July, 20 2008
SAIL takes firm steps to contain retail steel prices
Steel Authority of India Limited, which has not changed its selling prices since May 2008, in line with its commitment to the government, has informed its MoU HR Coil customers in writing that their purchases from the company are only meant for actual consumption and that any resale of the product will attract punitive action. The MoU customers have also been advised to inform SAIL about their stock position on a regular basis.
These directions are part of a slew of measures taken by the company to ensure that retail prices of its steel products are contained in the market.
SAIL has also cautioned its dealers about selling SAIL products beyond MRRP limits. Branch sales offices of SAIL have been alerted to keep a strict vigil on this and instructed to stop supplies to dealers who do not adhere to the direction. SAIL has already informed the public about operating MRRP of products like TMT Bar and GP & GC sheets through newspaper advertisements and its own website www.sail.co.in. The company has also advertised in newspapers about the chargeable price of HR Coil in the National Capital Region.
Among other measures taken to contain retail prices of SAIL products in the market, is an advisory to trade MoU customers to limit retail margins to within INR 1,200 per tonne over the price at which they have procured from SAIL. Any departure from this limit will invite stern action. These customers have also been advised to inform SAIL about their stockholding of SAIL products on a weekly basis.
To further ensure that steel reaches actual consumers at correct prices, SAIL has introduced a special scheme in Kolkata and Faridabad for supply of HSM plates and CR coils and sheets to consumers who require up to 10 tonnes of these items against an affidavit acknowledging self consumption. This has also been advertised through the print media.
Indian government may put export tax on flat products
It is reported that Indian steel industry could be in for another shock with the government now considering banning exports of flat products with a view to check rising inflation.
Committee of Secretaries in its last meeting said that "If the prices of flat steel products are not being kept in check, either the export duty could be increased or a ban on exports could be considered to increase domestic availability."
It is also reported that the government may consider increasing export duty on long steel products and subsequently explore the possibility of banning iron ore exports to increase domestic availability.
TATA Steel assessing project cost overruns
BS reported that TATA Steel is in the process of assessing the cost overruns in its Greenfield projects at Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa entailing 23 million tonnes capacity. Earlier, the company had estimated an investment of around INR 90,000 crore for the three projects.
Mr H M Nerurkar COO of TATA Steel on the sidelines of TATA Metaliks annual general meeting said that we are in the middle of assessing the cost overrun.
He said that “Even though we have ordered the equipments for Kalinganagar, there will cost on the civil and construction work.” He added that, the construction for the 6 million tonne Kalinga Nagar project is expected to start next month and mine allocation for the project is also awaited. Mr Nerurkar said that negotiations with the families who were yet to move from the project site were underway. The project was a year behind schedule.
In Chhattisgarh, where TATA Steel plans to set up a 5 million tonne plant, the company has got iron ore mine allocation but the land had not been acquired. According to the original plan, the first phase of the Chhattisgarh project was to be commissioned by 2011 and the second phase by 2015.
In Jharkhand, there was no progress as the state government was yet to come out with a rehabilitation and resettlement policy. Applications for land had been made more than a year and a half back but there could be no progress as the R&R policy which had been drafted by the previous government had not been notified.
Indian government plans steel price band - Report
The Economic Times, quoting unnamed government sources, reported that Indian government is planning a price band for steel products in order check rising inflation. The report added that the proposal is likely to be discussed at a committee of secretaries meeting next week.
The paper quoted unnamed government sources as saying that “The rise in steel price and its impact on inflation is a cause of major worry for the government. There are expectations that steel prices may rise once again next month after the self imposed price moratorium of steel companies comes to end.”
The report added that the government may ask companies to hold prices for a few months more and that the system of price banding is being considered for the next stage to reduce price volatility in a rising steel market. It added that the CoS meeting would be followed up with a meeting of ministry officials with steel companies.
Steel and steel products contribute to 21% of inflation.
TATA Steel Jamshedpur expansion on track
It is reported TATA Steel capacity expansion of its Jamshedpur steel plant is on track and would be completed by September end.
TATA Steel in its first quarter performance report said that the commissioning of third caster and the vessel upgrade at LD Shop number 1 is as per schedule and will be completed by end of September 2008.
The commissioning of the third caster and vessel upgrade at LD Shop number 1, the steel making capacity at TATA Steel's Jamshedpur Works would increase to 6.8 million tonnes.
JSW opens steel showroom in Pune
UNI reported that JSW Steel has opened an exclusive steel retail outlet, JSW Shoppe in Pune. The showroom, the second in Maharashtra was inaugurated by Mr Nagesh Pinge Director of JSW Steel. The first was opened in Kolhapur.
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. This interface with the customer will result in creating a strong relationship based on trust and reliability with JSW steel.
Mr Pinge Director of JSW Steel while speaking after the inauguration said that ''The concept of the shoppe originate from the fact that we want customers to get the right quality of product at the right price and at the right place.”
He added that “This novel marketing initiative will go a long way in creating brand awareness about JSW Steel's superior product quality and will ensure that the customers get full value for money.”
Steel pipes to cost INR 48,000 a tonne - FII
BS reported that members of the Federation of Industries of India would sell steel pipes at a rate of INR 48,000 per tonne lower than INR 4,000 a price earlier.
According to the report, these prices are applicable till prices of hot rolled coil, the main input remains unchanged.
The primary steel producers, who manufacture HRC, had promised to hold prices for a three month period beginning May 7th. The price freeze ends on August 7th.
Kirby bags INR 190 crore order from Renault Nissan
BS reported that Hyderabad based Kirby Building Systems has secured a INR 190 crore order from auto major Renault Nissan Automotive India for constructing the latter's manufacturing facility near Chennai using pre engineered steel buildings.
According to the report, the total facility will be spread over 300,000 square meters and will include buildings for stamping, trims and chassis, body shop, power train and painting. The project will be completed by April 2009.
While the components will be fabricated at its plants in Hyderabad and Haridwar, these would be assembled in Chennai. The project, to be carried out in phases would be completed in nine months.
Mr Praveen K Tandon chairman of Kirby said about 20,000 tonne steel would be used for the project. Kirby will handle the designing component as well. He said that this is taken up as a fast track project from concept to finish, adding that Kirby had an installed capacity of about 200,000 tonne.
Mr Praveen said that the company's order book stands at about INR 700 crore spread over 150 projects to be delivered this calendar year. He said that Kirby accounts for a 55% share in the country's PEB market and has executed over 2,500 PEB projects in India including those of Nokia, Suzlon, Reliance Retail and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The company expects to cross INR 1,200 crore turnover this year.
Orissa tops charts in steel investments for 3rd year
It is reported that Orissa has been marching ahead towards becoming a major steel hub of the country as per reported investments and project implementation. This rank has been held by the state for three consecutive years 2005-07.
Mr Naveen Patnaik chief minister of Orissa said that Orissa has been ranked first in India in terms of value of total envisaged projects and also in terms of value of total projects under implementation.
He noted that the projected investment is of INR 600,000 crore, of which INR 300,000 crore is already under implementation. The steel sector alone has yielded more than 50,000 employment by now.
Mr Ashok Dalwai secretary steel and mines department observed that "Judicious exploitation of the states mineral wealth has laid out the road to development and prosperity while referring to the use of bauxite for the growth of aluminum industry in the state.”
NALCO to import coal to avoid reducing output
BS reported that National Aluminum Company, which had cut production last month because of coal shortage, plans to import 100,000 tonnes of fuel to prevent another disruption at a time when prices of the aluminum are record high.
Mr C R Pradhan chairman of NALCO said that the company will purchase thermal coal from countries including Indonesia in two months. He said that “Shutting down operations will create problems, which we want to avoid at any cost. By importing, we can avoid the troubles that we encountered earlier.”
Production at National Aluminum fell 30% for six days in June after supplies from Coal India to its 960 MW power plant were disrupted by a strike.
HZL cuts zinc price and raises lead prices
It is reported that Hindustan Zinc said it has reduced zinc prices by INR 3,400 a tonne and raised lead prices by INR 2,800 a tonne.
The company release said zinc would now cost INR 90,500 per tonne and lead INR 96,000 per tonne.
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 not only Indian but most of global players associated with steel industry. But due to fragmented nature of industry, a comprehensive list of smaller steel makers is not readily available.
"Indian Steelmakers Directory 2008' is one the top sources of information available on steel making companies in India! 'Indian Steelmakers Directory' 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.
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. 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.
Why spend hundreds of hours searching for new contacts? Invest in a copy TODAY!
This directory covers name and details of 720 of Indian steelmakers in Alphabetical as well as location wise order.
Look at the information you'll get in the 'Indian Steelmakers Directory'
• Company name -723 entries
• Address-723 entries
• Phone number-723 entries
• Fax number -590 entries
• Email -446 entries
Report Summary:
1. Published: Feb 2008
2. Format PDF File (Delivery by Email on receipt of payment)
3. Total no of pages – 396
Price: USD 1250 or equivalent in INR
(Additional Charges would be levied for delivery of file on a CD or in printed form)
You can order your copy to reports@steelguru.com
Global steel demand will outpace supply for next decade - Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs Group analysts believe that global steel markets will remain in a tight supply and demand balance for some time to come because of recent fast growth in demand relative to limited growth in supply.
Mr Sal Tharani analyst at Goldman Sachs New York offices wrote to clients that “Over the last few months, global demand has exceeded supply, creating a shortage of steel. This scenario could continue for through 2017.”
Mr Tharani said that “There have been new pockets of demand expanding in the Middle East, BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China and other emerging economies which are pressuring the 1.5 billion tonnes of global supply. This will sustain high global stele pricing, because of high raw material input costs and the higher expenses and longer lead times associated with adding new steelmaking capacity.”
Goldman Sachs expects that the world demand trend to remain strong and pressure production to 2.6 billion tonne by 2017. Mr Tharani said that he is quite certain that the forecasted 450 million tonne to 500 million tonne of new steelmaking capacity needed to meet this demand trend will be difficult to bring on line over that 10 year period and may fall well short of that target.
He said that “The emergence of China as a global growth engine has changed this since the beginning of this decade. Upshot: Over the past seven years, global steel production has grown by around 7%, primarily due to unprecedented demand in China and, lately, the other BRIC and developing countries.”
Looking ahead, Mr Tharani wrote that “Between BRICs and other emerging developing countries, more than half of the world population is going through a growth phase, which will require immense amount of steel, in our view. Steel demand growth rate in a country is the highest when a nation is in a rapid developmental phase. Generally the biggest spending in this phase is on infrastructure build up which could include housing, roads, bridges, water and sewage systems, communication networks, airports, etc. Although there is increasing demand from industrial and consumer durables as well, construction and infrastructure sectors are the biggest source of steel demand. Steel obviously is an important input in developing these sectors.”
He forecasts that the bulk, about 85%, of new steel production capacity, or 480 million tonnes will come from the traditional blast furnace process, which uses iron ore and coking coal as input materials. China will continue to increase its steel capacity, albeit at a lower rate than the past 7 years. So, it will remain dependent on imports of iron ore to feed its growing steel capacity, in our view. India and Brazil, which are both rich in iron ore are also expected to increase their steel capacity considerably over the coming decade.
Mr Tharani added that most steelmaking firms worldwide will be reluctant to put large Greenfield projects using electric arc furnace technology, due to limited availability of scrap.
South African Steel body sees no obvious signs of cartel
The Southern African Institute of Steel Construction, whose members include steel producing companies such as Highveld Steel and Vanadium, Scaw Metals and ArcelorMittal South Africa, stated that it certainly did not know of any collusion in the industry and did not notice any signs of it.
Mr Hennie de Clercq executive director of SAISC said that “Any illegal action there might have been would have been limited to products not used in structures. Although the price of steel has without doubt increased dramatically in the past six month this is entirely in line with international trends.”
He added that in many instances, South African steel was cheaper than in most other countries.
Mr De Clercq said that "While we abhor price increases, we acknowledge that there are strong forces that push up the international and local price of steel. There was an international shortage of steel and all inputs, from iron ore and coking coal to transport, which have increased steeply. This was in line with what steel producers stated when raising prices.”
The statement from the institute followed an announcement by the Competition Commission that it had received an application for corporate leniency from a steel company, which alleged the existence of a cartel among competitors in the steel sector. Scaw Metals, in which Anglo American holds a 74% stake, later divulged that it was the company which had sought and been granted conditional leniency.
The company’s application followed the raids on June 19th 2008 of Cape Town Iron and Steel Works, Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation, and the South African Iron and Steel Institute. The commission initially estimated that the prices of reinforcing bar, wire rod, sections, roofing bolts and fencing products including droppers have been inflated by at least 20%.
Japanese HR Coil exports to South Korea may plunge in Q4
TEX reported that there is speculation that HR coil exports out of Japan to South Korea may take a nosedive for shipments in the October to December quarter.
Japanese HR coil exports to South Korea usually total 200,000 tonne per month to 300,000 tonne per month. They totaled 1,283,828 tonnes in January to May 2008 up by 14.5% from the same period of 2007, amounting to an average 257,000 tonne per month. They could decline to an estimated 210,000 to 220,000 tonne per month in the October to December quarter, given the Japanese steelmakers' reduced export volumes then.
Japanese integrated steelmakers are expected to begin their HR coil export negotiations with South Korea's various steel rerollers in early August on October to December shipments. There are signs that the Japanese steelmakers are considering reducing what they negotiate with the Korean steel rerollers. As a result, it is likely that the Japanese steelmakers offer small price increases of USD 100 per tonne or less in their HR coil export negotiations with the Korean steel rerollers for Q4 shipments.
The Japanese steelmakers have in house conditions that require quantity adjustments in HR coil exports for Q4 shipments. One company finds it necessary to cut HR coil exports while stockpiling slabs for blast furnace repairs. Another company is set to increase slab supplies to overseas users with which the company has alliance relations, which will lead to a certain reduction in HR coil exports.
(Sourced from TEX Report Ltd)
CVG takes over operational control of Sidor
Ternium SA recently announced that the Venezuelan government assumed the total operational control of the recently nationalized steelmaker Siderúrgica del Orinoco.
Ternium warned international customers and capital markets that “Following the change in operational control, Sidor's board of directors will cease to function and Sidor's operations will be managed by Corporación Venezolana de Guayana that has assumed complete operation control and complete responsibility over Sidor's operations.”
According to the release "Sidor's operation will be managed by a six member temporary operating committee, the majority of which members will be appointed by CVG." It said that "Ternium, however, has not yet transferred its ownership interest in Sidor to Venezuela."
Steel demand and capacity will continue to advance - OCED
According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, global steel demand growth continues to be led by emerging economies, to meet the requirements of expanding industrial sectors and infrastructure growth. The organization said that demand growth for steel in many mature economies has slowed in line with weaker economic activity.
Mr Risaburo Nezu chairman of the OECD Steel Committee said that “In the mature steel markets of North America, the European Union and Japan, steel demand growth will remain modest in the near term, reflecting the economic slowdowns in the these countries. Housing market weakness is one factor limiting consumption growth in North America and Japan. Consumption growth in the EU is firmer, though it is beginning to slow noticeably.”
The OECD outlook expresses the same bullish tone as the International Iron and Steel Institute forecast of April, which suggested that 2008 will show apparent steel use worldwide rising to 1.28 billion metric tons from 1.20 billion tonne in 2007, an increase of 6.7%.
Mr Nezu said that Chinese growth in machinery and automotive manufacturing, shipbuilding and construction are likely to continue to support steel demand above the 408 million tonnes of 2007, which was 13% more than was used in 2006. He also believes that a growing industrial sector and expanding infrastructure building “should continue to support steel use in India” above the 51 million metric tons of 2007, which was 11.3% stronger than in 2006.
The OECD Steel Committee's outlook continues by noting that apparent steel use in Russia of almost 40 million tonne in 2007 will be bolstered this year by the oil and gas industry as well as rising household incomes. Brazilian steel demand is increasing significantly from its 2007 level of 22 million tonne, reflecting the buoyant domestic construction, automotive and capital goods sectors.
The Middle East and Africa are experiencing very strong growth in steel demand to meet the requirements of investments in oil and gas projects and expanding construction activity. Apparent use reached 25 million tonne in Africa and 44 million tonne in the Middle East in 2007.
The OECD Steel Committee said that, global steelmaking capacity continues to expand rapidly a trend that is being supported by generally higher producer profitability and positive demand prospects. This development has been enhanced by increased flows of foreign direct investment, as steel companies expand their operations in emerging economies where steel consumption is increasing rapidly.
Mr Ku Taek Lee chairman of the IISI Executive Committee reviewed the forecast at its meeting in St Petersburg said that “The underlying assumption behind this forecast is that although some weakening in the US and European Union economies is expected, demand for steel will remain healthy thanks in part to the emerging markets which will maintain their own dynamism.”
Aceros Arequipa triples profits in H1
BNamericas reported that Peruvian steelmaker Aceros Arequipa more than tripled its consolidated net income for the first half of the year with PEN 139 million (USD 48.9mn) as compared to PEN 39.3 million in H1 of 2007.
Aceros Arequipa in a statement to Peru's securities regulator Conasev said that its consolidated net sales rose 122% YoY to PEN 683 million in H1 of 2008 from PEN 306 million. The satatement added that costs also skyrocketed to 423 million in the recent period from PEN 242 million in H1 of 2007.
The gross margin was 38% in H1 of 2008, higher than the 20.5% margin obtained as Aceros Arequipa's sale prices are ahead of anticipated cost rises.
Kremikovtzi creditors concerned over insolvency process
Reuters reported that creditors of ailing Bulgarian steelmaker Kremikovtzi fear ending up empty handed because of the way the country's courts are handling its insolvency.
A spokesman for bond holders said that creditors have taken their concerns to the European Commission, which is due to publish a report on the progress in fighting corruption in Bulgaria and Romania on July 23rd 2008, 19 months after they joined the EU.
Mr Justin Holland VP of investment bank Houlihan Lokey who represents a group of Kremikovtzi bond holders said that "We have real concerns regarding transparency and integrity of the process. We have met some people at the Commission about the issue.”
Mr Holland told Reuters that the creditors, which hold half of Kremikovtzi's EUR 350 million (USD 549.9 million) worth of bonds, believed their interest could be harmed by the way the court was administering the mill's insolvency process. He said that under Bulgarian law insolvency cases are heard behind closed doors and courts do not provide information on ongoing cases.
Mr Holland said that he was concerned the court might declare that Kremikovtzi had been bankrupt since 2004, which might invalidate the creditors' financial claims on the bonds which were issued in 2006. He added that "In this case we might have a zero recovery from our investment.”
But a spokeswoman for the Sofia City Court dismissed the creditors' comments and said that "It is an attempt to pressure the court."
Pig iron prices remain high in Italy despite weak demand
Italian market prices of pig iron have been staying at a high level, with demand remaining weak. However, prices of pig iron have dropped to USD 950 to USD 980 per tonne these days, after a peak of USD 1,000 per tonne.
Due to higher price, the willingness of buying pig iron is weak. Buyers are preferred to buy high grade scrap while CIS pig iron suppliers are reluctant to further cut prices.
(Sourced from YIEH.com)
Japanese steel shortage biting shipyards
A local survey revealed that delays in deliveries of raw materials to Japan’s leading shipyards are growing worse.
Kaiji Press said that delays in the supply of steel plate had reached four weeks in some cases, as shipbuilders continue to resist increases of JPY 30,000 (USD 289) per tonne an increase of nearly 40%. The poll that on average steel supplies are being delayed by two weeks.
A senior executive at IHI Marine told Lloyd’s List that a general body of opinion amongst the yards is that the delays are a tactic being employed by the steel mills to put pressure on shipbuilders to cave in to price increases.
The Imabari shipbuilding group said that it had undergone a thorough review of the group’s order books and construction timeline in order to reduce the adverse effects of late delivery of raw materials. The net effect was to reduce a four-week waiting period to a two week delay in construction. But there was no more flexibility to be pulled out of the system.
Mr Yukito Higaki president of Imabari said that “We cannot make any more reviews or modifications, but we are yet to arrange a reassuring supply system for our required steel volume.”
According to other shipyards polled, steel mills are putting in place a new inspection system that is slowing supplies as deficiencies are noted in various products. The implication is that for products to meet Japanese and other international standards, prices must go up.
An unnamed shipyard spokesperson told the poll that “We heard that if the standards were to be formally adhered to, this would inevitably lead to an increase in price. We are mad, but we cannot help but be speechless with amazement at the turn of events.
Big steel makes coal play but US companies absent
AP reported that international steel companies are getting back in the business of coal mining. While it's been decades since major steelmakers such as US Steel abandoned coal mining, the need for cheap, stable supplies of metallurgical grade coal is drawing the likes of ArcelorMittal back to the coalfields.
ArcelorMittal the world's largest steel producer recently upped its stake in Australia's Macarthur Coal and snapped up Mid Vol Coal Group, which has mines in West Virginia and Virginia.
Mr Charles Bradford industry analyst said that owning coal mines offers an advantage to steelmakers who use coke fired blast furnaces. Producers who've switched to electric arc furnaces are being hammered by scrap prices that have nearly tripled to USD 890 a ton today.
Mr Bradford said that everybody wants their own low cost materials.
Taiwanese steel market weakens
It is reported that Taiwan’s domestic carbon steel market is experiencing a sluggish situation, as prices maintain their high level and demand remains weak.
Flat prices are still edging higher, but buyers had replenished their stocks before the price rise and they are still watching the market.
It was remarkable that rebar prices have dropped but buyers are still adopting a wait and see attitude, which makes for an extremely listless condition.
Import HR prices now prevailing is at a high of USD 1,100 to USD 1,150 per tonne.
(Sourced from YIEH.com)
Insteel Industries Q3 sales up by 32% YoY
Insteel Industries, Inc announced financial results for the third quarter ended June 28th 2008. Earnings from continuing operations for the quarter were USD 16.9 million as compared with USD 8.3 million. Net sales for the quarter increased 32.1% YoY to USD 104.3 million from USD 79.0 million last year.
For the nine month period ended June 28th 2008, earnings from continuing operations were USD 28.1 million as compared with USD 19.2 million. Net sales for the nine month period increased 10.8% to USD 247.6 million from USD 223.4 million last year. Average selling prices rose 17.2% while shipments decreased 5.5%.
Gross profit for the quarter increased to USD 30.9 million from USD 17.4 million a year ago due to higher spreads between average selling prices and raw material costs, which more than offset the lower shipments and higher unit conversion costs. The widening in spreads was driven by the price increases that were implemented during the quarter together with the consumption of lower cost inventory under FIFO accounting. Most of the Company's manufacturing facilities continued to operate on reduced schedules in response to the soft demand.
Mr HO Woltz III president & CEO of Insteel said that "We are pleased with Insteel's financial performance for the third quarter, especially in light of the continued escalation in raw material costs and difficult conditions that we experienced in certain of our markets.”
He added that "Additional price increases were implemented across all our product lines during the quarter to recover these added costs and position the Company to achieve satisfactory results when steel and other commodity prices eventually stabilize. Shipments fluctuated within the quarter due to accelerated purchases by customers driven by the unprecedented frequency and magnitude of the price increases, making it difficult to determine the actual consumption trends for our products."
Insteel Industries is one of the nation's largest manufacturers of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. It manufactures and markets pre stressed concrete strand and welded wire reinforcement, including concrete pipe reinforcement, engineered structural mesh and standard welded wire reinforcement.
Eaton Steel improves business processes with Oracle
Eaton Steel a leading distributor and processor of engineered steel bars in UK, is relying on the Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Database and Oracle SOA Suite, a component of Oracle Fusion Middleware to gain insight into its supply chain network and financial results, simplify transactions with its network of partners and help reduce costs by automating key business processes.
Using Oracle Financials, Eaton Steel gained a unified view of its financial performance and transactions across all six of its subsidiaries. As a result, the company has better insight into organizational performance and can consistently refine processes to improve results.
It said that with Oracle Discrete Manufacturing, Eaton Steel is able to manage its entire steel production process, from heat treating and sizing the material to work in process to cost and quality management. Additionally, the company relies on Oracle to automatically transfer engineering specifications into production items, bills of material and routing.
Building on its successful implementation of the Oracle E-Business Suite, Eaton Steel used Oracle SOA Suite to develop a service-oriented architecture that simplifies EDI transactions with the company's wide range of business partners and helps automate the business processes around those transactions.
Using Oracle SOA Suite, Eaton Steel is developing a series of Web Services based on easily reusable code that allows its subsidiaries and partners to call up a simple Web based interface and quickly enter the relevant information, which will then be automatically routed into the Oracle E-Business Suite. This will enable Eaton Steel to automate business processes in multiple areas, such as purchase orders, invoices, and inventory management.
Mr Joe Machak vice president of Information Technology of Eaton Steel said that "Using Oracle SOA Suite to develop and integrate transactional Web services into Oracle E-Business Suite has simplified our processing and made it easier for our vendors, partners and internal employees to manage the process. Now, we can easily keep our inventory up to date and better understand the performance of our distributed manufacturing operation.”
Tokyo Steel increases scrap purchase prices
TEX reported that Japan's top electric steelmaker Tokyo Steel Mfg Co has increased what the company pays for locally available ferrous scrap by a uniform JPY 1,000 per tonne for all grades at the company's three West Japan works effective with July 15th 2008 purchases.
As a result, the new delivered prices of No2 HMS are JPY 72,000 per tonne for seaborne and overland arrivals at the Okayama works; JPY 71,000 per tonne for seaborne and overland arrivals at the Kyushu works and JPY 70,000 per tonne for seaborne and overland arrivals at the Takamatsu works.
Tokyo Steel's purchase prices of local ferrous scrap are unchanged this time at its Utsunomiya works in the Kanto area. The delivered price of No2 HMS is JPY 71,500 per tonne for overland arrivals.
(Sourced from TEX Report Ltd)
Siemens to supply 10 compressor trains to Petrobras
Siemens Energy announced that it has received an order from the Brazilian oil & gas company Petrobras for the supply of ten compressor trains.
The compressors plus their drives will be installed in desulphurization units at eight existing oil refineries in Brazil. The order is part of a major investment program initiated by Petrobras to make eco friendly low sulfur fuels available at all of Brazil’s gas stations. The Siemens compressor trains will be delivered to the refineries starting in August 2009. The volume of the order is more than EUR 75 million.
Compressors are key components in the desulphurization process in oil refineries. Seven of the ten single shaft compressors Siemens is supplying to Petrobras will be driven by steam turbines. These steam turbines are also included in the scope of supply and will be fed with process steam from the refineries. A further three compressors will be driven by electric motors. The use of different drive technologies will enable optimized utilization of available steam resources in the refinery process and thus make the production of low-sulfur fuels highly efficient.
Mr Thomas Dalstein CEO of the Siemens Process Compression Business Unit said that “The new order from Petrobras is the biggest single order in the field of process compression that Siemens has ever received. With our technology we can support Petrobras in producing cleaner low sulfur fuels for Brazil. Furthermore, our machines work very efficiently and therefore guarantee the best use of resources.”
Claymont Steel announces extension of early tender date
Claymont Steel Inc announced the results to date of its previously announced cash tender offer for any and all of its outstanding 8.875% Senior Notes due 2015.
As of July 16th 2008, USD 105 million in aggregate principal amount of the Notes, representing 100% of the outstanding Notes, was validly tendered.
The Company also announced that it is extending the early tender date of the tender offer to July 24th 2008. Holders who have previously tendered their Notes do not need to r -tender their Notes or take any other action in response to this extension. The withdrawal deadline for the Notes expired on July 16th 2007. Accordingly, holders may no longer withdraw any Notes previously tendered.
RBS Greenwich Capital is acting as dealer manager for the tender offer. The information agent and depositary for the tender offer is DF King & Co Inc.
Sankyo Tateyama to expand non construction light metal business
JMB reported that Sankyo-Tateyama Holdings tries to expand aluminum and light metal businesses other than construction materials for next growth.
As per report the firm targets JPY 100 billion of annual sales for the businesses in 5 years from JPY 51 billion for the year ending May 2008.
The report added that the firm eyes consolidation of Sankyo Material, which makes light metal products for other than construction, and Toyama Alloy, which makes aluminum billet. The firm tries to streamline the business to improve the efficiency.
NEC and Sumitomo Electric to acquire OCC
Japan's largest maker of personal computers NEC and Sumitomo Electric Industries announced that they will acquire leading Japanese submarine optical cable maker OCC Corp to meet growing demand for submarine cable systems.
NEC spokesman, said that NEC will acquire 75% and Sumitomo Electric which makes electrical cables and optical fibers, will buy the remainder from investment company Longreach Group, Makoto Miyakawa.
The purchase will cost Tokyo based NEC and Osaka based Sumitomo Electric as much as JPY 9 billion (USD 85 million).
OCC has about 20% of the global market for undersea cables.
Abu Dhabi to launch building materials price index
Arabianbusiness.com reported that Abu Dhabi is planning to launch a price index for building materials in a move aimed at curbing price manipulation as construction costs soar in the UAE.
The Department of Planning and Economy said that the index will include 22 products that make up 90% of basic construction materials.
The department in a statement said that “The building materials' price index will expose traders who manipulate prices in this vital sector amid the current economic boom in Abu Dhabi in particular and the UAE in general.”
It said that “Soaring fuel prices and international high transport cost also contributed in increasing prices of many basic construction material prices.”
The DPE said that some building material prices fluctuated in June, with iron pipe rising by 19% compared to the previous month, spiral iron up by 17% and round bar iron climbing 4%
SABIC H1 net profit up by 13% YoY
The Saudi Basic Industries Corporation reported preliminary consolidated net profits of SAR 14.5 billion for the H1 ending June 30th 2008 as compared with SR 12.8 billion in the same period in 2007 up by 13% YoY.
SABIC also reported preliminary consolidated operating profits of SAR 23 billion for the first six months of 2008, compared with SAR 19.2 billion for the same period in 2007, an increase of 20%. These results are SABIC’s highest ever reported profits in one quarter. Net profits reported in this quarter amounted to SAR 7.54 billion compared with SAR 6.47 billion in the same period last year an increase of 17%.
Mr Mohamed Al Mady vice chairman & CEO of SABIC said that “The total revenues as at June 30th 2008 stood at SAR 83 billion, a growth of 54 percent compared with the same period last year. This is primarily attributed to combining SABIC Innovative Plastics’ results in SABIC’s Financial Statements for the current period. This is in addition to the improvement of sales prices of key products, rise of the volume of production and sales by 5 and 6 percent respectively. This is despite the hike of raw materials’ prices owing to the rise of oil prices and the slowdown of major economies.”
He added that “The SABIC Board of Directors, under the chairmanship of Prince Saudi bin Abdullah bin Thunayan Al-Saud has approved the distribution of SAR 5.25 billion cash dividends to the company’s shareholders for the first half of 2008, at SAR 1.75 per share.”
Pakistan to add more items on white list for imports from India
Reuters reported that Pakistan is expanding its bilateral trade with India by allowing more imports from the neighboring country, including diesel and fuel oil.
Mr Ahmed Mukhtar said a cabinet minister said that Pakistan's decision to expand its list of imports from India is part of efforts to cut its widening trade deficit and reduce rising transport costs on imports from far off countries. He said that "We are gradually liberalizing our bilateral trade with India.”
Mr Mukhtar said that Pakistan is adding diesel, fuel oil and many other items on the list of imports from India. He said that "It will be cheaper to import from India due to differences in transportation cost. This will also help us to address our global trade deficit.”
Pakistan's trade deficit for the fiscal year 2007-08 widened by 52.95% to USD 20.74 billion as against USD 13.56 billion in the same period last year, mainly due to rising global oil prices.
Ajman to set up power plant with Malaysian help
Emirates News Agency reported that Sheikh Huamid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi Supreme Council member and Ruler of Ajman signed an agreement between the Ajman government and MMC of Malaysia to set up in Ajman a 1000 MW power plant at a total cost of USD 2 billion.
As per report, the agreement was signed by Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi chairman of Ajman Department of Municipality and Planning for the Ajman government and Mr Ernest Nevaratnam head of investment and projects MMC Malaysia.
In a statement after the signing of the agreement, Sheikh Rashid said that the main aim of establishing the coal driven power plant is to provide enough electricity to the new real estate projects that would be executed in the near future in Ajman, adding that the power plant would be completed within a maximum period of three and a half years.
He hinted that two power plants built by the Federal Electricity and Water Authority will start operating in the next few months to provide electricity to the completed building projects until the new power plant projects is completed by MMC Malaysia, which will fund the project on a build, operate and transfer basis in 20 years time.
Jordanian energy bill during five month up by 72%
According to a report in the Al Arab Al Yawm Arabic daily, Jordan Kingdom’s energy bill rose by 72% during January to May 2008 period
Citing Department of Statistics, it reported that the country’s bill surpassed JOD 1.25 billion. It said that the cost of crude oil amounted to JOD 953.7 million during the January to May period of this year compared to around JOD728 million during the same period last year; an increase of 71.7%.
It added that the country also paid JOD 119.4 million for diesel oil, JOD 64 million for liquid household gas, JOD 28.4 million for gasoline, JOD 70 million for natural gas and JOD 14 million for electric power.
The newspaper said that other shortages of petroleum products are covered through importing from other markets via competitive tenders. In the absence of commercial quantities, the Kingdom depends heavily on imported energy products which account for around 96 per cent of its total needs.
At present, the Kingdom imports three billion barrels of oil monthly, on average, from Saudi Arabia.
USD 182 million allocated to Kashan power plant
MNA reported that the Iranian cabinet approved of allocating IRR 1,665 billion (USD 182 million) to Kashan’s combined cycle power plant development plan out of Iran Power Development Company’s internal financial resources.
Iran’s Presidential website reported that according to an enactment issued by the economic commission of the government the sum will be allocated to supplying equipment required for Kashan’s combined cycle power plant development plan
IKCO to roll out 11 new models by 2012
MNA reported that Iranian automaker, Iran Khodro Company, will market 11 new cars models by the next four years.
IRNA quoted Mr Manuchehr Manteqi CEO of the as saying the company will introduce its new low cost family cars in the next Iranian calendar year to start March 21st 2009
AED 1 billion Burj Al Fara'a tower project launched
Al Fara'a Properties, the flagship subsidiary of the Al Fara'a Construction, Industrial and Property Group, has announced the launch of the AED 1 billion Burj Al Faraa a state of the art commercial tower located in the commercial business district of Jumeirah Village, which is spread across 811 hectares.
The unveiling of the developer's latest project is aimed at addressing the strong demand for commercial space within Dubai, which is expected to witness the construction of over 86 million square feet of built space for office use by 2010.
Scheduled for completion by December 2011, Al Fara'a Properties has revealed plans to break ground on the 38 storey state-of-the-art commercial tower by December 2008. Set to offer a selection of office spaces, Burj Al Fara'a will provide a highly impressive business address to both local and multinational businesses seeking to establish a strong presence within the commercial business district at Jumeirah Village, which has recently witnessed the completion of 60% of its infrastructure works.
Ms Natasha Gangaramani Director of Al Fara'a Properties said that "The launch of 'Burj Al Fara'a', which is a testament to our growth and diversifying business, is aimed at leveraging the enormous demand for high-technology commercial spaces in Dubai. We will be working towards the timely delivery of this project, which will be constructed using the highest industry standards to supply the booming demand and fittingly represent the philosophy of our organization. Our main focus lies in achieving success in all our endeavors and we have developed a result-driven strategy based on the rapidly maturing real estate climate which clearly states the excessive need for commercial spaces to be built in Dubai within the coming years."
Chinese HRC export prices slow down this week
It is reported that Chinese export market for hot rolled steel coil remain slow this week and there have been less contracts at the current high price level.
Domestic HRC prices are still in downward adjustment. On Shanghai market, commercial 4.75mm to 12mm HRC in 1500mm width was at CNY 5780 per tonne to CNY 5820 per tonne down by CNY 50 per tonne from last week. That for 1800mm wide HRC was at CNY 6220 per tonne a decrease of CNY 20 per tonne. However, price for commodity grade 2.75mm HRC has increased by CNY 80 per tonne to CNY 6180 per tonne.
Export offers for commodity grade HRC by tier two steel makers were prevailing at USD 1020 per tonne to USD 1040 per tonne FOB and those by tier one producers are at USD 1050 per tonne FOB.
(Sourced from MySteel.net)
Steel international logistics center establish in Xinjiang Urumqi
It is reported that a steel international logistics center with planning area of 1.6 square kilometers is being constructed in Xinjiang Urumqi.
As per reports, investment of the project is about CNY 590 million and will have 120,000 tonnes steel reserves capacity. At the same time, the trade market wick two special railway lines with the total length of 1.2 kilometers.
When the center is complete on 2010 it will become the largest steel and metallurgical distribution center for procurement transactions in the middle of Asian region. After completion, the center will have 5 million tonnes of steel throughput, focus on negotiations, procurement, transactions, logistics etc.
Chinese rebar and wire rod export prices remain unchanged
It is reported that Chinese domestic construction steel market was quiet this week and export prices also remained largely unchanged.
Shanghai market prices for HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at CNY 5250 per tonne to CNY 5260 per tonne, HRB400 grade material is being quoted at CNY 5440 per tonne to CNY 5480 per tonne down CNY 10 per tonne and CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 60 per tonne from last Thursday. Commercial wire rod is at CNY 5500 per tonne that for hi-speed material remains at CNY 5780 per tonne to CNY 5800 per tonne, down CNY 60 per tonne to CNY 70 per tonne WoW.
Export offers for rebar are about USD 1080 per tonne to CNY 1130 per tonne FOB and some producers are quoting at about USD 1120 per tonne to USD 1150 per tonne FOB. Offers for BS grade rebar to Middle East are enjoying higher level of USD 1250 per tonne to USD 1330 per tonne CFR.
(Sourced from MySteel.net)
Chinese fixed assets investment in H1 up by 26.3% YoY
Xinhua quoted National Bureau of Statistics said, China's fixed assets investment in the first half of 2008 rose 26.3% YoY up by 0.4 percentage points from the same period of last year.
NBS said the overall investment in assets stood at CNY 6.8402 trillion in the first half of this year.
Pansteel develops rails as per American standards
It is reported that Pansteel has recently developed LA115RE HR American standard steel rails, which passed technology authentication in province Sichuan.
As per report, Pansteel has already produced large quantities of LA115RE steel rails recently.
Xinye Steel and China Metallurgical Jingcheng ink pact
It is reported that China Metallurgical Jingcheng Company and Hubei Xinye Steel Company recently signed strategic cooperation agreement.
Earlier, China Metallurgical Jingcheng has undertaken the designing work of raw material plant, blast furnace, converter and the steel rolling workshop for Xinye Steel
After the completion of this project, Xinye Steel would have an annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes.
Magang inks independent innovation cooperation agreement
It is reported that recently, Magang Group and the Ministry of Railway in Beijing signed China's high speed train wheel independent innovation cooperation agreement by 2 to 3 years to complete the independent innovation for 200 kilometer to 250 kilometer high speed wheel, by 4 to 5 years to complete the independent innovation for more than 350 kilometer high speed wheel and realize mass production.
Magang become the China’s high speed train wheel production base. A few years later, the China’s high speed train wheel will bear Anhui Magang to create label.
Chalieco to build alumina plant in Vietnam
It is reported that Chalieco had signed cooperation agreement with Vinacomin, the largest nickel producer in Vietnam to jointly invest USD 4.6 billion in building an alumina plant at Central Highlands in Vietnam.
As per report, the cooperation consists of three projects, including the design of alumina plant, equipment purchases and engineering construction. Chalieco planned to finish the alumina plant within two years. The annual production of the alumina project is expected to reach 600,000 tonnes.
Chalieco is a subsidiary of Chalco, the most powerful and the only international engineering cooperation that has independent intellectual property rights and technology in Chinese aluminum industry.
The alumina resources reservation is expected to reach 5.8 billion tonne to 6.3 billion tonnes, the third largest after Guinea and Australia. The Vietnamese government expressed that the major project of alumina and alumina refining plant with an investment of USD 15.6 billion will be finished before 2025 to develop extensive and great alumina resources in Central Highlands of Vietnam.
TMK production results for H1 of 2008
OAO TMK, one of the world’s largest oil and gas pipe producers and the market leader of the Russian pipe industry, has announced production results for January to June 2008.
TMK shipped 1.495 million tonnes of steel pipes in H1 of 2008 down by 5% YoY as compared to the first half of 2007. TMK shipments to the Russian pipe market declined by 7.6% YoY whilst domestic Russian pipe consumption decreased by 11% YoY. As a result, the company increased its Russian market share by 2.2% YoY compared to H1 2007.
The required shutdown of obsolete capacity to install the new PQF mill affected seamless pipe shipments in the first half of the year.
Compared to H1 2007, total seamless shipment volumes fell by 6% YoY to 985,000 tonnes including a 6% decline in OCTG shipments. Seamless pipe deliveries are expected to increase following the scheduled commissioning.
The delays and postponements seen in the implementation of some large scale oil and gas pipeline projects continued to negatively affect the Russian pipe market. TMK partially offset the decrease in large diameter pipe demand with increases in shipments of welded line pipes and industrial pipes. Total welded pipe shipment volumes fell by 3% compared to the first half of 2007 and amounted to 511,000 tonnes.
With the number of pipeline tenders expected to increase in the second half of the year, the large-diameter pipe market outlook remains favorable. TMK is set to benefit from this situation as a new large-diameter pipe mill producing thick walled longitudinal welded pipes coupled with internal and external anticorrosion coating capacity will be commissioned at the Volzhsky Pipe Plant in the second half of this year.
Evraz increases stake in Cape Lambert
It is reported that Russian steel producer Evraz Group has become the owner of a 19% stake in Australia's Cape Lambert Iron Ore.
Evraz exercised the option to buy a 16% stake in Cape Lambert on last Wednesday. The steelmaker bought a 3% stake in the Australian company in June.
Evraz has also agreed to buy a controlling stake in Delong Holdings Ltd, a Singapore based producer and trader of hot rolled steel coils, which holds an option to buy about 12% of Cape Lambert.
Australia's Financial Review said that Cape Lambert has also proposed that Evraz buy a controlling stake in the company to prevent China Metallurgical Group from purchasing its iron ore project.
Reserves under the Cape Lambert project amount to 1.56 billion tonnes of magnetite.
Petrovskiy SW to Commission BF No 2 in July
According to Metal Courier, Petrovskiy Steelwork DMZP UZ N/R plans to commission blast furnace No 2 on July 25th 2008.
The BF ended a 45 day overhaul that was aimed at its reconstruction without capacity changes.
Millennium Capital analyst said that “In December 2007 DMZP announced its production targets of 1.28 million tonnes of steel in 2008. This translates into roughly 1.2 million tonnes of rolled steel down by 5.3% YoY. Our 2008 rolled steel output expectations which are based on H1 2008 production dynamics and announced modernization plans are close to the management plans.”
(Sourced Millennium Capital)
Metalloinvest secures USD 2 billion credit lines
It is reported that Metalloinvest has attracted a USD 1.3 billion syndicated loan from 13 foreign banks led by Deutsche Bank.
The holding had planned to eliminate its debts through a Eurobond issue, but it changed course after the interest rate on the bonds was found to be unsatisfactory. Under the agreement signed with the banks on July 16, the credit line can be expanded to USD 2 billion.
A Metalloinvest spokesman said that the money would be used to refinance the holding’s USD 1 billion credit portfolio. The remaining funds will be used for the holding’s current goals other than mergers and acquisitions.
Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch, underwriters of the planned Metalloinvest Eurobond issue, suggested an interest rate of 9.5% annually and those plans were cancelled. It can be noted that Evraz is paying about 9% on USD 1.3 billion in five year bonds, and Severstal is paying 8.5% on six year bonds. Those companies have international ratings and accounting using international standards, however. Evraz is said to have planned to take out a syndicated loan initially, but instead placed its bonds last autumn, at the same time as Gazprom, VimpelCom and Rosselkhozbank did so. The interest of Western investors in Russian bonds has decreased since then.
According to Metalloinvest, the syndicated loan has a term of five years and interest rate of LIBOR 5.15% per annum. The commission paid to the investment banks may be up to 2%.
TMK to commission PFQ mill in September 2008
OAO TMK, one of the world’s largest oil and gas pipe producers and the market leader of the Russian pipe industry, has announced that the commissioning of a 600,000 tonne capacity PQF technology mill is scheduled at TAGMET in the first half of September.
MMK to increase investments in 2008
According to Mr Valentin Antonyuk director for Capital Construction and Investments of OAO Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works is expected to increase investment in the construction of new facilities 2.2 times from some RUB 24 billion in 2007 to RUB 53 billion this year.
He said that investment in the building of new facilities was projected to exceed RUB 60 billion in 2009, although the figure had yet to be approved.
Mikhailovsky GOK bags first prize for CSR in Russia
It is reported that the annual contest held by the Metals and Mining Industrialists Association of Russia and the Executive committee of the Russia’s metals and mining trade union to examine and disseminate the best corporate social responsibility practices among the enterprises working in the field of ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, gold mining and jewelry, Mikhailovsky GOK was awarded the first prize in the 7th contest in the category
Mr Igor Kayukhin chairman of Mikhailovsky GOK trade union said that the award is a high estimate of the mill’s activities, which demonstrates a well structured social policy and its ability to accomplish the determined targets; it is also a trust worthy indicator of the mill’s stable and effective work and development.
STX builds tanker for Russia's Primorsk
RIA Novosti reported that South Korea's STX shipyard has started building an ice class tanker with deadweight of 51,000 tonnes for the Primorsk Shipping Corporation.
A company spokesman told RIA Novosti that the first of a series of seven tankers will be built by November this year, while the other six will be ready by 2010.
South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder is building six giant tankers for the Primorsk Shipping Corporation with deadweight of 104,000 tonnes each.
At present the PRISCO has 18 tankers with aggregate deadweight of around 1.2 million tonnes. By 2010, the company plans to raise the figure to at least 2 million tonnes.
PRISCO is expected to ship oil products to Pacific Rim countries when the first stage of the East Siberian-Pacific pipeline is completed.
Gazprom to buy 25% in Far East gas supplier from Rosneft
RIA Novosti reported that Gazprom will buy a 25% stake in Daltransgaz, the owner of a natural gas pipeline in Russia's Far East, from the country's largest state owned crude producer Rosneft.
Mr Alexei Miller CEO of Gazprom met with Mr Sergei Bogdanchikov CEO of Rosneft and the sides signed a cooperation agreement.
According to the report, the acquisition will give the Russian state gas monopoly access to the pipeline's spare capacity on the route from the island of Sakhalin to the port of Vladivostok via Khabarovsk.
Russia's Federal Property Management Agency holds a 27.39% stake in the pipeline, and the Khabarovsk Territory controls the remaining 47.59%.
Kyrgyzstan to export 400 million kWh of electric power to Kazakhstan
According to, Mr Igor Chudinov PM of Kyrgyzstan after the session of Chui regional state administration concerning the preliminary results of social and economic development for the first half of 2008, Kyrgyzstan will export 400 million kWh of electric power to Kazakhstan.
He said that "Export of electric power is limited to ensure power security in Kyrgyzstan. Only 400 million kWh will be exported to Kazakhstan."
Mr Igor Chudinov said "It is a rather high price; however, we need this money. The money received from export of electric power will be spent on provision with fuel of Bishkek thermal power station, which will cover the needs of thermal power station only by third."
Techsnabexport reports 30% uranium export growth in 2007
RIA Novosti reported that Techsnabexport, a Russian company that exports goods and services produced by the nuclear power sector, said that its uranium exports in 2007 grew by 30% YoY.
Techsnabexport said "The value of the commercial exports of uranium products amounted to USD 1.58 billion in 2007 or over 65% of total exports. Compared with 2006, the exports of uranium products increased almost 30% in terms of value."
The company said exports under the program of highly-enriched/low-enriched uranium grew 4.1% in 2007 to USD 759 million.
Tentative agreement at Latrobe Specialty Steel
Pittsburgh Post reported that the 360 workers who have been locked out of their jobs at Latrobe Specialty Steel since May 9 will vote this weekend on a tentative agreement.
As pre report negotiators for the company and United Steelworkers Local 1537 reached a tentative agreement in a dispute that began May 1 and was declared a lockout a week later when the company refused to let union members return to work.
The firm makes the steel used in the aerospace industry by Boeing and GE Aircraft Engines and metal for the US Mint.
Alloy extends performance of deepwater steel tube umbilicals
Sandvik Materials Technology has launched a hyper duplex stainless steel tube material which is designed to improve umbilical performance in increasingly demanding subsea environments.
Sandvik SAF 3207 HD is designed specifically for deepwater, high temperature, and extreme pressure applications. It provides a tensile strength of 980 to 1,180 MPa and a maximum operating temperature of up to 90º C. This compares with a tensile strength of 800-1,100 MPa and maximum water temperature rating of 65º C for the company’s standard super-duplex grade SAF 2507.
Sandvik which claims to have around 70% of the market for all steel tube umbilicals and 90% of deep and ultra deepwater umbilicals, embarked on the HD development several years ago.
Mr John Tokaruk sales and marketing manager for subsea products said that “We did some customer surveys asking what the future requirements would be to develop the deeper, tougher fields. We then looked at our alloy program and SAF 3207 HD is the alloy that was developed.”
He claims that SAF 2507, what Sandvik calls its workhorse tubing steel, can be deployed in water depths greater than 2,000 m. However, as the pressure at the seabed increases with depth, the wall thickness of the tube eventually becomes so great that it can become uneconomic to purchase all the material required. And at water depths greater than 2,500 m the life of current steels is limited as they tend to yield under their own weight.
Mr Tokaruk said that with its higher tensile strength, SAF 3207 HD can meet the same pressure requirements with a thinner wall thickness, providing a significant weight saving. This varies depending on pressure, tube size, and temperature, but on average the saving will be around 20%. A lighter umbilical also means savings in installation costs.
The new steel’s ability to withstand crevice corrosion caused by exposure to water and very high temperature also gives the operator greater freedom to pump hot fluids down the tube or to electrically heat the umbilical when faced with wax formation or a blockage in the pipeline.
Mr Tokaruk added that studies are already under way with certain end users to consider the application of the new steel in upcoming projects,
India introduces new ferric stainless steel coins
It is reported that the Reserve Bank of India is introducing a new ferritic stainless steel coins of rupees five issued by the Government of India to commemorate the occasion of 75 Years of Dandi March.
The reverse side of the coin shall bear the portrait of MAHATMA GANDHI MARCHING. The obverse face of the coin shall bear the Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar with the legend Satyameva Jayate.
The coins are circular with 23 mm diameter with security edges and weighs 6 grams. Ferric stainless steel coin contains 82% iron and 18% chromium.
The Reserve Bank of India will shortly put into circulation new ferritic stainless steel coins of INR 5 issued by Government of India to commemorate Mahatma Basaveswara.
Stainless steels provide reliable service in delivering a wide range of chemicals
It is reported that pulp and paper mills use many specialty chemical additives in the process of creating the paper products we use every day. These chemicals control undesirable conditions such as foam, the growth of biocidal slimes, the pitch introduced by some wood species, and sticky substances from recycled cardboard.
Left untreated, these conditions can produce defects in the finished product as well as increasing energy costs and forcing mill operators to use more chemicals such as bleach. Other specialty chemicals are added to treat mill water both before and after its use in paper making, thereby reducing corrosion in boilers and preventing scale build up on heat transfer surfaces.
Mills have many feed systems that deliver these chemicals in precise quantities at strategic stages for wet-end management and water treatment. The feed systems must resist aggressive chemical components such as solvents, acids and bases, and corrosive biocides, as well as provide years of maintenance-free, round-the-clock service and ensure the safety of mill workers.
The report said that Buckman Canada, in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, and its suppliers have built and shipped some 1,000 feed delivery systems in the past 10 years. Most are made of nickel containing S30400 and S31600, though sometimes S31603 is selected for its resistance to particularly corrosive chemicals.
Materials such as ABS plastic, brass, rubber, aluminum and fiberglass reinforced plastic provide satisfactory resistance against some chemicals. However, certain other chemicals will swell, cloud, soften, harden, corrode or completely destroy these materials.
Mr Peter Campisi who runs Buckman’s equipment department said that Buckman prefers S30400 and S31600 because they are compatible with most of the company’s products and because using them simplifies both design and inventory management. He added that “These two stainless steel types cover most of our requirements.”
Mr Campisi said that “Ideally we would hope to never have to repair or replace equipment but adds that a service life of five years is likely in most cases, owing to the effects of the chemicals used, frequency of usage and various environmental factors. We try to get as close to zero maintenance as possible, which usually means spending more money up-front. In the long term, this trade off is worth it, which is why we mostly use S31600 as a standard, even when we could use less expensive alternatives.”
For the mills, another advantage is that corrosion-resistant stainless steel construction is less prone to leaks which gives workers improved safety conditions while reducing chemical loss to the environment.
Stainless steel switches are designed for control panels.
It is reported that offered as pushbuttons or indicators in 22.5 and 30 mm round sizes, either in flush or raised mounting styles, Series 04 and 14 stainless steel switches provide protection against impact, vandalism, dirty environments and harsh operation.
The report said that illuminated with high intensity LEDs, pushbutton can be fitted with SS lens, protective front ring and bezels, while flush mounting option restricts possibility of dirt accumulation. Series 14 can be sealed to IP67 against oil and dirt ingress.
BHPB bid for Rio - BHP tells staff that costs to decide outcome
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Mr Marius Kloppers CEO of BHP Billiton has recently told employees their operational results over the key performance period of the next six months will be an important factor in the success of the USD 160 billion hostile bid for its rival.
The paper said that Mr Klopper's memo to all staff emphasizes the need to make every effort to control production costs, given such costs have risen significantly in recent times and inflation is a real issue.
But he made it clear safety ranked as a higher priority than production and financial results, following the deaths of 11 BHP workers in the year to June 30.
The rival mining giants' last set of quarterly results were released in April, sparking a dispute between Mr Kloppers and Mr Tom Albanese CEO of Rio over which had produced the better production figures. Both results were widely viewed as weak by the market, but BHP benefited from relatively better iron ore production and lower expectations for its figures before their release.
China will export 14 million tonne to 15million tonnes of coke
According to Mr Liu Jianzhong deputy general manager of Shanxi Coking Coal Group, China may export 14 million tonne to 15 million tonnes of coke each year in the period from 2008 to 2010.
He said that coke supply gap in international market in 2007 was as high as 7.5 million tonnes but there could be 12 million tonnes of overmuch supply in 2011.
Shanxi Coking Coal Group’s listed companies include Xishan Coal Electricity and Shanxi Coking.
FEX chooses Argus Coal indices
Sydney based Financial & Energy Exchange has announced that the company is the latest exchange to choose Argus Media's price indices to settle traded and over the counter coal contracts.
According to the release, open positions in FEX coal contracts will be settled in reference to the Argus Newcastle index, which is based on the price of coal loading at the Australian port.
The Argus FOB Newcastle price is published in Argus Coal Daily International which provides benchmark assessments for the international coal trading community. Argus also produces successful benchmarks for other Asian coal markets, such as Indonesia, which are used in contracts and as a price reference for electricity generators.
Mr Brian Price CEO of FEX said "We are delighted to partner Argus in developing our coal derivative contracts. Coal markets demand product specifications of the highest integrity. Universally, the industry and markets recognize Argus as a premium supplier of reliable, accurate and independent assessments with the highest standard of tested methodology."
Mr Adrian Binks CEO of Argus Media said "We are very pleased with this vote of confidence from the FEX. Any exchange launching new contracts requires the highest quality settlement procedures and we are glad that FEX has chosen to use Argus prices. We wish them the best of luck with the new contracts."
Coal of Africa jumps on industry takeover speculation
Bloomberg reported that Coal of Africa Ltd, an explorer for the fuel in South Africa, rose the most in almost six months in London trading on speculation industry takeovers may gather pace.
The shares advanced as much as 13% the biggest intraday gain since January 29. They closed 9.75 pence or 7.2% higher at 144.50 pence. They ended 4.9% up in Sydney earlier valuing the Perth based Company at AUD 1.2 billion.
Coal prices rose to records this year on higher demand and limited supply, spurring takeovers. In deals announced over the past two days, a BHP Billiton Ltd and Mitsubishi Corp venture will pay USD 2.4 billion for an Australian coal project and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in the US will buy coal miner Alpha Natural Resources Inc for USD 10 billion.
GCS secures BHP iron contract
Construction services group Global Construction Services announced that its GCS Northwest business has been awarded a major scaffolding supply contract at Newman in northern Western Australia.
The contract is being led by one of GCS Group's key clients Monadelphous Engineering Associates Pty Ltd for construction of BHP Billiton's Newman HUB in northern Western Australia.
The Newman HUB project forms part of BHP Billiton Iron Ore's Rapid Growth Project 4 which will expand BHP Billiton Iron Ore's capacity in the Pilbara. The Newman Hub will provide a central ore processing and rail loading facility to allow processed iron ore to be railed directly to the port.
The two year project will be managed by GCS Northwest and is scheduled to commence in mid July 2008. GCS Northwest will supply the site scaffolding requirements for the construction of the new HUB processing facilities including screening, car dumpers and conveyor at the Mt Whaleback mine in Newman.
GCS Northwest has also been awarded a number of other projects in Tom Price, Newman, Port Hedland and Karratha. GCS Northwest infrastructure is now in place and personnel are working across a range of projects throughout the region.
Australia considers first new coal port in 25 years
Reuters reported that Australia's Queensland state is considering new coal mines and the country's first new export terminal in 25 years, investments that could increase shipments from the world's largest exporter of the commodity by 40%.
Ms Anna Bligh The Premier of Queensland state said that she was looking at options for new coal developments in the tropical state, including three new coal projects that could boost output by 75 million tonnes a year and a coal port with a capacity of up to 100 million tonnes.
She said that "These projects could see this state fully harness the opportunities the resources boom can offer by delivering a 40% increase in our coal exporting capacity.”
Australia has benefited hugely from a near trebling of prices in just a year caused by surging Asian demand but also shipping bottlenecks at home, with supply tightness not seen easing for at least four years.
6 companies to invest in Thar coal project
Nation.com.pk reported that according to a senior official of Mines and Mineral Department of Pakistan at least six local and international companies have shown their interest for making investment in coal based power project in Thar.
The famous Pakistani financial group, Jehangir Siddiqi Group, Saudi Arabia based Al Tuwairqi Group, and a multinational of Yeman are in the run to make investment in coal based power project. Al Tuwairqui Group of companies is one of the leading business concerns in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while JS is leading financial Group of Pakistan.
As per report, the provincial government made mandatory that preference would be given to those companies with sound financial position of at least USD 200 million in paid up capital and those which are dovetailed with power project of at least 1000 MWs.
Advisor to Chief Minister on Mines and Mineral Department Dr Khato Mal Jeewan while talking to The Nation said the Sindh government had invited proposals from companies interested in a project of open cast mining in Thar coalfield in a joint venture with equity participation of provincial government.
Advisor said the Board of Directors of Sindh Coal Authority will look into the offers submitted in return of invitation of provincial department and than short listed. Advisor said out of 3 to 4 companies, the majority of them did not fulfill the requirement which they signed in Terms and References. He said that notices have been issued to those companies which proved default in fulfilling the TOR. He added that Wapda, NEPRA, oil and generators’ importers mafia was the main hurdle in utilization of coals of Sindh because they are making billion of rupees profit in this business.
Rocher acquires additional Saskatchewan coal permit
Rocher Deboule Minerals Corp announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase a 33.33% interest along with Goldrea Resources Corp and Molycor Gold Corp in two separate groups of coal permit applications covering approximately 400,564 acres.
Mr Larry Reaugh president & CEO of Rocher Deboule Minerals said that the north central group is located 450 kilometer northwest of the GoldSource Mines Inc coal discovery and entails 145 permit applications covering 330,335 acres in the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group. In general, the sub bituminous coals of the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group in Saskatchewan form seams of variable thickness and lateral extent that are spread over a wide geographic area.
The permit applications cover the approximate location of Mannville coals in the northeast corner of the study area where near surface coal occurrences are located. The property and the study area are described in Prospect Saskatchewan Issue No 3 dated October, 2005 by Saskatchewan Industry and Resources.
The Alberta Saskatchewan boundary group comprises 34 coal permit applications covering 70,227 acres. The permit applications cover the Macklin Coal field reported in Assessment Report 72N-0001 by Luscar Ltd dated March 1987.
JMM wants CIL headquarter shifted to Ranchi
It is reported that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief whip, Mr Teklal Mahto, has demanded transfer of the headquarters of the Damodar Valley Corporation and Coal India Limited from West Bengal to Jharkhand.
The demand was raised by Mr Mahto during the power consultative committee meeting chaired by the Union minister for power Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde.
The Centre may well oblige, not only to secure the JMM’s vote but also to hit at the Left Front government in West Bengal.
The DVC is at present headquartered in Kolkata. The Damodar Valley Project is India’s first multipurpose river valley project producing 2,761 MW of electricity irrigating over 3,600 odd square kilometers through its four dams and the valley project covering over 24,00 square kilometers. DVC has a great significance for Jharkhand as the corporation has taken up the responsibility to electrify 83775 villages.
Chinese coal output in H1 2008 up by 11.1%
According to Mr Wang Zhanjun vice board chairperson of China Coal Transportation & Sale Society in a meeting, China's raw coal output grew 11.1% to 1.239 billion tonnes in the first half of 2008 with commercial coal sales volume increased by 10.7% to 1.201 billion tonnes.
Mr Liu Jianzhong deputy general manager of China's top coking coal maker, Shanxi Coking Coal Group Co Ltd said that, China would likely to export 14 million tonne to 15 million tonnes of coke annually during 2008 to 2010 He said that that the gap between global coke supply and demand had reached 7.5 million tonnes in 2007 but the supply would gradually exceed the demand by 12 million tonnes in 2011.
Mr Wu Chenghou Consultant of CCST said "China is facing flinty coal shortage of about 40 million tonnes.
In 2007, China exported 15.3 million tonnes of coke and semi coke accumulatively.
China Hunan doubles reward to coal miners
It is reported that China’s central Hunan Province has decided to double the reward to coal miners for producing thermal coal and raise power tariffs by 5% as an incentive for power plants
China’s central Hunan Province said it would raise the reward on each tonne of thermal coal produced in the province to Yn40 from CNY 20 previously. It aims at raising thermal coal stocks to more than 1.2 million tonnes by the end of July from 930,000 tonnes currently.
The provincial government estimated it would spend CNY 730 million out of a coal price adjustment fund, on the reward, and a subsidy of CNY 35 per tonne to coal miners in the province from June to December.
The Hunan provincial government also decided to raise power tariffs to CNY 0.545 per KWh from CNY 0.52 per KWh previously. But it did not specify whether that was an on-grid power tariff.
Shenhua used 1st batch coal export quotas
Reuters reported that China Shenhua Group has used up its entire first batch of 2008 coal export quotas.
Mr Zhang Wenjiang assistant general manager of Shenhua Group said that he had no information regarding an expected second batch of coal export quotas.
APAC Resources to buy 49% stake in iron ore JV
It is reported that APAC Resources agreed to spend HKD 1.2 billion to buy a 49% stake of a joint venture engaging in iron ore mining and production of iron ore materials.
The consideration will be settled by HKD 600 million cash and the issue of 600 million shares at HKD 1 apiece. The issue price represents a discount of 12.28% over the previous closing price of HKD 1.14.
Shoalwater Bay coal terminal unacceptable to conservationists
According to conservationists, a plan for a coal terminal at Shoalwater Bay in central Queensland is totally unacceptable.
Mr Pat O'Brien president of Wildlife Protection Association said Shoalwater Bay is an important conservation area and it is also needed by the Defense Force for military training. He said that "There will be issues with the Australian Defense Force, that's a strategic area for training it's a very high conservation value area."
He added that "I do not know what's wrong with this Government and they just seem to have gone off their head. There is no way in the world they are going to get permission to put a coal loading facility in Shoalwater Bay and it will have huge community opposition."
A Defence spokesman said that the Port Clinton area is needed for military training purposes, but it is prepared to work with the mining company to consider options in the southern part of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area.
Ms Anna Bligh Premier of Queensland said that a proposal for the new port to be linked by a 500 kilometer rail line to a new mine in the Galilee Basin near Alpha.
No coal supply irks small units
TOI reported that several members of the Maharashtra State Small Scale Coal Consumer Industries Association staged a protest at the Nagpur office of the Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation Limited alleging that they had not received the promised amount of coal from the Western Coalfields Limited through MSSIDCL.
The association alleged that despite having deposited huge sums in advance, yet they were forced to halt production,
The protest ended only after Mr Dinesh Waghmare chairman of MSSIDCL promised to resolve the issue.
Mr Harshavardhan Vairagade vice president of MSSSCCIA said that "In December last year, MSSIDCL followed a government policy and asked us to approach them if we wanted coal."
Even the Vidarbha Industries Association and MIDC Industries Association have sent letters regarding this to MSSIDCL.
From January to April, MSSIDCL inspected the units and financial documents of all industries that approached them for coal, and picked the ones found eligible. As per this policy, all SSIs were made to sign a fuel supply agreement and submit a certain fixed amount if they wanted to receive a certain amount of coal. However, if any small scale industry did not draw the coal, the deposited money would be forfeited.
Meanwhile, an amount of INR 6.5 crore has already been submitted to WCL through MSSIDCL for July, but under the current circumstances, owners of the small scale industries feel that the entire money will be forfeited.
Guangdong's coal imports in H1 down by 24.4% YoY
Interfax China reported that China's southern Guangdong Province's imported 7.66 million tonnes of coal in H1 2008 down by 24.4% YoY.
Indonesia replaces key officials at mines and energy ministry
Bloomberg reported that Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest producer of crude, named Mr Evita Legowo as director general of oil and gas affairs at the Mines and Energy Ministry replacing Mr Luluk Sumiarso.
The report said that Mr Bambang Setiawan formerly secretary of the directorate general of coal and mineral resources was named director general of coal and mineral resources, replacing Mr Simon Sembiring.
Mr Purnomo Yusgiantoro minister of mines and energy of Indonesia said that “There is nothing negative about these changes.''. But he did not elaborate.
Banpu falls most in 19 months as coal prices drop
Bloomberg reported that Thailand's biggest coal miner Banpu Pcl fell the most in 19 months in Bangkok trading after European prices of the fuel dropped.
As per report Banpu slid 12% to close at THB 398, its steepest fall since December 19th 2006.
