JSW Steel to break ground at Salboni in WB soon

SNS reported that JSW Steel Limited is gearing up to start work on its 10 million tonnes steel plant at Salboni in West Midnapur district of West Bengal.

As per report, JSW is readying to conduct Bhoomi Pooja for its plant, involving an investment of over INR 40,000 crore, in the next 3 months as the land has already been acquired.

This is perhaps the biggest ever investment in West Bengal so far by any company. Alongside, it is speeding up plans to set up another steel plant of similar capacity in Jharkhand for which availability of land though remains a major concern.

NINL production comes to a halt amidst agitation

SNS reported that production in Nilachal Ispat Nigam Limited in Kalinga Nagar industrial complex came to a grinding halt following the re launching of agitation by the contractual workers reiterating fulfillment of their demands they had stated earlier. It is the second such agitation by the contractual workers in a week.

NINL sources said the agitators prevented the materials from entering into the plant premises by locking both of the gates following which many units of the plant had come to a grinding halt. As per report, many units of NINL had been shut down following the agitation but regular workers managed to run coke oven unit of the plant only.

Nearly 1600 contractual workers of NINL plant have been demanding fulfillment of their 22 point charter of demands. The agitators alleged that they were being paid only one third amount of daily wages as regular workers are getting per day for the same work. This apart, the contractual workers’ demands include, minimum wage of INR 300 per day, permanency of their job, night shift allowance, weekly overtime allowance, inclusion in ESI scheme, heat allowance, safety measures, permanent gate pass and Provident Fund facility.

Mr Purna Chandra Sahu joint MD of NINL said that "Last week the contractual workers of our plant resorted to cease work for two days demanding to fulfill their demands following which blast furnace of our plant was shut down and production hampered badly. They had withdrawn the cease work after assurance that their demands would be looked into. A meeting with assistant labor commissioner at Jajpur Road has been scheduled to be held tomorrow to resolve their demands. Without waiting for the result, they are resorting to cease work."

JSW Steel CAPEX for 2008-9 at INR 6,000 crore

BS reported that JSW Steel all set to invest INR 6,000 crore in the current financial year to acquire iron ore mines in the American and African continents and increase existing capacity.

Mr Y Siva Sagar Rao CEO of JSW Steel said that "By the end of this year, the capacity at these 2 plants will increase to around 8 million tonnes and by 2010 to 10 million tonnes. We will shortly be setting up steel plants in West Bengal and Jharkhand and this will increase our production to 32 million tonnes by 2020."

He added that it has secured financial commitments for the capital expenditure.

Mr Rao said that "We had some problems with regard to land acquisition, but that has been solved now and we have the land. We are in the process of tying up with a mine owner in Orissa and have alerted coal suppliers too. The first phase of the plant will be completed in 30 months."

He added that the plant will initially produce 6 million tonnes of steel each year, which will subsequently touch 10 million tonnes.

In Jharkhand too, JSW Steel is grappling with problems pertaining to land acquisition. The overall investment for these plants is INR 40,000 crore each.

JSW currently produces around 4.8 million tonnes of steel a year from its Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka and the Salem facility in Tamil Nadu.

WBIDC identifies 1200 acres for Jai Balaji steel plant

BS reported that West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation has identified 1,200 acres in Purulia for the first phase of Jai Balaji group's 5 million tonnes plant.

Mr Aditya Jajodia CMD of Jai Balaji Group said that the government agency had identified 1,200 acres of which 600 acres had been acquired. He added that the first phase of 2 million tonnes steel plant, 1 million tonne cement and 400 MW of captive power would be completed in 36 to 40 months.

Mr Jajodia said that the investment in the first phase would be INR 5,000 crore and the total cost of the project is INR 16,000 crore. He added that the memorandum of agreement with the West Bengal government is for a 5 million tonnes integrated steel plant, 3 million tonnes cement plant and 1,215 MW captive power plant.

Mr Jajodia is expecting that the land for the first phase would be acquired over the next 6 to 7 months. He added that, in the wake of the high cost of funds, the company could look for foreign loans, especially for equipments from the overseas markets.

JSW Steel inaugurates new showroom in Bangalore

It is reported that Mr YSS Rao joint MD & CEO of JSW Steel has inaugurated JSW Shoppe, an exclusive steel retail outlet in Bangalore on June 30th 2008. This exclusive showroom is JSW Steel's first in Bangalore.

JSW Shoppe will have on display and sale all the products of JSW Steel ranging from hot rolled to color coated steels along with long products. It aims to provide a unique experience of buying steel products through a branded distribution channel.

Mr Rao said that "The concept of the Shoppe originates from the fact that we want customers to get the right quality of product at the right price and at the right place. Shoppe is an effort to create a customer friendly ambience. This interface with the customer will result in creating a strong relationship based on trust and reliability with JSW steel."

JSW Steel has two shoppes at Hubli in Karnataka, one at Jaipur in Rajasthan, one in Kolhapur in Maharashtra and one at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. It also plans to open around 25 such shoppes in a short span and subsequently will have a pan India presence with over 600 branded outlets.

Ispat Industries announces 2007-08 results

Ispat Industries Limited has announced the following results for the quarter & year ended March 31st 2008.

The unaudited results for January to March 2008 quarter
Ispat Industries has posted a net profit of INR 488.90 million for January to March 2008 quarter down by 40.4% YoY as compared to INR 821.20 million for January to March 2007 quarter. Total income has increased from INR 21436.50 million to INR 26005.20 million, registering a growth of 23.1% YoY.

The audited results for the year ended March 31st 2008
Ispat Industries has posted a net profit of INR 348.00 million for the year ended March 31st 2008 as compared to net loss of INR 95.30 million for the year ended March 31st 2007. Total income has increased from INR 76022 million for the year ended March 31st 2007 to INR 87110 million for the year ended March 31st 2008, registering a growth of 14.5% YoY.

The consolidated results for the year ended March 31st 2008
Ispat Industries has posted a net profit of INR 307.90 million for the year ended March 31st 2008 as compared to net loss of INR 102.60 million for the year ended March 31st 2007. Total income has increased from INR 76020.50 million for the year ended March 31st 2007 to INR 87092.50 million for the year ended March 31st 2008, registering a growth of 14.5% YoY.

WB plans to approve rehabilitation policy soon

IANS quoted Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee chief minister of West Bengal as saying that the state government will table its rehabilitation policy for land losers during the monsoon session of the assembly that opens on July 1st 2008.

Mr Bhattacharjee said that "We need to have an alternative policy on land acquisition, rehabilitation and compensation. We are in the final stage of discussion within our party about the policy and will place it in the monsoon session of the state assembly. We must come up with a comprehensive rehab policy and we have almost finalized it. There are lots of apprehensions among the land losers about the compensation package of the state government."

He said that "In 2007, West Bengal received major investments in steel and petroleum sectors. Seven steel companies are coming to the state and the petrochemical hub project at Nayachar is also in progress. We are giving importance to the manufacturing and the small and medium enterprises sector also. We are identifying newer investment areas. But all land acquisition issues need to be resolved fast. If the government fails to do that, people will have a wrong impression about us."

He further added that "We have achieved a growth rate of 8%. We can raise this figure to 9% in the coming 11th five year plan. Growth has taken place but we need to ensure whether the wealth created is reaching the poor. About 30% of our total population is still below the poverty line."

Domestic pricing trends in India

A steel user, however big or small, is always concerned about steel buying as it is normally a big ticket item, but there is no bench mark available to steel buyers to compare their transaction prices, which in a big way decided their bottom line. Lastly, steel has been very volatile in last 6 months and has effected many users in a very severe way making it all the more important to track the prices and trends.

www.steelprices-india.com is a new portal that provides domestic pricing information for benchmark steel products in each category at select location in China on a regular basis 5 days a week. In addition, FOB levels for commonly exported steel products from two of the major exporting nation Ukraine & Russia and China are also available on daily basis to give a sense of alternates.

This would assist persons, including steel makers, traders, users and others, who are connected with industry in some way to asses the steel pricing trends and utilize in their day to day working to take considered decisions.

Benchmark products at select locations cover the entire basket of garden variety of steel products including input material for steel making and processing.

All these features are accessible only to registered user who is provided with a login id and password after payment is received. To know more about the service, please logon to the web site and click on “Features”, “Subscription” and if you like the service on “Registration”.

www.steelprices-india.com is developed and run by none other that www.steelguru.com, which has become the largest English based steel portal in the world, with more than 1 million page hits per month in just 3 years of operations.

Jai Balaji net revenue in 2007-08 up by 29.7% YoY

Jai Balaji Industries Limited has announced its audited results for the year ended March 31st March 2008. During the year total revenue of the company was INR 1,347.28 crore up by 29.7% YoY. The net profit saw a significant rise to INR 118.87 crore up by 91% YoY.

During the year, company expanded organically and in organically. It has successfully completed two acquisitions namely steel division of HEG Limited at Chhattisgarh having a sponge iron plant of the capacity of 120,000 tonnes per annum, steel melting shop of the capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum a 13 MW captive power plant and Nilachal Iron & Power Limited in Jharkhand having a sponge iron plant of the capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum.

Mr Aditya Jajodia CMD of Jai Balaji Industries Limited said that "Although the cost of sale increased during the year due to raw material pressures, we were able to successfully maintain and improve margins. Its strategy of cost control, fine tuning its product mix, building the brand and focusing on the customers enabled the Company to increase the gross profit margin."

Mr Jajodia added that "In terms of relative standing, India is placed among the one of the top countries globally with reserves of iron ore and coal. Speedy allotment of captive raw material resources will enable the industry to harness the immense opportunity and potential to develop a scaled up, world class fully integrated steel industry. Speed of growth and execution skill will be the key factors that will determine the extent to which the available opportunity was exploited. At Jai Balaji we recognize this fact and with combined effort from all the stakeholders we will achieve the desired results."

Kamdhenu Ispat announced 2007-08 fiscal results

Kamdhenu Ispat Limited has posted a total income of INR 355.6 crore in 2007-08 fiscal up by 19.4% YoY as against INR 297.7 crore in 2006-07 fiscal. It registered profit after tax of INR 13.7 crore up by 20% YoY as against INR 11.2 crore.

With these results, the annual growth in total income from operations of Kamdhenu Ispat Limited for the respective year ended at March 31st 2008 was earmarked at 20%, which was figured out to be INR 38.2 crore as compared to INR 31.9 crore. The 4th quarter index also reveals a growth of 69% YoY in profit after tax that figured at INR 4.7 crore as compared to INR 2.7 million along with a huge raise in total income from INR 84.2 crore of last year to INR 132.6 crore in 2007-08 fiscal.

Mr Satish Agarwal CMD of Kamdhenu Ispat Limited said that "We are not just the steel, rather a universal brand. We are growing everyday. We successfully made our first international venture by foraying into Nepal market. We are also targeting other SAARC member nations as the opportunities for growth and development are better in these countries."

On the basis of its Franchisee Association Model, Kamdhenu Ispat Limited is also expanding its network outside India as well. It is targeting SAARC nations first to get a global identification.

JSW Steel bottom line facing input costs pressures

ET reported that JSW Steel expects its bottom line to take a hit of INR 450 crore to INR 500 crore in 2008-09 due to increasing input costs and a reduction in steel prices under government pressure.

Mr Y Siva Sagar Rao joint MD & CEO of JSW Steel said that “It is trying to mitigate the impact by improving operational efficiencies. The removal of 5% to 15% export duty on flat products, used in auto and the white goods sectors, would benefit the company, but it would not be enough to fully compensate the revenue loss.”

Indian steel sector would face shortage of engineers

PTI reported that, with brilliant students opting for a career in the lucrative information technology sector, steelmakers fear that the steel industries could face shortage of talented engineers and skilled manpower.

As per report, the apprehension of shortage of skilled engineers in the steel sector came to light when captains in the industry, who were attending an international meet on iron and steel making, expressed fears about an impending crisis.

Mr Sanak Mishra CEO of ArcelorMittal's Greenfield projects in India said that "In spite of having 1,600 engineering colleges in India, there is shortage of engineers required for steel industries. We do not have enough skilled manpower to operate steel industries. Most of the students find IT lucrative."

He added that unless skilled manpower is generated in the country, it would be difficult to carry forward activities in steel sector which aimed to produce 290 million tonne steel by 2020.

L&T bags INR 1557 crore LoI from Andhra Pradesh Power

It is reported that Larsen & Toubro Limited has received a letter of intent for INR 1,557 crore for a steam turbine generator package of 1600 MW for the Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station at Krishnapatnam being developed by Andhra Pradesh Power Development Company Limited.

The steam turbine generator package includes engineering, procurement, manufacture, supply, erection, commissioning and performance guarantee tests of two sets of 800 MW supercritical steam turbine generators and auxiliaries. The steam turbine generators for the project will be supplied by L&T-MHI Turbine Generators Private Limited.

L&T will become the first Indian company to receive an order using supercritical technology as this is also the first order for supercritical 800 MW steam turbine generator island, including auxiliaries, in the country. APPDCL had floated a global tender for the project.

L&T officials said that "With this order, L&T has flagged off its journey into becoming a leading player in the area of thermal power, employing supercritical technology."

NTPC signs INR 100 billion loan agreement with PFC

National Thermal Power Corporation Limited recently announced that it has signed a loan agreement for INR 100 billion with Power Finance Corporation to fund its capacity addition.

NTPC said that the tenure of the loan is 16 years. There is a moratorium of four years, after which it will start making quarterly repayments.

India Cements 2007-8 net up by 33% YoY

India Cements expects demand for cement to remain strong even as it reported a 38% drop in net profit at INR 104 crore for the last quarter of fiscal 2008 due to a non recurring expense, for a one time settlement of loan and tax expenses.

India Cement’s net profit for the fiscal increased by 33% YoY to INR 637.54 crore as compared to INR 478.83 crore in the previous year. The operating margin for the year was at 36.5% against 32.8% registered for the previous year. Net sales for the fiscal rose by 36% YoY to INR 3,554.47 crore as against INR 2,610.75 crore.

Mr N Srinivasan vice CMD of India Cements said that "Demand for cement is still strong despite skyrocketing land prices and high interest rates." He added that while demand grew 8% in Tamil Nadu, south registered a 10% increase for May to June 2008 period.

He said that "The cement industry is witnessing its best ever period with the domestic demand registering a 9.81% growth over and above the double digit growth for the previous year." He added that the rise in ocean freight rates and domestic as well as international coal prices during the year pushed cost of production up by INR 79 crore.

Credit crunch slows expansion plans by cement firms - Report

ET reported that costlier raw material and tight credit conditions have slowed down Indian cement companies’ ambitious INR 50,000 crore expansion plan to add 80 million tonnes to 90 million tonnes capacity in 3 years.

AS per report, Brownfield expansions are delayed 6 to 9 months and Greenfield projects are delayed by about 1 year as against an anticipated delay of 3 to 6 months.

Industry officials said that adverse economic factors and problems in land acquisition have made expansion almost impossible. Some of them said they will be happy if even half of the proposed expansion goes through.

According to the Cement Manufacturers’ Association, last year saw capacity addition of 27 million tonnes, taking the total to 170 million tonnes. The demand is estimated at around 200 million tonnes and is expected to grow at 8% to 10%. Some doubt the trend will continue.

Rural electrification thru renewable sources called for

BL reported that Society of Energy Engineers & Managers has unanimously resolved to accelerate efforts on rural electrification through off grid renewable energy generation using solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, geo thermal and other sustainable energy routes on account of the serious environmental and energy crisis faced by the whole world.

The three day international workshop on 'Cleaner production and energy conservations for sustainability' was of the view that the present challenge faced by the Earth is to make it greener and cleaner before it is passed on to the next generation, without reducing the present level of energy services and certainly expanding on it through a less energy intensive route.

The workshop noted that the sustainable way of natural resources use at far greater rate than what the nature can replenish and the indiscriminate way it adds pollutants to the Planet Earth needs to be addressed with top most priority.

Ennore Port short lists 6 for container terminal operations

BL reported that Ennore Port Limited has short listed 5 consortiums and an international container terminal operator in the request for qualification stage for developing a container terminal at Ennore at an estimated cost of INR 1,300 crore. The short listed companies, from a list of around 40 applicants, will now move on to the RFP stage.

The short listed firms and consortiums are

1. APM Terminals B V, an international container terminal operator, has bid on its own.

2. Group Maritime JCBSL has partnered with Obrascon Huarte Lain SA, GE Mauritius International Holdings and Eredene Holding Capital Plc

4. Consortium of 3 shipping lines namely NYK Line, Evergreen Marine, Hyundai Marine, partnering with ZIM Port

4. Gammon Infrastructure Projects has tied up with Dragados Servicious, Portuarilou Logisticos and Leighton Contract India Limited

5. Larsen & Toubro has joined hands with John Keels Holdings

6. Sterlite Industries along with Eurogate and KG Mota Engle

Work on the terminal is likely to commence before the year-end, and will be built on build, operate and transfer basis for a concession period of 30 years. The terminal, which got environmental clearance last year, will have a quay length of 1,000 meter and a capacity to handle around 1.50 million TEUs.

Ennore is seen as a potential container port in the South next to the established centre Chennai. The Port of Ennore is the only corporatized major port in the country. The port is connected to the national highways NH4, NH5 and NH45 without entering into the populated Chennai city area.

Eaton India to set up second facility in Ranjangaon

BL reported that Eaton India is planning to set up its second manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon near Pune to meet the demand for transmission components from Eaton’s facilities across the globe and also to enable it to support emerging demand for such units from domestic commercial vehicle manufacturers.

Mr Shyam P Kambeyanda MD of Eaton Technologies Private Limited said that it currently makes 6 speed and 9 speed transmissions for TATA Motors for its world truck. He added that "Serial production has just commenced and the plant is in the stage of ramping up volumes, he said. Transmissions will also be supplied to Mahindra & Mahindra for its joint venture with International Truck & Engine Corporation."

At present Eaton makes gears and shafts at its Ranjangaon facility and assembles transmissions for medium and heavy duty commercial vehicles. It also exports gears and shafts to Eaton’s facilities all over the world. The capacity of the existing plant is 15,000 transmission units at present.

Globally Eaton manufactures heavy duty, synchromesh medium duty transmissions for trucks and light duty transmissions for agricultural applications. It has manufacturing facilities in the US, Brazil, China, Poland, Mexico and India and makes more than 100 manual and automated transmissions.

Dedicated freight corridor to ease coal movement problems

Coal India Limited, together with its subsidiary coal companies, is the single largest producer of coal in the world with nearly 400 million tonnes annually. The projection is that the volume will rise by more than 50% in the next 8 to 9 years. Transportation of this huge volume is a major challenge not only to CIL but also other agencies.

Mr Partha S Bhattacharyya chairman of CIL in an interview said that "CIL is the single largest producer of coal in the world. Last year, we produced 380 million tonnes, likely to rise to 405 million tonnes in the current fiscal. Handling this huge volume is a big challenge to us. But I will answer your question in a slightly different way."

He added that "We handle the volume but we are not responsible for reaching coal to every nook and corner of the country. In fact, the coal producing companies are responsible for transporting coal from the pitheads to the nearest railheads or road heads."

He said that "We ourselves do not dispatch any coal by rail. But a large number of our consumers take delivery of coal by rail. But we are keen that more and more coal is transported by rail despite problems in rail transportation. Perhaps a dedicated freight corridor is the answer. We sincerely would like to see the work on the project taken up in right earnest, more so in view of the projected increase in coal traffic."

McNally Bharat bags INR 47.30 crore contract from MPSEZ

McNally Bharat Engineering Company Limited recently announced that it has received an order from Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone Limited for design engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, commissioning and performance testing of four rail mounted bucket wheel stacker re claimer valued at INR 47.30 crore exclusive of all taxes and duties which are exempted under SEZ.

Chartering demand in India four times its fleet size - Report

ET reported that India's demand for chartering ships is nearly four times its fleet size of 860 ships.

According to the report, Directorate General of Shipping received 3942 applications in 2007 for chartering vessels. It included 1386 applications for tankers. On the other side, Indian fleet has about 860 ships of which 220 odd ships are engaged in overseas trade with the remaining in coastal and inland waters.

According to trade sources, there are various reasons for putting up requests for chartering. At times the requests are not genuine, while there could be multiple requests for a single cargo. It is also observed that parties do not proceed after getting the license. Shipping agents are also understood to use the mode for their recruitment purposes. In the given circumstances, what is important is to know more details about the requirements in the applications.

According to shipping administration sources, they distribute the requirements for ships on charter to all ship owners in the country. Only when no interested party turns up that they issue the license to charter a foreign vessel. Unlike major shipping companies, most of local ship owners are understood to be interested in such information as they want to corner more of Indian cargo. This is especially so today with the recent circular by the directorate making coastal shipping the preferred mode compared to cross ocean trading which is subjected to more cumbersome regulations.

With more than 40% of existing fleet going for scraping in the next five years, there is also acute need to augment Indian tonnage.

Indian Steelmakers Directory 2008

The fast developing Indian steel industries are continuing beyond what most believed was possible. As one of the world's fastest growing economies, India has become the most happening place among world steel market over last few years and thus is in the radar of most of global players associated with steel industry. But it is difficult and time consuming to contract them due to fragmented nature of industry and no comprehensive list of smaller steel makers was readily available.

Published in February 2008, “Indian Steelmakers Directory 2008” has been comprehensively researched and prepared, to bring you a fully up to date guide to India's rapidly growing steel makers. “Indian Steelmakers Directory 2008” is one the top sources of information available on steel making companies in India! It is one of the most comprehensive and accurate directory of Indian steel companies that have ever been published. This powerful directory is your connection to the entire Indian steel industries sector.

This Directory will be extremely useful to businesses that deal specifically with companies in the iron and steel industry, ferro alloys, consumable suppliers, raw material sellers, equipment makers and others. Whether you are a product manager, in charge of marketing, raw material seller, in equipment business or simply interested to remain in touch with the latest developments in the Indian steel industries, this directory will save you time and effort in finding the information you need.

This directory will enable you to profile steel makers in India, build new business prospects, generate new customers, discover who your competitors are and make vital contacts. You would save the time, money and effort of doing your own research. This directory has been especially compiled to assist with market research, strategic planning, as well as contacting prospective clients or suppliers. It is also an indispensable guide to India’s and steel industries.

Why spend hundreds of hours searching for new contacts? Invest in a copy TODAY! Whether you are buying or selling metals, minerals or steel products, this new directory will make an extremely worthwhile investment. Do not miss this opportunity to own your copy of this superb directory for the Indian steel makers in India.

This directory covers name and details of 720 of Indian steelmakers in Alphabetical as well as location wise order. The details given in the directory are basic only and covers company name, address and phone number. Fax number, email and website URL are also given where ever available. The directory is available as a PDF file containing 720 steel makers and has 396 pages.

Content
Company name -723 entries
Address-723 entries
Phone number-723 entries
Fax number -590 entries
Email -446 entries
Email -446 entries

Publish Date: February 2008
No. of Pages: 396
Price: INR 100,000 plus 12.36% service tax for Indian buyers
USD 2800 for overseas buyers
Delivery Format: PDF Format

You can order your copy to reports@steelguru.com, who will send you an invoice for the report

Pratibha Inds bags INR 179 crore contract from Lanco Hills

Projects Today reported that Pratibha Industries has secured a contract worth INR 179.72 crore from Lanco Hills Technology Park for construction of Mall Podium of 4 basements upto ground level.

The total constructed area shall be 1,522 million square feet and the work order is to be executed within 15 months.

LJP to reopen chemical fertilizer plant in Talcher

SNS reported that Mrs Shibani Sengupta state president of Lok Janashakti Party has visited Sambalpur district of Orissa to check the availability of chemical fertilizers for farmers during peak seasons and also announced the re opening of the fertilizer plant in Talcher soon.

She interacted with the farmers, who informed her that they had to buy fertilizers at a higher price from the open market

Mrs Sengupta said that "I came to know that the farmers not only purchase fertilizers at high prices, they also do not get it in time. I will place the matter before the ministry."

She said that her party intended to re open the fertilizer plant at Talcher soon, seeing the plight of the poor farmers. She added that "Proposal for its re opening has been submitted to the finance and planning ministry. We are just waiting for their approval."

Indian steel companies assure to hold prices in July 2008

BL reported that India’s major steel producers met officials in the union ministry of steel and said that they will not increase prices in July 2008. However, they expressed serious concerns over the fact that steel prices at the retail level have started moving up during the last 7 to 10 days.

In a statement issued after the meeting, Steel Authority of India Limited, in a prees release, said that it has received reports regarding increase in the market prices of steel during June 2008, particularly during the last week.

Stating that SAIL had maintained its prices for the domestic market during June 2008 at the same level as that of May 2008 and will maintain the same price level for July 2008 also, the release pointed out that SAIL had increased supplies to the domestic market by 32% YoY in June 2008 as compared with June 2007.

For the April to June 2008 quarter, SAIL’s supplies of TMT bars, hot rolled coils and galvanized plain or corrugated sheet to the domestic market have gone up by 55% YoY, 16% YoY and 30% YoY, respectively. All categories taken together, SAIL’s supplies to the domestic market have gone up by approximately 9% YoY during the first quarter.

Similarly, Ispat Industries too, in a statement issued, said that it has been brought to notice that prices of some of the steel products have again started rising in the retail market in the last 7 to 10 days.

In order to control prices in the retail segment, Ispat has decided to restrict supply to secondary producers for exports, while increasing supplies to domestic users and initiate measures to force retailers to sell steel products at reduced prices.

An official in Ispat said that "These moves could bring down hot rolled steel prices by around INR 2,000 to INR 2,500 a tonne at the retail level."

India finalizes oil & gas cooperation agreement with Cuba

India and Cuba have finalized India Cuba Hydrocarbon Agreement for cooperation in the oil and gas sector. This emerged at an hour long meeting between Mr Murli Deora union minister of petroleum & natural gas and his Cuban counterpart Ms Yadira Garcia Vera at Madrid on the occasion of 19th World Petroleum Congress.

Recognising the need for such a mechanism for facilitating further cooperation between the two countries, the two sides agreed that Mr Deora would visit Cuba for signing the agreement which could coincide with spudding of oil wells by ONGC Videsh in its exploration block in Cuba.

Mr Deora recalled the long standing friendly relations between the two nations and emphasised that the process to further cement ties should be carried forward in the backdrop of ventures finalised in recent years. OVL acquired interests in 9 exploration blocks in Cuba including 100% in two blocks. The contracts for these blocks were signed in 2006. He expressed keen interest of the Indian companies to participate in both upstream and downstream projects in Cuba which have good potential to fructify.

Ms Garcia Vera invited investment in the planned new refinery project on the west coast of Cuba. She said that the project is slated to have a capacity of 1.5 million barrels a day. Further Indian companies could also participate in the capacity expansion and upgradation of the existing refineries. Showing keen interest in the proposal, Indian side explained that India has set up refineries which produce latest grade environment-friendly fuels of Euro III and Euro IV standards. Besides domestic markets, these products also cater to export markets including the US and Europe.

Mr Deepak Gupta joins as new secretary of MNRE

It is reported that Mr Deepak Gupta has taken charge of secretary of union ministry of new & renewable energy rom his earlier post of special secretary in ministry of health & family welfare.

Mr Gupta also worked in the ministry of human resources development, water resources, commerce & industry and ministry of textiles. He also worked with World Health Organisation.

GVK BHP consortium won bids for 7 exploration blocks

Projects today reported that GVK BHP Billiton consortium has emerged as the winners of 7 deepwater exploration blocks off the west coast of India. GVK Oil & Gas, a subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure Limited is the lead partner in the consortium.

It may be noted that India government had put on offer 57 oil and gas blocks of which 19 were deepwater blocks, 9 shallow water blocks and 29 on land blocks. It had received 181 bids for 45 blocks, with 7 deepwater blocks, 2 shallow water blocks and 3 on land blocks not receiving any bids. Around 96 companies have bid in the seventh round. While 19 blocks received single bid, 26 attracted multiple bids.

Evaluation of the bids will be undertaken by centre and the blocks are expected to be awarded within 2 months. The entire process would take about 2 months from bid receipt to the award of contracts and the contracts are expected to be signed by September 30th 2008.

Rise in June sales brings back cheers to auto makers

BS reported that the sales of India’s leading car makers including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, M&M, TATA Motors and Honda Siel have gone up by 8% YoY in June 2008 as compared to the same period last year, despite the hike in car prices, increase in excise duty on bigger cars and spiralling inflation.

As per report, the five car makers together sold 160,000 vehicles in June 2008 as compared to 148,000 units in June 2007. Had it not been for the negative growth of TATA Motors, the sales of other four manufacturers would have grown by 15% YoY in the same period.

Maruti Suzuki sold 61,247 vehicles in June 2008. Consumers, however, opted for its mid sized and bigger cars rather than smaller versions. It witnessed a staggering 48% in the A3 segment, including Dzire and SX4, despite hiking the prices by INR 15,000. On the other hand, the sales of Maruti 800 fell by 13% YoY from 6214 units in the corresponding period last year. The sales in the A2 segment, comprising Alto, Swift, Zen and Wagon R, grew by a measly 0.3% YoY in June 2008.

Hyundai Motors registered a sales growth of 45.3% YoY at 40,182 units in June 2008. The domestic market accounted for 21,881 units and exports stood at 18,301 units. It witnessed a 57% YoY growth in the A3 segment, selling 6272 units of Accent and Verna in June 2008 as compared to 3983 units in June 2007.

Hyundai, however, witnessed a decline in A5 sales. It sold 47 units of Sonata in June 2007 as compared to 67 units in June 2007. In the SUV segment, it sold merely 4 units of Tucson as compared to the 21 units in June 2007.

TATA Motors continued to see a decline in sales. The sales of passenger vehicles fell 1% YoY to 54,525 units in June 2008 from 56,066 units in June 2007. The sales of flagship Indica came down by 26% YoY to 25,676 units. However, the big car Indigo saw a strong growth of 81% YoY at 13,052 units.

Details of car sales in June 2008

TATA Steel Bastar plant faces new water raw

BS reported that, after land, it is now water that has landed the proposed steel plant of the TATAs in Bastar in the thick of a new controversy. As per report, environment activists are gearing up to protest against the state government's move to supply water from Indrawati river for constructing the plant and meeting the demand of water at the initial stage of the project.

Mr Sharad Verma president of Bastar Society for Conservation of Nature said that "Any move to give water from Indrawati to the proposed TATA steel plant will be strongly opposed." He added that the society is collecting all details before drawing up a strategy.

Mr Verma said that Indrawati is considered the lifeline of Bastar as it is a holy river for tribals. The river originates from Rampur Ghumal village in Orissa's Kalahandi district. But a major part of the river flows in Chhattisgarh. About 43% of the tribals in the interior parts of Bastar depend on Indrawati for their livelihood as the river is a major source of irrigation, fisheries and drinking water. He added that "The existence of the river is itself at stake as its course is returning to Orissa and merging with Jora nullah instead of entering the Bastar region."

He said that "Water level recedes fast after the monsoon and, at many places, Indrawati gets dry as the natural flow diverts into Jora nullah near the state border and returns to Orissa. If TATA draws water, it would set a new precedent as the National Mineral Development Corporation would also demand water from Indrawati for its proposed sponge iron unit coming up in the area."

Mr Manoj Varu deputy secretary at department of water resources said that the TATA plant would get water from Indrawati for 3 years. It would be requiring 4 million cubic metres of water a year.

Meanwhile, Mr Krishna Nandan TATA's project in charge in Bastar, said that "Water from Indrawati would be used only as a stop gap as the company would get water from Sabri for routine use."

It may be noted that the fresh dispute over the water deal has added a new chapter to the ongoing protest against the proposed 5 million tonnes per annum Greenfield integrated steel plant coming up in the Lohandiguda block of the Bastar district. The state government is already facing a tough task to acquire land for the project, which will come up on 2,160.58 hectares.

GSPC emerged as winner in 11 blocks in NELP-VII

BS reported that Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation has emerged as provisional winners in as many as 11 blocks in the 7th round of New Exploration Licensing Policy.

It may be noted that GSPC is aiming to pump in over USD 100 million initially for exploration of these blocks 8 of which are offshore. In all 96 companies submitted bids for the 45 blocks, with 19 of them receiving single bids and 26 others attracted multiple bids.

Of the offshore blocks, GSPC has bagged one block in KG Basin which is adjacent to its existing block KG-17 well, which is one of the most significant discoveries for the company. It had for the first time struck oil and gas in the same well. Of the 8 offshore blocks, GSPC has bagged 3 in Mumbai and 2 potential blocks in Cambay basin.

GSPC has pumped in over INR 2000 to INR 2,500 crore on exploration of KG Basin in the last one year or so. ONGC GSPC have bagged 3 deepwater blocks and GSPC consortium has won 1 on land block. Also, GSPC with ONGC as partner has won one block in Kerala Konkan region.

It is also planning to hit the capital markets by coming out with an IPO by September 2008 to part finance the proposed development of GSPC's Deendayal gas field in KG Basin. GSPC along with Adani has also announced plans to build a 5 to 10 million tonnes per annum liquefied natural gas terminal at Mundra port by 2013.

Aditya Aromedic starts commercial production of bio diesel

BS reported that Gujarat based Aditya Aromedic & Bio Energy Private Limited has recently started commercial production of bio diesel from Jatropha. The good news is that bio diesel marketed by the company is cheaper than the fossil diesel sold by oil marketing companies in India.

Registered in 2005, Aditya Aromedic started commercial production of bio diesel from Jatropha 3 months back. The production capacity of its plant located in Navsari district of South Gujarat is 17,000 litres per day. In a quick span of 3 months, it has developed a sizeable clientile in Ahmedabad, Nadiad, Vadodara, North Gujarat and other major cities such as Mumbai and Delhi.

Mr Dharmendra Parekh chairman of Aditya Aromedic said that "With the soaring crude prices, fossil fuels are going to get dearer in days to come. Bio diesel produced by our company is sold at a price of INR 38.90 per liter in Navsari, while the prices of regular diesel in the same area is around INR 39.20 per liter. Once the company scales up its production, the bio diesel cost may come down."

Having made an intial investment of INR 5 crore, Aditya Aromedic is now looking at a major expansion drive. Apart from Navsari, it already has bio diesel depot near Mehsana in North Gujarat. Soon, it plans to roll out bio diesel pump, which would be the first bio diesel pump in India.

TATA Steel may begin work at Kalinganagar plant in a month

BS reported that TATA Steel, proposing to set up an INR 15,400 crore, 6 million tonnes integrated Greenfield steel plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa, hopes to start the construction work of the project within a month. It has already applied to the state government for mines and has shifted about 700 families out of 1200 families to be displaced by the project in an effort to clear the site for start of work.

Mr B Muthuraman MD of TATA Steel said that "The process of shifting the displaced families is going on and we hope to start the construction of the Kalinganagar plant soon." He added that it could be within a month and it has sought the assistance of the Orissa government in this regard.

Though TATA Steel has already placed orders worth INR 6000 crore for the Kalinganagar project, it has not been able to start the construction due to the resistance of local tribals. The state government is reported to have assured the company to provide required assistance to start the project as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, TATA Steel is started offsite steel fabrication for hot strip mills in an area leased out from the state owned Industrial Development Corporation near Jajpur Road to reduce the construction time for the project. Besides, the construction of the incoming material section yard is almost complete.

Mr Muthuraman said that it has applied for the mines to the Orissa government for meeting the iron ore requirement of its Kalinganagar project. Iron ore requirement for the plant in two phases are assessed at about 250 million tonnes over a period of 25 years.

It may be noted that both the state and union governments had assured the company to look into the issue of mining lease, environmental clearance and infrastructure development during a review meeting of mega steel units chaired by Mr RS Pandey union steel secretary.

Stanley plans expansion in Madhya Pradesh

BS reported that US based hand tools maker Stanley Works is planning expansion in Madhya Pradesh and will shortly open its exclusive showrooms in Indore to strengthen its hold in tool distribution market in India.

Mr Kuldeep Bhardwaj GM of Stanley said that "The plan is to target two industrial areas of Pithampur near Indore and Mndideep near Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh is a very important market for us and we are aggressively targeting the upcoming automobile and pharmaceutical industry which is in a becoming stage."

He also said that Stanley tools are the most cost effective, since they are made of highest quality product. The continuous and fast growth of the Indian manufacturing and automotive repair business made this proposition apparent to our customer.

Stanley is an S&P 500 company and holds a record of continuous dividend payouts for 129 consecutive years.

CESC to pay 40% dividend for 2007-08 fiscal

BL reported that the board of directors of CESC Limited has recommended a dividend of 40% on the paid up share capital of the company for the year ended March 31st 2008.

CESC has earned an income of INR 2,904 crore in 2007-08 fiscal up by 12.8% YoY as against INR 2,573 crore in 2006-07 fiscal. The net profit in 2007-08 fiscal stood at INR 627 crore down by 1.5% YoY as compared with INR 637 crore in 2006-07 fiscal.

BGR Energy beats BHEL to bag INR 3,100 crore TNEB order

It is reported that Chennai based BGR Energy Systems Limited has won an INR 3,100 crore engineering, procurement, construction contract from Tamil Nadu Electricity Board for building a single unit of 600 MW coal based power project at Mettur in Tamil Nadu.

BGR Energy has won the contract over Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, which was the only other bidder in the international tender. The balance of plant will be produced in house by BGR Energy. The project includes the installation of a gas insulated substation, which will also be imported.

Mr BG Raghupathy CMD of BGR Energy said that the value of materials and services provided in house is about INR 1,500 crore.

The project is to be commissioned within 39 months, with penalties for delay, but no incentives for earlier production.

With this order, BGR Energy’s order book doubles to INR 6,000 crore, which includes 4 balance of plant contracts and various jobs in oil and gas sector.

ABB wins USD 77 million power order for Delhi International Airport

It is reported that ABB has won an order worth USD 77 million for design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of electrical products and systems for the new Terminal 3 building at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. ABB’s solutions are part of a modernization project to prepare the airport for the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Scope of the order includes 11 kilovolt panels, distribution transformer, low voltage panel, cabling, wiring, conduits, light fixtures, bus ducts and uninterruptible power supply for dependable backup power if primary power is lost. SCADA provides local and remote control capability for immediate access to real-time network information, as well as easy connectivity to other systems in the electrical network.

ABB will provide electrical infrastructure and control systems for T3, which is currently under construction. ABB’s intelligent power distribution management system, SCADA, will be used to monitor and control the terminal’s entire electrical network.

Mr Peter Leupp head of ABB’s power systems division said that "Airports are exceptionally demanding work environments that require extremely reliable power supplies. ABB’s comprehensive range of energy efficient electrical products and systems will ensure reliable power distribution and control of power."

ABB products and systems meet stringent specifications for delivery, execution, reliability, safety, and energy efficiency. Delhi airport’s state of the art terminal T3 will cover an area of 520,000 square meters with capacity to handle 25 million passengers, and is scheduled to be operational by March 2010.

Stone laid for Narla Tata Rao thermal power station

Projects Today reported that Mr Jairam Ramesh union minister of state for commerce & power has laid the foundation stone for a 125 MW integrated coal gasification combined cycle power unit at Vijayawada in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on July 1st 2008.

The plant also known as Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station is a JV of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation. The power plant will come up at a cost of INR 950 crore and is scheduled for completion by 2011.

BHEL bags USD 485 million thermal power contract in Syria

It is reported that Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has received a contract worth USD 485 million from Public Establishment of Electricity for Generation & Transmission of Syrian ministry of electricity for a 400 MW Tishreen thermal power plant extension project.

BHEL's scope of work in the contract includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of main plant equipment with associated auxiliaries, balance of plant & electricals, besides state of the art controls & instrumentation and civil works.

The work order is expected to be completed in 33 months.

SAIL inks MoU with SCI

It is reported that Steel Authority of India Limited had signed a MoU with Shipping Corporation of India to promote a JVC to facilitate import of coking coal for SAIL on July 1st 2008.

SAIL and SCI will hold 25% each in the JVC and the remaining share capital will be held by other strategic partners, who are yet to be identified. The JV firm will primarily provide various shipping related services to SAIL for importing coking coal and may also participate in world wide dry bulk shipping trade.

NMMC submits reports for metro rail project in Navi Mumbai

Projects Today reported that Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has submitted proposals for metro rail and monorail projects to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The proposal has been drafted by the NMMC in consultation with Maharashtra government’s infrastructure arm City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). NMMC has proposed metro rail corridors between Mankhurd in Greater Mumbai and Panvel near Navi Mumbai which mainly proposes to connect the island city with the new airport.

NMMC is of the view that, the metro rail and monorail projects are highly required for the city as there are two SEZs are coming up in and around Navi Mumbai. Also, the upcoming proposed international airport near Kalamboli, and the central business district in Belapur which houses government as well as corporate houses.

The proposed projects will give a boost to the transportation facility and ease the traffic.

TATA Motors warns of speed breakers ahead

Mr Ratan Tata chairman of TATA Motors said that higher rates will hit performance and warned that it is driving into a rough patch. He added that "There will be an enormous and unprecedented increase in material costs in steel, tyres, and the like and there will be the impact of tighter money supply with higher interest rates."

Mr Tata said that the other major challenges would be to manage the completion of the Singur plant, introduction of Nano and absorbing the cost of acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover. He pointed out that while TATA Motors registered significant growth last financial year, it lost market share and was unable to exploit its full market potential due to inadequate deliveries of power trains and components from major suppliers.

SAIL steps up availability of steel in domestic market in India

With thrust continuing on maximizing the production of special steel/value added items, SAIL produced a million tonnes of such products during Q1, which is highest ever for any quarter, up by 41% over CPLY. This included 0.193 million tonnes of 90-UTS rails for the Indian Railways, the highest ever in any Q1.
Sales of TMT bars and HR coils have respectively been 74% and 20% higher in June '08 as compared to June '07. The company also registered highest-ever Q1 sales of special quality steels with an overall growth of 49% over CPLY. Prestigious orders from the Indian Navy were booked for DMR-249 grade A/B plates during the period.

SAIL improves techno economic parameter in Q1

Its energy consumption at 6.88 giga calories per tonne of crude steel and reduction in coke rate are some of the parameters, where improvement has been recorded.
Production through the energy-efficient continuous casting route crossed 2 million tonnes, which is highest ever quarterly performance, with 121% of capacity utilization.
Converter lining life also touched a new peak of around 7,500 blows at Bhilai Steel Plant against the earlier record of 6,316 blows.

Update on SAIL modernization and expansion plans for Q1 of 2008

Capital projects which got completed in Q1 include Installation of Hot Metal Desulphurisation Unit and Coke Oven Gas Holder at Rourkela Steel Plant, 50 MW power facilities for Oxygen Plant at Bokaro Steel Plant and Coal Dust Injection in Blast Furnace-3 at Durgapur Steel Plant.

Indian per capita use of steel reaches 43.4 kilograms in 2007

According to a release from International Iron and Steel Industry, India’s per capita use of apparent steel in 2007 reached 43.4 kilogram up by 9.6% YoY as compared to 39.6 kilogram in 2006

Year Volume Change

(Volume in kilogram)

(Sourced from IISI)

ArcelorMittal acquires Astralloy in North America

ArcelorMittal announced that it has acquired Astralloy Steel Products Inc, a subsidiary of IMS International Metal Service.

Astralloy operates three warehouses and employs 60 people in North America. Its 2007 revenues were USD 34 million. It is a pioneer in abrasion resistant and ballistic resistant products

Astralloy, was founded by Mr Harry Dickinson, who while working as a mining superintendent, faced problems and great cost to production due to downtime and wear of equipment composed of normal grades of steel. He developed a unique steel was named Astralloy-V and formed Vulcan Steel Corporation to distribute his new steel product. In 1972, Vulcan Steel Corp changed its name to Astralloy-Vulcan Corporation. In 1982, Astralloy-Vulcan Corp was acquired by Harsco Corp and Astralloy-Vulcan became known as Astralloy Wear Technology. In 1999, International Metal Service, a leading European metals distribution company headquartered in Paris acquired Astralloy Wear Technology.

Mr Chavez seeks friendly solution with Ternium

It is reported that Mr Hugo Chávez president of Venezuela wants to reach a friendly solution with steelmaker Ternium Sidor where Argentinean consortium Techint holds most of the shareholding, after the Venezuelan ruler nationalized its operations in the country.

Reuters reported that Mr Chávez had set June 30th 2008 as deadline for Sidor takeover, but he said that he did not know if an agreement was reached because he was not at the head of negotiations.

Mr Chavez said that "We just want to reach a friendly solution for their good and for ours. I am sure we will reach a friendly solution.”

BHPB bid for Rio - ArcelorMittal considering stake in Rio

Rio Tinto Group, the world's second largest iron ore producer rose the most in almost two weeks in London trading after the Financial Times said ArcelorMittal may buy a stake to secure supplies of the steelmaking raw material.

FT citing unidentified people familiar with the matter reported that ArcelorMittal could afford to buy a similar size to the 9%, USD 14 billion shareholding acquired in February by Aluminum Corp of China and Alcoa Inc.

The paper also said that Mr Mittal has also considered buying iron ore assets should antitrust regulators demand their sale as a condition of a tie up between Rio and BHP.

Mr Charlie Dove Edwin an analyst at MF Global Securities based in London said that “It does not make any sense as ArcelorMittal will be just as influential by being a big customer as it would by owning a stake in the company.”

He added that “I do not think a deal like this could go through.''

ArcelorMittal SA to increase steel prices

Bloomberg reported that ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd, facing a steel tariff probe by antitrust regulators, will raise prices by 3% to 14% in August and expects further increases in international charges.

Mr Tami Didiza a spokesman of ArcelorMittal SA said that long and flat products will gain by an average of ZAR 500 (USD 63) a tonne. It added that the latest increase will take benchmark hot rolled coil to USD 1,080 a tonne as compared with USD 1,200 a tonne in the North American market and USD 1,260 in Europe.

Africa's biggest steelmaker is fighting a record penalty after South African antitrust authorities found it guilty of excessive pricing last year. Regulators last month launched a new investigation into alleged price fixing by ArcelorMittal South Africa and rivals including Highveld Steel & Vanadium Ltd.

Deutsche Bank holding 9.6% stake in Vallourec

Bloomberg reported that Europe's largest securities firm and Germany's biggest bank Deutsche Bank AG directly and indirectly raised its stake in French steel tubes maker Vallourec SA to 9.6%.

Deutsche Bank in a statement said it increased its stake in Vallourec above the 5% threshold. Now it owns a total of 5,084,036 Vallourec's shares directly and indirectly through its divisions.

Iron ore price negotiations - POSCO confirms deal with Rio Tinto

South Korean steel firm POSCO said that it had agreed to pay Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto at least 80% more for iron ore supplies.

POSCO said the deal with Rio Tinto was effective from April 1st 2008 and involved paying 80% more for one type of ore and 96.5% more for another type.

Ms Ko Min Jin a spokeswoman of POSCO told AFP that "We are still in talks with BHP Billiton of Australia on a price increase.”

In February POSCO, the world's fourth largest steelmaker, agreed to a 65% increase in iron ore contract prices with Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce.

Nucor settles lawsuit against SeverCorr and Mr John Bell

Nucor Corporation announced that it has settled its pending lawsuit against its former employee Mr John Bell and SeverCorr. This lawsuit was brought by Nucor in Federal Court in South Carolina to protect Nucor against the theft of its confidential information when Mr Bell left Nucor to join SeverCorr.

Under the terms of the Settlement, the Court has entered an Order extending the injunction it previously entered in Nucor's favor on March 14th 2008. This Order prohibits Mr Bell and SeverCorr, from using the services of Mr Bell in the preparation or manufacturing of interstitial free and ultra low carbon steels. This Court-ordered prohibition will remain in place until June 2009.

Under the terms of the Settlement, the Court has also entered a new Order which prohibits SeverCorr from producing, qualifying, promoting or marketing any ability to produce and sell interstitial free and ultra low carbon steels to prospective or actual customers. This Order will remain in place until at least September 2009.

Under the terms of the Settlement, Nucor is precluded from discussing the financial terms of the settlement.

Mr Dan DiMicco chairman, president & CEO of Nucor said that “Nucor is a leader in innovative steelmaking technologies and takes great pride in its advancements made for mini-mill steel production. Nucor's advancements in steelmaking have helped us become one of the largest, most profitable steelmakers in the world. These advances are the direct result of the hard work of all of our employees and we have an obligation to our employees and shareholders to protect the intellectual property, confidential information and trade secrets associated with the advancements made through our collective efforts. That is what we did in this case; that is what we will do in the future.”

Japanese steel demand in July to September to increase by 3.1% QoQ

According to Japan’s ministry of economy, trade and industry, Japanese steel demand will increase by 3.1% to 27.51 million tonnes in July to September from same period of 2007.

Ministry of economy, trade and industry expects that the demand will increase by 3.1% from April to June due to firm demand for shipbuilding and industrial and construction machinery.

It estimates that the crude steel output to meet the steel shipment will increase by 2.2% to 30.56 million tonnes which is record high as the quarter topping 30.24 million tonnes in 1973, while the output is 1.7% lower than April to June 2008, which is first drop in 2 quarters.

Market reaction to CSN plan for long product plant at Pernambuco

BNamericas reported that analysts in Brazil had mixed reactions to last week's announcement that steelmaker CSN had agreed to build a long products plant in the northeastern state of Pernambuco.

According to reports CSN plans to invest USD 6 billion in the 3.5 million tonne per year plant near the city of Recife, with the first phase involving USD 1.3 billion to produce 500,000 tonne per year to serve the northeast of Brazil. The first phase would involve a long products facility in direct competition with Brazil's Gerdau and Europe's ArcelorMittal.

A report from brokerage Ativa Corretora said that "The news is more of an intention than a project itself. This undertaking was not contemplated in the company's long term investment plans. It should be CSN's third priority in the construction pipeline behind two 4.5 million tonne per year mills, in Minas Gerais and Itaguaí in Rio state. There is no formal project for the Pernambuco plant and an economic feasibility study has not been finalized.”

Mr Alan Cardoso of brokerage Prosper Corretora said the market did not react too well because CSN has yet to sign contracts for the Pernambuco facility. Mr Cardoso told BNamericas that “The construction of a mill in northeastern Brazil represents a favorable risk but relies too much on how the heated world market will evolve. It is a strategy similar to Usiminas which has similar expansion projects. Companies are betting the market will remain strong for a long time with China as the main driver."

PT Krakatau Steel output in H1 of 2008 up by 29% YoY

Bisnis Indonesia reported that PT Krakatau Steel may increase production of hot rolled steel by 29% in the first six months of 2008 from a year ago.

The report cited Mr Fazwar Bujang president of PT Krakatau as saying that output of the product may rise to about 940,000 tonnes in the period from 729,673 tonnes a year earlier.

The report added that output for 2008 may increase to between 1.7 million tonnes and 1.8 million tones.

US Weekly crude steel production down by 0.5% YoY

American Iron & Steel Industries reported that in the week ending June 28th 2008, US’s raw steel production was 2.108 million net tons while the capability utilization rate was 88.4%. Production was 2.119 million net tons in the week ending June 28th2007, while the capability utilization then was 88.6%. The current week production represents 0.5% decrease from the same period in 2007.

Production for the week ending June 28th 2008 is up 1.5% from the previous week ending June 21st 2008 when production was 2.076 million net tons and the rate of capability utilization was 87.0%.

Adjusted YTD production through June 28th 2008 was 54.409 million net tons, at a capability utilization rate of 88.7%. That is a 2.4% increase from the 53.117 million net tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 85.7%.

District wise production for the week ending June 28th 2008
1. Northeast Coast: 185
2. Pittsburgh/Youngstown: 217
3. Lake Erie: 90
4. Detroit: 103
5. Indiana/Chicago: 492
6. Midwest: 271
7. Southern: 658
8. Western: 92
(In thousands of net tons)

AISI’s estimate is based on reports from companies representing about 75% of the US’s raw steel capability and includes revisions for previous months

Linde Group acquires MOX and forms MOX Linde

MOX, the biggest industrial gases company in Malaysia will from be known as MOX Linde to reflect its status as a member of one of the world leaders in gases and engineering.

Following the acquisition of MOX by The Linde Group, the MOX and Linde business operations have been integrated and is now better positioned to continue as the number one industrial gases player in Malaysia with major investments in the pipeline.

MOX-Linde brought on stream in the last six months two new plants with an investment of about RM100 million in Shah Alam and Penang, adding a further 400 tonnes per day capacity. The gases company, with over 40 major plants and installations across the country, is committed to further strengthen its business in Malaysia. This is reflected by an extensive investment plan to expand production capacity over the next two years.

Mr Wong Siew Yap country Head of MOX-Linde said that “With The Linde Group’s global expertise and support in the areas of gases technology applications, plant operations, research and development we will gain significant resources, experience and expertise to further improve and develop our services and operations in Malaysia.”

Commenting on the integration, regional business unit head for Linde’s business in South & East Asia, Mr Sanjiv Lamba said that “Malaysia will remain one of our key markets with tremendous opportunities for further growth. We expect continued strong performance from a robust economy such as Malaysia’s.” He added that “MOX Linde has great opportunity to leverage the strengths of Linde across Asia to further grow its business in Malaysia.”

Dragon Steel increase prices of H beam and billets for July

Taiwan’s Dragon Steel has announced its new price for July 2008.

Dragon Steel decided to raise its price of H beam by TWD 1,200 per tonne and the price of billet will be raised by TWD 300 per tonne.

Dragon’s H beam price is TWD 200 per ton higher than Tung Ho’s price. The company’s benchmark prices have been raised from TWD 35,500 to TWD 35,800 per tonne to TWD 36,700 to TWD 37,000 per tonne.

Domestic steel price trends in India, China and MEA

A steel user, however big or small, is always concerned about steel buying as it is normally a big ticket item, but there is no bench mark available to steel buyers to compare their transaction prices, which in a big way decided their bottom line. Lastly, steel has been very volatile in last 6 months and has effected many users in a very severe way making it all the more important to track the prices and trends.

In order to provide such information 3 web sites have been launched
1. www.steelprices-india.com
2. www.steelprices-china.com
3. www.steelprices-middleeast.com
These portals provide domestic pricing information for benchmark steel products in each category at select location in India, China and Middle East on a regular basis 5 days a week. Benchmark products at select locations cover the entire basket of garden variety of steel products including input material for steel making and processing.

In addition, FOB levels for commonly exported steel products from two of the major exporting nation Ukraine & Russia and China are also available to give a sense of alternates.

The prices are displayed on daily, weekly and monthly basis. They also have search facilities to access old data from the archives. Graphical representation of trends and comparison of price movement 2 or more products is also available. A calculator to convert domestic prices into comparative CNF and vice versa is also provided, which takes into account all duties and expenses. In addition, you can monitor currency exchange rates, metal prices, BDI for the day as well as access their archives for past data. Other features include converters for weight, length etc, glossary and advanced search functions. The benchmark product price information is supplemented by global pricing news.

This would assist persons, including steel makers, traders, users and others, who are connected with industry in some way to asses the steel pricing trends and utilize in their day to day working to take considered decisions.

All these features are accessible only to registered user who is provided with a login id and password after payment is received. To know more about the service, please logon to the web site and click on “Features”, “Subscription” and if you like the service on “Registration”.

These portals are developed and run by none other that www.steelguru.com, which has become the largest English based steel portal in the world, with more than 1 million page hits per month in just 3 years of operations.

Schnitzer Steel Q3 revenue up by 37% YoY

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc reported record quarterly net income of USD 62 million for the fiscal 2008 third quarter ended May 31st 2008 as compared to Net income of USD 44 million in 2007. Its revenues reached USD 972 million up by 37% YoY as compared to USD 709 in 2007.

Mr John D Carter president & CEO of Schnitzer Steel said that "We are pleased to report the strongest quarterly financial results in the Company's history, as each of our three operating divisions posted record revenues and operating income. Global demand for recycled metals remained robust, driven by economic growth in developing countries. In the Metals Recycling Business, our worldwide market visibility and flexibility to sell both domestically and internationally allowed us to take advantage of strong markets and significantly expand margins and operating income."

Mr Carter added that "In the Steel Manufacturing Business, tight domestic supply conditions resulting from a low level of imports affecting our product lines contributed to record quarterly sales volumes and record selling prices for finished steel products. The Auto Parts Business continued its focus on increasing vehicle purchases which led to its sixth consecutive quarter of year over year operating income growth."

Commenting on the third quarter results, Mr Tamara Lundgren executive vice president & COO said that "All three of the Company's operating divisions were able to maximize the benefits of the strong markets in which we operate through operating efficiencies and higher throughput. In the Metals Recycling Business, our capital investments to increase capacity allowed us to process the strong inflow of raw materials at all our major locations. Increased production capacity enabled the Steel Manufacturing Business to produce and ship record sales volumes, and in the Auto Parts Business our ability to process the increased car purchases while extracting more value from every car was a major factor in achieving record operating income."

Taiwanese CR prices moving up

It is reported that Taiwanese re rollers have increased their cold rolled prices up by around TWD 2,000 per tonne in line with Chung Hung Steel.

Current market prices of CRC are prevailing at around TWD 36,000 to TWD 36,500 per tonne. Market participants will wait and see what will happen next in the market.

CHS also has decided to raise its price of hot rolled product by TWD 2,000 per tonne for July, as its ex work prices are around TWD 33,500 per tonne.

Japanese ferrous scrap price hits JPY 70,000 per tonne

It is reported that ferrous scrap market price reached JPY 70,000 per tonne for H2 grade around Osaka at electric furnace steel makers' purchase price.

The report added that Japanese ferrous makers increased the price by JPY 1,000 to secure materials under tight supply after JPY 1,000 to JPY 2,000 increase last week.

Claymont Steel announces consent solicitation

Claymont Steel Inc announced that on June 27th 2008 it commenced a consent solicitation with respect to certain proposed amendments to the indenture under which its 8.875% Senior Notes due 2015 were issued. The proposed amendments would delete or modify substantially all of the restrictive covenants, as well as certain events of default and related provisions in the indenture.

Holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Notes have indicated that they intend to deliver consents.

Taiwan carbon steel tube mills to raise prices in July

Taiwan’s Chung Hung Steel has announced to raise TWD 2,000 to TWD 3,000 per tonne on its hot rolled product.

Consequently, the domestic black pipe mills have already expressed that they will increase the price list in July. The price rise is to compensate for significant increases in the cost of raw material.

The increase range is between TWD 2,000 to TWD 2,500 per tonne as current selling price has reached TWD 36,500 to TWD 37,500 per tonne.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Olympic Steel announces plans for new processing facility in Ohio

Olympic Steel Inc a national steel service center announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase a 62,000 square foot processing facility at Dover in Ohio. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur later in the third quarter of 2008, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions. The facility is expected to be operational during the fourth quarter of 2008.

Mr Michael D Siegal chairman & CEO of Olympic Steel said that "We are pleased to announce the addition of a new satellite facility in Ohio. A key component of our strategy is to be closer to our customer base. This new facility will allow us to better serve original equipment manufacturers in Central Ohio and the adjoining states. We are extremely thankful to the State of Ohio, the Tuscarawas County Commissioners and Port Authority, and the City of Dover for their efforts in supporting this approximately $5 million investment project.”

Olympic Steel founded in 1954 is a leading U.S. steel service center focused on the direct sale and distribution of large volumes of processed carbon, coated and stainless flat rolled sheet, coil and plate steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the Company operates 15 facilities.

Reliance Steel begins cash tender offers to buy PNA Group senior notes

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co announced that it has commenced cash tender offers to purchase any and all of the outstanding PNA Group Inc 10.75% Senior Notes due 2016 and any and all of the outstanding PNA Intermediate Holding Corporation Senior Floating Rate Toggle Notes due 2013 as well as related consent solicitations to amend each of the indentures governing the Notes.

There is outstanding USD 250,000,000 principal amount of the Fixed Rate Notes and USD 170,000,000 of the Floating Rate Notes. The tender offers and consent solicitations are being conducted in connection with Reliance’s agreement to acquire the outstanding capital stock of PNA Group Holding Corporation, a national steel service center group and the parent company of the issuers of the Notes.

The completion of the tender offers and consent solicitations are not conditions to completion of the Acquisition or the financing thereof. The tender offers will expire at 5:00 PM on August 1st 2008.

Citi has been retained to serve as the sole Dealer Manager for the tender offers and the consent solicitations.

CMC acquires assets of ABC Coating companies & affiliates

Commercial Metals Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all the operating assets of ABC Coating Company of Texas, Inc of Texas; ABC Coating Co Inc of Colorado; Banner Rebar Inc of Colorado and Toltec Steel Services, Inc of Illinois. The acquisition also includes Texas based Rebar Trucking, Inc and the 50% interest of the ABC Coating of North Carolina joint venture with CMC in Gastonia and ABC Coating Tennessee of Nashville.

ABC Coating companies established in 1978 are involved in rebar fabrication and epoxy coated reinforcing bar servicing the southwest, midwest and southeast U.S. with approximately 250 employees. All six locations will become a part of the CMC Americas Fabrication and Distribution segment.

Mr Russ Rinn executive vice president of CMC & CMC Americas President said that “We are excited about bringing this group of companies into the CMC family. The geographical and product line expansion will enable us to offer additional value-added services to our customer base. Their outstanding team of employees who exemplify the drive and leadership of the company's founder, Don Benge will provide additional strength to our Company.”

Commercial Metals Company and subsidiaries manufacture, recycle and market steel and metal products, related materials and services through a network including steel minimills, steel fabrication and processing plants, construction-related product warehouses, a copper tube mill, metal recycling facilities and marketing and distribution offices in the United States and in strategic international markets.

ArcelorMittal eyeing Indonesian cable maker Jembo

ANTARA News reported that publicly listed cable maker PT Jembo Cable Company is included in the list of companies, the world's largest steel maker Arcelor Mittal wants to acquire.

A company source told the newspaper Investor Daily that Mittal, which has failed to acquire a stake in the state owned steel company PT Krakatau Steel, will buy Jembo at premium price including through secondary market.

The paper reported that good performance recorded by Jembo in the first half of the year have pushed up its share prices and attracted buyers.

It said that a number of local and foreign investment managers have also indicated interest in the shares of Jembo.

Votorantim Metais to receive USD 336 million from BNDES for new mill

BNamericas reported that Brazil's federal development bank BNDES approved a BRR 540 million loan for the implementation of steelmaker Barra Mansa's second mill in Resende near Rio de Janeiro.

The BNDES financial assistance equals 45% of BRR 1.2 billion investment.

Owned by Votorantim Metais, the new mill is projected to produce 1 million tonnes per year in long steel products and the project will provide 700 new direct jobs.

The report further added that the new semi integrated mill is already being built and is expected to be operating by 2009 to supply Brazil's heated construction sector with wire rods, billets and concrete reinforcing bars.

Since 2002, Barra Mansa has been upgrading its production facilities. Grupo Votorantim revamped the company's rolling mills, and between 2003 and 2006 built a new ingot line.

CSC updates for June 2008 production

Taiwanese steel major China Steel Corporation has given the following update on production during June 2008

In tones

In million TWD

CSC said that the shipments for June declined MoM due to semiannual stocktaking of our customers and unfair weather. However, higher ASP contributed a lot to our accumulative revenue which has achieved record high.

MEPS says global products steel price in June up by7%

UK based MEPS said that “US transaction prices continue to spiral upwards, although recent increases are more moderate. Nucor has announced a relatively small rise of USD 30 per ton for August deliveries. Service centres are keeping inventories at minimum levels as their sales activity is slow. End users, who are suffering because of the weakening economic climate are maintaining very low in house stocks and purchasing only for their immediate needs. Nevertheless, supply is vastly reduced. There is a lack of imports, caused in part by high sea freight rates and a weak US dollar.”

MEPS said that “In Canadian mills order intake is still strong and that they are operating at full capacity, despite concerns over manufacturing industry suffering due to high steel costs. Imports and future permits for overseas steel remain low and this reduced pressure has helped the local producers. Distributors' inventories are declining. Steelmakers expect that steel values will climb even further as the scrap situation fully impacts the market.”

MEPS added that “In China, most stripmill product prices continued to move upwards following our May research. However, more recently, some weakness has developed. Nevertheless, our figures are still above those of a month ago. Baosteel has revised prices for the third quarter in a positive direction, although there has been no formal announcement. Excellent sales to the automakers are helping to keep supply tight in Japan. Foreign steel is more expensive than domestically produced material. Quayside stocks of imported flat products, at end May, were 8.1% higher than in the previous month the first increase since September 2007. Export business continues to perform well.”

MEPS said that “South Korea's POSCO will lift most product prices for domestic sales, effective July 1, in response to soaring raw material costs and the higher prices of domestic and overseas competitors. Re-roller, Hyundai Hysco, also hiked values for cold rolled and coated steel, in a similar time-frame, having recently agreed a massive increase for its imported hot rolled feed. In Taiwan, CSC has announced a series of price rises for domestic deliveries in period three. The average advance is around TWD 4500 per tonne, which is lower than buyers' expectations. Demand generally is strong. Further expansion is anticipated in the final quarter.”

MEPS added that “Polish customers have accepted another price escalation as third quarter deliveries are finalized. In the Czech/Slovak markets demand is booming. Producers are talking of more expensive steel because of their higher costs. Overall, supply is tight, especially at the distribution level. End users are buying only for their immediate requirements and, therefore, service centres are keeping stocks on the low side. The relentless upward movement in West European prices continues. Customers are obliged to accept the higher third quarter values demanded by local producers. Values of imported strip are still increasing although less material is entering the region. There is relatively little steel from China due to the pending anti dumping investigations. Output from domestic mills appears to be restricted.”

GCC firms raise awareness of the unified law on AD

Gulf News reported that The Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the ministry of economy and the Technical Secretariat for Anti Dumping are working together to raise awareness of the unified law on anti dumping for the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Top officials of Technical Secretariat for Anti Dumping said that potential investors are allowed to file complaints against dumping activities which could harm their trade.

Mr Rihan M Fayez director general of the Technical Secretariat for Anti Dumping said that there has been an increase in the number of cases related to dumping in recent times, which has forced the UAE government to establish bodies to deal with the issue. He added that industries need to be aware of preventive measures that can be taken by anti dumping bodies. Mr Fayez said that "The objective of the unified law is to combat harmful practices that threaten the industry." He added that potential investors who decide to not follow through on their intentions when they notice dumping in the market can file complaints with the correct authorities.

Mr Atiq Juma Nasib ED commercial services of DCCI said that "Anti dumping has increased worldwide. East Asia accounts for a large and growing share of worldwide dumping."

In the recent past, Dubai Wire, a Jebel Ali based manufacturer of steel nails faced charges in the United States for dumping nails at less than fair value, which later was declared negative by US Department of Commerce. Department of Commerce determined that producers and exporters from the UAE have not sold steel nails in the United States at less than normal value. Therefore, the UAE investigation was terminated.

Steel prices in Middle East Asia

A steel user, however big or small, is always concerned about steel buying as it is normally a big ticket item, but there is no bench mark available to steel buyers to compare their transaction prices, which in a big way decided their bottom line. Lastly, steel has been very volatile in last 6 months and has effected many users in a very severe way making it all the more important to track the prices and trends.

www.steelprices-middleeast.com is a new portal that provides domestic pricing information for benchmark steel products in each category at select location in China on a regular basis 5 days a week. In addition, FOB levels for commonly exported steel products from two of the major exporting nation Ukraine & Russia and China are also available on daily basis to give a sense of alternates.

This would assist persons, including steel makers, traders, users and others, who are connected with industry in some way to asses the steel pricing trends and utilize in their day to day working to take considered decisions.

Benchmark products at select locations cover the entire basket of garden variety of steel products including input material for steel making and processing.

All these features are accessible only to registered user who is provided with a login id and password after payment is received. To know more about the service, please logon to the web site and click on “Features”, “Subscription” and if you like the service on “Registration”.

www.steelprices-middleeast.com is developed and run by none other that www.steelguru.com, which has become the largest English based steel portal in the world, with more than 1 million page hits per month in just 3 years of operations.

Aliya Co secures AED 1.3 billion contracts in Dubai and Ajman

It is reported that Sharjah based Aliya Contracting Company has recently bagged AED 1.3 billion worth of projects in Dubai and Ajman.

Mr Nazir Ahmad chairman of Aliya said that "These include an AED 500 million triple towers project. Besides, we have been awarded an AED 140 million project in Saudi Arabia and another three buildings with a value of AED 250 million."

Mr Nazir said that it is planning to enter the real estate development market. He added that "We have already purchased some plots for our own projects. We are going to build two towers, each worth AED 165 million, at Park View on the Emirates Road. With the new projects at hand, we are planning to hire more people to manage the forthcoming projects. Right now, we are managing a total of 25 project sites in the UAE."

The UAE's construction sector is witnessing perhaps the fastest growth in three decades with thousands of projects currently being under execution. The fast track growth is also posing a stiff challenge to the contractors, who are finding it difficult to cope with rising prices of building materials, soaring operating cost and cost of manpower.

Mr Ahmad said that "Prices of steel doubled in 8 months while other raw materials have also become expensive. We could possibly absorb 5% to 7% price escalation, not anything beyond that. A lot of contractors are now fixing materials and are buying in advance to save them from the risks of price escalation."

Pakistan and Iran sign bilateral trade agreements

APP reported that Pakistan and Iran have signed four documents of co operation at the 17th session of their Joint Economic Commission. Mr Syed Naveed Qamar federal minister for finance & economic affairs led Pakistan's delegation in the meeting while Iranian side was led by foreign minister Mr Manouchehr Mottaki.

The four documents included MoU of 17th session of JEC between Pakistan and Iran, MoU between Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries & Mines and Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Agreement between two sides on international transport of passengers and goods and MoU between Pakistan Television Corporation, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation and Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

Mr Qamar said that Pakistan Iran Joint Economic Commission is a useful institutional framework to regulate the economic relations and identify new areas of co operation. He highlighted that Pakistan and Iran needed to take positive steps towards greater economic integration. He added that both countries also need to take initiatives in order to open up their economies and explore possibilities of enhancing trade.

Mr Qamar said that "We look forward to starting the bus service between the two countries by the middle of August 2008 which will facilitate travel of Zaireen and other visitors."

Mr Mottaki said that the two countries were co operating on the gas pipeline project and expressed hope that the peace pipeline will benefit not only the two countries but other countries in the region as well.

Iran inks MoU with Serbia to boost transportation

Tehran Times reported that Iran and Serbia have signed a MoU on goods and passenger transportation. The MOU was signed between Mr Mohammad Bokharai Iranian deputy minister of roads & transport and Mr Miodrag Jocic Serbian deputy minister of transport & communications.

Mr Amir Mohammadi Iranian border transit & depot bureau official explained that this MoU specifies the methods of transportation for passenger and goods in both countries and will allow both countries transportation fleets to enter and pass the other sides territory without paying any taxes or tariffs. He added that "Before the conflicts started in the Balkan region, most of Iran’s transit routes to Western Europe passed through former Yugoslavia, these transits would sometimes reach over 5000 trips per year."

Mr Mohammadi went on to note that due to the importance of this route, MoUs were signed with the countries that were on it are countries such as Croatia and Slovenia. He added that "For this, two rounds of negotiations were held between the two sides and the MOU was finalized by an Iranian expert sent to Belgrade and the Serbian deputy minister of transport and communications was officially invited to Iran to sign this MoU."

However, the Serbian government in an official statement announced that all international contracts signed by the former government were still valid, but with the recent changes made in the Serbian government the need to resign a MoU was felt more than before.

Iran to increase export gas to Turkey

IRNA quoted Mr Gholam Hossein Nozari Iranian oil minister as saying that the export of natural gas to Turkey will increase in winter of 2008.

Referring to the recent meeting of oil importing and exporting countries which was held in Jeddah, Mr Nozari noted that negotiations have been held for increasing the volume of gas export to Turkey.

It may be noted that Turkey has been buying gas from Iran via a pipeline from the northwestern city of Tabriz to Ankara since December 2001 as per a contract signed in 1996.

Iran Khodro to export 50% of output by 2016 - Report

IRNA reported that Iran Khodro Auto Manufacturing Company has decided to export 50% of its total products by 2016.

Mr Manouchehr Manteqi MD of Iran Khodro Industrial Group said that Iran Khodro plays a key role in CNG powered engine production and design across the globe and it has decided to export more CNG powered engines mainly to Muslim countries. He added that "Some USD 60 million worth of cars have been exported in 2007."

Mr Shakor Sesker Iran Khodro Industrial Group's sales manager in Turkey said that Samand EL car would hit the Turkish market in May 2009. He added that "Up to now, Iran Khodro has sold 1,600 vehicles in Turkey."

According to the sales manager, Samand EL will be sold easily due to the Turkish market's need and the car's lower price in comparison with that of Samand LX.

Iran Khodro Company's product, Samand, has been widely welcomed by people in different cities of Turkey. Iran Khodro exports the country's first national vehicle, Samand, to a number of countries, including Syria, Tajikistan and Turkey.

NIOC to raise oil output to 4.28 MBPD by March 2009

Mehr News Agency reported that, by producing 4,230,000 barrels of oil per day, National Iranian Oil Company set a record during the 30 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

Mr Seifollah Jashnsaz MD of National Iranian Oil Company said that the company is undertaken to raise the output to 4,280,000 barrels per day by March 2009. He said that the oil industry of Iran has been under global sanctions during the 30 years after the revolution, but this issue has not ever hindered us from attaining our pre defined goals.

Arak Refinery unveils EUR 2.7 billion CAPEX plan

Mehr News Agency reported that the production capacity of Arak refinery will increase to 249,100 barrels per day from the current 169,100 barrels per day through EUR 2.7 billion investment.

Mr Rashid Seyedian manager of project for qualitative improvement of Arak refinery products said that a consortium constituted of an Iranian company and the Chinese SEI Company has started the project progressing by 20% so far.

Sidhar industrial area remains closed for 6th consecutive day

Business Recorder reported that all power looms units and sizing units remained closed in Sidhar industrial area on 6th consecutive day on June 29th 2008, where tension between workers and owners still prevailing due to non implementation of peace plan.

At the ill fated industrial area Sidhar, nor workers returned on duties, neither owners start their business. Meanwhile, in Lakar Mandi, Liaqatabad and Jhang Road industrial areas the situation become normal and more than 50% weaving units and sizing industries have started functioning.

Mr Muhammad Akram Ghouri VC of All Pakistan Cotton Powerlooms Association said that the disturbance has yielded approximately PKR 5 billion loss within a week. He demanded of the government for maintaining industrial peace in Sidhar in the best interest of the country. It may be recalled that the new labor rates for power loom industry will be implemented from July 1st 2008 under agreed peace plan.

Aramex introduces four hybrid vehicles in MEA

Aramex recently announced that it had introduced four hybrid cars to its ground fleet, thereby becoming the first logistics company to use hybrid vehicles in the whole of the Middle East.

While the move is part of Aramex's bid to help reduce its carbon foot print across the region, it is also a strategy to help the company cut down its fuel consumption levels amid rising fuel prices. Environmentally friendly cars are expected to reduce carbon emissions and fuel costs by 50 per cent to demonstrate the company's commitment to environmental sustainability.

Mr Raji Hattar chief sustainability officer of Aramex said that "Preserving our environment is part of Aramex's long term commitment to corporate social responsibility. By proactively identifying and investing in eco-friendly business practices such as the use of hybrid vehicles, we are helping build a truly sustainable business model. At a critical time when high oil prices are putting a strain on the industry, the use of hybrid vehicles not only helps protect the environment, but also provides a cost effective solution to soaring fuel costs."

Mr Hussein Hachem CEO of Aramex for GCC said that a number of transport companies in the region were likely to adopt hybrid technology not only as part of their social responsibility to the environment but also to reign on soaring prices of fuel. He added that "Operation costs for most companies have gone up significantly as a result of increasing prices of fuel. Companies in this line of business are now looking at better ways to reduce their operation costs without losing business."

Aramex has already converted its fleets to hybrid in Jordan and to run on natural gas in Egypt and will be conducting tests on its vehicles in the GCC. It has switched the majority of its fleet to unleaded fuel and is now looking at ways to make its entire fleet environmentally friendly.

UASC signs USD 1.5 billion contract with Samsung Heavy

United Arab Shipping Company has announced that the signing of a newbuilding contract for nine 13,100 TEUS ships with Samsung Heavy Industries. The contract constitutes the biggest containership newbuilding order ever placed by a GCC owned company and is valued in excess of USD 1.5 billion.

Mr Sheikh Ali Al Thani chairman of board of directors of UASC said that "I welcome Samsung Heavy Industries represented by Mr Jing Wan Kim president & CEO to Dubai to sign this important contract. We are very happy to have chosen Samsung Heavy Industries to build these very large container ships for UASC. You were chosen from a long list of highly reputed and skilled shipbuilders and the contract before us is the fruit of long and hard negotiations between our two companies. I wish to thank you and your team for the professional attitude shown throughout this process and feel comfortable that our order is in good hands. Your reputation for high quality and on time delivery precedes you."

As per report, the first of the 9th sisters will be delivered to UASC in October of 2010 and the rest will follow in short order with the last vessel being delivered in the 4th Quarter of 2011.

UASC currently operates a fleet of 41 fully cellular container vessels with 3 more being delivered still in this year and 10 more in 2009 by the time the 9th A13 have been delivered the fleet will comprise more than 60 modern container ships able to carry approximately 270,000 TEUS.

Mr Al Thani added "I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers and suppliers for their continued support to UASC and herewith confirm our commitment to support the growth and continued prosperity of our region. With this addition to the UASC fleet they truly live up to their vision Linking the Middle East to the World."

Oman Cables and Takamul set up OAPIL

It is reported that Oman Aluminium Processing will sign an agreement today covering the purchase of hot metal as feedstock from Sohar Aluminium for its proposed downstream project at Sohar. OAPIL is 51% owned Oman Cables Industry SAOG a leading manufacturer and exporter of high quality cables while Takamul Investment Company an investment vehicle promoted by the state owned Oman Oil Company has a 49% stake.

Today’s agreement will mark a new milestone in OAPIL’s plans to develop a 48,000 tonnes per year capacity aluminium rod and electrical conduction manufacturing plant in Sohar. The state of the art plant, which will be built in a special Metals Park within Sohar Industrial Estate will be the first of its kind in the Sultanate.

OAPIL is the latest in a series of new downstream projects that will benefit from the supply of hot metal from Sohar Aluminium’s newly commissioned USD 2.4 billion smelter at Sohar. The JV is expected to formalise a deal for the supply of feedstock from Sohar Aluminium for the next 10 years.

As per report, Rusayl based OCI a multiple winner of the prestigious HM’s Cup for the Best Five Factories, produces medium and low voltage cables, building wires, instrumentation cables, control cables, overhead transmission line conductors and other special purpose cables and wiring solutions. The OAPIL joint venture will further reinforce OCI’s position as a an integrated player for the supply of cables and overhead conductors to power utilities in the region. Takamul has been set up by Oman Oil Company to invest in a broad spectrum of businesses along the value chain in petrochemical, metal and mineral industries.

Earlier in March 2008, Takamul’s first investment venture, Salzburg Aluminium Sohar LLC commenced production of aluminium busbars at its Sohar facilityTakamul formalised a partnership with India’s Future Metals Private Limited to set up an aluminium rods extrusion plant at Sohar with hot metal feedstock from Sohar Aluminium.

Backed by Austria’s Salzburg AG which has a 70% stake in SAG Sohar, the factory’s annual output of 25,000 tonnes is earmarked for under-construction smelters in the region and around the world. Sohar Aluminium, the main feedstock supplier for these projects has pledged up to 60% of its total liquid metal output of its 350,000 tonnes per year for downstream industries.

Sohar Power to open IPO for subscription soon

According to the company’s prospectus the initial public offering of independent power producer, Sohar Power Company will open for subscription. SPC is offering 9.73 million shares at an offer price of OMR 1.370 per share which include a nominal value of OMR 1 and a premium of 350 baisa. This is the second IPO, after the successful share offer by Voltamp Energy. Voltamp Energy’s IPO mopped up around OMR 330 million, indicating an oversubscription of 24 times.

As per report, the OMR 13.33 million worth share offer of Sohar Power which is open for both Omanis and foreigners is for complying with a contractual commitment with the government. The promoters of independent power producers in Oman have to dilute 35% of their holding to the investing public within four years of incorporation. Like other IPOs, as many as 75% of the issue is reserved for small investors who apply for not more than 4,000 shares and the remaining 25% is for those who apply for more than 4,000 shares.

The minimum application should be for 100 shares and thereafter multiples of 100. BankMuscat is the issue manager and financial adviser for SPC’s IPO which will close subscription on July 31st 2008. The promoters of SPC including Suez Tractebel is divesting 35% of their holding in the company which has a paid up capital of OMR 27.3 million.

Presently, SPC is 55% owned by Suez group, Belgium’s top utility company through its wholly owned subsidiary Suez Tractebel Parts and Repairs FZE. Suez Tractebel is one of the world’s top independent power producers with a power generating capacity running to over 30,000 MW and operations in more than 100 countries.

As per report Omani shareholders of SPC include National Trading Company, Zubair Corporation, .WJ Towell & Co, Ministry of Defence Pension Fund and Sogex Oman. STPR is diluting 10% of their holding in SPC while Omani partners are divesting 5% each in the power company. The power project meets the energy needs of northern Oman especially from large gas-based ventures coming up in Sohar.

The project consists of a 585 MW combined cycle gas fired power plant and 33 million gallons a day water desalination plant. The first phase with a generation capacity of 360 MW started operations since April 2006, while the second phase was commissioned a year later. It was funded by a syndicate of international and local banks. SPC took USD 620 million term loan from lending institutions. The financing package consisted of USD 549.89 million facility and OMR 27 million performance bond facility from a local bank.

DTZ Qatar named leasing agents for Tornado Tower

Mr Said Abu Odeh director of operations and business development at Qatar Investment Projects & Development Holding Company said that DTZ Qatar, a part of the DTZ International Group of Companies, has been appointed as the sole leasing agents for the Tornado Tower. He added that “DTZ were appointed based on their extensive experience of leasing commercial office space as well as for their in depth knowledge of the local and regional market.”

As per report, the tower provides state of the art business accommodation including flexible floor plates a specially designed lighting system on the façade created by well known light artist Mr Thomas Emde 24 hour security access, high speed lifts, ample car parking over three covered basement levels and exclusive facilities such as a fine dining restaurant and a health club.