SAIL to revive Steel Complex Limited in Kerala

Mr Elamaram Kareem industries minister of Kerala announced that Steel Authority of India would revive state owned Steel Complex Limited and make it financially self sustaining. He said that "SAIL has agreed to revive the unit in three stages to increase its production level from the existing 20,000 tonnes per year to 50,000 tonnes per year."

He informed that Mr Ram Vilas Paswan union steel minister has cleared the revival package after the state sent him a proposal for taking over Steel Complex Limited. He added that a feasibility report was prepared after SAIL officials visited the unit recently to conduct studies on plant facilities and operational limitations.

Mr kareem said that "As regards financial commitments, SAIL will provide the necessary support for stage-I and for the next two stages, the support will be finalized after completion of the first stage."

He said that in the first stage, production from the current level of 20,000 tonnes would be increased to 50,000 tonnes per year through optimization of process parameters and maintenance practices of electric arc furnace and billet caster without any capital investment in a six month period. He added that while stage II envisaged a capital investment of INR 3 crore in a time period of 10 months, stage III proposed installation of a rolling mill with a capital cost of INR 50 crore in duration of 18 months.

Surya Alloy to receive environmental clearance by October

ProjectsToday reported that Surya Alloy Industries is expected to receive environmental clearance for the phase 3 of its integrated steel mill project in Bardhaman district of West Bengal by October 2007.

Surya Alloy Industries is setting up an integrated steel plant in 4 phases with an investment of INR 400 crore.
Phase 1 includes ERC unit
Phase 2 includes arc furnace, vacuum de casting unit
Phase 3 includes mini blast furnace, sinter plant
Phase 4 includes structural rolling mill.

The first 2 phases of the project has been completed. Work on phase 3 is scheduled to commence by November 2007 and get completed within 18 months. Surya Alloys officials informed that the structural rolling mill is underway and completion expected by June 2008.

SEZ may get infrastructure projects status

Mr Kamal Nath union commerce and industry minister said that special economic zones should be treated as infrastructure projects for investment requirements. He added that his ministry would pursue with the Reserve Bank of India the case for treating special economic zones as infrastructure projects.

It may be recalled that RBI had equated special economic zones with real estate to caution banks against their unsecured exposures to these export enclaves.

Mr Nath said that, once all the 366 formally approved special economic zones became operational, 4 million additional jobs would be created and India’s manufacturing sector would get a shot in the arm.

PGCIL facing stiff resistance in Nigeria

It is reported that Power Grid Corporation of India Limited is facing stiff opposition from the workers of a power transmission company in Nigeria. As part of power sector privatisation in Nigeria, the federal government had given the management contract of the transmission arm of Power Holding Company of Nigeria to PGCIL but the workers are against the decision to hand over the company to PGCIL.

Nigerian media reported that Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies of Nigeria are jointly protesting against the privatisation plan. Workers were armed with placards inscribed ‘No to Foreigners’, ‘No to Indian Slavery’, ‘This is slavery’ and ‘Take over means stop work Our labor can’t be in vain’.

Mr Joe Ajaero general secretary of Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees said that “The Indians are not welcome. We want to advise them to stay away. I want to say without contradiction that the Indians are not good managers.” He added that no country in the world has ever allowed its transmission line to be run by foreigners because of its security implications.

At the technical and competitive bidding for Power Holding Company of Nigeria on September 12th 2007, PGCIL emerged the preferred management contractor out biding Manitoba Hydro International of Canada and ESB International quoting the lowest management contract fee of USD 5.1 million.

Somani Group signs MoU with ThyssenKrupp Gleistechnik

It is reported that New Delhi based Somani Group has signed a MoU with ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik to form a JV for techno commercial collaboration and to get products required for Indian Railways.

The proposed JV will be head quartered in New Delhi and will initially focus on the products manufactured only by Gleistechnik. After approval from the Indian Railways, the product will initially be imported but subsequently suitable production facility will be set up on Indian shores.

Reliance Energy scouting for overseas coal assets

It is reported that Reliance Energy is planning to increase its capacity to 20,000 MW over the next five years and is thereby scouting for coalmines abroad. As per report Reliance Energy, eyeing stakes in Australian, Indonesian and African coal mines, is also evaluating options to sign long term contracts with coal miners.

Mr Jayarama Chalasani director for business development of Reliance Energy told Reuters that it is looking to acquire mines in Indonesia, Australia and Africa at competitive rates and was open to signing long term contracts. He added that "If you have to set up a coastal power plant, the landed cost of imported coal is cheaper than local coal."

Mr Chalasani said the company plans to raise between INR 480 billion rupees (USD 11.8 billion) and INR 500 billion in debt over the next seven to eight years to expand generation capacity nearly 16 times to 15,000 megawatts. He added that "It is not the money, but the fuel, which is a constraint for stepping up capacity across the country."

The strategy behind acquiring mines is to ensure regular supply of coal and the company is therefore targeting coalmines with high calorific value to maximize investment returns.

Global mining majors may be allowed to enter India

It is reported that union government is considering a proposal to allow foreign mining companies to pick up stakes in mining in India.

Currently multinationals firms engaged only in mining are not allowed stakes and up to 100% foreign direct investment is allowed in captive iron ore and coalmines. The report cited an official as saying that these rules may soon be changed to allow foreign mining majors and even foreign financial institutions to pick up stakes in captive projects.

He said “Mining is a very specialized business and requires lots of money as it is capital intensive and making the rules slightly more flexible can bring in new technology besides dollars.”

Government has decided that in the future it would offer such reserves through open bidding among captive users. Under the bidding route, the competition will be in terms of production sharing. The winning bidder will be the one who offers the highest share to the government. Successful bidders will have to furnish a bank guarantee equal in value to three years share to the government and if the mine is not developed in time, these guarantees would be encashed and the leases cancelled.

Officials said that “This will be a first step. Later when it is permitted politically, we would like to allow even pure mining companies to own and run coal and iron ore mines and sell the output to end users. This could lead to more optimum use of resources.”

The new rules could be part of a review of FDI being done by the government. Another option before the government is to include them in the mining policy, which is being discussed by a group of ministers and an allocation process is followed by the government in coal and iron ore mines.

RITES 2006-07 turnover up by 32.9% YoY

It is reported that RITES Limited has registered turnover of INR 566 crore in 2006-07 up by 32.9% YoY as against INR 426 crore in 2005-06. It has registered a profit after tax of INR 118 crore up by 19.2% YoY as against INR 99 crore.

Turnover from export of locomotives and rolling stock including leasing was the highest ever of INR 266 crore. Export was made to a number of new countries for the first time including Angola, Senegal and Mali. In addition, RITES continued to provide technical consultancy services in all facets of transportation to various overseas clients in Malaysia, Afghanistan, Senegal, Angola, Botswana and Myanmar.

Mr RK Rao chairman of RITES Ltd and the member mechanical of railway board, while addressing the 32nd annual general meeting, said that in the face of an extremely competitive business scenario, RITES succeeded in securing challenging and prestigious contracts worth INR 742 crore including INR 535 crore in India.

RITES Ltd has been declared as a schedule ‘A’ company. It was established in 1974 as schedule ‘C’ company with the initial capital of INR 1 million and then upgraded to schedule ‘B’ in 1987.

Suryachakra Power subsidiaries registered for CDM

Suryachakra Power Corporation Ltd has announced that it's 100% subsidiaries MSM Energy Ltd and Lahari Power & Steels Ltd have been registered for availing carbon credits under Clean Development Mechanism for the periods mentioned below which contributes enhancement of revenues of the said units.

1. MSM Energy Ltd: 10 MW Bio based renewable energy plant at Amaravathi District in Maharashtra. The Period of Credit is from January 01, 2008 to December 31st 2017 and the number of CER's per annum would be 43.345.

2. Lahari Power & Steel Ltd: 9.8 Biomass based renewable energy plant at Champa District in Chattisgarh. The Period of Credit is September 3rd 2007 to September 2nd 2017 and the number of CER's per annum is 37.947.

SER to upgrade feeder for freight corridor

It is reported that South Eastern Railway is likely to upgrade the 44 kilometer long Bhojudih Mohuda Gomoh feeder route in its Adra division.

The route is one of the 17 feeder routes identified by the Railway Board for the Delhi to Howrah freight corridor project and is the only identified feeder route which comes under the jurisdiction of the South Eastern Railway.

The primary feeder routes for the Delhi to Howrah freight corridor include Sonnagar to Durgapur via Gomoh, Sonnagar to Tatanagar via Garhwa Road and Barkakana to Bokaro via Chandrapura.

The first phase of the Delhi to Howrah freight corridor project, also known as the eastern corridor will come upto Sonnagar in Bihar. The final location study for the project will be undertaken by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, set up by the union ministry of railways. About 320 kilometer of rail link will be constructed for the eastern corridor. The total projected cost for the dedicated freight corridor, including the eastern and western corridor is INR 28,000 crore, with the investment for the eastern corridor alone being INR 11,588 crore. The freight corridor will have double stack containers of 25 tonne axle load each, which will enhance the cargo handling capacity by 20%. Also, the length of a conventional goods train will be enhanced from the existing 650 meter.

Mr RK Goel appointed as new Ratnagiri Gas chairman

It is reported that the board of Ratnagiri Gas & Power Private Ltd, at the 33rd meeting, has taken a decision to appoint Mr RK Goel director (finance) of GAIL India Ltd as its new chairman.

Mr Goel is also the Chairman of GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Suzlon Energy launched and priced FCCBs

Suzlon Energy Limited announced that it has launched and priced a proposed foreign currency convertible bonds issuance for an amount of USD 200 million on September 21st 2007. Credit Suisse Hong Kong Ltd acted as the Sole book runner to the transaction.

The foreign currency convertible bonds, which have a maturity of 5 years and 1 day, are convertible at a conversion price of INR 1,859.40 per share, which is at a premium of 30% over the 5 day volume weighted average price of INR 1,430.31 on the NSE on September 20th 2007. The foreign currency convertible bonds are zero coupon bonds with a yield to maturity of 7.55%, calculated on a semi annual basis, at the end of 5 years and 1 day if not converted into shares during the period.

The foreign currency convertible bonds are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.

Escalating freight cost increase tensions for iron ore talks

China Business News cited Mr Luo Bingsheng deputy director of China Iron & Steel Association as saying surging freight cost could result in a lengthy tussle between Chinese steel mills and iron ore producers for the upcoming round of iron ore price negotiations.

Freight rates continue to hit new highs these days, which put the focus of the forthcoming ore talks on how to handle the shipping costs. Currently, China's long term iron ore contracts have been based on FOB price and leading steel mills have capped their freight cost with long term contract with shipping companies.

However, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton both are very keen to push for a freight premium on top of their fob contract prices, given that the landed cost of their iron ore in Asia is significantly cheaper than those of Brazilian and Indian ores. One source tells that Australian ore is "a bargain at around USD 80 per tonne CFR China compared to Brazil's USD 130 per tonnes and India's inferior quality ore selling at USD 155 per tonnes.

Chinese mills are reluctant to sign CFR contracts with Australian miners, preferring to handle shipping costs on their own. Mr Luo argues that iron ore supply shortage looks set to mitigate considerably next year as suppliers intend to increase the output by 70 million tonnes while the buyers only require an increment of 50 million tonnes to 60 million tonnes.

Mr Yang Shicheng senior analyst with COSCO predicts that iron ore shipping market would maintain the strong momentum next year as a result of firm market fundamentals. Global shipping industry appears to be not ready yet for the superb prosperity cycle in bulk cargo trade and shipping demand across the world. Moreover, stronger RMB and skyrocketing oil price have also contributed to ballooning freight cost.

It is widely expected that benchmark ore prices would continue upward path for fiscal 2008 as a host of investment banks have revised upward their forecast. UBS has increased the estimate up to 25% rise Macquire looks for 17.5% or higher increase while Citi group caps their forecast in the range of 10% to 20%.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

US steel HRC prices forecast to hit USD 600 per short tons in Q4

Platts citing Mr Mike Locker president of New York based Locker Associates, who spoke at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries' Ferrous Scrap Roundtable Commodities Forum in Chicago, reported that US hot rolled coil prices are forecast to hit USD 600 per short tonnes ex works.

Mr Locker said that “While a steel market downturn is bound to happen at some point, right now, the industry is in a sweet spot. The world price will remain robust and US prices will bounce back and citing a fourth quarter recovery.”

Mr Locker noted that US flat rolled steel prices, in particular, sagged in 2007. He said that in some cases prices had dropped to levels near their average HRC production cost of USD 475 per short tons to USD 500 per short tons which resulted in some mills barely break even.

But Mr Locker added that he is now seeing some elements of recovery that are likely to continue through the fourth quarter. He added that “Demand is strengthening and I'm not one of those who believe the US economy is going to crash. Instead, non residential construction in the US continues to be healthy. Heavy equipment and infrastructure spending is strong and I believe we will see automotive rebound later in the year.”

He also forecast that the US price of CRC will increase to USD 725 per short tons ex works and the price of special bar quality material or SBQ will climb to USD 850 per short tons.

NDRC indicate further restrictions to curb Chinese steel export

Xinhua reported that China may come up with more restrictions to curb steel exports, including imposing licenses to export companies, restricting steel projects in the processing sector.

The report cited Mr Hu Chunli a senior official with China's National Development and Reform Commission as saying that restricting steel export will still be the tendency and China would reduce its steel production to avoid overcapacity. He added that China has already taken six measures to discourage steel export and export rebates for many steel products had been lowered to zero while tariff for some steel products also reached 15%.

Mr Hu said that strong demand in the international market high profit of exporting and weak influence of curbing policies are the main reasons for the increasing exports. He added that "As long as the steel export generates more profit, Chinese enterprises will still expand their exports. Along with the declining investing in the steel sector, implementation of reducing emission and energy saving and new curbing policies, steel export will finally go down.”

According to the latest statistics released by China Customs, China’s steel products exports stood at 5.38 million tonnes in August, down by 9.4% over last month. However, in the January to August 2007, China's steel and steel billets exports still jumped by 83.8% and 10.9% to 45.08 million tonnes and 5.61 million tonnes.

New generation Vehicle project identifies usage of SS in cars

It is reported that an international research group while presenting its study the world’s biggest motor show IAA in Frankfurt said that using stainless steel in automotive construction can save weight and thus conserve resources without compromising safety standards. It said that light and safety are not mutually exclusive and stainless steel can deliver solutions to meet rising environmental standards.

Next Generation Vehicle project, an alliance of leading stainless steel producers and automotive OEMs, was launched at the end of 2004 with the aim of identifying potential for the use of stainless steel in auto construction. As part of the study, innovative materials were developed and tested for new applications with groundbreaking findings. The automotive OEMs participating in the project were Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, General Motors & Saab and Ford & Volvo, while the stainless steel producers involved were ThyssenKrupp Nirosta, Outokumpu and ArcelorMittal Stainless.

The study, drawn up by development and applications engineers from the companies involved shows that the use of stainless steel in vehicle construction can be especially beneficial in crash relevant structural parts. The major advantages of stainless steels, such as high strength and weight reduction, make their extensive use both practical and expedient in resource conserving auto production. The aim of the Next Generation Vehicle project was to draw up processing guidelines for stainless steels as a prerequisite for their use. This was done with reference to B pillars, which were tested in crash simulations. The results were verified in collaboration with leading suppliers of simulation programs for metal forming which allow the crash performance of stainless steel to be simulated. These programs were developed further as part of the Next Generation Vehicle project.

The project’s findings have been summarized in design and processing guidelines. The new software programs, which will also be available commercially in the future, meet a further requirement for the broader use of stainless steel. They open up new possibilities for automotive developers. The Next Generation Vehicle project also developed a cost model in collaboration with the Boston Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which allows the use of different production methods and materials to be compared directly and the optimum stainless steel solution determined. Next Generation Vehicle will continue its work in the coming months.

Dr. Alfred Otto chief sales officer at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta said that “The challenge facing the project was to reconcile ecologically driven demands for lower weight with increasing safety standards. Our studies show that stainless steel offers solutions for the car of the future. We supply technologically mature and innovative stainless materials capable of meeting the high requirements involved. Using these tailored materials, automotive OEMs can produce vehicles which come closer to the important general aim of protecting the environment.”

Hunan Valin to buy 55% stake in Jiangsu Xigang

Bloomberg reported that Chinese steel maker, partly owned by ArcelorMittal, Hunan Valin Steel Tube & Wire Co plans to buy 55% of rival Jiangsu Xigang Group Co in cash but did not disclose a price for the transaction.

Hunan Valin Steel in a statement to the Shanghai stock said that the parent, Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Group, pledged to sell Xigang a specialty steel unit of China Resources Group, to the publicly traded Valin Steel within three years.

According to the statement Valin Group will coordinate with Xigang on raw material purchases and the marketing of steel products to reduce competition.

Wuxi, Jiangsu province based Xigang was acquired by China Resources in 2005. The steel maker, with annual crude steel production capacity of 500,000 tonnes, makes bearing steel, spring steel, steel rods and seamless steel tubes. It had a profit of CNY 67.5 million (USD 9 million) on sales of CNY 2.53 billion in 2006.

China's government is encouraging mergers among the nation's steelmakers to create bigger companies and boost their bargaining power with suppliers of raw materials including iron ore.

Linde expands gas supplies contract with voestalpine

It is reported that the technology group The Linde Group has entered into a long term supply agreement with the Austrian steel producer voestalpine to deliver industrial gases to its Linz production site. The relevant contract which involves the construction of an additional on site air separation plant was signed recently. The amount being invested is EUR 62 million.

The contract, which will extend and supplement existing supply agreements will be managed by Linde Gas Austria. The new air separation plant is due to come on stream in January 2010. It will supply the voestalpine steelworks in Linz by pipeline with up to 30,000 cubic meters each of gaseous oxygen and nitrogen per hour. The plant is also expected to produce liquefied oxygen, nitrogen and argon as well as smaller quantities of krypton and xenon for the open market.

Dr Aldo Belloni a member of the Linde AG Executive Board said "Since 1994, when Linde assumed responsibility for the operation of voestalpine's air separation plants, we have continued to develop our collaboration with the company. We are delighted that this project will enable us to continue to support the expansion of our most important Austrian customer."

The Linde Group is a world leading industrial gases, medical gases and engineering company with around 49,000 employees working in more than 70 countries worldwide. Following the acquisition of The BOC Group plc, the company has gases and engineering sales of around EUR 12 billion per annum.

Chinese coke production province wise in 8 months

It is reported that China's coke production in August 2007 hit all time high and daily output increased slightly compared with that in July 2007. Coke output during January to August 2007 amounted to 212.988 million tonnes up by 20.1% from that in the same period of 2006.

Latest statistics show China produced 27.958 million tons of coke in August up by 13.8% YoY as compared to 24.568 in August 2006. The province wise pig iron production figures are as under

(In million tonnes)

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Anaconda Mining acquires San Gabriel iron ore prospect in Chile

Anaconda Mining Inc has announce the acquisition of the right to earn a 100% interest in the San Gabriel iron ore prospect located approximately 1000 kilometer north of Santiago near the coastal city of Chanaral in Chile. Anaconda has the right to earn a 100% interest in the San Gabriel prospect by making payments totaling USD 2.4 million over four years.

The San Gabriel Prospect lies 70 kilometer NE of the port city of Chanaral a small city on the Pacific coast that has significant deep sea port infrastructure for iron ore exports. The prospect consists of 1700 hectares of exploration concessions and includes four magnetic anomalies.

Rio Tinto discovered the prospect in 1997 during a reconnaissance exploration program that consisted of ground magnetics and scout drilling. Rio Tinto's scope was primarily the discovery of IOCG deposits or very large Fe deposits. Rio explored the property in 1997, which included the drilling of 11 RC holes targeting magnetic anomalies. The property was subsequently returned to the vendors as Rio determined the discovery of the San Gabriel iron ore mineralization was not sufficient to meet their threshold of interest.

The prospect is a typical iron magnetite skarn associated with dioritic intrusives of Jurassic to lower Cretaceous age and which intruded andesitic volcanic sequences. These skarn related deposits are typical of the Chile-Peru coastal region and form deposits ranging from a few million tons to billion ton ore bodies such as Marcona in Peru.

Anaconda Mining is an emerging gold producer with a diversified portfolio of advanced stage exploration and development projects in Canada and Chile.

Mechel announces new management board

Russian mining and metals companies Mechel OAO announced the formation and membership of its new collegial executive body at a meeting of the Mechel OAO board of directors held on September 18th 2007.

Its board adopted a resolution on the management board membership. The following persons were elected members of the Mechel OAO management board
1 Mr Igor Zyuzin - CEO & new management board chairman
2. Mr Alexey Ivanushkin – COO of Mechel OAO
3. Mr Stanislav Ploschenko - acting CFO of Mechel OAO
4. Mr Victor Trigubko- senior VP for Government Relations Mechel OAO
5. Ms Irina Ipeeva - director of corporate management and property of Mechel OAO
6. Mr Evgeny Mikhel – VP legal affairs of Mechel OAO
7. Mr Oleg Rozenberg - deputy CEO for Foreign Trade of Mechel Management OOO
8. Ms Elena Selivanova – director HR of Mechel Management OOO
9. Ms Elena Tuvaeva - First deputy CEO of Mechel Management OOO.

The resolution approving the Bylaw on the Collegial Executive Body of Mechel OAO was adopted by the Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting of Mechel OAO conducted on August 6th 2007.

Mechel release said that ‘The creation of the management board enables the Company's management team to take decisions after consultation with the members of the Management Board of the most important business of the Company.’

Natsteel attempting again to change name

Digital Journal Staff reported that TATA Steel’s Singapore Exchange listed Natsteel Ltd is trying to change is name for the seventh time since 2004. The company has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting on October 16th 2007 to approve a special resolution to rename itself NSL Ltd.

The report added that all previous attempts to rename the company have been rebuffed by prominent investor Mr Oei Hong Leong who holds a 29.99% stake. The name change requires a 75% supermajority. The last attempt to change the name was at an extraordinary general meeting in April, when the proposal garnered 62%.

According to The Business Times the saga stems from the sale of its core steel business to TATA Steel in late 2004. The former steel business, now under TATA, trades at NatSteel Asia.

ArcelorMittal workers unions commit to innovative health and safety program

ArcelorMittal and trade unions representing its employees from over 20 countries recently announced a new and innovative approach to Health and Safety concerns in the company. Meeting in Montreal at the International Metalworkers’ Federation’s first world conference of ArcelorMittal and its trade unions, the company and the unions committed themselves to a joint program of education and training to raise health and safety standards throughout the company.

The release said that ‘The new approach will see the creation of a task force of trade union and company health and safety experts from across the globe that will target plants in the group in order to work to dramatically improve their performance. Through our commitment to work jointly together we can work towards our vision to eliminate hazards workers encounter in their daily work.’

Mr Marcello Malentacchi general secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation explained that “Occupational health and safety is undoubtedly the single most important issue for working people, irrespective of which region of the world or country in which they happen to live. It is a proven fact that union workplaces are safer workplaces and we are looking forward to working with the company in not only making health and safety its number one priority but a true reality.”

Mr Leo Gerard International president of the United Steelworkers added that “ArcelorMittal is one of the world’s most profitable steel companies, but the true test of any great company is not only on the balance sheet but the way it treats its workers. This agreement will demonstrate to ArcelorMittal employees across the globe that their welfare will be the foundation of the company’s continued success and that solidarity for unions means more than just empty words.”

Mr Michel Arsenault director of USW Quebec spoke about a recent experience said that “Quebec Steelworkers went to Algeria and Mexico to exchange with colleagues who also worked for ArcelorMittal. They realized that they must intensify their contacts and develop solidarity so that the wages and working conditions may progress in every plant owned by this company. The development of a company must not be based solely on labor costs but rather on innovation, for example.”

Mr LN Mittal president & CEO of ArcelorMittal said that “ArcelorMittal sets Health and Safety above all other priorities and is committed to achieving the highest standards for our employees. We have instilled a strong safety culture at every level of the company that is supported by a robust set of safety standards. “We are pleased and encouraged in joining our trade unions in achieving our joint vision to be the safest steel company in the world. One of our first joint initiatives since the merger of Arcelor and Mittal was the undertaking of a global safety and health day on March 6, 2007 wherein management and trade unions from around the world simultaneously committed to achieving our safety and health goals.”

The International Metalworkers’ Federation represents the interests of 25 million metalworkers in 100 countries around the world.

Laiwu Steel signs iron ore transport contract with Zodiac

Shandong based Laiwu Steel signed its first iron ore contract of affreightment with British ship owner Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd on September 14th 2007 to cope up with fluctuations in freight market, lock in ocean shipping cost and effectively control risks in iron ore imports.

As Laiwu Steel imports more and more iron ore its dependency on overseas resources in increasing. The steelmaker set foot in contract of affreightment operation in this year and paved the way for the final signing. The contract indicates Laiwu Steel has tackled stable and long term resource supply and has started to optimize ocean shipping logistics.

In this year Laiwu Steel plans to consume about 12.6 million tonnes of imported iron ore amid the acceleration of globalization.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

V&M orders for 3 roll piercer for Mannesmannrohr Sachsen in Zeithain

V&M Deutschland GmbH, Zeithain Works of Germany has placed an order with Germany SMS Meer for the conversion of its push bench plant into a Cross roll Piercing and Elongating plant with the installation of a three roll piercer. Commissioning is scheduled for January 2008.

The plant will be used to produce seamless tubes in the diameter range from 17.2 mm up to 114.3 mm with a planned capacity of 170,000 tonnes per year. Steel grades such as ball bearing steels, freecutting steels and high alloy steels will be rolled on the plant.

SMS Meer is to supply the necessary new mill equipment, including the electrical and media systems and the technology for the conversion of the plant. The SMS Meer scope of supplies and services also includes the performance of the erection and commissioning, including the training of the operating personnel.

This will be the first example of a three roll cross rolling mill being used as a piercer in conjunction with a push bench. The conversion of the push bench plant into a Cross roll Piercing and Elongating plant will significantly reduce the production costs and the process related material losses.

The Zeithain Works became part of the Salzgitter Group on July 2, 2007, as an independent company under the new name of Mannesmannrohr Sachsen GmbH.

Indonesia imports 1.06 million tonnes of scrap in 2006

YIEH reported that Indonesia imported 1.063 million tonnes of scrap in 2006, decreasing by 11.6% YoY.

The report added that import for 222,000 tonnes is from Australia, accounting for 20.9% up by 25% YoY. Philippine provided around 187,000 tonnes, accounting for 17.6% up by 2.7 times than the same time of last year. And the import from America was 185,000 tonnes, accounting for 17.4%, down by 22.7% YoY.

Baosteel and TISCO to acquire more Jinchuan shares - source

Interfax China reported that the largest shareholder of Jinchuan Group, China's largest nickel producer, will transfer shares to two existing shareholders, Shanghai Baosteel Group and Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co Ltd to increase their stake in Jinchuan within the year.

SUEK to increase production to 100 million tonnes in 2007

Mining Journal reported that Russia’s largest coal producer OAO Siberian Coal Energy Co will increase output by about 9% to a record 100 million tonnes.

Mr Vladimir Rashevsky CEO of Siberian Coal Energy Co told reporters that “Exports will rise about 15% to 27 million tonnes. SUEK planned to boost annual output to 160 million tonnes within five years.

70 steel mills issued notices over smoke emission

It is reported that 70 steel re rolling mills have been issued the Environment Protection Order for not complying with the National Environmental Quality Standards set by the Environment Protection Department under Pakistan’s Environmental Protection Act of 1997.

Environment Protection Departmen officials said that a few months ago the department had issued notice for personal hearings to the steel mills located in Kot Khaja Saeed, Kala Khatai, Bund Road and other areas of the city as these mills were not following NEQS and had not installed smoke control devices such as fly ash arrests in their chimneys.

The official said that mills, not able to meet the requirement after personal hearing notices, have been issued EPOs. They said 47 mills had been referred to the Environment Protection Tribunal after the expiry of their EPOs. The tribunal will take a final decision on the operation of the mills.

EPD had issued personal hearing notice under Article 16 Section 1 of PEPA, which calls for action against people who pollute the environment. Section 2 of the same article was practiced by issuing EPOs to mills that were not able to bring their pollutant emissions within the specified target during the time of the hearings. Mills that have been issued EPOs have been allocated a certain time frame to control their pollutant emissions and after the expiry of this period are referred to the EPT.

PEB Steel inks deal to build Doosan factory

It is reported that PEB Steel Buildings Co Ltd recently signed a USD 17 million contract with South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co Ltd. to provide a pre engineered steel building for the latter in Quang Ngai Province’s Dung Quat Economic Zone. PEB Steel Buildings Co Ltd will supply steel structures to build a mega complex in the zone and would manufacture 10,000 tons of steel structures to set up several buildings.

Mr Dean Borg GM of PEB Steel said that “We are proud to be the supplier to Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company Ltd. This contract proves that PEB Steel is able to successfully compete on the largest, most complex projects.

The Doosan Vina Complex, capitalized at USD 200 million currently underway in Dung Quat is part of the Korean company’s USD 260 million project in the economic zone. The Doosan Vina Complex when in full operation will manufacture and provide hi tech products, such as machines for power generation, seawater filtration, chemical process equipment, heat recovery steam generators, rail mounted quay cranes, evaporators and wind power equipment among others. It is scheduled to be operational in late 2008.

PEB Steel specializes in the fields of design, fabrication and erection of pre engineered steel buildings and it is currently working on around 3,000 construction sites around Vietnam. The wholly foreign invested company now holds about 20% of Vietnam’s pre engineered steel market share. It has exported structures for several large projects this year including a 4,000 tonnes steel mill structure to Bangladesh. It also completed a 37,500 square meter factory for Unilever in Binh Duong Province among many other projects.

China Coal Energy H1 profit doubles

It is reported that China second largest coal producer by sales China Coal Energy Co’s January to June 2007 profit almost doubled on increased output and prices. China Coal Energy Company in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said that net income surged to CNY 2.65 billion (USD 346 million) from CNY 1.3 billion in 2006 and sales climbed up by 14% YoY to CNY 16.7 billion.

China Coal said Coal production rose 18% to 43.39 million tonnes in January to June 2007. Prices for power station coal rose by 10% YoY while those for coking coal used by steel makers climbed up by 11% YoY from 2006.

Mr Jing Tianliang chairman of China Coal Energy Company said in the statement that “In the next few years, the company will strive to continually achieve annual production increase of 15 million tonnes for self produced raw coal.''

Chian Coal owns 3.47 billion tonnes of coal reserves by the end of June 2007.

Vietnam Coal to build bauxite plant in Binh Phuoc

Vietnam News Agency reported that Vietnam Coal and Minerals Group would invest USD 1.6 billion into a bauxite and limestone plant in central Binh Phuoc province. Limestone reserves will be used in the province to produce alumina for export.

Binh Phuoc province’s limestone reserves currently sit at 380 million tonnes in Ta Thiet and some 87 million tonnes in Loc Ninh district’s Thanh Luong area. In addition, the province has a bauxite mine with estimated reserves of 350 million tonnes.

Viet Nam Coal and Minerals Group also plans to build a railway route connecting with material areas in the neighboring provinces of Dak Nong and Binh Thuan.

Taiwanese firms eying opportunities at Quang Ngai in Vietnam

Vietnam’s Nhan Dan reported that a group of 72 companies from Taiwan has arrived in the central province of Quang Ngai to seek investment opportunities in the province, especially at the Dung Quat Economic Zone.

At a meeting with Mr Nguyen Xuan Hue chairman of Quang Ngai People’s Committee on September 13th 2007, Mr Chun Chi Chen, representing for the Taiwanese business delegation said that they highly appreciated the much improved investment environment in Vietnam, adding that Vietnam is among the most attractive investment destinations in Asia. He also appreciated the role of coastal economic zone in the central region in Vietnam, especially the Dung Quat Economic Zone.

According to Mr Chun Chi Chen, the JV between two Taiwanese enterprises, Tycoons and E United, to produce steel with a total investment capital of USD 1.8 billion which is scheduled to be started this October was a momentum for other Taiwanese to invest in Dung Quat in the coming period.

Mr Nguyen Xuan Hue pledged that Quang Ngai would create all favorable conditions for Taiwanese enterprises to seek investment opportunities in Quang Ngai in general and in Dung Quat Economic Zone in particular.