Dr Manmohan Singh prime minister of India chaired a special meeting to review progress of infrastructure projects in Orissa. The meeting reviewed implementation of road, railway, port, power, coal, steel, mining and forest land development projects.

The review meeting identified the problems with respect to various infrastructure projects and fixed responsibility for taking next steps. It fixed time lines for taking decisions and implementing them and it directed the state government and the respected central ministries to carry forward the discussions at the earliest.

Dr Singh assured that the central government would take all steps needed to promote development in Orissa and procedural delays and inter ministerial issues will be addressed and the Orissa's interests would be protected.

Orissa government assured that issues pertaining to POSCO will be addressed to the satisfaction of all and that through persuasion of stake holders the project will be taken forward.

The meeting was attended among others by the union finance minister, the deputy chairman of planning commission, the principal secretary to the prime minister and 12 secretaries to government of India from concerned ministries.

PTI reported that several organizations, opposing the proposed project of POSCO near Paradip in Orissa, staged rallies and demonstrations in the Orissas capital Bhuwneshwar and submitted memorandum to Governor Mr Rameshwar Thakur.

The state unit of CPI urged the Governor to immediately intervene in the matter as both the state and the central governments were in favor of POSCO. Mr Nityananda Pradhan state secretary of CPI said "The government must withdraw force before initiating dialogue with the people who have been agitating for more than 22 months.

Mr Pradhan said that though the chief minister had been saying that the government was for a humane approach to the POSCO issue, it had not started talking to the people living in the three gram panchayats who would be displaced due to the steel project. He demanded that state government should withdraw the police force from the area to avoid repeat of the Kalinganagar violence.

Newindpress reported that Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited is considering setting up steel service centers on franchisee basis in important towns of the Andhra Pradesh starting with Visakhapatnam. The service centers will be set up by contractors and RINL will lend logistical support.

Mr Y Siva Sagar Rao CMD of VSP during an interview with Express said that customers have to give the design of their houses or construction projects and the steel would be molded to their specifications by the service centers free of cost.

Mr Rao added that this move would improves the brand image of RINL and also help the customers by a great deal in getting things done without much difficulty & save money by minimizing wastage.

IANS has reported that TATA Steels proposed steel plant project in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh has run into rough weather as farmers are refusing to sell their ancestral farmland although they agreed last year for the same. As per report, the villagers changed their mind after the police allegedly assaulted several families in the past two months.

The report cites Mr Banga Ram a farmer from Badeparoba village telling the news agency that "Earlier we had sought a hike in compensation for surrendering our prime farmland to the TATA. Now we have decided not to give up the land at any cost. TATA Steel can get the land only over our dead bodies."

Mr Munna Singh Thakur of Beliapal village said that "The Tatas should forget about setting up the plant at Lohandiguda. I am not against the Tatas but I can't afford to surrender my ancestral four acres of prime farmland. This is not my decision alone. The farmers have decided to go to any lengths if forced is used against them."

TATA Steel signed a deal with the Chhattisgarh government in June 2005 for investing INR 100 billion for a 5 million tonnes per annum steel plant in Bastar region. Chattisgarh government has sent a recommendation to the central government in February 2007 to grant a prospecting license for the 2,500 hectare stretch in Bailadila deposit no 1 to TATA Steel to fulfill its iron ore requirements. TATA Steel plans to acquire about 5,098 acres of land out of this 3,500 acres are private land.

Steel analysts expect Indian steel companies to log 17% to 18% rise in profits during January to March 2007 quarter because of increase in steel prices by 15% to 18% during the period as although steel prices climbed up handsomely input costs increased only by a little extant.

Mr AZ Firoz former chief economist of Joint Plant Committee said that Though the cost of production has gone up, it is marginal compared to the revenue generated from higher prices and sales.

Mr Ashutosh Satsangi head of research for Crisil said that Though the prices of inputs and iron ore have increased globally, the impact may not be visible for the January to March 2007 quarter. It could show in subsequent quarters as deliveries are made from earlier stocks.

The upsurge in the steel industry is mainly being attributed to fairly high steel prices and a strong demand during the quarter. Steel prices opened in January 2007 at USD 525 to USD 540 a tonne and ended the quarter at USD 620 to USD 630. The demand for steel increased due to infrastructure development and growth in the housing and construction sectors. Besides, the automobile sector also recorded a spurt in growth.

State owned Manganese Ore India Limited has achieved a record production of manganese ore for 2006-07. MOIL crossed the 1 million mark in production for the year 2006-07 by posting production figures of 1.02 million tonnes as compared to 0.865 million tonnes in 2005-06 resulting in YOY growth of 18%.

MOIL has also broken all records of sale of manganese ore. Its sale rose from 0.759 million tonnes in 2005-06 to 1.15 million tonnes up by about 48% YoY. The turnover of MOIL also crossed over INR 412 crore up by 23% YoY.

Punj Lloyd Ltd announced that it has been awarded a contract by Ras Laffan Olefins Company Ltd of USA to execute a contract for construction of Dense Phase Ethylene and Butene Pipelines between Ras Laffan and Mesaieed Industrial cities in the State of Qatar for a value of USD 44.9 million.

It is reported that Vesuvius India Ltd is setting up a 2,000 tonnes per month capacity alumina silicate monolithic refractory manufacturing unit in Vizag at an estimated investment of INR 11 crore to INR 12 crore.

Mr Biswadip Gupta MD of Vesuvius India while addressing shareholders at the company's 16th annual general meeting said growth opportunities for the refractory industry were enormous in view of the expected growth of the domestic steel industry from 44 million tonnes per annum to 70 million tonnes per annum within the next 4 years.

6.5 acres of land required for the proposed project had already been acquired. The proposed plant site is close to Vesuvius' other refractory manufacturing facility located in Vizag, which was bought over from Carborundum Universal some time back.

When the new plant in Vizag becomes operational in the next 8 months to 10 months, Vesuvius' refractory production from its two plants there would be 5,000 tonnes per annum.

SNS recently reported that Orissa governments IDCO is in the process of acquiring 4967 acres of land at different prospective locations spread over various places in the state for facilitation of prompt availability of land and infrastructure to Growth Centre, IT Parks, Biotechnology Park, Special Tourism Area Project, Apparel Park, Handloom & Handicraft Cluster, ancillary and other downstream industries.

A release issued by the IDCO said that it has till date been successful in providing land to industrial units. It has allotted 26,176 acres of land to mega industries including steel and power projects, aluminum projects which have evinced interest and signed MoUs. Of the total land allotments done so far 8138 acres belonged to the government while 18,038 acres private land was also acquired.

During the year 2006-07, 7626 acres were given to industrial units.

200 small scale units have been given land during 2006-07 and 934 SSI units have been provided with 1269 built up industrial sheds by IDCO in its Industrial Estate established all over the state.

Apparently the inordinate delay and problems relating to land acquisition faced by a couple of mega industries has prompted early acquisition at prospective locations.

Jharkhands mines & geology department is likely to reduce the revenue target for 2007-08, as the officials attending a review meeting felt that INIR 1,014 crore was collected resulting in revenue shortfall of INR 186 crore against target.

The district mining officers pointed out that the target from the coal sector, which constitutes about 85% of the total revenue of the Department, could not be achieved during 2006-07.

China has posted faster than expected economic growth in the first quarter as a result of strong exports and investments and as high food costs pushed up consumer prices. According to latest figures provided by Chinas National Bureau of Statistics, China's gross domestic product totaled CNY 5.03 trillion (USD 653 billion) in the first quarter of 2007. The quarterly expansion is the second fastest in a decade, trailing only the 11.5% climb in the April to June 2006 period.

Mr Li Xiaochao a spokesman for NBS said that "If the current growth clip keeps up, there's a risk for the economy to shift from a rapid expansion pattern to an overheated situation.

Mr Stephen Green a senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Shanghai said that "Another round of moderate cooling measures, including we now believe two bank interest rate hikes is now only a matter a time.

China's primary, secondary and tertiary sectors reported a respective CNY 363.1 billion, CNY 2.56 trillion and CNY 2.11 trillion in added value. The primary sector posted a growth rate of 4.4%, secondary sector which includes manufacturing, mining and construction grew at 13.2% and the tertiary sector which includes transport, posts & telecommunications, catering, tourism, banking and insurance etc recorded an increase of 9.9%.

Consumer prices, the main gauge of inflation, rose by 2.7% in the first quarter as compared with a 1.5% increase for all of 2006 and prices jumped up by 3.3% in March, the fastest surge in more than two years. Food costs, the major driver, rose by 6.2% in the quarter.

Exports soared by 27.8% to USD 252.1 billion in the January to March period, leading to a surplus of USD 46.4 billion, USD23.1 billion more than the same period last year.

Global mining major Rio Tinto has released operation update for January to March 2007 quarter. Some of the high lights pertaining to iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal are as under.

1. It's share of iron ore production increased by 12% YoY as compared with the first quarter of 2006, reflecting continued production growth from the Group's USD 5 billion iron expansion program in Western Australia. There was some impact on production in the first quarter from a succession of cyclones in the Pilbara region.

2. Hard coking coal production increased by 28% compared with the first quarter of 2006, in line with an improvement in market conditions.

3. Australian thermal coal production declined by eight per cent compared with the first quarter of 2006 as a result of shipping congestion at the ports.

Iron ore

An active cyclone season interrupted production during the period, impacting port and rail capacity and limiting supply. Further infrastructure capacity increases were announced in February 2007 for the Cape Lambert port. Since 2003, Rio Tintos total committed expenditure on mining and infrastructure projects in the Pilbara, to expand capacity to 220 million tonnes per annum by the fourth quarter of 2008, is now just under USD 5 billion (on a 100% basis).

Compared with the same period in 2006, Hamersley Iron production was up 17% YoY, however it was down by 3% on the previous quarter. This was in part due to a 17 day planned shutdown at the Tom Price mine to complete the major upgrade associated with the Brownfields expansion. The ramp-up is now proceeding smoothly and on schedule. Capacity expansions progressed largely on time and within budget during the quarter.

Production at Robe Rivers West Angelas mine was up 25 per cent on the first quarter of 2006 and four per cent on the previous quarter. Pannawonica production was down five per cent on the same period last year but down 23 per cent compared with the previous quarter due to the cyclone impacts. Robe River subsequently declared force majeure on some deliveries.

HIsmelt produced 21,400 tonnes of pig iron during the quarter. As ramp-up continues, peak hot metal production achieved for a shift was 67 per cent of nameplate capacity.

Iron Ore Company of Canadas first quarter production was impacted by a strike of unionized employees which commenced on March 9th. Prior to this strike, saleable production was slightly above 2006 rates.

US thermal coal

Production was three per cent above the first quarter of 2006 mainly due to the continued expansion of the Spring Creek mine. A severe snow storm in late March closed most Powder River Basin mines for several days, causing production disruption.

Australian Coal

In million tonnes
Production of hard coking coal at Hail Creek benefited from an improvement in the coking coal market. Significant shipping congestion at the Port of Newcastle has adversely affected sales volumes and demurrage, leading to lower production volumes of other coal. Based on allocated port capacity, it is anticipated that production and sales through the Port of Newcastle for the remainder of 2007 will be in line with production rates and sales levels achieved in the last two quarters.

The US International Trade Commission determined that revoking the existing antidumping duty order on certain seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line, and pressure pipe from Germany would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time but that revoking the existing antidumping duty orders on these products from Argentina and Brazil would not.

As a result of the Commission's affirmative determination, the existing order on imports of these products from Germany will remain in place. As a result of the Commission's negative determinations, the existing orders on imports of these products from Argentina and Brazil will be revoked.

The 5 year sunset reviews concerning Certain Seamless Carbon and Alloy Steel Standard, Line, and Pressure Pipe from Argentina, Brazil, and Germany were instituted on June 1st 2006. On September 5th 2006, the Commission voted to conduct full reviews.

This action comes under the 5 year sunset review process required by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, which requires the US department of commerce to revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order or terminate a suspension agreement, after five years unless the Department of Commerce and the ITC determine that revoking the order or terminating the suspension agreement would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping or subsidies and of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.

Both the International Lead and Zinc Study Group and the World Bureau of Metal Statistics calculated that the refined zinc market was in surplus over the first two months of this year. The WBMS pegs that surplus at 84,000 tonnes and the ILZSG at 44,000 tonnes.

However, there is an important rider to be made to these assessments, as ILZSG explicitly noted in its update, calculations of Chinas apparent demand in the period have been somewhat thrown by the Chinas unusually high exports of metal due to a combination of high outright prices at the end of last year and a rush to beat a January change in the export tariff on lower grade zinc metal.

As such, the ILZSG calculates that world usage was flat in January to February 2007 at 1.813 million tonnes. The ILZSG said that global mined and refined production rose by 7.2% and 7.3% to 1.764 million tonnes and 1.857 million

The WBMS calculated a small 23,000 tonnes YoY rise during January to February 2007 to 1.748 million tonnes, while production increased by 171,000 tonnes to 1.832 million tonnes.

Peabody Energy has reported that its first quarter profit plunged by 32% YoY due to higher depreciation, depletion and amortization costs, and higher interest expense.

It reported net income for January to March 2007 quarter of USD 88.5 million down from USD 130.2 million in January to March 2006 quarter. Peabody's first quarter 2007 total revenue rose by 4.1% YoY to about USD 1.37 billion from USD 1.31 billion in the first quarter of 2006. The company said the revenue growth was led by a 28% increase in realized pricing for its premium Powder River Basin product. The company's Australian revenue was 88% YoY reflecting the Excel purchase.

Peabody said in a release that its first quarter results reflect higher depreciation, depletion and amortization costs, which rose by 27% YoY to USD 102.9 million as well as interest expense associated with its October 2006 purchase of Australian coal company Excel Coal. The company's total interest expense rose by nearly 116% percent in the first quarter to USD 59.1 million.

Peabody said its first quarter EBITDA was reduced by about $40 million related to: adverse weather across the US and a blizzard related week long shutdown of Powder River Basin shipments in March, congestion at ports in Australia resulting in mandatory reductions in throughput entitlements for coal shippers and the effects of currency translation related to a weak US dollar.

Bernama reported that 5 Malaysian property and construction based associations namely Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia, Master Builders Association of Malaysia, Malaysian Malay Contractors Association, Malaysian Indian Contractors Association and the Construction and Development Committee of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce of Industry of Malaysia have jointly appealed to the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry to deregulate the steel industry so as to avoid adverse impact on the property sector.

The groups in a joint statement said that they were disappointed with the ministry's move to increase the steel bar prices by 20%, the ban on steel bar exports and not allowing the imports and also control of steel bars market in Malaysia.

Mr Seing Liong president of REHDA urged Prime Minister Mr Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to intervene as the price increase would pose a serious problem to the construction and property sectors, as well as all other related downstream industries. Mr Liong said that "The government should monitor and enforce the new ceiling prices to help ensure that there is sufficient supply of steel bars of all sizes for the construction industry." Mr Liong added that "The ministry should also consider enforcing a more transparent production schedule from all steel mills to prevent manipulation of rolling schedule to create an artificial shortage."

Mr Datuk Roslan Awang Chik president of PKMM said that the government should consider lifting import controls to make local producers competitive. Mr Awang said that "Currently, there are restrictions on importing steel bars. Instead, local builders are sourcing the materials from the existing 6 steel bar suppliers."

Kommersant reported that Polands Zlomrex which bade about USD 1.9 million for 89.34% stake in Croatian Zeljezara Split and announced plans to invest USD 36 million in the factory is likely to be announced as the winner outbidding Mechel, Commercial Metals and others. The Croatian government is yet to officially endorse the results of the tender on Thursday.

Russian analysts note that Mechel would have low chances to win the tender even if it had bidden more as Croatia had negative experience of selling another factory to Mechel. Mechel had bought another Croatian metal producer, Zeljezara Sisak in 2003, but had to give it up one year later due to enormous liabilities.

Zeljezara Split, the sole producer of reinforcement steel in Croatia, outputs 180,000 rebars annually. However, the factory works at 36 percent of its capacity now.

Vietnam News, citing a ministry opinion sent by Vietnam's ministry of trade to the prime minister, reported that Vietnam Italy Steel JV has not violated the law by importing steel products from a Chinese partner.

The Ministry of Trade stated that the JV had not violated Vietnamese intellectual property laws or regulations on import goods. Concurring with this opinion is the Ministry of Science and Technology's National Office of Intellectual Property which found that the JV had not violated the law by licensing a foreign partner to label products with its own trademark and then buying back the products for sale in Vietnam.

The ministries' statement comes about in response to Vietnam Steel Association' complain to various ministries that the JV had imported Chinese steel bearing the JV trademark without indicating that the steel was made in China. The association claimed that the steel products had misled consumers and undercut domestic steel producers.

Chinas Securities Times reported that Chinese steelmakers have posted robust earnings result in the first quarter although there is doubt over whether the astonishing performance of the cyclical steel sector will continue throughout the year.

As per report, during January to March 2007 quarter, Baoshans net profit is estimated to go up by over 150% YoY and Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel projected un audited net profit is to have risen between 750% to 800% YoY. Jinan Steel, Hunan Valin Tube Wire and Lingyuan Steel all have recorded three digit profit growth during January to March 2007.

Domestic steel price has extended strong gains since the start of this year despite steep rally in raw materials price, giving great boost to bottom line of various steel mills. Healthy down stream steel demand has provided another push for steel price rise. Dynamic global steel demand but slower pace in output has driven up price of major steel varieties in the global arena, widening the price spread with domestic price.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts in eliminating backward capacity and curbing capacity expansion this year to ease pressure from likely domestic steel glut. The Chinese government has announced long awaited changes to export tax rebates on finished steel products as it attempts to stem exports.

Domestic supply and demand balance would continue to improve this and next year as the governmental curbing policies start to take effect. It is predicted that steel demand growth from automotive, shipbuilding, home appliances and other end use sectors would outpace steel capacity expansion. The price index of domestic and global steel price has already come close to a record high of 57.24 although domestic steelmakers have continued to hike Q2 price albeit at a slower rate than the price rise in the global market.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Xstrata plc announced that it has received clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, confirming that it has no objection to Xstratas all cash offer for LionOre. Australian Foreign Investment Review Board approval was announced on 29 March 2007.

Xstratas offer for LionOre is now free to proceed with no further regulatory approvals required in Australia.

Xstrata announced its all cash offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of LionOre by way of a friendly take over bid on March 26th 2007. The offer documents were mailed on April 5th 2007.

JBM reported that JFE Steel announced that it plans to expand the output capacity of high valued middle diameter seamless steel pipe by 60% to annual 250,000 tonnes at Chita plant for around JPY 15 billion. JFE expects to start the expanded capacity operation in July 2008.

JFE is trying to meet higher demand mainly for 13% chrome oil well tube and expects that the expansion including small diameter tube results in annual JPY 20 billion of higher recurring profit as compared with first half of fiscal 2006.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co announced that its first quarter profit jumped up by 55% YoY, boosted by a spate of acquisitions. It s first quarter net earnings were USD 111.7 million as compared with USD 71.9 million in the same quarter of 2006.

The company said its 2006 and 2007 acquisitions added more than USD 750 million in revenue in the first quarter. During the quarter, it completed the purchases of Encore Group, Crest Steel Corp. and Industrial Metals and Surplus Corp.

Mr David Hannah CEO of Reliance Steel in a statement said "We believe that our major markets, including aerospace, energy, nonresidential construction, electronic and semiconductors, as well as rail car and ship building, will continue to grow, but at a slower rate than in 2006.

Maanshan Iron & Steel Co announced that its profit in 2006 went down by 18% YoY due to lower average prices and higher production costs.

Maanshan Iron & Steel in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said that its net income in 2006 fell to CNY 2.39 billion (USD 309 million) from CNY 2.91 billion in 2005. Its sales went up by 6% YoY to CNY 34 billion.

The statement added that the steelmaker had a gross profit margin or the percentage of sales left after deducting production costs of 12.8% in 2006 down from 14.9% in 2005.

Khaleej Times reported reported that Emirates Steel Industries has signed an agreement with Brazil's Samarco Mineracao, under which Samarco will supply iron ore pellets to ESI's integrated steel complex currently under construction in Musaffah.

The report cites Emirates Steels officials as saying that ESI expects to shortly close agreements with other internationally renowned suppliers as part of its efforts to consolidate its position as the UAE's largest manufacturer of steel long products with an output capacity of approximately 2 million metric tons per annum.

They added that ESI is also planning to become a globally competitive producer through the integration of its direct reduction plant and steel melt shop with its three rolling mills which will be fully operational by the end of 2007.

The deputy secretary general of China chamber of Commerce for Metallurgy Industry while at a recent conference in Shanghai said that privately owned steel mills have made up 40% of China's total crude steel output in 2006. He said China's biggest steelmaker in the private sector Shagang has vaulted into China's fourth biggest steelmaker surpassing Wuhan and Jinan with a crude output of 15 million tonnes per year. Other private steel producers like Tangshan Jianlong, Tangshan Guofeng and Nanjing Steel all have recorded swelling output growth.

NDRC also revealed in a recent report that state owned steel mills have increased output of crude steel by 15.15%, pig iron by 18.36% and finished products by 17.62% respectively. By contrary, their counterparts in the private sector have registered much faster growth of 34.07%, 24.24% and 39.75% respectively.

Private steelmakers have taken up the top five slots with fastest output growth while some giant state owned steel mill or special steel producer even have cut back production. But a Chinese senior analyst warned and said that "Private steelmakers should stay calm about hectic expansion, as larger scale does not necessarily mean higher profit." He said currently, private steelmakers are facing two major obstacles. First, the government has tightened up the bank loan available for them. Second, private steelmakers are encountering considerable difficulty in getting approval for Greenfield project amidst governmental curb on capacity expansion. Private steel mills may struggle to realize capacity expansion as the authority are determined to eliminate 100 million tons of backward steel capacity in the 11th five year. They have mapped out a clear timetable for closure of smaller private mills in Hebei, Henan, Shanxi and Shandong.

Mr Shen Wenrong Chairman of Shagang told Wenhui Daily that "We have submitted application for setting up a new plant a couple of years ago, but we have yet to receive green light from NDRC."

Mr Lin Guochun vice president of Tebon Securities said that "There are still too few listed private steel mills in China, and they should be more active in the capital market for funding their merger and acquisition plans. Its much cheaper to acquire a steel mill in the stock market than setting up a new one given current market valuation of the steel mills." His view is echoed by Mr Liang Xinjun vice chairman of Fuxing Group. He suggested private mills should get more involved in the capital market as a result of tighter control over bank loan.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

It is reported that worlds second biggest coal export port South Africas Richards Bay Coal Terminal is in talks with state rail operator, Spoornet about expanding capacity to allow increased shipments after reports of likely gap between the terminals export capacity and rail link capacity in 2009.

Mr Van der Merwe senior manager of business development of Spoornet recently said that the capacity on the export rail line was 78 million tonnes of coal a year, for which Spoornet had contracts with coal export companies. There were no contracts in place for more than that. He said. At this point we have decided not to increase the capacity on the RBCT line above 78 million tonnes until we have concluded contracts with the coal export parties.

He added that once the decision had been made, Spoornet would be able to increase capacity on the rail line by 3 million tons a year. Mr Merwe said that the reason Spoornet could not expand capacity faster than 3 million tons a year was that it had also committed to expanding capacity on the Sishen to Saldanha iron ore line, which was a complex operation. He said that orders for locomotives had to be placed overseas because local workshops were already at full stretch.

In other words, if Spoornet started upgrading the rail line in 2007, it would still have only 84 million tons of export capacity by 2009 although RBCT is spending to reach 91 million tonne leaving a big gap.

RBCT opened in 1976 with an original capacity of 12 million tonnes and has grown into an advanced 24 hour operation exporting more than 68 million tonnes of coal to buyers around the world. It is majority owned by big coal exporters including BHP Billiton and Anglo American plc. RBCT, is spending ZAR 1.2 billion (USD157 million) to boost annual capacity from 72 million tonnes to meet stronger global demand to reach 91 million tonnes in 2009.

Arcelor Mittal has congratulated Poland and Ukraine for having jointly won the right to stage the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. Arcelor Mittal is the main sponsor behind the joint Polish and Ukrainian bid for the 2012 UEFA Championship, which is the third biggest sporting event in the world, after the FIFA World Cup and Summer Olympic Games.

Mr Aditya Mittal CFO and member of the Group Management Board of Arcelor Mittal said "We are delighted with this news. Ukraine and Poland have put so much effort into the joint bid and they deserved to win. We have a strong history of working in these countries and are immensely proud to be the main sponsor of the successful bid."

Arcelor Mittal is the largest steel maker in both Poland and Ukraine.

China Knowledge reported that Maanshan Iron & Steel has announced plans to move to its iron and steel making facility, in which it has a 71% stake, at a possible investment of CNY 19 billion. The move is expected to begin in the second half of 2008 at the earliest since it still needs the approval of the Chinas National Development and Reform Commission

Mr Gu Jianguo chairman of Maanshan Iron & Steel said that the relocation of 3 million tons of annual capacity to Maanshan city in Anhui from nearby Hefei will shift the highly polluting industry from the provincial capital and concentrate production in areas where there is demand.

Mr Gu said Hefei would be developed into a downstream steel processing base focused on producing high value added products such as cold rolled and galvanized sheets.

POSK, a JV set up by POSCO and SK, has recently started construction. The JV is planed with total investment of USD 25 million with registered capital of USD 10 million.

After the completion POSK will mainly produce process and sell steel sheet & plate products with annual sales revenue of some USD 100 million.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

It is reported that Memphis based Southern Steels proposed USD 3.9 million expansion plan of its Dunlap Street operation Downtown is becoming a reality as the Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board have granted an 8 year payment in lieu of tax freeze. The new facility will enable the company to manufacture custom cut steel and products for its customers.

Southern Steel would erect a new 75,000 square foot building on that site, allowing the company to manufacture steel products for it clients. The expansion which could break ground by the end of the year, will allow the company to use plasma and torch burning, sawing, shearing and punching techniques to mold a variety of steel products to customer specifications.

Mr Michael Wexler CFO of Southern Steel said that "This area has been our home for a long time and we want to continue that. We feel like we can be an anchor in the community. We are interested in taking the products we bring in and manufacturing new products for our customers. I would anticipate that we would break ground on the project by the end of the year."

A wholly owned subsidiary of F Perlman & Co, Southern Steel is negotiating to buy a nearby 3.7 acre tract of land that is home to an auto salvage yard. Southern Steel also owns an 80,000 square foot facility in Southaven.