smelting sectors that fail to meet the industrial policy in Hebei, Guizhou, and Shandong etc.

The recent announcement of a record trade surplus for January, combined with another strong set of monthly steel export figures, means it is now almost certain that the government will remove or reduce the export tax rebate on steel. The imminent change to export tax policy has already been reflected in the export offer from Chinese steel mills, and the traders are confident that Chinese steel prices will remain competitive with or without tax rebates.

Currently, Chinese rebar shipment is priced at USD 455 to USD 460 per tonne FOB, wire rod at USD 440 to USD 450 per tonne FOB, according to traders in Europe and Persian bay. And Chinese HR export price to South Korea also firms, with commercial grade quoted at USD 510 to USD 520 per tonne CNF.

However, China's steel market is still exposed to several uncertainties. The record steel export is set to trigger a wave of trade frictions and anti-dumping allegations. And Chinese steel exporters would encounter strong resistance from overseas customers if they try to pass on all the additional costs incurred from export rebate change to the buyers. Besides, the inversion between market price and EXW price is widening, which could catalyze price decline in the spot market once the steelmakers lowers EXW price or the price weakens in forward trading market.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

South Africa's Kumba Iron Ore has asked for urgent clarification from the government of Senegal over a disputed iron ore mine after announcement by Arcelor Mittal last week.

Mr Ras Myburgh CEO of Kumba told Miningmx We were quite surprised to see the news considering that just two weeks ago we were in full discussions with the government and our people were busy with clarifications of some proposals to government that we thought had been well received.

Mr Ras Myburgh added What the agreement is all about and what it means is unclear to us. We need to get confirmation from the government of Senegal of the press announcements before we jump into legal action, but surely that seems to me the logical way forward.

Kumba exercised its option to acquire a controlling stake in the Faleme project some time ago and in 2005 the Senegalese government put this interest in dispute. Since then Kumba has been involved in negotiations with that government to find an amicable solution.

Faleme would have lifted Kumbas project pipeline by more than 12 million tonnes to above 90 million tonnes per annum and the mine would have come stream from around 2010. The three southern deposits have enough hematite to support a 12 million tonnes per annum mine and Kumba had been thinking about raising output to 18 million tonnes per annum but it will need to include the northern deposit.

The World Bureau of Metal Statistics calculates the nickel market with a recorded production consumption deficit of 50,000 tonnes in 2006 outpacing the 25,000 tonnes draws in reported stocks. These figures are obviously preliminary and subject to revision.

Refined production is estimated to have risen by 2.4% YOY with increases in Indonesia and Canada more than compensating for losses in Australia.

According to the Bureau the world demand rose by 78,000 tonnes YoY.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministrys press service said that some earlier reports in the media about Ukrainian radioactive metal products are groundless and false. The release said that The Ukrainian Ministry of Industrial Policy and other agencies thoroughly analyzed the system of radiation control at manufacture enterprises and export execution customs stations. They found the radiation control of metal products is meeting international practice.

It added that Over the past 15 years metallurgical enterprises have never seen exceeding the acceptable concentration of radioactive nuclides in steel and iron.

It underlined that Ukrainian metallurgical produce, which are exported, along with the customs control, undergo radiological control at every post of border crossing and suggested that the same control can be implemented by an import nation.

In addition, the economic production association MetallurgProm has proposed to create an ecological council for control of radiological safety to prevent accusations of supply of radioactive produce.

Wall Street Journal reported last week that Arcelor Mittals plant at Sparrows Point in Maryland in US is expected to draw bids for the facility from big companies in China, Russia and India.

WSJ said that bidders could include JSW Steel Ltd, Ispat Industries Limited, Evraz Group, Severstal Group, CSN, ThyssenKrupp, Wuhan Steel Corp and Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corp in addition to others.

However, a spokesman for ThyssenKrupp reaffirmed that it had no interest in Sparrows Point.

US Justice Department ordered last week to Arcelor Mittal to sell the mill near Baltimore in Maryland in US to settle antitrust issues associated with Mittal Steels merger with Arcelor.

Bloomberg reported that the European Union may lower a tariff on Novolipetsk Steel after it acquired V Stal, which faces no similar EU duty.

EU has began a review that will last as long as 15 months to take account of Novolipetsk's takeover last year of VIZ Stal. The European Commission said The dumping margin under the new corporate structure would change significantly. The investigation will assess the need for the continuation, removal or amendment of the existing measures.

EU has imposed an 11.5% levy on NLMKs electrical steel to protect ThyssenKrupp AG from cheaper imports in August 2005. The 5 year levy against Novolipetsk coincides with EU anti dumping duties of as much as 37.8% on US makers of electrical steel. The US had 10% of the European electrical steel market and Russia had 3% during the 12 month period through March 2004.

According to preliminary figures from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group the global refined zinc market recorded a production consumption deficit of 332,000 tonnes in 2006 following on from a deficit of 412,000 tonnes in 2005.

ILZSG said that global refined metal production in 2006 went up by 4.9% YoY to 10.732 million tonnes with strong rises in production in China and India as compared to a 22% decline in the US and a 14% decline in Mexico.

Whereas, global refined zinc usage is estimated to have risen by 4.1% YoY to 11.064 million tonnes with 5.3% YoY increase in Europe, 4.5% in US, 3.3% in China, 7.9% in India 7.9% and 10.2% in South Korea.

Total reported stocks including LME plus producer, consumer and merchant are estimated to have fallen to 502,000 tonnes at the end of 2006 from 808,000 tonnes at the end of 2005.

It is reported that 6 US senators representing Alabama, Florida and Mississippi have endorsed Alabama's bid for a USD 2.9 billion proposed steel plant of German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG, which is evaluating whether to build at north Mobile County in Alabama or St James Parish in southeast Louisiana.

A letter was delivered by Mr Bob Riley governor of Alabama to ThyssenKrupp during his visit to the company's headquarters near Dsseldorf last week, which mentioned that "We truly believe the Alabama site represents ThyssenKrupp's best opportunity to develop a world class facility with the latest technology and more importantly a workforce committed to ThyssenKrupp's success."

On the other hand Ms Kathleen Blanco governor of Louisiana is also traveling to Germany to have the plant built in her state. Louisiana officials, citing a policy not to comment on ongoing negotiations, declined to comment.

Both states are dangling lucrative financial incentives in an effort to win the project, packages that are expected to exceed $300 million in cash, infrastructure improvements and tax breaks.

A decision is expected by May.

XFN-ASIA reported that BHP Billiton Ltd will invest USD 1.5 billion in a 50,000 tonne per annum nickel processing plant in Davao Oriental in southern Philippines, where the mine area covering close to 12,000 hectares is estimated to have 150 million tonnes of nickel grade ore.

Mr Angelo Reyes secretary environment and natural resources of Philippines said that BHP Billiton intends to start construction of the processing plant early next year with commercial operations slated by 2010. Mr Reyes added that BHBP will apply for the conversion of its mining rights from a mineral production sharing agreement to a financial and technical assistance agreement.

Mr Reyes said that BHP Billiton were upbeat on the developments of their project and they brought up the possibility of building their own nickel processing plant here in the Philippines, should the volume of the deposit and other sources so warrant.

Mr Reyes added that BHP Billiton was also in talks with local mining firm Benguet Corp for a possible JV project in Benguet's nickel mining claim in Zambales Province of Philippines.

Production of Nickel in Philippine surged to 50,637 tonnes in 2006 as compared to only 16,972 tonnes in 2004.

US iron ore producer Cleveland Cliff Inc announced that its planning to add about 800,000 long tons per year of pellet capacity to its North American operations beginning in early 2008. Mr Donald J. Gallagher CFO & president of Cleveland Cliffs said that "We have decided to move forward with the repair and restart of the idled North Shore Mining No. 5 furnace."

Mr Gallagher said that the restart will help to cushion Cleveland Cliffs from the type of production shortfalls experienced in 2006, when three of the company's North American operations experienced disruptions and its pellet production fell about 1.2 million long tons as a result.

Its pellet production in 2006 fell to 20.8 million long tons from the planned level of 22 million long tons. The shortfall resulted from pit dewatering issues at the Wabush unit, unplanned equipment repairs and a change in production mix at Tilden and an electrical accident at United Taconite in the fourth quarter. The company had to draw down inventory to 2.6 million long tons at year's end compared with 3.3 million long tons one year earlier. Cleveland Cliffs North American business unit sold just over 21.5 million long tons of pellets in 2006 as compared with 22.3 million long tons in 2005.

The company expects to produce about 22 million long tons of pellets in 2007. Sales are expected to be slightly down from last year at 21 million long tons however, due primarily to planned furnace repairs by some customers and the steel production slowdown in the fourth quarter.

Standard & Poor's in its recent report Metals & Mining Prices Down, But Not Out" said that steel prices in US, although on the decline, are still high by historical standards, while coal prices are likely to stay at a level beneficial to credit quality, except for coal mined in the Central Appalachian region, where costs are high and operating conditions difficult.

S&P in its report said that it believes some of the recent spikes in metals have been driven by speculation and unfounded exuberance among traders and commodity funds and even without this there is still an underlying fundamental demand for steel and coal, much of which is attributed to the fast growing Chinese economy which should continue for several years.

Mr Thomas Watters an analyst of S&P said "We believe the average price curves for the next five years should be meaningfully higher than they were for the five years ended 2004. That should offset rising cost profiles for many of these producers and help maintain a stable to positive credit quality outlook. The key rating factors will be how companies utilize cash flow and the cash that could potentially be built up."

S&P added that it believes consolidation in the domestic steel market has improved production discipline and aided cost competitiveness. Industry consolidation and favorable conditions have also allowed steel companies to continue to benefit from the surcharge mechanisms, implemented in 2004, that enable them to pass on raw material and input costs, particularly for scrap.

BlueScope Steel has started the FY2006/07 strongly with results for the first half of the year already exceeding the total NPAT result for last year.

Mr Kirby Adams MD & CEO of BlueScope Steel said "The results for the first half of this financial year are very positive with all of our business segments operating profitably. A record half year in total revenue was achieved with an increase of 16% or AUD 636 million, reaching AUD 4.5 billion. NPAT rose by 24% over the corresponding period last year to AUD 388 million. With earnings before interest and tax up by 41% YoY to AUD 635 million and earnings per share reaching 54.7 cents, the first six months of this year exceeded the total annual NPAT result for last year.

He added that "This is a great result for the first half of 2006/07. Our balance sheet continues to be robust with gearing down from 38.0% at the start of the half year to 35.6% and our cash flow strong. The key factors for the earnings improvement were higher sales volumes, higher steel prices internationally and a higher spread for North Star BlueScope Steel, partly offset by higher metal coating costs principally zinc and higher raw material costs.

He added that "I'm pleased to report that during this period, we have seen a strong improvement in the performance of our midstream and downstream businesses, which is very encouraging. Downstream and midstream sales revenue grew 14% compared to the previous corresponding half. While there is still some way to go, we believe this result shows the positive effect of our growth strategy, to reduce volatility in our overall business by growing our midstream and downstream businesses.

It is reported that a miner who went missing in a Siberia coal mine rock collapse that killed one person has been found alive. According to the latest information, the missing miner was close to the site of the rock collapse and came to the surface on his own.

It was earlier reported that 220 miners were underground when the rock fell probably due to methane gas blast. At the moment of the explosion, there were nine miners in that section. All of them, except four miners, were brought to the surface. The regional emergencies center later said three miners came to the surface on their own.

The rock collapsed at 11:45 AM on Sunday at the Dzerzhinsky mine in the city of Prokopyevsk in the Kemerovo Region in southwestern Siberia.

Mine would remain closed until the cause of the gas explosion was found.

The Dzerzhinsky mine is part of the Novolipetsk iron and steel works.

Mr Craig Bouchard president of Esmark Inc told the Associated Press that earlier deal signed with Mittal Steel to buy the Weirton division of Mittal Steel is dead. Mr Bouchard said that the government decree did not prevent Chicago based Mittal Steel from making a separate deal to shed Weirton but said the company told him that it would keep the West Virginia operations.

Mr William Steers a spokesperson of Mittal Steel also said the MoU is no longer valid because it was conditioned on the Justice Department's acceptance of the sale as a remedy to the antitrust concerns. Mr William added that "At this point in time we're focused on developing a global packaging strategy and Weirton will be part of that. We want to focus on seeing whether we can improve its profitability retain that business and develop its prospects."

US Justice Department recently ordered Mittal Steel to sell its Sparrows Point mill in Maryland rather than West Virginia based Weirton saying the sale of the mill near Baltimore was the best way to prevent a monopoly on the eastern US market for tin plated steel.

Mittal Steel and Esmark had announced signing of a MoU in this regard in January 2007 without disclosing the price.

Esmark has assembled a chain of 10 steel processors in the past several years and in November 2006 it won a takeover battle for Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel and recently formed a JV with NLMK Duferco combine to acquire Winner Steel.

Outokumpus Tornio announced that it work will give an additional capacity of 75 000 tons of cold rolled products, improve the capability to produce brighter ferritic steel grades and enhance Outokumpu's flexibility to meet customer needs by replacing one its 5 annealing and pickling lines.

The new annealing and pickling line will have an annual capacity of 300 000 tons and it will be capable of producing austenitic and ferritic products with a minimum set up time. The new line will replace the existing one in the same building. The total value of the investment is EUR 90 million spread over 3 years. The shut down of the old annealing and pickling line will take place during the fourth quarter of 2008 and production in the new line will start by the end of 2008 with full capacity available by the end of 2009.

Replacement of the annealing and pickling Line 2 is the second step of Outokumpus way to the ferritic market. It will complement the earlier announced EUR 13 million investments in batch annealing furnaces in the hot rolling mill of Tornio Works, which will start ferritic SS production in the first quarter of 2007.

The nominal capacity of the Cold Rolling Plant in Outokumpu's Tornio Works will be over 1.25 million tonnes after the investment is fully ramped up.

Irans ISNA news agency citing MD of Khorasan Steel Complex reported that completion of the Khorasan Steel Complex development plan will result in additional production of 1.2 million tons of steel per annum to take its steel making capacity to 1.8 million tonne.

Two direct iron ore reduction units are to be built at the complex based on iron ore agglomerates form Sangan Unit. The development plan at the complex will be completed by the end of Irans Fourth Five Year Socio Economic Development Plan in 2004-2009.

Currently, Khorasan Steel Complex is consisted of a rolled steel production unit with a nominal annual production capacity of 0.55 million tonne and a 0.6 million tonne steel production unit.

Romanian media reported that workers union of Mittal Steel Iasi will begin legal action against the company management in order to obtain a 100% pay rise for hours worked on Saturdays and Sundays.

The report cites Mr Constantin Rotaru president of the Mittal Steel Iasi Union Virgil Sahleanu as saying that union had also demanded that paid time off for family emergencies be granted at employees request, within 45 days from the respective event but the companys management rejected both demands.

Mittal Steel hold 63.98% stake in Iasi based steel pipe factory and the other significant shareholders are the Authority for State Assets Recovery with 17.49% and SIF Moldova with 15.31%.

Canada's Breakwater Resources in a statement released last week said that it will face production constraints at its Myra Falls zinc mine in 2007 due to a lack of working areas underground and other logistics issues.

Breakwater Resources said that the production was hindered at Myra Falls zinc mine last year due to a shortage of underground working areas, delays in improving infrastructure and problems with equipment availability. Ventilation requirements in the western extensions of the mine slowed production improvements added Breakwater. Breakwater also noted that "While the issue of ventilation has largely been addressed, production will be constrained by the number of available working faces and the haulage distances underground."

Myra Falls produced 33,708 tonnes of zinc metal in concentrates in 2006, down from 48,084 tonne in 2005. The mine also produces copper and precious metals concentrates.

POSCO Co Ltd announced that it will raise prices of stainless steel products by KRW 240,000 per tonnes up by 6% to reflect soaring nickel prices. POSCO has raised stainless steel prices this year after raising prices seven times in 2006.

A POSCO official said that it will raise the price of 300 grade hot rolled stainless steel to KRW 3.95 million per tonnes from KRW 3.71 million won effective from March 5th shipments and that the price of 300 grade cold rolled stainless steel prices would be raised to KRW 4.22 million per tonne from KRW 3.98 million.

It is reported that New Zealands Knight Piesald has entered into a USD 35 million 90:10 JV with Son La Engineering to mine nickel ores in the northern mountainous province of Son La of Vietnam.

The Ban Phuc nickel mine in Muong Khoa is believed to have deposits of up to 72 million tonnes for just one sulphurous element.

The New Zealand partner will also invest additional USD 5 million in a waste treatment system for the mining site which is to cover 2.2 hectares of land.

It is reported that 45 hourly workers from the plant in Wheatland and 10 from the Sharon plant will be laid off along with about 30 salaried employees at Wheatland Tube Co.

Mr Bill Kerins VP of Wheatland Tube said that the salaried employees were let go permanently while the hourly workers might be recalled if business improves with the exception of a few jobs in Warren Ohio and all the white collar workers laid off were from Sharon and Wheatland. He said that the hourly employees laid off represent about 10 % of Wheatland Tube's work force and salaried employees let go made up about 20 %.

Mr Kerins blamed the layoffs on surging pipe imports especially from China. He said that "We're not seeing relief from Chinese imports and we are not sitting around waiting for that relief. We have got to find ways to be more competitive in a lot of areas overstaffed and we're not as productive as we should be."

AK Steel announced that workers at the steelmakers Coshocton operations in eastern Ohio have ratified a three year contract after United Auto Workers informed AK Steel that the deal covering about 380 production and maintenance employees was passed overwhelmingly.

AK Steel said the contract will take effect and will last until March 31st 2010. It includes wage increases, cost sharing of health care premiums for current & retired employees and a signing bonus.

Mr James Wainscott chairman, president & CEO of AK Steel said that We are pleased that UAW Local 3462 members have ratified a new agreement that provides competitive wages and benefits while enabling Coshocton Works to continue serving customers with world class productivity and the highest quality products.