SAIL plans modernization for DSP

Steel Authority of India Limited is considering the expansion plan of INR 5,500 crore for its Durgapur Steel Plant.

Mr SK Roongta chairman of SAIL during an interview with CNBC TV18 outlined the plans. He said “This is modernization and expansion plan of our Durgapur steel plant, which is currently having a hot metal capacity of our 2 million tonne and we want to take it to 3.2 million tonne.”

Mr Roongta added that “Secondly, at our Durgapur steel plant, right now our product mix comprises just about 40% in steel and 60% we are steel marketing. We will be putting up more finishing wheels to take our product mix to almost 100% in form of finished steel and we are also going to triple our capacity of wheels and axels, which we supply to Indian railway, which is a very specialized product.”

AILF to address complaints of human right violation in POSCO area

UNI reported that the All India Legal Forum would conduct a public hearing in Orissa on human rights violation in the area proposed for setting up of a steel plant by POSCO.

Mr Jayadeep Mukharjee general secretary of All India Legal Forum told newspersons that the forum has received a number of complaints of human rights violations from the people opposing the project. Mr Mukharjee said that a retired Chief Justice of Supreme Court would chair the public hearing in Bhubaneswar and also in the proposed project site area.

RINL ties up with 3 firms for BF slag disposal

BS reported that Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited has tied up with Steel Exchange India Limited, Prathusha Group and Nityasai Chemicals for setting up BF slag granulating units at its Vizag Steel Plant. The three firms are planning to invest about INR 120 crore over the next 18 months to set up slag granulating units on about 10 acres of land in the premises of VSP.

VSP currently generates more than 1.5 million tonne of BF slag as by product every year, which is expected to increase further after completion of its INR 8,600 crore expansion plans. RINL management had called bids from interested parties for setting up BF slag granulating units, which could be used in cement manufacturing. In response to this, more than 10 firms evinced interest to join hands with the steel plant.

The report cited a RINL sources as saying that “Out of the 10 firms, we have short listed three companies Steel Exchange India Limited, Prathusha Group and Nityasai Chemicals to set up slag grinding units. Under the agreement entered into with these companies, VSP will allot land to construct units and will supply 0.4 million tonne of slag a year to each of these firms on a mutual agreeable price.”

Punj Lloyd bags INR 498 crore East West pipeline order

It is reported that Punj Lloyd Ltd bagged INR 498 crore contract from Reliance Gas Transportation & Infrastructure Ltd for its East West Pipeline project for laying of pipeline & associated facilities.

This order is inclusive of INR 180.16 crore placed earlier by Reliance Gas to Punj Lloyd.

JSW setting new benchmark in land acquisition

CNBC-TV18 last week reported that JSW Steel has started acquiring land for its 10 million tonne steel plant at Salboni in Midnapore district of West Bengal by distributing cheques among farmers. The report added that this acquisition is likely to go through peacefully setting new benchmark in the process of land acquisition for industrialization.

The report cited Mr Rajesh Gupta VP of WB projects of JSW Steel as saying that "I am 100% confident there would be no controversy."

The report also cited a local farmer as saying that "I have benefited from this sale. Land here is not productive. Yield is poor more often than not. This year too the crop failed. So, I am happy having sold out."

As per report, JSW Steel is paying between INR 275,000 and INR 300,000 an acre to 725 families selling land in Salboni, more than twice the ruling market price. In addition, JSW Steel is reported to have offered job to at least one in each family to be displaced by the plant and also to allot free shares. JSW Steel has appealed to farmers to put at least half the sale proceed in annuity schemes.

As per report, JSW Steel needs around 4,500 acres but would have to acquire as little as 450 acres only through this route as most of it is barren and the rest is government owned.

Kohinoor Steel production halted after attack

It is reported that Kohinoor Steel is planning to pull out of Jharkhand after its workers were attacked and property was destroyed by members of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is part of the ruling coalition. The attack came a day after a laborer died after getting electrocuted inside the plant and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha demanding compensation in excess of the INR 0.35 million offered by Kohinoor. Seven workers were allegedly injured in the attack. Power and water supplies was disconnected during the attack and production has came to a standstill

Mr Vijay Bothra director of Kohinoor Steel told reporters that around 70 supporters of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, armed with sticks, guns and other weapons entered it's factory premises on July 25th 2007 and thrashed its workers and caused extensive damage to the plant. Mr Bothra said that assets worth around INR 15 crores to INR 20 crores were damaged and that it would take months to get things back in shape. He said "There is seriously no choice left for us but to pull out of the state.”

He added that the Jharkhand government had so far done precious little to fulfill the promises it had made in the July 2005 MoU. Jharkhand government, had, apart from promising to provide it basic infrastructure like road, water and power, also promised it around 160 acre for the project, construction of a 1.5 kilometer approach road from the highway to the plant site, allotment of a coal block and iron ore mining leases etc in lieu of the INR 500 crore investment Kohinoor Steel had promised in stages. Mr Bothra said "We have been the only people to invest INR 150 crore within seven months of signing the MoU and yet iron ore mining leases have been recommended to people who have not invested anything yet in the state.”

Kohinoor Steel has so far invested INR 150 crore to set up a 400 tonne per day DRI plant on a 34 acre plot, a 17 MW captive power plant and a 400 tonnes per day induction furnace on the Kandra Chowka road in Jharkhand.

NALCO facing sever shortage of coal

It is reported that coal supply crisis is severely effecting operations of National Aluminum Company in Orissa for last one week. The present crisis is partly due to shortage of production at Bharatpur mines due to land related problems and shortage of rail rakes.

NALCO’s captive power plant, which was being provided 14,500 tonnes of coal from the Bharatpur colliery of Coal India Limited’s Mahanadi Coalfields Limited daily, was getting around 9,000 tonnes of coal and its stock had come down to barely 25,000 tonnes from earlier 0.120 million tonnes.

Due to coal crisis, NALCO had to a shut down two 120 MW units of the seven units of captive power plant and during the month. As per latest reports, if the situation did not improve NALCO would be forced to shut down another unit of their captive power plant which meant closure of three of its eight 120 MW units.

NALCO’s smelter plant needs uninterrupted power supply around the clock. To run 715 average pots in the smelter, Nalco needs a minimum of 680 MW of uninterrupted power daily. At present, with the two units of CPP shut down due to coal crisis, the power output of CPP stands at 600 MW.

Last month, both the NTPC Kaniha power plants and Nalco were in the grip of a severe coal shortage. The scarcity had drawn the attention of both the Central and state governments. While the position with regards to NTPC improved, NALCO showed signs of improvement for a few days last month before relapsing into the crisis mode as far as coal supply was concerned.

JSW to utilize low grade iron ore

DNA reported that JSW Steel has decided to achieve self sufficiency in raw materials for meeting its requirements of steel making by utilizing low grade iron ore rather than high grade as preferred by most steel makers.

Mr Sajjan Jindal vice CMD of JSW said that it would instead source low grade iron ore and refine it to meet industry standards. He added that “Since, low grade iron ore has no export market and no company is into upgrading it, the mines are left untapped and JSW is developing a huge beneficiation plant.”

Mr Jindal said that the capacity of the plant would be 20 million tonnes per annum and would accrue an investment of up to INR 1,000 crore and the ore for the plant would be sourced from its mines in Bellary and Hospet.

Indian CR makers paying high domestic prices – CORSMA

BL quoted Cold Rolled Steel Manufacturers Association of India as saying that India’s domestic steel production has been lagged behind consumption and demand for the last three years resulting in high domestic price levels especially for hot rolled coils.

Mr SC Mathur ED of Cold Rolled Steel Manufacturers Association said that, as per Joint Plant Committee and Ministry of Steel data, shortfall in production resulted in shortage of both long and flat steel products. Mr Mathur said though India was ranked as the cheapest producer of HR coils, domestic prices were the highest in the world.

Mr Mathur said “Due to shortage prices were being jointly fixed by five major producers on a monthly basis by adding average ocean freight of USD 50 per tonnes plus customs duty of 5% and port charges to the spot global FOB prices.” Mr Mathur said that the current domestic price of INR 27,800 per tonnes excluding all taxes and duties for HR coils, or USD 660 per tonnes was higher by USD 140 per tonnes as well as the spot global prices of USD 520 per tonnes FOB.

Indian Railway to support global equipment majors

It is reported that with the Indian Railway is looking towards global equipment majors for setting up facilities for manufacturing wagons and coaches in India and has firmed up eligibility conditions to decide on the companies that will be allowed to set up The report cited an official as saying that "We need companies with considerable experience and the ability to handle large projects."

Indian Railway plans to set up equipment factories that will cost over INR 70,000 crore in 5 years. The Railways has estimated that it will invest around INR 2.20 trillion in 5 years and wants around 30% of this to come from the private sector through the public private partnership mode.

As per reports, Indian Railway has firmed up plans to spend INR 4000 crores for setting up following 4 facilities
1. Wheel factory at Chhapra in Bihar
2. Diesel locomotive factory at Marora
3. Electric locomotive factory at Madhepura in Bihar
4. Coach factory at Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh

A senior Railway ministry official disclosed that the government had held talks with multinational corporations to set up locomotive and coach plants that would supplement the needs in the upcoming metros and the dedicated freight corridor.

The list of global majors eyeing this segment in India includes Toshiba, Bombardier, GE, Alstom and Siemens.

Port tariffs norms likely to be linked to service efficiency

BS reported that tariffs charged at major ports could soon be linked to the efficiency of services provided by the terminal operators or port authorities. Port tariff setting methodology has become a contentious issue, with terminal operators saying that the present norms do not reward those operators who bring in efficiency.

Under the broad guidelines of the new method being fine tuned by the union finance and shipping ministries along with the Planning Commission, each of the major port authorities would prepare a normative project report specifying the desired key performance indicators for port services and the costs normally associated with such parameters.

Based on these norms, Tariff Authority for Major Ports would decide the tariff ceilings for terminals of a port. These tariffs would be linked to inflation and reworked every 3 years to ensure that the level of tariff ceilings depend on the performance efficiencies that a port or a terminal provides to its customers.

With the tariff ceiling decided by Tariff Authority for Major Ports at the initial stage, union government would select the terminal operator by inviting competitive bids from companies wanting to run the terminal. In case the government decides to build other similar goods, then bids could be invited with higher tariff ceilings, which are in turn linked to relatively higher performance indicators. In such a scenario, if the first existing container terminal operator in the same port wants a higher level of tariff ceiling for its services, then it would also be required to achieve the improved level of performance parameters as fixed for the second terminal.

Currently, Tariff Authority for Major Ports decides the tariff ceiling for each terminal by allowing for 15% return on capital employed.

Era Infra bags civil works contract for Mundra power plant from Adani

Era Infra Engineering Limited announced that it has been awarded the contract for the construction of civil works, fabrication and erection of structural steel works for main plant building by Adani Power Limited, which is setting up a 4 x 330MW coal based Mundra Thermal Power Project at Mundra in Kutch District of Gujarat.

Era Infra Engineering Limited has been awarded civil works for 2x330MW Mundra Power Project Phase-II in this project. The value of the contract awarded is INR 282.776 million, excluding the cost of major construction material cement, reinforcement and structural steel. The work shall be executed in 12 months duration.

Mr HS Bharana chairman of Era Group said that “It gives us immense pleasure to announce that we have bagged another prestigious power project. Our proven track record gives us an edge over our competitors and award of such projects helps us strengthen our position in the Power sector. This prominent project will also be our endeavor to be in tune with the government’s 11th plan targets for the accelerated development of the Indian power sector.”

Era Infra Engineering Limited is a fully integrated infrastructure company participating in India's core infrastructure and construction sectors. Era Infra Engineering Limited develops and constructs highways, railways, airports, power and industrial projects, institutions & universities and residential & commercial complexes.

SCI floats global tender to buy 4 offshore supply vessels

Exim News Service reported that Shipping Corporation of India Ltd has floated a global tender to buy 4 new offshore supply vessels worth INR 300 crore to be used in offshore oil exploration and production activities.

These vessels will also be fitted with a dynamic positioning 1 system that helps them maintain their position on rough seas as oil and gas wells are at depths of 1,200 metres or more and 20 kilometer to 60 kilometer away from the shore.

Shipping Corporation of India had earlier floated a tender to buy 5 new vessels meant to replace older ships in its fleet. However, it has decided to scrap the earlier tender in which Sri Lankan shipbuilder Colombo Dockyard Ltd had emerged the lowest bidder. The new tender is for 80 tonne vessels as against 60 tonnes it had sought earlier.

The offshore business contributes about INR 75 crore to Shipping Corporation of India Ltd’s annual profit which stood at INR 1,014.5 crore for 2006-07. Its offshore business revenue comes mainly from ONGC, which hires its vessels to support its exploration and production needs on the East and West coasts of India. At present, Shipping Corporation of India Ltd has 10 support vessels, which are 22 years old and will have to be decommissioned in about 8 years.

Global DRI production in June 2007

International Iron and Steel Institute have released the production figures for direct reduced iron for the month of June 2007. The global production of DRI in June 2007 was 4.659 million tonne up by 9.8% YoY with India accounting for 31.1% of the global share.

Global DRI production during January to June 2007 amounted to 26.589 million up by 9.3% YoY. India’s production in this period amounted to 8.500 million tonnes up by 17.8% YoY, accounting for 31.9% of total global DRI production.

The production update is as under

In 000 tonnes
Source – IISI

Chinese steel export soar by 97.7% YoY in H1

According to Luo Bingsheng deputy director of China Iron & Steel Association, China's steel export crossed 33.79 million tonnes in the January to June 2007 up by 97.7%YoY.

Mr Luo noted that the China's steel export is set to fall back in the H2 of 2007 as a result of the string of governmental curbing policies. He added that export downside may lead to increased supply to the domestic market in following months, therefore, domestic mills should match production with sales. Hopefully, domestic steel market would restore balanced supply and demand thanks to accelerated efforts in removing obsolete capacity.

However, Mr Luo cautioned that it is possible that rising supply to domestic market may pull down domestic prices and further widen the price gap with export price. As a result, China's steel export is likely to bounce back forcing the authority to unveil further restrictive policies. If so domestic steel market may get even more volatile.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

69 trapped in coalmine flooding in Henan province of China

Xinhua reported that 69 workers are trapped after a coal mine was flooded in central Henan Province. The flooding occurred about 8:30AM at the Zhijian coal mine in Shaanxian County about 200 kilometers west of Zhengzhou the capital of Henan province in China

The flood was initially believed to have come from the bed of a nearby river through a mined out area. It is believed that 3,000 cubic meters of water poured into the shaft.

An all out rescue bid has been launched. A dual task force, headed by Mr Li Yizhong director of the State Administration of Work Safety and Mr Zhao Tiechui director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, rushed to the mine to oversee rescue operations.

The mine, built in 1958, is a state owned facility operated by the Zhijian Mining Co Ltd. It has a designated annual production capacity of 210,000 tonnes but actually produces 300,000 tonnes every year.

MEPS forecasts for long products in North America

MEPS’s North American Average Rebar figure moved down slightly this month. MEPS said that “This was in line with our expectations as demand remained strong. In the short term, rebar values are expected to hold up as scrap prices continue to show no signs of movement. New import licenses suggest that volumes are set to rise over the next few months. This should put greater pressure on quarter four transaction figures. The first half of 2008 should then see a revival in prices as buying returns ahead of increased activity in the construction sector.”

MEPS North American Wire Rod value showed no change this month. MEPS said that “The market continues to be firm as imports currently do not pose much threat. Wire Rod transaction figures have surpassed that of Rebar over the last few months, standing approximately USD 30 per tons above rebar prices. Wire rod numbers have risen more than 20% since the beginning of the year.”

MEPS said “Overcapacity in the Chinese market for both products could result in increased volumes of imports into the North American market through the fourth quarter. This coupled with the traditional seasonal slowdown over the winter months is expected to cause transaction values to fall around 5% by the end of 2007.”

NLMK to install new ladle furnaces at Lipetsk

It is reported that Novolipetsk Steel has signed a contract with Siemens VAI to supply two new 160 tonnes capacity each ladle furnaces for BOF production at the company's main site in Lipetsk. The contract is valued at around EUR 23 million. They will be commissioned at the beginning of 2009.

Then new LF facilities will enable NLMK to produce steel grades with ultra low sulfur content. Furthermore, the new equipment will facilitate an increase in production and improve product quality. Once in operation taken place the new ladle furnaces will substantially expand NLMK’s product mix enabling the company to better supply the automotive industry, the electrical engineering industry and white goods producers.

This project will be introduced during the 2nd phase of NLMK’s Technical Upgrading Program which sets output expansion and product quality improvement as its main goals. At the moment NLMK is implementing the 2nd phase of its large scale Technical Upgrading Program aimed at increasing its annual output to 12.4 million tonnes and improving product quality. The capex of the 2nd phase of the Program amounts to USD 4 billion.

China's H1 crude steel production details

China's crude steel output increased by 18.92% YoY to 237.58 million tonnes in January to June 2007 with 42.12 million tonnes produced in June alone up by 14.64%YoY. Pig iron production climbed to 226.82 million tonnes in the January to June period 2007 up by 16.84% from as same period last year. Steel product output reached 270.25 million tonnes up by 23.9% YoY.

The details for January to June 2007 period are as under

In million tonnes
Change is with respect to corresponding period of 2006

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Mittal Steel Ostrava doubles profit in past year

CTK cited Ms Jana Dronska spokeswoman for Ostrava as saying that the largest Czech steelworks Mittal Steel Ostrava made net profit worth CZK 9.6 billion in the business year from March 2006 to February 2007, a growth of CZK 5 billion. Ostrava revenues grew to CZK 58.7 billion in the past year from CZK57 billion in the same year ago period. Mittal Steel Ostrava, including all its five subsidiaries made net profit of CZK 9.9 billion on revenues of CZK 61.5 billion.

Mr Gregor Muenstermann CEO of Ostrava said profit doubled against 2005 thanks to strong demand for steel products and favorable prices on the market. He added that the past year was successful for the company although it struggled with lower demand at end year.

Mr Tomas Navratil CN finance economist said Mittal Steel's results show the company has been riding on the global wave of interest in steel and that they also reflect a long term strategy to focus on products with higher added value.

Mittal Steel Ostrava with around 7,400 staff is a unit of ArcelorMittal. Around 70% of its shares are in the hands of Mittal Steel Holdings.

Evraz expects to secure at least 80% of Highveld

Bloomberg reported that Evraz Group SA a steel making company that is part owned by Mr Roman Abramovich said it’s likely to boost its stake in Highveld Steel & Vanadium Ltd to at least 80% allowing it to remove the shares from Johannesburg’s stock exchange.

Mr Alexander Frolov CEO of Evraz said” It’s also likely to exercise an option to buy a further 24.9% from Credit Suisse Group in the next couple of months. Mr Pavel Tatyanin CFO of Evraz said the likelihood of getting over 80% is fairly high. The possibility of delisting is on the cards.”

Evraz said on July 16th 2007 it sweetened its offer to minority Highveld shareholders to RUB 93 (USD 13.61) a share. That bid was supported by Highveld directors.

ThyssenKrupp to expand ferritic stainless capacity at Acciai

Metal Insider reported that German steel giant ThyssenKrupp’s Italian stainless operations Acciai Speciali Terni are expanding their ferritic steel product portfolio to include special grades that can replace classic chromium nickel steels in some areas of application.

Thyssenkrupp said that this will be achieved with a new VOD converter which is under construction. It is part of a bigger overhaul of the Terni complex, which is being invested heavily in a quid pro quo with the Italian government and unions for the closure of the Turin operations. Much of the latter will be transferred to Terni with the process due to be completed at the end of fiscal 2007-08.

The ongoing investment will see melt shop capacity rise to around 1.7 million tonnes per year with Terni’s cold rolled production expected to rise incrementally from around 600,000 tonnes per year to 700,000 tonnes per year in the medium term.

Shougang to receive tax rebate to fund relocation

Xinhua reported that China’s State Council has agreed to give a total tax rebate of CNY 3.8 billion (USD 503.32 million) to Shougang Steel Group, while a subsidy to offset the company's bond interest payments will also be offered to support its relocation.

Mr Li Ping director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Industrial Development told Xinhua news agency that China government will return all the value added and income taxes the steel company will be charged between 2006 and 2009. Another CNY 1.9 billion will be offered to offset the company's interest to its bond buyers.

Shougang said earlier that it hoped the government would return CNY 8 billion in taxes between 2004 and 2010. The steel maker also applied for a treasury bond discount loan of CNY 4 billion to sponsor its relocation and provide subsidies to workers.

Shougang is now building a CNY 67.7 billion steel works at Caofeidian deep water harbor. It will move all its Beijing based production facilities to Caofeidian by 2010. The new plant is a JV of Shougang and Tangshan Steel and Iron Group will adopt environment friendly technologies to minimize toxic emissions and waste discharges. The relocation project will cost an estimated CNY 33.8 billion with CNY 17 billion provided by the central government. Shougang will cover the remainder.

State owned Shougang is one of the capital's worst polluters. Beijing's only blast furnace steel maker started relocating its 88 year old plant in 2005 to reduce pollution in the capital for the 2008 Olympic Games. It will move to Caofeidian in Hebei Province.

Massey reports higher second quarter profit

Virginia based Massey Energy Co has announced that its second quarter earnings rose to USD 34.9 million due to revenue gains from higher sales of metallurgical coal. Massey posted revenue of USD 617.8 million as against USD 556.1 million in the same period of 2006.

Mr Don Blankenship CEO of Massey Energy said that "With metallurgical coal accounting for nearly 31% of our revenue, the increasing global demand for high quality metallurgical coal represents a tremendous opportunity for us."

Massey has downplayed the potential financial impact of 2 civil lawsuits that made news during the quarter. One involves a USD 219.8 million jury verdict in a contract dispute with Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Co. Massey said that it has no plans to reserve more than the USD 16 million set aside for the case already because there are several strong bases for appealing the verdict. The other involves pending litigation brought by the US Environmental Protection Agency. While the suit's thousands of alleged violations of the Clean Water Act carry up to USD 2.4 billion in fines Massey said that its exposure is far smaller.

Massey said that "Based on the outcome of this study, it does not expect the actual liability in this case to have a material adverse impact on its operations and is currently attempting to negotiate a resolution of the suit with the EPA but if an acceptable settlement is not reached. Messy is prepared to aggressively defend itself."

Massey is US’s fourth largest coal producer by revenue. It operates 19 mining complexes in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky.

Mittal Steel Poland starts HSM at Cracow

It is reported that in the hot rolling mill supplied by Siemens Metals Technologies to the Arcelor Mittal Poland as a turnkey installation at Cracow in Poland, first coil was produced at the end of June 2007, 23 months after signing the contract.

The plant produces steel strip in thickness from 25.4 millimeters down to 1.2 millimeters and has an annual capacity of 2.4 million tonnes. The maximum coil weight is 35 metric tonnes. With a maximum strip width of 2100 millimeters, the hot rolling mill is one of the widest plants in Europe.

The technological scope of supply of Siemens included a reheating furnace, a reversing quarto roughing stand with hydraulic upsetting devices, an Encopanel insulating tunnel and a crop shear. The six stand finishing train is equipped with SmartCrown work-rolls, which enable a larger adjusting range for profile and flatness control. A laminar cooling section with quickly switchable SmartCoolers in the fine tuning zone enables precise control of the cooling process, an essential prerequisite for manufacturing special grades of steel. Two PowerCoilers, each with four wrapper rolls, ensure reliable winding of high-strength steel grades.

Apart from the technological parts of the facility and the complete electrical, drive and automation systems, the project included construction, the roll shop and auxiliary installations including water treatment equipment. Siemens also trained the operating and maintenance personnel and carried out commissioning.

Metinvest raises USD 1.5 billion loan

Interfax reported that the mining and metals division of Ukraine's System Capital Management, Metinvest has raised a syndicated loan of USD 1.5 billion. The lead managers of the loan were ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and ING.

The loan facility consists of two tranches pre export financing of USD 1 billion received on July 23rd 2007 and a revolving credit line of USD 500 million. The 5 year credit line will be used for general corporate purposes, capital expenditures and refinancing of more expensive loans.

Mr Igor Syry GD of Metinvest Holding said that the company would invest more than USD 4 billion in its business in the next 5 years. This investment will be financed by internal resources and borrowing on international capital markets. He added that Metinvest already has a good credit history.

Metinvest plants produces more than 5 million tonnes of coke and over 16 million tonnes of iron ore annually. The group produces 30% of Ukraine's iron ore and over 20% of the country's crude steel.

Metinvest Holding is 48.85% owned by CJSC SCM and 51.15% by Netherlands based Metinvest BV. SCM is 90% owned by Mr Rinat Akhmetov.

POSCO opens a magnesium sheet plant at Suncheon

POSCO announced that it has opened its first magnesium sheet at Suncheon 415 kilometer southwest of Seoul aiming to tap demand for a metal increasingly used in mobile phones, computers and cameras.

POSCO in a statement said that it has invested KRW 25.5 billion (USD 27.78 million) in the project, targets annual output of 3,000 tonnes from its plant new plant. The local market for magnesium sheets is estimated to be worth KRW 100 billion.

A magnesium sheet weighs just a quarter of steel, although its price tag is eight times higher than steel plate. Magnesium is also easier and safer to recycle than plastic.

Disappearing' alloy developed for orthopedic use

It is reported that Dr George Dias of Otago University and Canterbury scientists have developed a new metal alloy, which disappears as it heals fractured bones. The new material could be made to degrade over a time that suited the repair it was used for. Its composition was to stay secret until the product was patented.

Dr George Dias said that patients often needed painful and costly surgery to remove stainless steel and titanium repairs. Dr Dias said "Honestly when we are finally in a position to describe what we have done, you will say it all makes perfect sense. In the meantime, yes, we are in a bit of a race against time to get the intellectual patent for something we think is very straightforward."

Mr Mark Staiger a lead researcher and a senior lecturer at Canterbury University's mechanical engineering department said the new alloy could treat a range of orthopaedic problems.

Chinese steel export to Russia on rise

A Russian local news paper on July 20th 2007 reported that the increase of steel export tax by Chinese government have not been helpful to curb export curbing, as China’s total export volume during January to June 2007 has still increased by 97.7% YoY as compared to the same period of 2006.

The report said that facing the pressure from China’s products, now already 11 countries have filed the anti dumping claims against China’s steel products. Especially the push by US based steel mills has brought China’s tubing products a negative effect.

The report said that as a result, developing new market for exports including the Russian market has become a main task for Chinese steel product manufacturers. China is turning to export pipe and tube products into non anti dumping country such as Russia. Comparing to the same period of January to May in last year, China has exported 7 times more on pipe and tube products to Russia.

The report added that as China’s iron and steel total production volume will be reaching to 700 million tonnes to 750 million tonnes after 3 to 4 year times, it will export large volumes to Russia and Russia steel industries needs to be gather together for imposing trade barriers.

Global industrial production set to accelerate in Q4 2007

According to UK metals analysts CHR Metal’s latest monthly report Global IP Watch, global industrial production continues to expand at a reasonably fast pace but should start to accelerate again in the Q4 of 2007.

CHR estimates that global industrial production growth was up by 5.7%YoY in April 2007 and it is looking for that pace to be matched in May 2007. That marks a slight slowdown from 6.2% growth in March but weakness in the OECD area is being offset by strong growth in non OECD countries. Here growth remains at around 10% YoY “with little to indicate that it will decline significantly from this level in the near term”.

CHR said that it is not expecting non OECD growth to accelerate much either in the next couple of months as both China and India the two countries with the largest weighting in the non OECD index are already growing at rates which many consider to be unsustainable. It added that “Our base case forecast is for global IP growth year on year to stabilize around current levels over the next month or two before a new upward trend begins to assert itself in quarter.”

Its one warning is the potential negative impact of still rising oil prices and the decline in value of the US dollar to multi year lows against many other currencies, which may introduce greater uncertainty into the global economic outlook and hurt prospects for growth.

IBS likely to revise 2007 forecasts for Brazil

BNamericas reported that Brazilian steel institute IBS could revise upwards its domestic sales forecast and others estimates for 2007.

The report cited Mr Marco Polo de Mello Lopes VP of IBS as saying that "I believe the second half of 2007 will be as strong as the first. We had a forecast in early 2007 that domestic sales would increase 7% this year. I will lead my team in about one month or so in another revision because I personally believe that the indicators for this year could improve." He said that flat and long rolled steel sales in Brazil reached a record high in January to June 2007, totaling 5.8 million tones and 3.5 million tonnes respectively.

According to IBS estimates released on July 25th 2007, Brazil local steel sales are expected to increase 10.3% this year to 19.3 million tones, while exports are due to expand 7.4% to 13.4 million tones. Crude steel production in Brazil is slated to rise 13.2% to 35 million tones. Demand is being pushed mainly by the civil construction and automobile sectors.

Strike hits production at Black Mountain mine in SA

Metal Insider reported that Anglo American strike action at its Black Mountain zinc lead mine in South Africa has had a significant impact on production without giving further details.

The strike resulted from a long running dispute with the National Union of Mineworkers on career development terms. The dispute was referred to the CCMA arbitration body but without any agreement being reached.

The report added that the first industrial action began on June 17th 2007 and the union has since claim the company instituted a lock out of striking workers.

Anglo said that most employees had now accepted the new career development system and had returned to work. But not all of them and some remain locked-out until a full and final settlement of the dispute has been achieved.

Black Mountain last year produced 48,300 tonnes of contained lead and 34,100 tonnes of contained zinc.

Workers at Mittal Steel Trinidad protesting against delays in profit sharing

Bloomberg recently reported that hundreds of workers at Mittal Steel’s Trinidad facility are demonstrating against the government’s failure to implement a profit and stock sharing option. As per report, the workers have also grouses related to health & safety issues and mechanical failure with the mill furnace.

The report cited Mr Lex Lovell president of workers union of Trinidad and Tobago as pointing out that the stock sharing issue had been outstanding for the past 12 years and was part of the government’s agreement with Mittal Steel over the sale of the then Iron and Steel Company.

Mr Lovell said that in Mittal Steel’s annual report it acknowledged it had to settle a debt with the workers and the stock would be put in a plan. We have been trying to get the government to deal with the issue but we have not had a favorable response so far. He threatened a mass demonstration in Port of Spain.

Mr Lovell added that the melt cast department was shut down because of health and safety concerns coupled with mechanical problems. He described his meeting with the Mittal Steel management as complex and myriad. He added that protests will continue indefinitely until all outstanding labor and profit sharing issues are finally settled.

RBCT to install management system from Siemens

It is reported that Richards Bay Coal Terminal Company Ltd has engaged the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group to equip the world''s largest coal terminal in South Africa with a Manufacturing Execution System. Commissioning is scheduled to take place end of 2008.

As part of the expansion program, Siemens is equipping the coal terminal with a Manufacturing Execution System, which coordinates and monitors all movements of raw materials. The flow of information covers the arrival and storage of the raw material handling and internal order processing as well as flexible processing of the key production figures for the management level. Apart from production management, the system efficiently controls order processing in respect of incoming and outgoing material. The most important feature of the system is Simatic IT Framework, the Siemens platform for Manufacturing Execution System.

The Richards Bay Coal Terminal exports around 72 million tonnes of coal per year and an expansion program is underway to increase the annual capacity to over 90 million tonnes by 2009. The deep water port is in the north of KwaZulu Natal province on the east coast of South Africa. The coal supplies come from mines in the hinterland and are transported to the terminal via a 560 kilometer long railway network.

S&P affirms 'BB+/ruAA+' to NLMK after results review

AFX International reported that Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has affirmed its 'BB+' long term corporate credit rating and 'ruAA+' national scale rating on Russian steelmaker OJSC Novolipetsk Steel with a stable outlook, following a review of the company's 2006 and first quarter 2007 performance.

Mr Andrey Nikolaev credit analyst for S&P said that the ratings remain constrained by the fact that NLMK is essentially a land locked single-site producer exposed to commodity cycles and by the risks associated with operating in Russia.

S&P said the ratings are supported, however by the company's financial profile which is characterized by strong cash flow generation, large cash balance and virtually no net debt. However, an upgrade is possible in the medium to long term and would be largely driven by business diversification and the evolution of Russia's business climate.

The ratings agency said the probability of a downgrade is currently limited, because the company's cash flow generating capacity and very low leverage provide considerable headroom for acquisitions and other spending at the current rating level.

Sumitomo Metals supports victims of recent earthquake

Japanese Sumitomo Metal Industries announced that it decides to donate JPY 10 million to Niigata Community Chest for the victims of the earthquake in Niigata prefecture, northwestern coast of Japan.

Sumikin Bussan Corporation, a Sumitomo Metals's subsidiary also decided to donate textile products.

Czech OKD posts loss in 2006 due to Chinese coke

CTK reported that Czech coke producer OKD in 2006 lost CZK 207 million after 2005's profit of CZK 238 million due to Chinese coke imports as its sales went down by CZK 1 billion to CZK 5.735 billion.

The report cited Ms Vera Breiova spokeswoman of OKD as saying that OKK loss is a result of a marked fall of prices caused by huge imports of Chinese coke to the European market at dumping prices. She said “In spite of higher output the company's sales fell.”

OKD, OKK produced 1.333 million tonnes of coke in 2006 up by 33,000 tonnes on the year. Investment reached CZK 177 million environmental projects worth about a third of the amount.

The parent company OKD saw its profit fall by CZK 2 billion on the year to CZK 3.571 billion at end 2006 and the prices of coke were about 10% lower and prices of coal decreased by about 7% to 8% in 2006.

OKD is owned by New World Resources of the Netherlands which is controlled by the Cyprus based RPG Industries SE. It is in the hands of a group of investors among them financier and entrepreneur Zdenek Bakala.

South Korea may put quality system for low end steel imports

It is reported that South Korea will set up the quality certified system for low end steel products. A new amendment for construction law was proceeded to define the quality attestation as an obligation of building industry.

This action mainly restraints the import of low end steel products from China and is expected to largely decrease the poor quality of steel like H beams and other construction steels to be applied.

CSC investing to expand business in 5 year plan

JMB reported that Taiwanese China Steel Corporation plans to expand its business both in terms of volume and value under the 5 year plan starting from 2007.

CSC plans to spend TWD 200 billion in 5 years to expand it's output capacity to more than annual 20 million tonnes by 2011 while the firm increases the sales weight of high valued items to 50% from current less than 40%.

Mr YC Chen president of CSC during an interview with JMB said that he focuses on building strong corporate value.

Quinton Mining appoints Brummagem to survey Peppler Lake deposits

Quinton Mining Corporation has announced that it have retained the services of Brummagem Inc of Montreal at Quebec to manage metallurgical test work program. The metallurgical program will be conducted on the iron-ore from Peppler Lake at Quebec property. The program is scheduled to commence in the next few weeks.

Quinto Mining Corporation is a junior mining exploration development company with two advanced projects in the Province of Quebec. The Peppler Lake Iron Ore project is located in the Mount Wright region of North Central at Quebec approximately half way between the mining towns of Gagnon and Fermont.