Indian domestic plate prices witness a big jump last week

It is reported that Indian domestic prices for heavy plates witnessed a sharp jump in major trading centers Mumbai and Raipur during the last week.

Plates
12mm to 20mm in 2500 width
IS 2062 Grade B

Mumbai

Rate in INR per tonne
Including ED and VAT
Delivery FOT

Raipur

Rate in INR per tonne
Including ED and VAT
Delivery FOT

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

Raw material supplies to TATA Steel hit due to floods

SNS reported that heavy rainfall and the consequent floods in certain parts of West Bengal and Orissa in the past few days have hit movement of rakes carrying imported coal from three east cost ports of Haldia, Paradip and Visakhapatnam to steel plant TATA Steel.

TATA Steel official sources said that "Our Jamshedpur plant did not receive any coal rake either from Haldia or Paradip in the past two days. However, indications are that we’ll start receiving the rakes from this evening."

He added that the plant also faced problems in getting supplies from its own West Bokaro colliery, one rake a day against the normal two. But the plant authorities are not unduly worried as the stock position is comfortable.

Haldia dock sources confirmed that as many as five rake carrying imported coal for Jamshedpur plant of TATA Steel had remained detained at the dock in the past two days as the railway lines at several places on the route to Jamshedpur were submerged.

As Paradip port sources indicate, 3 Jamshedpur bound coal rakes loaded at the port have remained detained, one at the port itself and two others at Cuttack and Jakhapura. A move is now afoot to divert the detained trains through an alternative route via Sambalpur-Jharsuguda Rourkela Tatanagar.

Essar Steel renews interest in Kremikovtzi

Representatives of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria said at a news conference on June 19th 2008 said that Essar Steel has renewed its interest in Kremikovtzi and is ready in principle to join the mill’s takeover race.

The news counters an early May claim of a large Kremikovtzi bondholder that Essar had definitively withdrawn from the race.


The Kremikovtzi trade union with the CITUB were to meet on June 20th 2008 with representatives of Essar Steel to familiarize with their intentions and potentially prepare an agreement of the likes they have signed with ArcelorMittal and Vorskla Steel as well.

According to Mr Vassil Yanachkov, member of the Kremikovtzi trade union within CITUB, the best possible scenario for Kremikovtzi would be the rehabilitation of the mill through change of main stakeholder upon clear obligations. The new shareholder should also serve as acting manager of the mills until the acquisition or completion of the bankruptcy proceedings was completed.

(Sourced from www.sofiaecho.com)

Missing file to delay EIA for TATA Steel Bastar plant

BS reported that files related to the organization of a public hearing for environment and forest clearance for TATA Steel's proposed 5 million tonne integrated steel plant in Bastar are missing. The district administration said that it has not received the documents that were sent from the state capital a month ago.

Mr K Subramaniam member secretary of Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board said that "The files for organizing the public hearing were sent to the district authorities on May 20th 2008 from the state capital."

Mr MS Paraste district collector of Bastar admitted that the files had not reach his office and this was why the date for organizing the public hearing could not be announced. He said that "The announcement of date and other formalities will be completed soon after we receive the files."

The public hearing was supposed to be completed within one and a half months of sending the files to the district authorities. Even if the administration receives the files, it would take another one and a half months to complete the formalities of sending out a public notice and communicating the schedule to the villagers.

Sources said local resentment against the TATA Steel plant could be one of the reasons for the administration to delay the public hearing. The state goes to the polls at the end of this year.

TATA Steel’s plant in Lohandiguda block of Bastar district requires 2,160.58 hectares of land. The land acquisition process has sparked off controversy with villagers alleging payment of fake compensation. Recently, 80 villagers submitted a memorandum to the governor alleging that compensation for their land had been given to someone else just to show on record that the land acquisition was on the right track.

PFC sanctions INR 10,000 crore credit to NTPC

PTI reported that Power Finance Corporation will lend INR 10,000 crore to NTPC for various projects to be completed in the current 11th Five Year Plan. According to officials, the MoU between NTPC and PFC is likely to be signed in the next one week and the money will be disbursed in installments.

NTPC, which generates nearly 30,000 MW, is aiming at a capacity of 50,000 MW by 2012. It has lined up over INR 13,200 crore capital expenditures in the current financial year and the PFC loan will be partly used for projects being undertaken in 2008-09.

NTPC would double coal imports during the current fiscal to 5 million tonnes, while its overall consumption of the fuel during 2008-09 is expected to surge to 140 million tonnes. NTPC consumed about 124 million tonnes coal during 2007-08.

It has tied up loans worth INR 21,809 crore for capacity expansion plans from various domestic banks and other financial institutions. Its cumulative domestic borrowing up to March 31st 2008, was INR 20,739 crore, including INR 4,000 crore worth of bonds placed with Life Insurance Corporation.

PFC also holds equity in the power exchange promoted by NTPC, NHPC and TATA Consultancy Services. The maturity period of the loan is 10 years.

Gangavaram Port to be operational in August 2008

It is reported that four out of the five berths planned for Greenfield port developed at Gangavaram near Visakhapatnam are ready and it is expected to be operational in August 2008 to handle coal and iron ore.

Mr Manmohan Singh secretary of Infrastructure & Investment said that the new port at Krishnapatnam became operational with three out of its four berths being opened for regular traffic of cargo or container ships. He added that the 4th berth too, would be opened soon. Over INR 2,000 crore were invested by the private developer in the project thus far.

This port now handles iron ore exports from mines in Anantapur district and adjoining Bellary in Karnataka. A railway line has been taken up to shorten the distance between Krishnapatnam and these mines. Already, a 400 KV sub station has been constructed at a cost of INR 250 crore to handle power needs.

A series of thermal power stations taken up for construction at Krishnapatnam with an installed capacity of nearly 5,000 MW will depend on the port for coal from Indonesia and other countries.

TATA JLR to spend EUR 700 million on R&D

ET reported that more specific details of the Jaguar Land Rover acquisition by TATA Motors are beginning to tumble out weeks after it said it would offer a rights issue to fund the USD 2.3 billion takeover.

TATA Motors is expected to spend more than EUR 700 million in R&D and for hiring 600 engineers and technical staff over the next 2 years. The R&D spend is vital as rising fuel prices and strict emission norms is forcing JLR to increase the efficacy of its gas guzzling vehicles.

Sources said that the investment initiative comes just weeks after the iconic JLR brands were bought out by TATA Motors for USD 2.3 billion. The expansion plan was agreed under Ford’s ownership and TATA Motors approved the spending during takeover negotiations. However, TATA Motors will not be directly involved with the project.

Analysts indicate that Land Rover will require around USD 400 million for investments to meet emission norm changes in the next 2 to 3 years. In the case of the Jaguar, which requires a major product overhaul, the need is for an extra of USD 1 billion towards R&D costs.

Incidentally, none of the current JLR products adhere to the strict emission standards that come into place by 2012. If the emission levels of the vehicles are above prescribed limits, penalties could be in the range of EUR 1,292 for a Jaguar X type and around EUR 15,000 for a Range Rover.

Titagarh Wagons acquires 50% stake in Greysham & Co

BL reported that Titagarh Wagons has acquired 50% stake in a Delhi based brake systems manufacturing company Greysham & Co.

Mr Umesh Chowdhary vice CMD of Titagarh Wagons said that a total of INR 7.5 crore would be invested to have the stake, clear certain liabilities and fresh infusion.

Mr Chowdhary said that "This move will help us to not only to save cost but also ensure timely availability of these extremely critical components that have created a bottleneck in achieving our wagon production targets over the last few months. We also expect that with the overall increase in wagon production in the industry, it is essential for us to have some form of control on the supply chain of critical components."

Greysham & Co is one of the only six companies registered with the RDSO, engaged in manufacture of air brake equipment and slack adjuster, required for manufacture of wagons and other rolling stock. It has the largest production capacity in India for these products as assessed by RDSO.

Ratnamani Metals to split equity face value to INR 2

Ratnamani Metals & Tubes Limited has informed the BSE that its board of directors at its meeting held on June 19th 2008 has recommended a dividend of INR 7 per equity share of INR 10 each.

The board has also recommended, subject to the approval of the shareholders, to sub divide the equity shares of face value of INR 10 each into 5 equity shares of face value of INR 2 each.

ICSA bags wind power project deal in AP

ICSA (India) recently announced that it has been awarded a 20 MW wind power project in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh by Non Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited.

Mr Bala Reddy chairman of ICSA (India) said that "Considering the rising demand for power projects in India and specially in Andhra Pradesh, this approval from NEDCAP for 20 MW wind power project is timely. This project will enhance revenues and reduce the income-tax burden on the company."

L&T Mitsubishi JV gets INR 1557 crore order from APGENCO

BL reported that the JV of L&T and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is all set to secure order worth INR 1,557 crore for super critical steam turbine and generator from Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Limited. The equipment is for APGENCO’s 1,600 MW Krishnapatnam project.

Mr Ajay Jain MD of APGENCO said that the order would be formally given to L&T MHI over the next few days.

This order is significant in two ways
1. It will be L&T’s first order for power equipment. In November 2007, L&T formed a JV with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to manufacture turbines and generators in India. And now, it has got its first customer.
2. It has put the Indian power equipment major, BHEL, on notice. L&T MHI’s quote was a good INR 500 crore less than BHEL’s INR 2,505 crore.

APGENCO tendered out for 2 packages, one for turbine generator and the other for boilers. The bid for the boilers is to be opened on July 4th 2008. Here again, the race is only between BHEL and L&T.

Mr Dhall quit as acting chairman of Competition Commission

FE reported that, in a surprise move, acting chairman of the Competition Commission of India Mr Vinod Dhall has resigned four months before the completion of his tenure.

Mr Dhall said that "Since I finished most of the work, I am seeking an early exit. However, I will continue in office for another week or two to finish some remaining work."

He said most of the work on the regulations and other issues were over. The new team at the Commission could take over from here, he said. The Competition Commission Act provides for a 5 year term for the chairman or till the age of 65, whichever is earlier.

Mr Dhall said that an extension would run only till February 2009, as he would be 65 by then. He added that he has no plans to join any new organization as of now. He also denied that there were any differences with the minister of corporate affairs Mr Premchand Gupta.

Mr Dhall, who was a secretary in the then ministry of company affairs, had joined the commission as officer on special duty in July 2003 and later became its member administration.

Competition Commission of India is the country’s flagship body against anti competitive behavior by companies including forming cartels, manipulating prices and abusing a dominant position. While the Competition Commission Act was passed by Parliament, the rules to operationalize it are still in limbo.

J&K floats global tender for 690 MW hydro power project

PTI reported that Jammu & Kashmir government has floated global tenders for setting up of 690 MW rattle power project in Kishtwar district of the state, in tune with the new hydro electric power policy on river Chenab.

Jammu & Kashmir Power Development Corporation sources said that "After formation of the new hydro electric power policy to tap power generation potential of river Chenab, JKPDC has floated global tenders for construction of biggest 690 MW rattle power project on river in Kishtwar." They added that the project would be awarded to the successful bidder fulfilling all proposed parameters.

The bidding firm or the consortium must have experience of developing infrastructure projects such as power ports, airports roads, rails, refineries, steel plants, gas pipelines, canals, dams, bridges, telecommunications, shipping etc. Also, bidders' aggregate capital cost must not be less than INR 520 crore in last 10 years, out of which minimum INR 175 crore should be from hydroelectric project and related activities and capital cost of at least one infrastructure project should minimum be INR 90 crore.

NIL to upgrade R&D facility in India

BS reported that NLC Nalco India Limited (NIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of specialty chemicals, equipment and water solutions company Nalco, is planning major investments this year to improve its research and development facility in India.

In India, it has 2 chemical manufacturing units, with the Konnagar plant having a greater capacity than the Pune unit and churning out more than 11000 tonnes of specialty chemicals per annum.

Mr Alok Kumar Bhadra country marketing manager of NIL said that it is planning to expand the infrastructure of the Konnagar plant which works as an extension of the Singapore R&D plant, which serves as the hub for Asia Pacific region. He added that globally more than 5% of investment goes into up gradation and expansion of the Nalco's R&D facility every year.

NIL recorded a global turnover of USD 3.7 billion recording a 25% YoY growth.

India and Pakistan to increase freight train services

More freight trains might ply between India and Pakistan with the railways delegations of both countries deciding to explore running of longer freight trains and container train services in a meeting recently.
The two sides have agreed to eventually increase the frequency of trains to 5 pairs per day. At present 2 pairs of freight trains run between the two countries every day on the Wagah Attari rail link.

An official source said that several proposals to increase the level of freight interchange between India and Pakistan at Wagah and Attari were discussed, particularly with a view to increasing import of cement from Pakistan. They include running of increased number of freight trains between India and Pakistan and also to a time table, experimenting with longer trains, introducing some 8 wheeler wagons from Pakistan side and exploring the possibility of running of container train between the 2 countries. Introduction of freight services on the Munabao Khokhrapar rail link was also discussed.

Fresh clash between anti and pro POSCO groups

SNS reported that tension prevailed at trouble torn Govindpur village in Orissa following clash between the pro POSCO and anti POSCO group members. At least 3 anti POSCO activists are said to be injured by the hurling of bombs by other group.

Sources said that about 15 to 20 families of Govindpur village returned to the village and remained at village primary school. Fearing wrath of the anti POSCO group, they were allegedly piling up arms, bombs, lathis and bows and arrows for protection.

Meanwhile, the anti POSCO activists had gone to dig the mouth of Hansua river for discharging the flood water in to the sea and when they returned, were allegedly attacked by the project supporters, who hurled at least 4 bombs.

As the news spread, hundreds of anti POSCO men gheraoed the school and blocked all the roads.

Mr Babuli Rout anti POSCO leader said that two of three injured are serious and charged that the attack was planned by the company and the bomb hurling was executed by its hired goons.

Member panel to study Mumbai Port expansion plan – Report

Exim News Service reported that union ministry of shipping has reportedly formed a 11 member standing committee to resolve the issues between Mumbai Port Trust and the state government with regard to the expansion of the port and making available port land for the development of Mumbai city.

A notification issued by the ministry stated that the committee would have 6 representatives of the union government and the port, including the secretary of shipping, chairperson and deputy chairperson of Mumbai Port Trust, chief operations manager of central railway, joint secretary (ports) and chief engineer of Mumbai Port Trust. The 5 other members representing the state government would be the chief secretary, additional chief secretary (urban development), principal secretary (transport & excise), municipal commissioner of Mumbai and the metropolitan commissioner of MMRDA.

The committee will discuss issues of common interest to both Mumbai Port Trust and Mumbai, facilitating prompt approval for smooth implementation of various infrastructure development projects of the Port and the city and implementing the state government’s schemes for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers and project affected people.

It has been reported that the state government is opposed to the expansion plans of Mumbai Port as it fears that the development projects could worsen traffic congestion in the city. The state is also keen on the port opening up its surplus land on the eastern seaboard for development. The port authorities, on their part, have reportedly insisted that the Port has no surplus land.

Mumbai Port has lined up a number of projects, estimated to cost INR 5,000 crore, to augment its infrastructure and nearly double capacity in over 5 to 6 years. Among these are the ambitious offshore container terminal project, redeveloping four berths along the harbor wall and construction of an international cruise terminal.

Maharashtra to form a SVP to start Mumbai trans harbor link

It is reported that, after Reliance Infrastructure failed to extend the validity of bids for the sea link project between Sewri and Nhava Sheva, Maharashtra government is now considering various options like forming a special purpose vehicle with financial support from the state run institutions, to go ahead with the project.

The state government may form SPV with funding from City & Industrial Development Corporation, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and probably a Japanese bank. The project will be awarded to Maharashtra State road Development Corporation.

The government is also likely to consider the options like inviting fresh bids, close bidding or re bidding from qualifiers in the final round of bidding Reliance Infrastructure and Sea King Infrastructure.

Six entities short listed for Karwar Port project – Report

It is reported that around 6 entities have been short listed by the Karnataka government for developing the Karwar port project phase II in Uttara Kannada district.

The selected bidders will operate the port for a 30 year period and after completion of the period, it will be handed over to the government. The proposed port will have 2 additional berths, a petrol, oil & lubricant jetty along with related infrastructure. It will be developed at an estimated cost of INR 500 crore on public private partnership basis.

BHEL bags INR 1,840 crore deal from DVC

BS reported that Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has bagged an order worth INR 1,840 crore from Damodar Valley Corporation for setting up a 500 MW Bokaro A thermal power project in Jharkhand on turnkey basis.

BHEL's scope of work includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of steam turbines, generators, boilers, associated auxiliaries, balance of plant & electricals, besides state of the art controls & instrumentation, electrostatic precipitators ESPs and civil works.

Essar Shipping to invest INR 10,000 crore in next 3 years

BS reported that Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics Limited will invest INR 10,000 crore for the development of shipping, ports and oil field services over the next 3 years. The investments come with the company's expectations of the annual revenues touching INR 6,000 crore, a 172%t rise from the present INR 2,200 crore.

Mr Sanjay Mehta MD of Essar Shipping said that its net profit is expected to increase to INR 1,000 crore from the INR 150 crore recorded in financial year 2007-08. He added that of the total INR 10,000 crore, it will use INR 4,000 crore to acquire 13 vessels and around INR 1,760 crore to purchase two rigs.

ESPLL will raise 30% of the total amount through internal accruals and the remaining will be raised from a consortium of banks, including ICICI, SBI, Hague based NIBC Bank and the UK based Halifax. It will pay an interest of around 6.5% in dollar denominations for the debt raised from foreign banks, while the loans from India will have an interest of 10.5% to 11%. The period of the loan is 7 to 14 years.

At present, ESPLL gets 35% of its revenues from promoter company Essar Steel, while about 5% comes from Essar Power. Another group company, Essar Oil contributes substantially to the company's revenues. The company transports iron ore for Essar Steel, coal for Essar Power and crude oil for Essar Oil and Vadinar Refinery.

Hindalco to go for INR 5,000 crore rights issue

PTI reported that Hindalco board has approved rights issue for its shareholders up to INR 5,000 crore to pay a bridge loan taken for acquiring Novelis.

Mr Debu Bhattacharya MD of Hindalco said that the share ratio for the rights issue would be 1:3. For every one share held in Hindalco, its shareholders would be entitled to three equity shares. He added that "We are going for the rights issue to pay a bridge loan taken for Novelis acquisition."

Hindalco took a bridge loan of USD 3.03 billion for Novelis acquisition. The bridge loan has to be paid at the end of 18 months that comes to an end on November 10th 2008. For the remaining part of the bridge loan the company would opt either for a domestic debt or an international debt or liquidation of its treasury.

Bombardier wins USD 6 million supply order from Indian Railway

BS reported that Bombardier Transportation has won a USD 6 million order to supply an advanced traffic management system for the Indian Railways. The contract will improve safety in the Mumbai CST-Kalyan suburban section of the Central Railway as traffic controllers will be able to monitor the train traffic on a real time basis.

Mr Rajeev Jyoti MD of Bombardier Transportation India said that "With this latest order, Bombardier demonstrates its commitment to providing leading edge technology and support in India."

With the new system, around 3 million passengers using the Central Railway line daily will receive a continuously updated, minute by minute countdown showing the exact train time arrival at the platform.

In addition, there will be automatic multi lingual passenger announcements on the train, bilingual displays at station entrances, and information relating to the next two incoming trains at each platform.

The contract, with a value of around EUR 4 million, is for the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of a traffic management system for the Central Railway in Mumbai. It is the second application of this sophisticated technology made by Bombardier for the Indian Railways.

RIL denies signing any gas sale pact

ET reported that Reliance Industries denied that it has signed formal gas sale contracts with prospective customers in defiance of a Bombay High Court order. RIL was responding to a notice of motion by Reliance Natural Resources Limited which had alleged that RIL had signed such contracts.

The RIL counsel told chief justice Mr Swatanter Kumar and justice Mr VM Kanade of the Bombay High Court that media reports on the signing of gas agreements are erroneous and that the company has not signed any agreement.

Mr Paresh Chaudhary RIL spokesperson said that the court had dismissed the notice of motion. The notice of motion from Reliance Natural Resources had asked that RIL's appeal against a single judge bench order should be dismissed in view of alleged violations by RIL of the stay imposed by the court on signing of final contracts.

In 2007, the HC had ordered RIL not to sign formal contracts till the dispute with RNRL is settled. RIL is free to discuss and negotiate the terms of sale of gas to third parties. The company is learnt to be in discussions with various power and fertilizer plants across its East West pipeline to supply gas.

The case is now before a division bench. RIL may sign agreements for the sale of gas to third parties only after the court's decision is in RIL's favor. The case will come up for hearing before the division bench on July 22.

ICMS Power plans wind turbine generator plant in TN

ICMS Power, the wind mill technology division of International Consultancy and Management Services, is looking at the scope of starting a wind turbine generator manufacturing plant for domestic and industrial application in Tamil Nadu.

Ms Saritha Biju Nair executive director of ICMS Power said that the wind turbine generator production plans would be the next priority once ICMS puts its marketing networking for its range of domestic wind turbines in the state in place.

Ms Nair claimed that the 600 watt capacity wind turbines, for example, which can generate a maximum 150 units of electricity at an optimum wind velocity of 1.8 meter a second, have the potential to generate 280 units with Tamil Nadu recording an average peak wind velocity up to 15.5 meter a second, especially during the peak April to November season.

ICMS Power formally launched marketing of 'Unitron UE' series of domestic wind turbine in Tamil Nadu that comes in four variants of 600 watt, 1500 watt, 3300 watt and 4200 watt capacity generators.

ICMS is already producing these domestic wind turbines indigenously at its Pune plant and is in the process of extending marketing across the country.

Mr RC Ravi director of ICMS Power said that "We have already sold 1600 units, largely in north Indian states in the last 2 years and now, we have started aggressively marketing in south, especially in Tamil Nadu, which has huge potential considering the current phase of difficult power situation prevailing in the region."

Considering the high wind potential in Tamil Nadu, the low breeze technology driven wind turbines produced by the company will be highly suitable to meet the power requirements of domestic and small-scale industries.

NTPC forms 49:51 JV with Bharat Forge

With reference to the earlier announcement dated on February 8th 2008, National Thermal Power Corporation Limited has now informed BSE that a 49:51 JV company has been formed on June 19th 2008 between NTPC and Bharat Forge Limited under the name "BF-NTPC Energy Systems Limited" to establish a facility to take up manufacturing of castings, forgings, fittings and high pressure piping required for power projects and other industries, Balande of Plant equipment for the power sector.

Hindalco Industries announces 2007-08 results

Hindalco Industries Limited has announced the following audited results for the year ended March 31st 2008

The results for the year ended March 31st 2008
Hindalco Industries has posted a net profit of INR 28609 million for the year ended March 31st 2008 up by 11.5% YoY as against INR 25643 million for the year ended March 31st 2007. Total income is INR 196939 million for the year ended March 31st 2008 up by 5.4% YoY as against INR 186831 million for the year ended March 31st 2007.

The consolidated results for the year ended March 31st 2008
Hindalco Industries has posted a net profit of INR 23873 million for the year ended March 31st 2008 down by 11.1% YoY as against INR 26858 million for the year ended March 31st 2007. Total income is INR 606688 million for the year ended March 31st 2008 up by 207.5% YoY as against INR 197251 million for the year ended March 31st 2007.

L&T bags high tech equipment orders worth INR 10,000 million

The Heavy Engineering Division of Larsen & Toubro Limited has crossed INR 10,000 million of order booking for high tech equipment & systems within 2 months of Q1 2008-09.

Major local contracts include a large order for power plant equipment from Coastal Gujarat Power Limited, a subsidiary of TATA Power Company Limited, for the first ultra mega power plant and another large contract from HPCL Mittal Energy Limited for critical reactors.

The export orders include supply of coke drums for Kuwait National Petroleum Company, high pressure heat exchangers from Petroleo Brasileiro, ammonia converters from UHDE and reactors from PTT Asahi Chem Company Limited of Thailand. The orders have been won against stiff international competition from Italian, Japanese & Chinese manufacturers and will be executed by L&T’s heavy engineering division.

Coastal Gujarat Power Limited contract includes supply of surface condensers, feed water heaters & deaerators for 5 units each of 800 MW for the UMPP being set up at Mundra in Gujarat. This would be the first UMPP being set up in India with state of the art supercritical technology for this 800 MW configuration. The equipment to be supplied by L&T forms a critical portion of the regenerative cycle of the balance of plant of this UMPP.

The HMEL contract is for 3 critical reactors required for their Punjab Refinery Project at Bathinda. Each of these reactors weigh about 700 tonnes and will be manufactured from advanced technology steels containing chromium, molybdenum and vanadium, with plate thickness up to 165 mm. L&T’s Heavy Engineering Division is amongst a select group of companies qualified for manufacture of such critical equipment.

Mr MV Kotwal member of the board & senior executive VP of heavy engineering division said that the demand for such critical hi tech equipment in India as well as abroad is on the rise. He added that "We are expanding our manufacturing facilities at Hazira in Gujarat and setting up a new facility at Oman, to cater to the rising demand."

Mr JB Patnaik blames Orissa for delay of POSCO project

PTI reported that, with the South Korean steel major POSCO to complete 3 years of signing a MoU to set up a mega steel plant near Paradip without any success, opposition Congress today held Orissa government responsible for non implementation of India's biggest ever FDI.

Mr JB Patnaik leader of opposition and former chief minister of Orissa said that "I do not see any fault in POSCO. They have been waiting since 3 years to make a big investment in Orissa. But the state government failed to facilitate them to set up a 12 million tonnes per annum capacity steel mill."

Accusing Mr Naveen Patnaik government of not being able to provide land for the INR 52,000 crore project, Mr Patnaik said the state government's act of sticking to a particular site near Paradip had been the cause of delay.

Mr Pradip Amat state steel & mines minister said that the project would come up as the local people have started realizing it would benefit them. He added that, when POSCO came to India with an investment proposal, Orissa government welcomed them and promised to facilitate setting up of a port based steel plant.

Konkan Railway merger with Indian Railways unlikely

Putting to rest continued speculation about the merger of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited, Mr Anurag Mishra MD of KRCL, has ruled out its merger with the Indian Railways.

Mr Mishra said that "I do not see any chances of KRCL merging in the Indian Railways."

Mr Mishra said KRCL had convinced the Railways that the merger would have no tangible benefits to either. According to the original agreement between Indian Railways and KRCL, the latter was supposed to be merged after completion of 15 years or as soon as the debt liabilities of the corporation were met. But the view that the corporation should continue in its present status has prevailed.

Speaking about the financial aspects of the corporation on completion of 10 years, Mr Mishra said that it is all set to turn the corner and come into profits this fiscal after its losses came down to INR 150 crore last financial year. It has also crossed the figure of INR 500 crore in total annual earnings for the first time in its history. KRCL has achieved an operating ratio of 72.6%, which is an improvement of over 13% compared to the immediate previous year.

Godawari Power unveils INR 280 crore CAPEX plan

Godawari Power & Ispat is planning to invest INR 280 crore over the next 2 years to expand capacity and acquire a majority stake in an iron ore pelletisation plant. It would invest INR 235 crore in an iron ore pelletisation, beneficiation and crushing plant.

Further it would contribute another INR 45 crore over 18 months to pick up 75% equity in Ardent Steel, which is setting up an INR 180 crore Greenfield 0.6 million tonnes per annum iron ore pelletisation plant in Orissa. Ardent Steel is expected to begin production by the third quarter of 2008-09 fiscal.

Recently, Godawari Power has formed a separate subsidiary company in the name of Godawari Power Limited with an objective to set up a merchant power plant. Godawari Power holds 26% stake in a consortium which has been awarded three coal blocks.

It has also been allocated 2 iron ore mines. These coal blocks are under various stages of development and benefits from these are expected to start from 2009-10 fiscal onwards. It reported 81.94% YoY jump in its net profit to INR 949.9 million for the financial year 2008 as compared to INR 522.1 million posted during 2006-07 fiscal.

J&K to upgrade transmission lines

It is reported that, stressing upon the judicious distribution of power, Jammu and Kashmir power minister Mr Babu Singh said that government is focusing on minimizing power losses due to faulty transmission lines and poles in Jammu division.

Mr Singh said that the work is afoot to replace the old transmission lines and poles besides up gradation of transformers in the division. He added that since the demography of the division has changed, the transformers are not able to sustain heavy load leading to frequent power breakdowns.

The minister sought the cooperation for generating awareness amongst people about payment of power tariffs and abstaining from tampering of meters and power theft. He said that the installation of meters in the households have almost been completed, which has led to transparency and accountability in the functioning of the department.

Mr Singh further added that the state government has collected INR 750 crore revenue as power tariff from consumers in the fiscal ended March 31st 2008. He said that Dul Hasti power project and Baghliar project soon would improve the power supply in the region.

Vietnam may raise export tax on steel billets - Paper

According to local newspaper, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to propose the government increase export tax on steel billets by several percentage points from current two percent to ensure domestic steel production.

The newspaper said that steel billet firms in Vietnam have so far this year exported over 100,000 tonnes of steel billets, key material for steel production, mainly to South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.

The firms said they were forced to export, as they could not sell the product on the domestic market, noting that the government had lowered the targeted economic growth in an effort to curb inflation, resulting in delay for many construction projects.

The Vietnam Steel Association warned that there could be a shortage of steel following the recent billet exports. According to the association, Vietnam would need four million tons of steel billets this year.

BlueScope seeks exemption from emission norms in New Zealand

Bloomberg reported that BlueScope Steel Ltd., operator of New Zealand's largest steel mill, will seek an exemption for the plant from the nation's proposed emissions trading program.

Mr Tony Wright spokesman of BlueScope said that “About 80% of the pollution from the 600,000 tonnes per year Glenbrook mill comes directly from the steelmaking process and can not be avoided, spokesman said. No other nation includes steelmaking in emissions trading and Glenbrook stands to be disadvantaged against imports from Asia if it is.”

He added that “The legislation as it has come back still provides for an exemption and that's what we will be seeking. An emissions charge simply becomes a tax on our production'' when those emissions can not be avoided.”

New Zealand plans to apply emission caps to all industry by 2013 to encourage them to invest in improved energy efficiency and cleaner processing. Lawmakers this week considered revised rules for the program which makes heavy industry like Glenbrook liable for at least 10 percent of their emissions from 2010.

BlueScope's New Zealand Steel unit is among 15 companies that account for about 80% of the nation's emissions.

MBAM appeals for Malaysian government intervention

The Edge Daily reported that the Master Builders Association of Malaysia has pleaded for government intervention to help ease the price pressure on raw materials currently afflicting the construction industry, warning that the survival of local contractors is at stake.

Mr Patrick Wong association president at press conference on June 20 said that “We are in a critical situation right now as there is no way our members can absorb the 15% to 30% increase in cost of almost all building materials since the fuel price increase on June 5.”

He claimed the margin projection for contractors usually range from 5% to 10% when bidding for projects and if the current situation persisted, contractors would have no choice but to stop work in the worst case scenario.

The association has suggested that the government consider the following measures:

1. Allocate MYR 1 billion to stockpile around 350,000 tonnes of steel bars or at least three months' worth at the current price of MYR 3,350 per tonne. The stockpile could be sold to local contractors should there be further price increases with priority given to low-cost housing contractors.

2. Delay or defer launches of 9MP (Ninth Malaysian Plan) projects to reduce demand pressure for manpower, raw materials and machinery currently faced by the industry.

3. Extend completion time for projects under construction or secured to allow contractors time to mitigate and source for cheaper supply of construction materials.

4. Allow contractors to buy directly from manufacturers of raw materials and to cut off middlemen, who are blamed for the excessive price increases.

Mr Wong also appealed to steel millers and cement manufacturers not to take advantage of the current situation for short-term gain. He said that “Construction industry all over the world has always been the engine of growth for the economy. Should this industry collapse, steel millers and cement manufacturers would be among the first to suffer, apart from the country's 60,000 contractors.”

Steel price weakness will be localized and short lived - Mr Schmitz

Mr Wolfgang Schmitz chairman of Nordic Intertrade during SBB steel conference in London told delegates that any possible softening of steel prices in the European steel market will only take place in small geographical pockets and will be short term.

Mr Schmitz also suggested that steel producers would not relinquish their new found profitability easily.

Sounding a note of caution, however, he highlighted the growing difficulties encountered by end users in financing their steel purchases, and warned that stagflation was a significant risk.

Talking about the changing situation for steel traders, he said that the short validity periods of current mill offers now between one and three days had made back to back trading, which previously accounted for 80% of Nordic Intertrade's activity, impossible.

Mr Schmitz said that "Traders will face severe difficulties due to new market conditions. Negotiations with suppliers are not taking place anymore it is very hard to agree prices lower than those sought by steel producers.”

Mr Varin of TATA Corus awarded honorary CBE

It is reported that in a ceremony at Lancaster House on June 16th 2008, Mr Philippe Varin CEO of Corus was awarded an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for Services to the UK Steel Industry.

Presenting the award was Rt Hon John Hutton MP secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform. In his address, the Secretary of State referred to Mr Philippe Varin's 30 year career in the metals industry, initially with Pechiney and since 2003 with Corus.

Responding, Mr Varin paid warm tribute to close colleagues, particularly TATA Steel Group deputy chairman Mr Jim Leng said that “Without whom the recent history of Corus would no doubt have been very different".

Dry Bulk shipping to escape slowdown - Macquarie

According to Macquarie Bank Ltd, the market for shipping grains, coal and other so called dry bulk commodities will escape a global economic slowdown because of increasing demand from China and India.

The bank said that the Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, reached a record on May 20 and is still trading at more than three times its 10 year average.

Mr Kona Haque and Arek Kizilbash London based analysts in a note wrote that that prices won't decline any time soon because tightening credit markets and the rising cost of steel will stall an expansion of the fleet.

They said that “The boom in freight encapsulates all the key features needed to buck the credit crunch, inflation-dented trends in other markets. We have embarked on a phase where the two most populous countries on earth, China and India, are taking off.''

The banks citing Macquarie Research said that “There's pent up demand for grains among importers across the world because of several seasons of tight exports.”

According to the bank, delivery of new carriers slipped 18% last year. The chances of further slippage are considerably greater from next year.

Tin prices may ease in second half of year - Analyst

According to Mr Gayle Berry Barclays Capital commodities analyst, tin prices are expected to average some USD 19,000 per tonne in the third quarter and USD 20,000 per tonne in the fourth quarter.

Mr Berry said that "Although we see potential for more upside in the very short term, we do think you could see a bit of easing off in the second half of the year, potentially as Chinese exports pick up a little. Overall it does remain a really tight market this year.”

Mr Berry explained that tin prices have moved steadily upwards over the year because you are in an environment of low stocks, supply side underperformance and constraint, and healthy consumption; overall making a tight market and higher prices."

For the year, tin prices have traded at an average USD 19,995 per tonne on the LME, far above the average USD 14,536 per tonne prices last year.

Flat product prices are rising in EU market in June

It is reported that steel strip prices continued increasing in EU market, especially when China material imports are decreased due to some restrictions.

Despite current high demand, many importers in Germany still worried about that domestic demand will turn weak due to weak economic climate. Besides, the stock in French market is at the low level and expected not to recover in the short term since the material from China is not easily to be secured, even though local demand from automobile industry is recovering.

At mean time, inventories of service centers in Belgium are lower than the normal level due to several shipment delays. Therefore, the price is still high in the domestic market.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Mr Chávez threatens to stop oil sales to Europe

AFP reported that Mr Hugo Chávez president of Venezuelan threatened to stop sales of crude oil to European countries that apply a new law on illegal immigrants that was approved by the Euro Parliament.

Mr Chávez in a press conference together with Mr Fernando Lugo Paraguayan president elect said that "At least our oil should not be exported to European countries applying the ruling.”

Sumitomo developing new model of permanent magnetic retarders

Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd announced that it formed a joint venture with Voith Turbo GmbH & Co KG in Germany in January 2008 aimed at promoting the business of permanent magnetic retarders abroad and has started to develop a new model. The permanent magnetic retarder is our unique secondary brake for commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses.

A. Outline of the Joint Venture
1. Company Name: Voith Turbo SMI Technologies, GmbH & Co. KG
2. Business: Development, production and sales of the new model of the permanent magnetic retarder
3. Head Office: Heidenheim in Germany
4. Capital: EUR 1,100,000
5. Shareholders: Voith Turbo 51%, Sumitomo Metals 49%

Sumitomo said that the exhaust brake has conventionally been used as equipment to assist the brake of heavy weight trucks and buses. However, due to environmental concerns regarding the reduction of carbon dioxide, improvements in fuel consumption and other factors, the size of engine displacement has become smaller. This has degraded the performance of the exhaust brake, while the retarder is expected to replace it and be increasingly adopted. The installation rate for all retarders which are mostly Sumitomo Metals' permanent magnetic retarders is about 40% in large sized trucks and buses in Japan.

It said that “In Europe and other regions, the hydrodynamic retarder produced by Voith Turbo is mainly used for trucks and buses of more than 16 tonnes in weight. However, there has not been any product suitable in size and weight for medium sized trucks and buses in the weight range of 7.5 tonnes to 16 tonnes.

Sumitomo Metals' own permanent magnet retarder has an overwhelming share of the domestic market. In order to expand overseas, the Company has established a joint venture with Voith Turbo, which has a high market share in retarders and well recognized in Europe. By making full use of Sumitomo Metals' technology associated with permanent magnet retarders, we will develop a new downsized lighter model and, by leveraging Voith Turbo's global marketing power and using production facilities in Germany, we aim to start business on a full scale with manufacturers of trucks and buses in Europe and other regions.

STX plans mandatory offer for Aker Yards

Lloyds List reported that South Korea’s STX Shipbuilding made a surprise bid of up to USD 110 million on Friday to buy more of Norwegian shipbuilder Aker Yards.

STX in a statement said that it intends to launch a mandatory offer for all shares outstanding in Aker Yards.” It offered NKR 63 per share for up to 7.9% of the shares in Aker Yards which would raise its current stake to 47.2% of the group. This would trigger a buyout of minority owners, its brokers ABG Sundal Collier.

ABG Sundal Collier said that the offer is worth between NKR 126 million and NKR 567 million (USD 24.3 million to USD 109.5 million). It added that “The order to buy shares is in effect immediately.”

It said that “The price per share is 63 Norwegian crowns, representing 11.5% premium to the closing price for the Aker Yards ASA share today of 56.50 crowns”.

The statement further added that if STX’s offer succeeds, the company will launch a mandatory buyout offer for the rest of Aker Yards shares, ABG said. Under Norwegian law, buying a stake of more than 40% in a company triggers a mandatory bid for the rest.

Canadian wire and steel production up in March

Wireworld.com reported that total shipments of steel wire and specified wire products edged up 0.7% to 53,018 tonnes in March 2008 and the total shipments in the first quarter 2008 was 156,964 tonnes up from 136,688 from in Q1 of 2007.

Bulgaria still in race for Voestalpine steel plant - Report

Sofia News Agency reported that Austrian steel making group Voestalpine is still interested in Bulgaria for investing some EUR 5 billion.

Voestalpine plans to build a steel plant close to the Black Sea by 2012. Representatives of the Voestalpine said that the new plant may be built in Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, or Turkey.

Representatives of the company have primarily said that they seek a dynamically developing Black Sea region. They are looking for government support since the planned investment is massive and is expected to employ some 25, 000 people.

Vinashin to invest USD 62.5 million in Hon Gai port

VNA reported that Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation is planning to invest more than VND 1,000 billion (USD 62.5 million) to upgrade Hon Gai Passenger Port in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The upgrade, to be carried out according to international standards, will cover more than 5.4 hectare. There will be a 500 meter long quay capable of handling two ships at a time. When completed, Hon Gai port should be able to receive up to 5,000 passengers, 1,000 cars and 400 trucks a day.

The expansion project is a part of Vinashin’s plan to open a two way water transport route from Hon Gai to Chan May in the central province of Da Nang and South Sai Gon Port in Ho Chi Minh City.

The report added that so far, Vinashin has invested more than VND 325 billion (USD 20 million) in the project.

Japanese scrap prices averages JPY 62,147 per tonne

According to a survey by the Japan Ferrous Raw Materials Association, Japan's domestic market prices of locally available ferrous scrap averaged JPY 62,147 per tonne delivered steelworks for No 2 HMS in the Kanto, Chubu and Kansai areas in the second week of June 2008, up by JPY 500 from a week ago.

The association said that in the second week of June 2008, the monitor prices of No2 HMS ex steelworks in cash transactions were JPY 65,000 per tonne in Kanto up by JPY 1,000 from a week ago; a flat JPY 60,140 per tonne in Chubu and JPY 61,300 per tonne in Kansai up by JPY 500.

In the week under review, No2 HMS prices across the nation averaged JPY 62,234 per tonne delivered steelworks up by JPY 500 from a week ago.

AL Ghurair CR and HDG plant in Abu Dhabi to start in August

Al Ghurair Iron & Steel said it has completed the construction of UAE’s first cold rolling and galvanizing steel coil complex in Abu Dhabi Emirate of United Arab Emirates and has started testing now. It is expected to start production in August 2008.

The new plant will have a total 350,000 tonnes output, which includes 100,000 tonnes of hot rolled steel and 50,000 tonnes of cold rolled steel, and 200,000 tonnes of galvanized steel.

The new plant will purchase the HRC from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and India. The products will sell to UAE market, or even other member countries of Cooperation Council for Arab States and Europe.

(Sourced from Yiej.com)

Open market crucial to stabilize steel market – Experts

Daily Star reported last week that experts are of the opinion that opening up the market and facilitating customs entry procedures is crucial to stabilize the steel market. Opening up the market to steel imports and facilitating customs entry procedures is crucial to stabilizing the steel market.

As soaring steel prices recently hit EGP 8,000 per tonne some wholesalers and investors figured that it would cost less to import steel from steel rich countries than it would to buy it locally. Even after the added customs and shipping costs, it would be cheaper to buy steel from abroad.

Prices will be monitored by the ministry of trade & industry to ensure that they are applied and strict consequences will result on those who do not abide by their set prices. Although the new prices are set in a bid to stabilize the market, analysts are wary of the low price set by Al Ezz, which has around 60% of the market share.

The ministry brushed off the suspicions saying that manufacturers were required to increase their production by 20,000 tons last week to meet the increasing demand and economies of scale could lead to a lower production price for Al Ezz.

The ministry said people should patiently wait for the market to absorb the changes before judging. Meanwhile, analysts remain suspicious and are calling for the facilitation of import procedures to create a true free market.

(Sourced from Egyptian Daily Star)

Saudi Arabia to do utmost to tame oil price

Mr Ban Ki moon UN Secretary General in remarks carried by the Saudi Press Agency said that Saudi Arabia's King Mr Abdullah vowed the world's top oil exporter would do everything possible to tame abnormally high oil prices.

SPA quoted Mr Ban as saying that "King Abdullah sees that oil prices are currently abnormally high and he is willing to do all that is possible to bring prices to their appropriate levels."

UAE inflation rate reached 11.1% in 2007

Mr Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri UAE minister of economy announced that UAE’s inflation rate reached 11.1% in 2007, influenced by increases in the prices of goods and services. This figure was derived by measuring the percentage change in prices of a representative basket of goods and services consumed by the average UAE household.

Research conducted by the ministry of economy’s consumer price index division revealed that the 2007 rate resulted from varying increases in the consumer prices of all expenditure groups. The house rent and related house items category recorded the highest gain among all groups at 17.5%, followed by other goods and services at 16.8%. Increases in the average prices of other expenditure items ranged from 3% to 8%.

Mr Al Mansouri highlighted the importance of the inflation index derived from the CPI, referring to it as an essential and widely used government tool to draft policies on salary and wages and to adjust consumer income in areas such as transfer payments to social welfare recipients.

The house rent and related house items group currently has the highest weight in the CPI at 36%. Based on the actual contribution of the expenditure groups to the 2007 inflation rate, the category emerged as the main cause of inflation, comprising 6.5% of the total 11.1% inflation figure or around 58.6%. Other goods and services followed at 1.4 of the total percentage or about 12.8% contribution. The other expenditure groups comprised less than 1% to total inflation.

The CPI Division identified two basic factors that made the rent and household item category a major inflationary source, a significant increase in rental rates in 2007 and the large weight of the category in household expenditure.

India to go slow on IPI deal – Report

The Iran Pakistan India pipeline talks seem to have nearly been stalled with the centre bucking under the US pressure asking the oil ministry to go slow on further negotiations.

In addition to this, India has on various occasions created hindrances in the deal like raising security issues and asking for third party certification of reserves. The meeting of oil ministers of the three countries that was to take place this month has been postponed and fresh date has not been penciled as yet.

Visit of Indian external affairs minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee on July 29th 2008 to Tehran is being viewed as a consensus building meeting by the three nations, including the Left parties back home.

Iran’s Ambassador to India had said in April 2008 that Tehran hoped to finalize the USD 7.4 billion IPI pipeline deal with India and Pakistan by mid 2008. Iran and Pakistan had announced in March 2008 that they had ironed out hurdles delaying the 2,600 kilometers scheme but no progress has been made after that.

With India, Pakistan and Iran failing to resolve their differences, the 45 day deadline to sort out the safety and security issues concerning the project has expired. It is a matter of time that the Chinese move into fray and take the matter in their hands. China had evinced interest to join the pipeline during the visit of Pakistan President Mr Pervez Musharraf to Shanghai in December 2007.

GSREI lauds steps taken by Egypt to cool steel and cement prices

Daily Star reported that General Section of Real Estate Investment has lauded Egyptian government’s recent decisions taken to cool rapidly spiraling prices.

Mr Hisham Talaat Moustafa chairman of GSREI "I believe the government introduced effective procedures to contain relentless leaps in prices of construction material including the cement export ban and steel price caps."

He pointed out that after the government banned cement exports, prices slid back to around EGP 500 per tonne as compared to the previous EGP 700 to EGP 800 per tonne. He added that "The same is true for steel, placing price limits on wholesalers and retailer has helped push prices down."

Since the beginning of the year, a series of upsurges raised construction costs in Egypt some 30% pressured by continued spikes in input costs such as iron ore, scrap metal, billets and coal. Record high price leaps brought steel prices to roughly EGP 7,800 per tonne and cement to nearly EGP 800. Hikes in production prices have prompted the ministry of trade & industry to ban cement exports in late March 2008. The government also amended customs duties and lifted tariffs on cement and steel in April 2007.

The ministry introduced new rules in April 2008 that stipulate local steel producers report prices at the start of each week and quote a resale price ceiling to their distributors, retailers and consumers so the ministry can monitor price manipulation.

A tonne of steel sells for EGP 6,945 from Beshay Steel, EGP 6,990 from Masr El Wataneya, EGP 6,250 from Suez Steel and EGP 6,500 from Mitad Helwan. Meanwhile, a tonne from Al Ezz Steel Rebars now sells for EGP 5,990.

(Sourced from Egyptian Daily Star)

Pakistan FDI in 11 months drop by 37% YoY

The News reported that net inflow of foreign investment in Pakistan dwindled by 37.2% YoY during the first 11 months of the outgoing fiscal year. From July 2007 to May 2008 period, total foreign investment stood at USD 3.944 billion as compared to USD 6.281 billion.

The State Bank statistics showed that from July 2007 to May 2008 period, total foreign private investment declined by 30.2% YoY to USD 3.927 billion as compared to USD 5.628 billion in the corresponding period of last year. Foreign direct investment dropped by 14.1% YoY to USD 3.881 billion from USD 4.520 billion in the same period last year. In this head, around USD 133.2 million of privatization proceeds were included.

Developed countries’ investment in Pakistan declined by 28.7% YoY to USD 2.68 billion, including FDI USD 2.437 billion and portfolio investment of USD 240.2 million. Developing economies investment declined by 38.6% YoY to USD 930 million.

Among developed countries, Western Europe made a total investment of USD 895.5 million and European Union USD 603.6 million while in the corresponding period of the last fiscal, Western Europe invested USD 2.07 billion and EU with USD 1.98 billion. Besides, under unspecified head investment by IFIs and others declined by 11.3% YoY to USD 317.9 million.

Among developing economies, Caribbean Islands investment declined by 96.6% YoY to only USD 0.7 million as against USD 19.7 million recorded in the correspondent period. However, Africa, including Libya, Egypt, Mauritius, South Africa and other African countries’ investment moved up by 63.3% YoY to USD 149.5 million.

Asian countries’ investment in Pakistan was down by 41.3% YoY to USD 823.1 million as against USD 1.40 billion in the correspondent period of the last fiscal. United States of America was the major investor in Pakistan with total investment of USD 1.62 billion depicting a growth of 4.9% over corresponding period’s investment of USD 1.54 billion.

Pakistan Dairy plans to set up 6,000 milk cooling tanks

Pakistan Dairy Development Company is planning to establish over 6,000 cooling tanks under its cooling tank program. Under the program, the PDDC has facilitated setting up of 1,000th cooling tank in less than two years.

Mr Geoff Walker CEO of PDDC said that prior to it, the dairy sector had around 1,500 cooling tanks in operation. The 1,000 tanks provided through the program are significant addition to the infrastructure of the sector.

Mr Sarfraz Ahmad program manager of PDDC stated that the PDDC would play its part in the process of upgrading the quality of the milk in Pakistan. The PDDC calculates that around 500,000 liters of milk per day is channeled through the cooling tanks established under the program.

PDDC also plans to establish 650 biogas units throughout Pakistan and the 65 units now are in operation.

Talks between Pakistani and Indian railway delegation conclude

A Pakistani Railway delegation has called on Mr Lalu Prasad union minister of railways. Mr Shahid Malik high commissioner of Pakistan in India was especially present on the occasion.

The 6 member Pakistani delegation led by Mr Shafiq Ullah director ministry of railways government of Pakistan is visiting India in connection with the inter governmental railway meeting between the two countries from June 17th 2008 to June 19th 2008.

Mr Lalu Prasad impressed upon the need for increasing the interchange of freight trains between the India and Pakistan in view of the increased trade between the two countries especially of cement. He also emphasized on the need for opening up Munabao to Khokhrapar route between Indian and Pakistan to freight services.

Earlier, the two sides today concluded discussions on several issues in respect of running of both freight and passenger services between the two countries in a cordial atmosphere and the spirit of cooperation. The 9 member Indian delegation was led by Mr RN Verma additional member traffic at ministry of railways government of India.

Several proposals to increase the level of freight interchange between India and Pakistan at Wagah and Attari were discussed particularly with a view to increase import of cement from Pakistan. More important among them are running of increased number of freight trains between India and Pakistan and also to a time table, experimenting with running of longer trains, introduction of some 8 wheeler wagons from Pakistan side, exploring the possibility of running of container train between India and Pakistan. Introduction of freight services between Munabao Khokhrapar was also discussed. Both sides have agreed to initiate necessary steps towards achievement of these objectives.

Elgi Equipment sets up subsidiary in Gulf

Industrial air compressors manufacture Elgi Equipments Limited has announced opening of its subsidiary at Sharjah Airport International Free Zone in the UAE.

The subsidiary 'ELGI GULF FZE' is a full fledged sales and service organization through which the company intended to offer prompt and speedy service deliveries, with short lead times to the customers.

Mr VT Govindarajan director global business of EEL said that the office cum warehouse facility would enable it in expanding the product offering and ensure immediate service in the fast growing Middle East market. He added tat Elgi Gulf would initially serve the GCC markets and eventually expand its presence in the Middle East region and North Africa.

Dr Jairam Varadaraj MD of EEL added that it enjoyed a significant market share in the Middle East region for electric and portable screw air compressor. He said that "Being one of the leading exporters of products to end user in over 60 countries, Middle East contributed to more than 20% of the company’s sales."

USD 147 million draining out annually from Pakistan on imports– Report

Business Recorder reported that an enormous amount of USD 147 million is draining out of Pakistan annually on imports alone due to fictitious on port recoveries by the shipping lines, agents and terminal operators.

According to sources, the traders, both importers and exporters, are being charged under different fictitious heads in violation of the applicable rules and international best practices. They said that the terminal operators and shipping agents are charging a levy from the traders in the name of terminal handling charge and delivery or R&D which were not specified in schedule 9 of a federal government backed implementation agreement.

Source said that according to an estimate at least 800,000 TEUs were being landed and shipped annually through the said terminals where PKR 8,500 were being charged by the shipping lines or agents and PKR 3,500 by the terminal operators. Thus, taking the drained amount to PKR 9,600 million or USD 147 million on import alone, leave aside the exports.

Iran to inaugurate 10th olefin project

Mehr News Agency reported that Jam Petrochemical Complex's 10th olefin project will be officially inaugurated in Assaluyeh region in a ceremony attended by President Mr Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Jam petrochemical’s 10th olefin project’s executive operation was started in the Persian calendar year 1379 (March 20th 2000 to March 20th 2001) with the aim of producing yearly 3.3 million tones of ethylene, propylene, high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene and other byproducts in Assaluyeh.

The major contractors of the project are France’s Technip Company, Germany’s Krupp Uhde Company, Italy’s Technimont Company and Iran’s Nargan and Sazeh companies.

Currently, Farsa Chimie Company plant is under operation in an area of 11 hectares at Jam Petrochemical Complex which is located in Assaluyeh on the coastline of the Persian Gulf. By making use of advanced technology the company has the capacity to produce annually 400,000 tonnes per year mono ethylene glycol, 40,000 tonnes per year diethylene glycol and 2,800 tonnes per year tri ethylene glycol to meet the growing global demand and export to international markets.

Jam Petrochemical Complex is responsible for implementing of the 10th olefin project in an area of 77 hectares which more than 40 hectares has been reclaimed from the sea. It will be one of Iran’s largest olefin plants with the final production capacity of 1,320,000 tonnes per year including HDPE, LDPE, BD, and PP.

P&O Maritime Services expands business in MEA

Khaleej Times reported that P&O Maritime Services, a wholly owned Australia based subsidiary of global port operator DP World, has expanded into the Middle East, providing vital support at DP World’s flagship Jebel Ali terminal and throughout the UAE region.

P&O Maritime Services will build on the existing DP World maritime operations, ensuring the maintenance and evolution of safety standards, staff training and improved utilization of marine assets.

Mr Mohammed Al Muallem senior VP & MD for DP World’s UAE region said that "With the rapid expansion of our terminal at Jebel Ali in particular, P&O Maritime Services will play a vital part in the support we provide our customers from before their vessels arrive in port to beyond the terminal gates. P&O Maritime Services brings significant efficiency and service level gains to our operations and with its global experience, P&O Maritime Services will make a valuable contribution to our important UAE facilities."

Mr Andrew King MD of P&O Maritime Services said that "We are delighted to have the opportunity to support DP World and its customers in the UAE. We have been in operation since the 1960’s and this partnership is in line with our on-going strategy of pursuing profitable expansion opportunities in high growth markets. As DP World expands at Jebel Ali and throughout the Middle East region, we expect to grow with it."

P&O Maritime Services is a specialist vessel fleet manager, owner and operator, supporting governments and the private sector in markets globally, from Ireland to the Southern Ocean. In Dubai, P&O Maritime Services will provide crewing and maintenance of more than 20 vessels including tug boats, pilot boats and line boats, along with other maritime operations in the UAE region, both in harbor and offshore.

Saudi Arab decision of boosting output lowers oil prices

Oil prices eased slightly following a wild, record setting session as investors weighed expectations of higher Saudi Arabian output against the market's ability to quench soaring global demand.

Light sweet crude for July 2008 delivery fell 62 cents to USD 133.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but posted occasional gains. In London, August Brent crude futures fell by 73 cents to USD 134 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Crude prices fluctuated widely at the start of the week, surging at one point to a record USD 139.89 per barrel and tumbling as low as USD 132.84 before settling at USD 134.61 a barrel, down by 25 cents.

Mr Victor Shum an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore said that price swings of USD 5 a barrel are not unusual anymore. He added that "The issue really is global oil demand is growing at a reasonable pace and supply is still playing a catch up game."

Saudi Arabian unilateral output boost wrong – Iran

Mr Mohammad Ali Khatibi Iran's OPEC governor said that any unilateral output increase by Saudi Arabia would be wrong. He said that "If Saudi Arabia acts to increase its output unilaterally it is a wrong thing. Any output increase should be ratified in OPEC's ministerial meeting."

The comments follow earlier statements by Iranian President Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the oil market is plentifully supplied and the rally to record high prices is fake and imposed.

Mr Ahmadinejad said that "At a time when the growth of consumption is lower than the growth of production and the market is full of oil, prices are rising and this trend is completely fake and imposed. It is very clear that visible and invisible hands are controlling prices in a fake way with political and economic aims,' he said when opening a meeting of the OPEC Fund for International Development in the central city of Isfahan."

Mr Ahmadinejad said that "As you know the decrease in the dollar's value and the increase in energy prices are two sides of the same coin which are being introduced as factors behind the recent instability."

Iran has repeatedly said that the market is well supplied and blames rising prices on speculation.

DP World to acquire 60% stake in Tarragona container terminal

Dubai based port operator DP World is to acquire a 60% stake in Contarsa Sociedad de Estiba, a privately owned company that holds the exclusive concession for Tarragona container terminal in northern Spain.

The transaction has received approval from the Tarragona Port Authority and is awaiting European Union regulatory clearance.

Tarragona Port is located in the Mediterranean near Barcelona, serving the hinterland of northern and central Spain. It has the potential to expand and to attract cargo seeking alternatives to nearby ports.

Mr Mohammed Sharaf CEO of DP World said that "Tarragona is very well placed to service a large market; the city has recently attracted investment from major multinational distributors, attracted by its established infrastructure links.''

Mr Flemming Dalgaard DP World's senior VP & MD of Europe and Russia region said that "Tarragona has great potential for future growth, with room for expansion, a deep water draft and excellent direct road and rail connectivity to both Barcelona and Madrid."

ADCCI proposes mega bank to fund manufacturing projects

Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that UAE needs to create a mega fund or bank to provide long term loans for manufacturing projects to encourage investment in the sector and support an ongoing drive to diversify the oil reliant economy.

Mr Salah Al Shamsi chairman of ADCCI said that although the UAE has made substantial progress in its industrialization drive, more efforts are needed to expand this sector, which constitutes the backbone of the diversification program. He added that "Despite such progress, we believe there are other basic issues that should be considered to ensure the creation of an advanced industrial base with the participation of the private sector."

Mr Al Shamsi said that "One of the most significant elements for a successful industry is the need to create a fund or bank with a large capital to finance manufacturing projects by extending long term loans with competitive interest rates and a repay period that conforms to the nature of industrial investment, which requires a long period of time to show returns." He added that such an institution, which should be in co operation with the private sector, would allow investors to shun costly bank loans that usually have difficult terms and are not compatible with industrial investment.

Mr Al Shamsi said that "Unfortunately, we are forced to buy cement, iron and other raw materials and equipment from abroad at high prices. If we established these industries here, we will generate big profits."

Meanwhile, Mr Mohammed Omar Abdullah undersecretary of Abu Dhabi Department of Planning & Economy said that industrial investment in Abu Dhabi Emirate jumped by around 29% to USD 12 billion to push the sector's contribution to the gross domestic product to a record nearly 10% in 2007. He added that "The manufacturing sector in Abu Dhabi is steadily growing and will continue to grow in the coming period. Its value added swelled by more than 20% in 2007."

Tulsyan NEC inks MOU with Suhayl for steel plant in Saudi Arab

NDTV reported that Tulsyan NEC of India has signed a MoU with Suhayl Abdul Mohsin Al Shoaibi & Sons Holding Company for the proposed steel plant having capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum in Saudi Arabia.

Manazil to develop light steel framing solution in Abu Dhabi

Genesis Worldwide Inc said that its United Arab Emirates licensee Manazil Steel Framing Factory has signed a construction contract to produce and install Genesis' light steel framing solution for a large development of 30 villas in Abu Dhabi.

Genesis Worldwide said that its Manazil plant in Abu Dhabi will begin production of the panels at the end of August 2008 with installation beginning in mid September 2008.

Genesis, which provides structural building technology using light steel, said that the Naser Alnwais development will consist of 14 duplexes and 2 single villas with an average of 4,366 square feet per villa and the total project size is 130,974 square feet.

Manazil, a unit of Khalifa Al Fahad Company of Abu Dhabi, is licensed as the sole provider of Genesis building systems in the UAE and Qatar.

Artoc Steel acquires majority stake in Alpha Metal

Al Akhbar reported that Artoc Steel Corporation, affiliated to Artoc Group for Investment & Development, has acquired majority stake in Alpha Metal for Construction & Metallic Industries.

Mr Yasser Darwish investment manager at Artoc Group said that it now controls 70% stake in Alpha Metal. He identified Alpha Metal Co as a leading steel fabricator & contractor for pre engineered & steel structure buildings.

He predicted such distinguished position on the market would be further enhanced by Artoc Group experiences both at home & abroad.

Chinese HDG export price further increase

It is reported that export offer for hot dipped galvanized coil have been raised again recently due to limited supply and increasing domestic price. The strength is expected to spread into next month.

On Shanghai market, 1.0mm HDG by Anshan steel go down by CNY 20 per tonne to CNY 7580 per tonne, 0.5mm HDG by private producer at CNY 7800 per tonne down by CNY 80 per tonne to CNY 100 per tonne.

According to Mysteel, Shanghai price for 1.0mm HDG by Anshan Steel has reached CNY 7600 per tonne. The downward adjustment would continue if it could not exceed CNY 7600 per tonne.

Export offers for 1.0mm HDG Z120, by tier two steel makers are between USD 1140 per tonne to USD 1150 per tonne fob a jump of USD 40 per tonne from end May. While that for 0.5mm HDG Z120 is at about 1200 per tonne FOB. Quotation by such tier one steel mills as Wuhan steel goes at USD 1200 per tonne to USD 1210 per tonne FOB for 1.0 HDG Z120 to 140, which compares with USD 1250 per tonne to USD 1260 per tonne FOB for 0.5mm HDG.

A steel maker in Shandong province tells Mysteel that it is offering DX51D 0.4*1219mm HDG Z120 at USD 1260 per tonne FOB, 0.45mm at USD 41230 per tonne FOB and 0.48mm at USD 1210 per tonne FOB August shipment. Another producer in Hebei province is offering DX51D 0.6*1219/1250mm HDG Z120 at USD 1200 per tonne FOB, 1.0mm at USD 1140 per tonne FOB.

Export allocation is said to be a little tight and most steel makes only set aside 15,000 tonnes to 20,000 tonne for exports per month. Traders say that steel mills are not so interested in exports since they could get good profit in domestic market.

(Sourced form MySteel.net)

Chinese environmental curbs may fuel steel price rise

It is reported that Steel prices could rise even higher after soaring 55% in the last two months, due to China's strict environmental protection policy during the Olympics.

Mr Tai Hean Leng MD of Malaysia Steel Works Bhd said "The Chinese government in ensuring clean air and blue skies for Olympic athletes and visitors are requiring 43 steel mills in 3 Tianjin City and Hebei to halt or slash production during the session of the Games."

He said that "Beijing is waging war against pollution on nearby steel mills that is causing grey skies. When the supply of steel into the global market comes down, prices will go up."

Mr Taid said "When exports of heavy metal is being diverted to ports in the south like Lianyungang, logistics costs will go up, thereby adding to steel bar prices. He said that we have invested MYR 90 million in capacity expansion in the last two years. We are now leveraging on economies of scale because of better global demand and rising prices."

Masteel has capacity to produce 450,000 tonnes of billets and 350,000 tonnes of steel bars per year. 75% of its steel products are for the domestic market and the rest for exports.

Xinyu Steel to get more certifications for SBQ plates

It is reported that the FH40-class high strength ship plate, which is developed by Xinyu Iron and Steel Company, is likely to be get more certification from quality registrars from Britain, France and Germany etc.

As per report Xinyu Iron and Steel overcame the technical barriers one by one. Last year, the ship plate market share of Xinyu Steel in domestic market reached 14.1%, ranking first in China and fifth in the world.

Xinyu Steel is keen to capture the business opportunities in the world shipbuilding industry recovery, in 2003, Xinyu Steel invested CNY 1.6 billion to build the domestic first 3800mm heavy plate production line, with the operation of the new production line in 2005, the company speeded up the development. In 2007, the company totally produced ship plate of 1.365 million tonnes.

Mr Xu Lejiang elected as chairman of CGCPA

It is reported that Mr Xu Lejiang Chairman of Baosteel Group Corporation was elected as the chairman of the 6th board on the first member meeting of the 6th China Group Companies Promotion Association held recently. Former chairwoman Mr Xie Qihua was elected as the honorary chairwoman.

The group was founded in August 1993 its predecessor is the National Industrial Company Network. The main missions of CGCPA are to facilitate the members to set up modern corporate governance; improve the communication between members and government; organize exchange and cooperation amongst Chinese and foreign business sector; conduct research on theoretic and business challenges in the process of enterprise reform, etc.

As per report on the meeting, the chief legal advisor of Baosteel Group Corporation Mr Chen Delin was elected as the standing director.

Qingdao on overdrive for production for quake relief

Qingdao News reported that Qingdao Iron and Steel Group Company Ltd’s subsidiary Shenzhen Sino Master Steel Sheet Company Limited has accelerated productions of steel products for 20,000 units of temporary dwellings for quake hit area in Sichuan.

According to the report, Qingdao Steel started to deliver the order two days after receiving the commission on May 23rd 2008 and up to June 9th 2008, Qingdao Steel had finished 2517 tonnes of steel.

The steelmaker is ambitious to achieve the commission 20 days ahead of schedule.

Baosteel Zhanjiang water supply project starts construction

It is reported that Jianjiang water supply project has recently launched operation. It involved an investment of nearly CNY 3.0 billion and has a capacity of 280 million cube meters per year, marking the supplementary projects of Zhanjiang 10 million iron and steel base project having achieved great progress.

As per report, in March 2008, Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Base Project gained approval from State Council and from then on the supplementary of project began.

Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Project will be constructed by Baosteel, Shaogang and Guanggang and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011. The project has a planned investment of CNY 69.6 billion in total, and has an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes and the main products are high grade steel products which are in tight supply in China.

Chinese production of CR sheet in May up by 14.3% YoY

It is reported that China productions of crude ion ore in different province total 1,522,000 tonnes in May 2008 up by 14.3% YoY as compared to 13,31,000 tonnes in May 2007.

The province wise of CR sheet production is under

In 10’00 tonnes

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Qinye construct new workshop to expand its capacity

It is reported that Qinhuangdao Metallurgical Machinery Company Ltd has poured CNY 50 million to construct new workshops to expand its capacity as it expected to increase global demand for metallurgical equipments.

As per report, the new workshops have already put into operation, and the company's capacity will increase 50% to 50,000 tons annually.

Fueled by arisen steel industries in developing countries represented by India and Brazil, and accelerated mergers and acquisitions among large state owned steel enterprises in China, demand for metallurgical equipment now is blooming globally.

Severstal restates interest in acquiring Esmark for USD 17 per share

Russian steel giant Severstal has sent the following letter to the board of directors of Esmark Incorporated with respect to Severstal’s previously announced all cash USD 17 per share tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Esmark common stock.

The text of the letter is as under

Dear Mr Bouchard

We would like to reiterate our continued strong interest in acquiring Esmark Incorporated pursuant to our previously announced tender offer for all outstanding shares of Esmark common stock. We also believe that Severstal is uniquely positioned to promptly consummate an acquisition of Esmark, given the full and enthusiastic support of our proposal by the United Steelworkers and your majority shareholder.

We understand that the arbitrator in the United Steelworkers’ right to bid grievance arbitration with Esmark may consider setting aside Esmark’s Memorandum of Agreement with Essar Steel Holdings Limited.

If the arbitrator sets aside the Memorandum of Agreement, Severstal is aware of and understands Esmark’s financing issues with respect to the loan agreements you entered into with Essar Steel and your other financing agreements. This is to confirm that we are prepared to immediately replace the Essar financing in a manner that satisfies Esmark’s obligations to all credit parties and does not jeopardize Esmark’s business.

We stand ready to conclude a transaction expeditiously.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,


Mr Gregory Mason
Chief Operating Officer OAO SEVERSTAL

Nippon negotiates 20,000 tonnes plate exports with Vyksa - Tex

The TEX reported that Nippon Steel Corp has negotiated 20,000 tonnes of heavy plate exports on FOB terms with Russian pipe manufacturer Vyksa Steel Works as UO pipe material for shipments in 2008. The supply volume breaks out as the first 10,000 tonnes at USD 1,600 per tonne FOB for July to September shipments and another 10,000 tons at USD 1,700 per tonne FOB for October to December shipments.

In this connection, VSW's inquiries to take heavy plates from Japan totaled 100,000 tons for shipments in 2008.

Nippon Steel supplied VSW heavy plates at USD 1,000 per tonne FOB as UO pipe material for January to March shipments this year under the 2007 contract concluded between the two sides for shipments in July 2007 to March 2008.

VSW is supposed to bear transportation expenses in its heavy plate imports from Nippon Steel due to the FOB supply contract this time as in the case of VSW's earlier procurement. It remains to be seen whether VSW will arrange to take delivery of the heavy plates in overland transit via the trans Siberian railway system or for seaborne cargoes. In either case, the delivered price is forecast to exceed USD 2,000 per tonne in the wake of soaring ocean freight rates.

According to Japanese steel industry sources, under the existing circumstances, it is likely that the world's transactions of heavy plates for UO pipes will enter an era of USD 2,000 per tonne FOB in the near future, ahead of which time UO pipe prices could hit a level of USD 2,000 per tonne FOB.

OMK Sinarsky starts construction of controlled atmosphere furnace

It is reported that OMK’s Sinarsky Pipe Plant has begun construction of controlled atmosphere furnace production EBNER Austrian Company for heat treatment of stainless alloy seamless pipes. The furnace is designed by EBNER for annealing of seamless pipes of up to 24 meters length in a controlled atmosphere.

As a result of the project, Sinarsky would increase the capacity of thermal processing pipes in a protective atmosphere by three times the company and would be able to significantly expand its portfolio of high tech products for energy and engineering industries.

The facility is scheduled to start operation in the second quarter of 2009.

Nikopol ferromanganese production in April up by 6.2% MoM

It is reported that Ukrainian ferroalloy major Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant increased the production of ferromanganese at 7.2% MoM or 2,200 tonnes to 32,700 tonnes in April 2008 as compared to March.

As per report, NZF has also increased silicomanganese production in April 2008 by 6.2% MoM or 3,600 tonnes to 61,500 tonnes,

NZF increased production of ferromanganese by 52.7% YoY or 41,000 tonnes to 118,800 tonnes in January to April 2008 as compared with January to April 2007.

In 2007, NZF had increased production of ferromanganese by 4.5% YoY or 11,600 tonnes to 272,200 tonnes whereas silicomanganese output was down by 22.3% YoY or 140,100 tonnes to 768,100 tonnes.

Severstal upgraded to BB - Fitch

RIA Novosti reported that Fitch Ratings upgraded Russian steel producer Severstal's long term issuer default and senior unsecured ratings to 'BB' from 'BB-,' with stable outlook.

The international rating agency said its national long term rating was also upgraded to 'AA- (rus)' from 'A+(rus)'. Fitch also confirmed Severstal's short-term IDR at 'B'.

Severstal accounts for over 16% of Russian steel output, and has industrial facilities in Russia, the United States, Italy, France, Britain, and Ukraine.

Workers at Russian metals plant end hunger strike

RIA Novosti reported that workers at a metal plant in Russia's Far East have ended their hunger strike after receiving partial back pay.

A regional trade union official said that 17 workers went on hunger strike and were later joined by others at the tungsten production plant in the village of Svetlogorye. The workers, who have not been paid for three months were demanding some, RUB 3 million in back pay.

According to the report, the plant employs 300 workers, which is about half of the town's population. With workers receiving their last pay packet in February, people have been struggling to buy basic foods and medicines.

The plant producing tungsten concentrate, opened in 1985 after a vast deposit was discovered in the area. The factory has been hit by ownership problems with the plant changing hands on a number of occasions over the past five years. A recent sale of the factory by the current owners Mr Russkiy Volfram who briefly had its assets frozen last March was ruled unlawful by a court.

Gazprom Neft eyeing second JV with Chevron

RIA Novosti reported that Gazprom Neft is negotiating a second joint venture with Chevron to develop an additional oil field in West Siberia.

Mr Alexander Dyukov president of Gazprom Neft said "We are negotiating another area in West Siberia, Russia. Although we have received no notification from Chevron on the issue, on the whole they are ready."

HE said that Gazprom Neft is keen to develop offshore areas in the Barents and Kara seas in northwest Russia, and had also been eyeing oil fields in Venezuela and Africa.

According to the report, Gazprom blocked Chevron from the Shtokman project to develop the Arctic gas field with estimated gas reserves of 3.7 trillion cubic meters last October. The US oil company has long been seeking to enter Russia's lucrative oil and gas market.

RZD to arrange an IPO of TransConatiner Company

It is reported that Russian Railways Company chose Troyka Dialog and Morgan Stanley to arrange an IPO of TransConatiner company.

As per report, the planned is to sell 20% of TransContainer shares within the IPO. Also on June 26th 2008 board of directors of RZD will examine the possibility of sale of shares to the arranging banks.

The minimal cost of TransContainer shares totals RUB 297,400, thus RZD will obtain at least RUB8.264 billon from the IPO. TransContainer is estimated at RUB 41.3 billion.

Ukrainian cargo transportation in 5 months up by 8.7% YoY

Ukrinform reported that in January to May 2008, transport enterprises of Ukraine carried 387 million tonnes of cargo up by 8.7% YoY as against the same period of 2007.

According to the report, turnover of goods at the aviation transport grew by 31.3% YoY, automobile transport up by 30.6% YoY, railway transport up by 6.6% YoY, sea transport up by 3.5% YoY and pipeline transportation up by 3.0% YoY.

In 2007, Ukrainian transport enterprises carried 902.7 million tonnes of cargo, 5.4% YoY up against 2006.

Ussuriisk firm wins tender to build unique bridge in Vladivostok

Itar-Tass reported that the Pacific Bridge Building Company, based in the Far East city of Ussuriisk, will build the bridge across the Zolotoy Rog Bay in Vladivostok. It is now the only bidder left after other companies including those from Russia, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea had withdrawn from the tender for different reasons.

The local builders are planning to build the bridge, which will be absolutely unique in Russia, in the central part of Vladivostok. The job will take 41months and will cost RUB 17.9 billion. Construction work is to be started in July and the bridge will be put into operation in December 2011.

According to the report, the bridge, spanning the Zolotoy Rog Bay is to connect the central part of Vladivostok with the city’s Pervomaisk District on Churkin Peninsula. It is designed to be approximately 1,400 meters long and 733 meters broad in the area of the principal span. It will be 70 meters above sea level. The total length of the structure, together with grade crossings will be more than two kilometers. The project includes also a tunnel within the bounds of the city, which will have four traffic lanes.

Stainless steel prices in China rebound

It is reported that stainless steel prices in China soared last week due to nickel price increase.

In Foshan market, LISCO’s L1 price increased by CNY 200 per tonne and the price is expected to keep rising on short supply of raw material this month.

Tisco’s 300 series cold rolled sheet price was up by CNY 200 per tonne from last week and Pohang’s price for 2.0 thickness rose by CNY 100 per tonne.

Prices of 400 series stainless steel remain stable. In Wuxi market, LISCO’s L1 price was firm and is expected to climb ever higher. Price of 300 series has been increased by CNY 300 per tonne since the end of last week.

Pakistani stainless steel processors hit by power shortages

The Dawn reported that the uncertainty on political horizon and upsurge in the period of power outages during the current year has affected all sectors of the industry in Pakistan and the stainless steel is one of the worst victims.

It said that more than 50% business of the stainless steel industry has declined in the country because of increase in prices of raw materials.

Mr Ghulam Hussain president of All Pakistan Stainless Steel Traders told reporters that the main stainless steel sheets selling units are located in Karachi, Sialkot, Lahore and Gujranwala. He said that over 500 such units were functioning in Gujranwala alone where traders were importing around 5,000 tonnes of steel sheets every month from Japan, China and other European countries. Mr Hussain said that these units processed the stainless steel sheets and then supplied these to the surgical and other industries in Sialkot.

He said the prices of raw materials had registered a 30% increase due to prolonged power load shedding and political instability in the country, affecting badly their business.

He also urged the federal and provincial governments to take urgent measures to save the stainless steel industry from crumbling.

Valin to start special steel bar rolling mill in September 2008

It is reported that Valin Group newly built special steel bar rolling mill with the production capacity of 120 tonnes per hour can produces 16 to 55 mm round bar, six angles steel and bar etc high quality products by using low temperature rolling technology. The new equipment is expected to put into production in September this year.

The new rolling mill can produce various kinds of steel from high quality carbon steel and alloy steel, including cold frusta steel, spring steel and steel that easy cutting.

Valin Group’s new rolling mill added a key performance in the large number of SBQ and special steel rolling mills.

Import price of Chrome ore at Tianjin port

Price CNY per MTU

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Chihong Zinc and Germanium subsidiary acquires stake in Condor Nickel

Interfax China reported that an Australian based subsidiary of Shanghai listed Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Company Ltd recently purchased 10 million shares in Australian listed Condor Nickel Ltd in a share placement.

According to the report, Chihong International Mining Ltd was the second largest shareholder in Condor Nickel upon completion of the share placement with a 16.3% stake.