SAIL orders ISP sintering plant to L&T and Outotec consortium

Larsen & Toubro Limited has announced that its ECC Division in consortium with Outotec GmbH has bagged INR 762 crore sinter plant order from Steel Authority of India Limited. The order value for the L&T is INR 639.99 Crore and EUR 22.08 million for Outotec. The turnkey sinter plant project is to be completed in 29.5 months.

This plant of 2 X 204 square meter grate area with a capacity of 3.80 million tonnes per annum, is to be executed on a turnkey basis, at the IISCO Steel Plant of SAIL at Burnpur in West Bengal. The new sinter plant will be part of SAIL's program of expanding its capacity at ISP by 2.5 million tonnes per annum.

Outotec's scope covers basic engineering, supply of proprietary and special equipment as well as technical services while L&T's scope covers detail engineering, supply of indigenous mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works and complete site services including civil, structural and erection works.

L&T along with Outotec is presently executing a 2.3 million tonne per annum sinter plant on turnkey basis at TATA Steel’s Jamshedpur work, which is nearing completion. This consortium has also received an order, from TATA Steel, for a 5.75 million tonnes per annum sinter plant for the new Kalinganagar unit.

Outotec, GmbH is the world leader in sintering and palletizing technology. It is known worldwide for providing innovative and environmental friendly solutions, for a wide variety of customers, in metals and minerals industry.

JSW Steel orders for 3rd sinter plant

Finland based Outotec has been awarded a contract by JSW Steel Ltd for the third iron ore sinter plant to be built at JSW Steel's integrated steelworks at Toranagallu area of Karnataka in India.

Outotec's scope of delivery includes design, basic engineering and supply of proprietary equipment for a sinter plant with a grate area of 496 square meters. Once operational, it will be one of the largest sinter plants in India.

Mr Tapani Järvinen president & CEO of Outotec said "This contract reinforces the strong partnership between JSW Steel and Outotec, based on the earlier two sinter plants that have been supplied by Outotec for JSW's Toranagallu works. The order for the third inter plant consolidates our position as the leading supplier of agglomeration technology in the iron and steel industry in India.”

JSW Steel produces 2.65 million tonnes of steel in 2007 and is expanding its capacity to 7 million tonnes in 2008. Outotec's third sinter plant delivery is part of the next phase of JSW Steel's capacity expansion at Toranagallu, which is planned to take the annual capacity of the complex to 10 million tonnes by 2010.

Bhushan Steel & Strips supports Bowen bid for Rockland Richfield

The Australian reported that Mr Anil Ahuja of Bhushan Steel and Strips Limited has asked Australia’s Bowen Energy to lift the cash component of its USD 16.4 million bid for Rocklands Richfield. As per report, Mr Ahuja appealed to Rocklands shareholders to back Bowen Energy and especially Bhushan's vision to become a mining company of note in Australia as it looks for raw resources to feed its growing steel business in India.

Bowen's hostile bid for Rocklands was initially pitched at 10 cents cash and 1 Bowen share for every 2 Rocklands shares, a deal rejected by the Rocklands board. Rocklands prefers a reverse takeover by China Coke & Chemicals and has strategically aligned itself with China's Huaibei Mining.

Now Bowen announced that it has improved the cash component of its offer by 300%, as it gets serious about winning the rights to Rocklands lucrative exploration assets, also in the Bowen. Bhushan has committed to Bowen an unsecured loan facility for AUD 25.3 million to fund the new offer, which stands at 40 cents cash and one Bowen share for every two Rocklands shares. The loan is conditional on Bowen securing at least 50.1% of Rocklands' stock in its hostile bid for the company, which closes on September 27th 2007.

Rocklands' assets include the Hillalong and Rocklands tenements covering 1000 square kilometres in the sought after Bowen region, which combined, have an underground coal resource of 384 million tonnes.

Rocklands has so far rejected Bowen's advances and favours a reverse takeover proposal by Chinese Coke & Chemicals, which would see the Rocklands issue CC&C with 100 million shares for $26.7 million. That would dilute Rocklands' existing capital structure of 84 million shares.

Bhushan has built a 10% stake in Bowen Energy.

CCEA approves expansion of CIL NCL Nigahi Opencast Project

It is reported that cabinet committee on economic affairs has given its approval for expansion of Nigahi Opencast Project of Northern Coalfields Limited of Coal India Limited from 10 million tonnes per annum to 15 million tonnes per annum with an additional investment of INR 259.40 crore.

CCEA also approved incremental coal production capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum by departmental operations and removal of corresponding overburden through outsourcing.

CCEA also gave its approval for flexibility in the implementation stage within the approved cost estimates to respond to improvement profitability parameters.

Nigahi Opencast Project will provide an additional coal production of 5 million tonnes per annum to meet the requirements of 3rd phase of Vindhyachal STPS of NTPC with 2 x 500 MW.

Orissa to reassess iron ore reserves

It is reported that at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr Padmanabha Behera steel and mines minister of Orissa, it was decided that an inventory of iron ore resources will be made and coastal geo morphological studies will be conducted.

The assessment of iron ore in close spaced drilling in Badamgarh and Dholtapathar in Sundargarh district has already been made. Preliminary assessment of iron ore in Hirapur in Nabarangpur district has also been made through pitting and trenching.

A decision was also taken to reassess the iron ore reserves in Thakurani-A and Malangtoli in Keonjhar district through outsourcing.

Tamil Nadu likely to get 2 ultra mega power plants

Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde union power minister said that government has decided to allow setting up of the 10th ultra mega power project through private sector participation in Tamil Nadu. With this decision, Tamil Nadu will be the only state to have 2 ultra mega power projects of 4000 MW capacity each.

Union government has identified Cheyur district in Tamil Nadu for setting up of the purpose first ultra mega power project and Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu is likely to be chosen for the second ultra mega power project in the state.

Orissa to review existing iron ore mining lease

It is reported that Orissa will review existing leases on at least 3 dozen iron ore mines that have been untapped for 2 years as global firms look to build plants in the state.

Mr UP Singh mines secretary of Orissa said that though the decision to consider reallocating the mines was effective immediately. He said “It would take 2 months to 3 months to implement as districts would have to be consulted.”

Mr Padmana Behera steel and mines minister of Orissa said that "This decision will definitely help companies looking to set up new projects." He added that 36 leases for iron ore mines were likely to lapse under the 2 year rule out of a total of 150. 46 steel companies have signed initial agreements with the Orissa government in recent years, out of which 26 have started operations.

Indian Railways 5 months freight traffic up by 6.95% YoY

It is reported that Indian Railways has carried 308.88 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic in April to August 2007 period up by 6.95%YoY as against freight traffic of 288.81 million tonnes during April to August 2006.

Meanwhile, during the month of August 2007, the revenue earning freight traffic carried by Indian Railways is recorded at 61.83 million tonnes up by 11.73% YoY as against freight traffic of 55.34 million tonnes during August 2006.

A top railway board official said that “This month has been exceptionally good for us driven by an increase in loadings of iron ore, coal and cement. We hope to be able to maintain this performance for the rest of the fiscal.”

ABG Shipyard to revive Western India Shipyard

ABG Shipyard Limited recently announced that its board of directors, at its meeting held on September 12th 2007, has considered and approved its involvement in the proposal for revival and rehabilitation of Western India Shipyard Limited in terms of a scheme of compromise and arrangement between Western India Shipyard Limited and its secured lenders, with Western India Shipyard as a confirming party, under Sections 391—394 of the Companies Act 1956.

The scheme provides certain options for the restructuring one time settlement of the debt of the secured lenders of Western India Shipyard with the involvement of ABG Shipyard, along with other matters connected with the compromise and arrangement, including reorganization of share capital of Western India Shipyard.

All the above are subject to requisite approvals including those of stock exchanges under the listing agreement, shareholders of Western India Shipyard, any regulatory authorities and sanction of the scheme of compromise and arrangement in terms thereof by the High Court of Bombay at Panaji in Goa.

Western India Shipyard Limited is strategically located at Goa and is geographically best positioned to offer a complete range of ship repair services.

Supply of coal to small consumers through NCCF

National Co operative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited was allocated coal, on the recommendation of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, with the objective of distributing coal to small and tiny consumers who do not have linkage or sponsorship and find it difficult to approach directly coal companies to meet their requirements of coal.

Dr Dasari Narayana Rao union minister of state for coal recently informed the upper house of Indian Parliament that NCCF is being supplied coal at 120% of the notified price. He said “It has been advised to distribute coal to small and tiny consumers across the country at a price not exceeding 5% over and above the base price charged by the coal companies. Transportation charges and duties or levies shall be extra.” Dr Rao added that order for allocation of coal to NCCF was issued in December 2004, for a quantity of 2 million tonnes per annum.

The actual quantity of coal lifted by NCCF is as under

Volume in tonnes
*Till July 2007

Dr Rao added that “Complaints were received alleging irregularities in sale of coal by NCCF. Chief Vigilance Officer, CIL was instructed to investigate those complaints and has been directed to strictly monitor supply of coal to prevent any misuse of coal. It has put in place a watchdog mechanism to ensure that there are no irregularities in sale of coal by NCCF. This arrangement has been made to enable tiny consumers to access coal and the objective is being achieved to the extent of coal so far supplied by the NCCF to the intended consumers.”

Paradip Port receives 17 EoIs for coal & iron ore berths

It is reported that around 17 companies have submitted their expressions of interest for developing and operating Paradip Port's coal and iron ore berths.

The companies which shown expressions of interest are
1) Rio Tinto
2) Macquarie Bank and GVK Power
3) IL&FS and Sara International
4) Sical Logistics
5) L&T, TM International Logistics and Matrade Holdings GmbH
6) Gammon India, MMTC and Nobal Group
7) MSPL
8) Essar Shipping & Logistics
9) Maytas Infra
10) Lanco Infratech
11) Navyug Engineering Co.
12) IMC Ltd
13) Monnet Ispat
14) ABG Heavy Industries
15) Emirates Trading Agency
16) Adani Group
17) Jindal Steel & Power

As per report, Jindal Steel & Power Limited, ABG Heavy Industries and the L&T-TMIL consortium have applied only for developing and operating a INR 387 crore, 10 million tonnes per annum berth for handling imported coking coal used for firing steel plants and the remaining 14 entities have filed their bids for developing both the coal and iron ore berths, which will be multi user facilities

The deadline for submitting expressions of interest for these projects, which costs around INR 900 crore, was September 12th 2007 and the private operator is likely to be finalized by March 31st 2008.

Bidding norms for ultra mega power plants corrected

It is reported that Indian government has set right the loopholes encountered in the bidding process for the first set of ultra mega power projects and is now ready for putting the generation capacity addition on fast track through the execution of these 4,000 MW projects.

Mr Sushilkumar Shinde union power minister while inaugurating the 10th India Power Forum 2007 said that while the loopholes in the bidding process of UMPPs had been corrected, problems holding up execution of merchant power plants totaling a capacity of 12,000 MW have also been sorted out.

He said that the capacity addition target of over 78,000 MW set for the current Plan period can be achieved through various programs and policies the ministry has been working on. He added that “The government has launched a special initiative for the development of coal based ultra mega power projects. 10 such projects have already been identified to boost capacity and a survey team will be deployed soon to carry out the required formalities for the latest project.”

MMK signs loan agreement with leading banks for EUR 365 million

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works OJSC announced that it has signed a 10 year loan agreement amounting to EUR 365 million with a consortium of international banks consisting of ABN AMRO, Deutsche Bank AG and ING Wholesale Banking. This loan agreement enjoys insurance cover provided by Euler Hermes Kreditversicherungs AG, acting on behalf and for the account of the Federal Republic of Germany.

This loan will be utilized to finance supplies and services from SMS Demag AG for the construction of a 5,000mm plate mill and a continuous slab caster. The construction of the 5,000 mm plate mill is OJSC MMK's largest project of the last decade. When implemented, this project will produce highly lucrative steel plate up to 4,850 mm wide and with a strength class up to X100-X120 primarily for the oil and gas sector, and also for building ships, bridges and heavy machines.

Within the consortium, ABN AMRO acts as documentation agent, Deutsche Bank AG as the Euler Hermes agent, ING Wholesale Banking as the facility agent. Furthermore, Deutsche Bank Ltd, Moscow assumes the role of the account bank. Euler Hermes will provide cover for 85% of these supplies and services.

Mr Rashnikov chairman of OJSC MMK's board of directors said that "This is the largest loan in the history of our company, extended by international banks. The Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works has an extensive and positive history of borrowings. The signing of this agreement reconfirms MMK's reputation as a reliable borrower and is testimony of the growing trust in our company on the part of the international financial community. Furthermore, this agreement represents an important milestone in the implementation of OJSC MMK's largest investment project, namely, the construction of the 5,000 mm plate mill complex. This loan will be used to finance supplies and services of SMS Demag as part of the project's implementation bringing us closer to the moment when the mill will start turning out products so unique for Russia."

Iron ore prices may rise by 25% in 2008- JP Morgan

Leading global financial services firm JP Morgan Chase & Co, after increasing its earlier 10% estimate, said that iron ore contract prices may gain 25% in 2008 as miners fail to match the increase in demand. It added that prices would probably rise by 10% in 2009.

JP Morgan‘s Sao Paulo unit in a report said that “This imbalance puts miners in a strong bargaining position at the annual price negotiations beginning October 2007.''

It is noted that spot prices of iron ore have almost doubled this year as Chinese steel production increased and shipping rates rose as contract prices gained 9.5% in 2007 following a 19% increase in 2006 and a 71.5% jump in 2005.

Merrill Lynch & Co expects contract prices to increase by 30% in 2008 after revising an earlier estimate for an 8% rise.

Chinese domestic iron ore firm on tight supply

It is reported that China’s domestic iron ore concentrate prices have posted linear rise since August in North China and constantly setting new records across the country. Currently, the dry basis price including VAT is CNY 595 per tonne to CNY 746 per tonne higher than the comparable price in August 2006.

Iron ore concentrate price has soared a staggering 118.9% or CNY 630 per tonne YoY at Jianping in Liaoning province and jumped 109.5% or CNY 690 per tonne YoY at Qianan in Hebei province.

The biggest myth right now is the maximum price level that buyers can afford. A host of steel mills reveal that the profit for low end producers would be reduced to zero once the delivery price for ore concentrate reaches CNY 1400 per tonne. That is why the big mills in Tangshan have halted purchase to boycott the high offer price despite thin inventory during Sep 6-10 when the local price has hit CNY 1350 per tonne and the smaller producers will be forced to shut down some blast furnaces if ore concentrate price continues to move up. Iron ore concentrate price in major origins on ex mine basis are as under

All prices are on dry basis including VAT in CNY

Current domestic ore concentrate price has well reflected the market fundamentals, and would perch on a high track for quite a long time, predicted by some industrial analysts. Domestic ore prices have always fallen behind spot prices of ore imports since 2004. However, ore concentrate price has recently surpassed the spot ore imports price for the first time, with Fe 63.5% Indian ore fine being traded at CNY 1300 per tonne. Some steel mills have therefore stepped up the usage of ore imports as domestic ore concentrate has become less attractive.

Meanwhile, steelmakers would tie up to boycott the ore concentrate price which has come close to their cost level. And ore suppliers would stop pushing forward higher offer price for fear of market crisis. That well explains why the ore concentrate price fell back after hitting CNY 1350 per tonne in Tangshan.

But as the steel mills in North China are to start stocking up ore concentrate for winter season in next three months, domestic ore concentrate looks set to keep firm.

US DOC initiates AD duty investigations on electrolytic manganese oxide

The US International Trade Commission announced its decision to initiate antidumping duty investigations on imports of electrolytic manganese dioxide from Australia and the People’s Republic of China.

The merchandise covered by these investigations includes electrolytic manganese dioxide that has been manufactured in an electrolysis process, whether in powder, chip, or plate form. Excluded from the scope are natural manganese dioxide and chemical manganese dioxide.

Electrolytic manganese dioxide is classifiable under subheadings 2820.10.00.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. While HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, Commerce’s written description of the scope of these investigations is dispositive.

Alleged dumping margin

The Commission is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determination on or about October 9th 2007. If the ITC determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports from Australia and China are materially injuring or threatening material injury to, the domestic industry, the investigations will continue and Commerce will be scheduled to make its preliminary determination in January 2008. If the ITC makes a negative preliminary injury determination, these investigations will be terminated. US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration Alleged Dumping Margin:

Tronox LLC is the petitioner for these investigations. Tronox LLC has an electrolytic manganese dioxide plant located in Nevada.

Import Statistics

Volume in tonnes
Value in million USD

Chinese coke exports surges in August 2007

It is reported that China's coke exports in August 2007 expanded further. Export volume amounted to 1.24 million tonnes up by 263,100 tonnes or 27% from that in July 2007 yet down by 404,200 tonnes or 25% over that in August 2006.

Exports during January to August 2007 added up to 10.27 million tonnes valued at USD 1.816826 billion up by 12.1% and 49.2% respectively YoY.

As Chinese government raised export tariff on coke to 15% from June 1st 2007 export volume in June 2007 and July 2007 kept firm at some 900,000 tonnes yet that in August 2007 jumped to 1.24 million tonnes.

Market rumor once circulated that the government planed to pull up export tariff on coke to 30%, triggering panic among exporters and spurring crowded exports. Besides, more cargo vessels in August 2007 led to increased transport capacities. This also made contribution to the surging exports.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Gerdau Ameristeel completes acquisition of Chaparral Steel

Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation announced that it has completed its acquisition of Chaparral Steel Company, broadening Gerdau Ameristeel's product portfolio and giving it a full range of structural steel products. Chaparral's shareholders approved the merger at a special shareholder meeting on September 12th 2007.

Gerdau Ameristeel, on July 10th 2007, announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Chaparral Steel. Chaparral operates 2 mini mills, located in Midlothian in Texas and in Dinwiddie County in Virginia. Chaparral employs approximately 1,400 employees and has an annual installed capacity of 2.8 million tons. The combined companies now become the second largest structural steel producer in North America.

Gerdau Ameristeel's acquisition of Chaparral Steel Company is being financed, in part, by a USD 1,150,000 bridge loan facility and a USD 2,750,000 term loan facility, which has been provided by 2 separate international syndicates of banks, each arranged by ABN AMRO Bank NV, HSBC and JP Morgan Securities, Inc. Subsidiaries of Gerdau Ameristeel are the borrowers under the facilities. The bridge loan facility matures 90 days from closing and the term loan facility has tranches maturing 5 and 6 years from the closing. Gerdau SA and certain of its Brazilian affiliates have guaranteed the obligations of the borrowers under both credit facilities. The bridge loan facility and the term loan facility are not secured by the assets of Gerdau Ameristeel or its subsidiaries.

Mr Mario Longhi president & CEO of Gerdau Ameristeel said that "Today is a defining moment in the history of our company. This solidifies our position as one of the major steel producers in our region with a major market position in structural steel products in addition to rebar and merchant bar products. We are excited to offer our customers the broadest range of long steel products in the mini mill sector."

Mr Andre Gerdau Johannpeter CEO of Gerdau Group said that "The completion of this acquisition confirms our global strategy of being one of the consolidators in the steel industry. We are confident that the growth of our North American operations will add value and bring benefits for our customers, shareholders, employees and the communities in which we operate."

Gerdau Ameristeel is the second largest mini mill steel producer in North America with annual manufacturing capacity of approximately 12 million tons of mill finished steel products. Its products are generally sold to steel service centers, steel fabricators, or directly to original equipment manufacturers for use in a variety of industries, including construction, cellular and electrical transmission, automotive, mining and equipment manufacturing. Gerdau Ameristeel is 67% owned by Gerdau SA.

Hebei account for 22% of Chinese crude steel production in 8 months

Chinese crude steel production during August 2007 is reported to be 41.583 million tonnes up by 13.6% YoY and 320.525 million tonnes during January to August 2007 up by 17.7% YoY.

Hebei province of China, with 9.555 million tonnes of crude steel production in August 2007 and 73.585 million tonnes in January to August 2007 remained the leader, accounting for 22% of China’s total crude steel production.

Another highlights is that 4 provinces including Hebei, Jiangsu, Shangdong and Liaoning accounted for more than 50% of China’s total production.

The production figures of crude steel for various provinces is as under

In million tonnes

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Vietnam rebar makers reeling under high billet prices

VietNamNet Bridge reported that several Vietnamese steel mills have reported losses due to the sharp increase of billets prices. Vietnam Steel Association in a document sent to Vietnam’s ministries of industry & trade and finance on September 12 showed that the imported billet price, which was USD 389 per tonne on average in 2006, has increased four times from May to August 2007 to USD 485, USD 513, USD 523 and USD 530 per tonne respectively.

The billet prices in Vietnam have been pushed up to the highest ever level in history since September 2007, as their supply became limited as the result of the Chinese policies on limiting semi finished steel exports. In recent offers, suppliers required USD 570 to USD 580 per tonne CFR.

Mr Pham Chi Cuong chairman of VSA said that the market is now very tense and that VSC has reported heavy losses in August as it tried not to raise the selling prices as required by the government.

Once steel mills cannot get enough profit for reproduction, the market would suffer a serious shortage of finished products, when Vietnam is entering the high construction season.

Kunming to construct 1.2 million tonnes coking facility in Yunnan

Interfax China reported that Kunming Iron and Steel Group based in southwestern China's Yunnan Province recently entered into a framework agreement with the Qujing municipal government to construct a 1.2 million tonnes capacity coking facility in Qujing City's county of Shizong, Yunnan Province a Shizong county.

TKC Steel to raise up to PHP 2.7 billion to fund expansions

It is reported that Philippines TKC Steel Corp hopes to raise up to PHP 2.7 billion from a proposed additional offer of shares in November 2007.

TKC Steel Corp in a statement said that it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange an application for a follow on offering of 235 million common shares. The shares will have an offer price ranging between PHP 8 and PHP 11.50 each. That will increase the company's public ownership to 25% and expected to raise between PHP 1.9 billion and PHP 2.7 billion. First Metro Investment Corp. will be in charge of the follow on offering.

TKC added that the offering aims to raise fresh capital for the expansion of TKC's two subsidiaries, Treasure Steelworks Corp and Zhang Zhou Stronghold Steel Works Company Ltd. Treasure Steelworks Corp is the largest billet maker in the Philippines producing 331,000 tonnes per year. Its plant is located in Iligan City in southern Philippines. Zhang Zhou Stronghold Steel Works Company Ltd produces 220,000 tonnes of spiral pipes and electric resistance welded pipes annually. Its plant is in Fujian province in China.

Mr Anthony S Dizon president of TKC Steel said that "The increase in capital will correspondingly enable the TKC subsidiaries to expand our domestic operations and support our China venture." According to the Philippine Star, TKC plans to double the capacity of TSC and expand the market of ZSSWL for seamless pipes in China and Southeast Asian countries.

TKC Steel is the only steel manufacturing company listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. It has controlling equity interest in Treasure Steelworks as well as in Zhang Zhou Stronghold Steel.

IMF increases Australian 2007 economic growth forecast

It is reported that Australia's economy will expand faster than the International Monetary Fund forecast five months ago and any fallout from global financial market turmoil is likely to be small.'

The International Monetary Fund said in a report that it raised its forecast for economic growth in 2007 to 4.4% from an April estimate of 2.6%. The economy will expand 4% next year more than an earlier prediction of 3.3%. The economy advanced 2.7% in 2006.

The International Monetary Fund said “Despite the recent turbulence of the credit markets, growth prospects remain strong as high commodity prices continue to provide stimulus. Available indicators suggest that the impact on the real economy is likely to be small. It said the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index plunged 12% from its July 24th 2007 record high in the 3 1/2 weeks to August 17th 2007. It has since rebounded 10%. Asset prices have begun to show signs of recovery.''

Australia, the world's largest exporter of iron ore and coal is benefiting from record prices for raw materials driven by soaring demand from China. Increased investment by miners, including BHP Billiton Ltd., and a pickup in consumer spending have stoked the fastest annual economic growth in three years and pushed the jobless rate to the lowest since 1974.

Norilsk Nickel accused of pollution at its Polar division

Russia’s natural resources watchdog Rosprirodnadzor announced that it has completed an inspection of how MMC Norilsk Nickel is fulfilling the requirements of water use legislation.

Rosprirodnadzor said that it was discovered during the inspection that Norilsk Nickel's Polar division in Norilsk has emitted pollutants that have seriously harmed several rivers in the region and that its emissions greatly exceed the legal volume. A source familiar with the inspection results told Interfax that the division caused RUB 2.796 billion worth of damage to the rivers, polluting them with excess effluent, according to inspection results for seven of 86 discharges.

The Rosprirodnadzor release said that "For example, runoff from the No 40 Copper Plant at Norilsk Nickel is above the legal limits and contains such elements as iron, nickel, petroleum products, lead, copper, chloride, nitrates, calcium, magnesium, phosphates and zinc." It added that moreover, several Norilsk Nickel enterprises are dumping industrial waste into the water supply in concentrations that exceed the maximum permissible levels.

The release said that "The company is not fully complying with the set timeframe for water safety measures and is also violating it. As a result, unfiltered water waste is continuing to be dumped and is causing harm to water resources. The company's subdivisions are also allowing the tampering of data in the initial report concerning water drainage."

Rosprirodnadzor will take a number of measures against the Norilsk Nickel branch to ensure protection of the environment and that Russian legislation be followed. The inspection was conducted on behalf of State Duma deputies who were concerned about the environmental situation in the region.

Mr Leonid Baklitsky head of the agency's branch in the Siberian Federal District told reporters in Novosibirsk that “Another regulatory body, the state technical standards watchdog Rostekhnadzor is set to investigate Norilsk Nickel enterprises in October following numerous complaints from residents about the environmental situation at Norilsk Nickel."

Eramet postpones silicomanganese furnace rebuild

Platts reported that French integrated mining and metals group Eramet Marietta has postponed a planned rebuild of its silicomanganese furnace at its Marietta in Ohio, plant to the latter half of the first quarter of 2008.

The report cited Mr Bob Burdette president & CEO of Eramet North America as saying that “Eramet had planned to take the furnace down in November of this year to reline it but has decided to push back the time frame in order to build a large enough inventory of silicomanganese to meet its contractual obligations.”

He added that the outage would mean that in all probability Eramet would not be selling silicomanganese on the spot market before the end of the first half of 2008. Instead, the company would concentrate on meeting its long term contractual obligations. Mr Burdette said that Eramet was maintaining deliveries to customers. He added that "We've delivered everything they've asked for, so we don't have any issues there."

Earlier on March 12th 2007, Eramet declared force majeure on its silicomanganese production after its furnace suffered a burn through of molten metal. The incident occurred on March 8 and was the second burn through experienced in the second week. At the time, Eramet said it was forced to declare force majeure because it had low inventory levels. After the incident, Eramet undertook more extensive repairs top the furnace, which has held and it has worked to rebuild inventories and maintain deliveries to contractual customers. However, Eramet has not lifted the force majeure.

Russian slab prices increased to USD600 per tonne CNF Taiwan

YIEH reported that the global HR product is expected to be hot in the future. The reason is that not only Russia’s steel mills but also Brazil and Russian steel mills insist to offer high price on slab.

Because the export price is getting higher globally, Brazil steel mills strongly insist that the slab’s export price in the Q4 of 2007 should be at least USD 500 per tonnes FOB equal to USD 580 to USD 590 per tonnes by Taiwan’s freight standard.

Inspired by the trend the export price from Russia to Taiwan rises to around USD 600 per tonnes CNF in this week. However, the hot rolling mills are hesitating to accept the high price.

Liuzhou Steel invests heavily on emission reduction

While expanding steel capacity from 1.04 million tonnes per year to 6 million tonnes per year over the period of 2000-2007, Liuzhou Steel achieved remarkable fruits in emission reduction, cutting COD by 13%, petroleum 34.6%, dust 15.7% while raising circulating rate of industrial water to 95% from 71%.

Having poured CNY 1.1 billion in environment protection ever since 2001, Liuzhou Steel is further planning new projects and cooperating with universities and institutes to tackle technical problems for bigger strides along this path. Its fresh water consumption for per tonnes steel produced has come below 6 tonnes. It aims to reduce it to 4 tonnes next year.

As the leading steel producer in Guangxi Province, Liuzhou Steel ranked No 94 among China's top 500 manufacturers.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Earthquake disrupted tin refineries in Peru

It is reported that a 40,000 tonnes per year Funsur tin refinery in Pisco has been closed indefinitely because of damage from a major earthquake that struck Peru in mid August 2007. Also closed for now is Minsur's tin mine at San Rafael, which supplies concentrate to the refinery.

As a precaution against further seismic activity, lead zinc miner Compania Minera Milpo closed the Cerro Lindo mine for a time that had only opened in July 2007 after a USD 110 million investments. It has since reopened on a limited schedule as has the Corporation Aceros Arequipa steel products mill.

Platt's Metals News reports that there has been limited restoration of power in the region where the earthquake hit about 150 miles south of Lima. Authorities have told news services that more than 500 people were killed and more than 800 injured in the deadliest earthquake in more than 35 years. The earthquake also flattened more than 16,700 homes and reportedly left tens of thousands of people homeless.

Scrap prices on upswing in US

YIEH reported that US scrap price is hiking up that the current average price of HMS NO1 scrap in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Philadelphia is USD 265.5 per long ton up by USD 9.67 per long ton from last week, which is the highest price to date since late April.

Additionally, the part of H2 price soars to USD 229.5 per long ton with a rise of USD 12.5 per Pittsburgh from a week ago.

Regarding East Coast of America, the average price of No 1 scrap in New York, Boston and Houston is USD 225.5 per long ton up by USD 2.67 per long ton from last week.

ArcelorMittal announces details of its share buy back programs

ArcelorMittal announced the completion as of September 4th 2007 of the USD 590 million share buy back program announced by Mittal Steel Company NV on April 2nd 2007 and continued by ArcelorMittal from September 3rd 2007. In the program, the two companies purchased about 9.5 million shares.

ArcelorMittal also announced the commencement of a new share repurchase program for up to 27 million shares, for cancellation in due course. This new share buy back program aims to offset the issuance of 27 million shares in connection with Mittal Steel's mandatory offer for Arcelor Brasil SA.

ArcelorMittal said this share buy back program would end when the number of shares purchased reaches the 27 million share limit, or when ArcelorMittal and its subsidiaries will hold 10% of the then issued ArcelorMittal shares, or when ArcelorMittal no longer has corporate authorization to repurchase its shares. It plans to use the repurchased shares for share deliveries under existing or future employee stock option plans or to cancel them in due course.

As at September 12th 2007, 1.06 million shares were held directly or indirectly by ArcelorMittal in treasury, representing 0.07% of the issued share capital on the same date. All these shares are held for share deliveries under the ArcelorMittal employee stock option plan, except for 288,435 ArcelorMittal shares held in portfolio by one of the ArcelorMittal subsidiaries. Over the last 24 months, 3.1 million ArcelorMittal shares were transferred by Mittal Steel to ArcelorMittal in the first step merger and have been cancelled as of September 3.

On September 3, the company said that shareholders of Mittal Steel and Arcelor have approved the merger between the two companies. As a result of the EUR 30 billion merger, Mittal Steel shareholders automatically received one newly issued ArcelorMittal share for every one Mittal Steel share based on their respective holdings in Mittal Steel.

Union Pacific posts record coal transportation in August

Union Pacific said recently that it hauled more than 17 million tonnes of coal output of Northeast Wyoming in August 2007. It said that more than 1100 Union pacific trains were filled with low sulfur coal from Wyoming Powder River Basin in August 2007.

Official of Union Pacific said new track repair technologies helped them set the new record.

Mr Doug Glass president of Union Pacific said the increase in coal deliveries has helped meet demand from utilities that rely on that resource.

Czech coal miner NWR posts net profit for Q2

Thomson Financial reported that Czech coal miner New World Resources, which plans an IPO on the Prague and London stock exchanges in late autumn, posted a net profit of CZK 388.9 million in the second quarter compared to a net loss of CZK 586.8 million in the same period of 2006.

New World Resources said underlying EBITA OKD rose to CZK 2.55 billion from CZK 1.67 billion in the second quarter last year. Revenues reached CZK 9.8 billion. However it added that the last year's loss was due to a one time depreciation relating to the closure of one mine operated by OKD.

New World Resources, owner of the largest hard coal mines in the Czech Republic, said the improvements in the company's performance were substantially underpinned by increases in coal and coke prices adding that the average contracted coal price increased 9.98% and the average contracted coke price grew by 18.95%.

Nonfemet orders for large size cathodes for Danxia zinc smelter

Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet, as part of its plan to increase the capacity of its Danxia Lead and Zinc smelter, has decided to use large size cathodes of 3.2 square meters and apply full automated devices and equipment for handling and processing the electrodes. The new zinc cell house will have a yearly capacity of 100 000 tonnes zinc. With this project, the Danxia smelter will be the first one in China to use large size cathodes and to be fully automated.

The contract between the different parties was signed at Danxia Smelter facilities on August 30th 2007. Nonfemet awarded Paul Wurth SA of Luxembourg and its Chinese entity in Beijing with a contract for design services, proprietary equipment supply and installation as well as commissioning supervision. The cell house is planned to be commissioned in November 2008.

Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet Co is a listed company in Shenzhen Stock Exchange since 1997. Nonfemet is a metal producer and products manufacturer whose principal activities are selecting, smelting, manufacturing and processing of zinc, lead, aluminum and other non-ferrous material. Nonfemet produced 137 700 tonnes of refined zinc and 75 300 tonnes of refined lead in 2006 and, in early 2007, launched a project for increasing its zinc refining capacities by another 100 000 tonnes.

Paul Wurth is mainly active in engineering for the iron & steel industry and the non ferrous metals sector. With a portfolio of about 600 patented inventions, the company is one of the world leaders in the design and supply of complete plants, systems and processes as well as mechanical equipment for the iron making sector.

Al Jazeera Steel to issue shares to Global Buyout Fund LP

Al Jazeera Steel Product Company announced that it will increase its issued share capital from OMR 6,120,000, divided into 61,200,000 shares with a par value of OMR 0.100 per share, to OMR 12,489,796, divided into 124,897,796 with a par value of OMR 0.100 per share.

The increase will be achieved by issuing 63,697,960 shares with a par value of OMR 0.100 per share and at a price of 0.325 per share for subscription shares. The subscription shares will be allocated to Global Buyout Fund LP by way of private placement.