India DRI production in H1 of 2008 up by 14.7% YoY

International Iron and Steel Institute have released the production figures for direct reduced iron for the month of June 2008.

India production of DRI in June 2008 was 1.650 million tonnes up by 13.8% as compared to 1.450 million tonnes in June 2007.

During H1 of 2008, India accounted fro 33.2% of the global DRI production.

(In million tonnes)
(Source - IISI)

Monday Market Monitor - India (WEEK 29) - Mixed trend

Long products
Barring minor deviations, long products in general recovered a bit across all regions

Mumbai

Price in INR per tonne
Including RD and VAT
Delivery FOT

Delhi

Price in INR per tonne
Including RD and VAT
Delivery FOT

Chennai

Price in INR per tonne
Including RD and VAT
Delivery FOT

Flat products
Flat products were mixed trend this week.

Mumbai

Price in INR per tonne
Including RD and VAT
Delivery FOT

Delhi

Price in INR per tonne
Including RD and VAT
Delivery FOT

Indian steel majors came out with statements on impending price hike in August beginning. Indian government however warned small players and retailers to work with reasonable margins in its fight to control inflation. But it would be very difficult to predict the movement of market prices now due to the situation of government, which will be decided during on Tuesday.

Readers may note that the price levels indicated in this article represent the market fairly and are outlined to give trends only, but could be in variance with some transactions at different levels for smaller volumes etc.

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

KIOCL to use idle pallet capacity for third party jobs

BL reported that Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd is negotiating with NMDC, Ispat Industries, JSW Ltd and Mysore Minerals Ltd to secure conversion jobs to utilize spare capacity of its pellets plant and hopes to firm up the necessary contracts within the next six weeks.

According to the proposal, the company will receive ore from the contracted parties for conversion into pellets.

Mr K Ranganath CMD of KIOCL told BL that “We are negotiating with a number of domestic players having interests in the mines and minerals sector and iron and steel production for conversion of up to 1 million tonne of iron ore to be supplied by them,”

KIOCL is at present sourcing only 2.5 million tonnes of ore annually from NMDC as against a pellet manufacturing capacity of 3.5 million tonnes.

TATA Steel ferrochrome furnace in South Africa switched

It is reported Tenova Pyromet switched in the TATA Steel’s second of two furnaces in Richard's Bay in South Africa on July 11th 2008. With the first furnace switched on April 3rd 2008 the second followed 3 months later.

As per report, the contract to supply TATA Steel’s with a complete furnace package at its ferrochrome plant in 2007 and Tenova Pyromet was responsible for the design construction and commissioning of two 38 MW submerged arc furnaces.

The scope included the plant control system with electrical and mechanical equipment. This consisted of the entire gas cleaning scrubber system for the furnace off gas as well as the tap hole off gas extraction bag filter systems.

TATA envisages the plant producing 134,500 tonnes per annum of High Carbon Ferro Chrome with a chrome content of over 64% in Phase I of operations.

TATA Metaliks to foray into castings

The Telegraph reported that Indian pig iron major TATA Metaliks Limited has decided to diversify into castings.

Mr HM Nerurkar chairman of TATA Metaliks said that the plants are expected to come up at Kharagpur in Bengal and Redi in Maharashtra but the size of the foundries and the possible investment in the venture will be known after the plan is conceived.

Mr Harsh K Jha MD of TATA Metaliks added that “We hope to sell to auto components and engineering sectors.”

TATA Steel had a large foundry operation but it was subsequently closed down and the people employed there could be brought in for their experience.

India - Domestic rebar price trends (WEEK 29)

TMT (Local mills)
Fe 415
12mm

Price in INR per tonne
Inclusive of ED and VAT
Delivery – FOT

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

TATA Steel's April to June sales up by 11% YoY

It is reported that TATA Steel Limited India's biggest steelmaker sold 11% YoY more of steel in the 3 months ended June 30 from a year earlier.

TATA Steel Limited said that hot metal production up by 3.2% to 1.387 million tonnes while crude steel output rose 8.6% to 1.253 million tonnes. Its saleable steel production went up by 11.5% to 1.187 million tonnes.

It said that sales in the April to June period were 1.08 million tonnes. Dispatches to carmakers up by 0.216 million tonnes in the quarter.

Supreme Court delays decision on bauxite mining by Vedanta

India’s Supreme Court postponed a hearing until July 25th 2008 over whether Vedanta Resources Plc can mine bauxite in sacred hills in eastern India where tribal people strongly oppose it.

The report quoted a court official as saying that "We will hear exclusively the Vedanta matter on July 25.”

Vedanta wants to dig open cast mines in the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa state to feed an alumina refinery it has already built in the area as part of an USD 800 million project.

The Dongria Kondh tribe says the mine will destroy hills they consider sacred, force them from their homes and destroy their forest dependent livelihoods.

India - Domestic pencil ingot price trends (WEEK 29)

Pencil ingot

Price in INR per tonne
Inclusive of ED and VAT
Delivery – FOT

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

TATA Metaliks net up profit in Q1 up by 31% YoY

It is reported that TATA Metaliks posted 31.7% growth in net profit at INR 20.23 crore for the quarter ended June 30th 2008 up from INR 15.36 crore during the corresponding quarter of 2007. The net sales in Q1 2008 went up by 48.9% to INR 314.55 crore.

Mr Harsh K Jha MD of TATA Metaliks said that “Higher prices contributed to the growth in sales value, though the volume remained almost at the same levels.”

He added that TATA Metaliks expects a revenue growth of 15% to 20% in 2008 or 2009 due to firming up of pig iron prices.”

Russian SPK postpones service centre plans in India

Metal Bulletin has reported that Russia’s StalPromyshlennaya Kompaniya has postponed plans to break into the Indian steel service centre market.

Mukesh Steels eyes Indian Railways for transmission biz

PTI reported that Ludhiana based Mukesh Steels is eyeing Indian Railways as a prospective client for its transmission business.

Mr Krishan Chand Gupta chairman of Mukesh Steel said that "We are looking at Indian Railways as our potential client for transmission business.”

It would set up transmission towers for state electricity boards in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and is currently identifying a potential site for their proposed plant.

Mr Gupta said that “The company is also planning to invest INR 75 crore for setting up transmission towers for state power utilities in the next 18 months. We are looking for a suitable site for our plant either in Punjab or Himachal Pradesh which would give us access to North Indian market.”

Mukesh Steels is a flagship company of the Ludhiana-based Mukesh group and is engaged in manufacturing of steel and its alloys. The company got listed in 1988 and has an annual sales turnover of INR 70 crore.

India - Domestic HRC price trends (WEEK 29)

HRC
Tube
2.5x1250

Price in INR per tonne
Inclusive of ED and VAT
Delivery – FOT

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

Course in logistics and shipping launched at Kochi

It is reported that in an effort to meet the manpower needs of logistics and transportation sector, the Kochi based Cargomar Private Limited, has launched the Cargomar Institute of Shipping and Logistics in association with Raigad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mr Makesh Devarajhan senior manager of Cargomar Private Limited Tirupur said that the institute would offer diploma course in shipping and logistics covering various subjects such as logistics and supply chain management, surface transportation infrastructure, warehousing and material handling, marine insurance and business law.

The classes would be conducted for 3 days a week and the course duration is 6 months. The fee is INR 15,000.

BEML announces Q4 & FY 2008 results

BEML Limited has announced that it has posted a net profit of INR 1185.00 million for the quarter ended March 31st 2008 as compared to INR 935.10 million for the quarter ended March 31st 2007. Total Income has increased from INR 9584.80 million for the quarter ended March 31st 2007 to INR 10994.30 million for the quarter ended March 31st 2008.

According to the release, BEML has posted a net profit of INR 2256.50 million for the year ended March 31st 2008 as compared to INR 2049.30 million for the year ended March 31st 2007. Total Income has increased from INR 24792.80 million for the year ended March 31st 2007 to INR 26344.30 million for the year ended March 31st 2008. The Audited Consolidated results for the Year ended March 31st 2008

The release added that, the Group has posted a net profit of INR 2270.00 million for the year ended March 31st 2008 as compared to INR 2059.00 million for the year ended March 31st 2007. Total Income has increased from INR 24734.50 million for the year ended March 31st 2007 to INR 26272.90 million for the year ended March 31st 2008.

Jaiprakash Associates announces Q1 results

Jaiprakash Associates Limited announced that it posted a net profit of INR 1272.60 million for the quarter ended June 30 2008 as compared to INR 1398.40 million for the quarter ended June 30th 2007.

According to the release, total Income has increased from INR 10045.90 million for the quarter ended June 30 2007 to INR 11881.20 million for the quarter ended June 30 2008.

PTC signs PPA with ADB promoted power project in Nepal

Project today reported that Power Trading Corporation and Australian company Snowy Mountain Corporation have entered into a PPA for Asian Development Bank promoted 750 MW West Seti Hydroelectric Power Project in Nepal.

As per the report, a private Nepal party will hold 10% stake, ADB 15%, Snowy Mountain Corporation 25%, a Chinese company 15%, an equal stake by IL&FS and the rest by the Nepal government.

The EPC project has been bagged by a Chinese company. The project will be 187x 4 units with an expected generation of around 3,251 million units per year.

A total of 135 kilometer of transmission line from the project site up to the Indo to Nepal border will be laid from the Nepal side and another 100 kilometer to Atamanda near Bareilly on the Indian side. PTC, IL&FS and Power Grid are likely to take equity in this transmission line. India will buy 90% of the power under the agreement's terms and conditions and Nepal will get 10% free power.

The reported added that ADB will take up the financial approval of the project by August 2008 after which formal work on the project will start. In India, the likely beneficiaries of the project will be Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi.

PGCIL to execute three projects in Myanmar

BL reported that India has extended a USD124 million line of credit to Myanmar Government for construction of 3 major transmission projects and one 120 MW power plant.

Power Grid Corporation of India will take up the construction of all the 3 transmission projects.

As per the report, India had signed a USD 64 million line of credit for three important transmission projects to be undertaken in Myanmar. The credit is being extended by the Exim Bank, which signed the line of credit agreements with Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank.

Another USD 60 million credit was being extended by the Indian Government for setting up a 3x40 MW power project at Thatay Chaung. The project will be executed by Bharat Heavy Electricals.

Myanmar also expressed interest to join hands with Indian companies to take up and execute power generation projects to the tune of 1,860 MW.

GE Shipping eyes greater exposure to spot market

DNA reported that Indian shipping major Eastern Shipping has decided to offer a big chunk of its dry bulk and tanker fleet in the spot market to take advantage of strong shipping rates.

As per report, GE Shipping still has the traditional segmentation of keeping a larger fleet on long time charter. But the company can now capitalize on strong tanker rates as it managed to place some of its time chartered vessels that came up for renewals in the spot market.

Ms Anjali Kumar GE Shipping spokesperson said that “The company would increase its exposure to the spot market as it is bullish on shipping rates. We can re price our ships every few days depending on the market conditions.”

She did not comment on the exact allocation and plan as the company is about to announce its first quarter results.”

GE Shipping currently has a fleet of 41 vessels, comprising 30 tankers and 11 dry bulk carriers with 10.6 years being the average age. It is also looking at increasing its fleet size.

RWF to produce 0.18 million wheels in 2008-09

It is reported that the Rail Wheel Factory is expected to produce 0.18 million wheels in the current year.

Rail Wheel Factory which is located at Yelahanka near Bangalore in Karnataka has a nameplate capacity of 95,000 wheels per year. In 2007 to 2008, RWF produced 0.14 million wheels.

In view of the higher production target this year, RWF plans to operate three blast furnaces as against two earlier.

A senior RWF official said that annual production targets for RWF are fixed by the Railway Board in conjunction with planned production at the coaches and wagon manufacturing units of the Railways.

Any shortfall in demand for wheels, after factoring in RWF's contribution, is met through imports, including some from China. The Durgapur Steel Plant, an integrated steel plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd, located in West Bengal, also produces forged wheels that meet some of the demand.

ABG Infralogistics adds 2 cranes at Vizag Port

ABG Infralogistics Ltd has informed BSE that the Company has concluded the terms of hiring of 2 numbers of 100 tonne capacity Harbor Mobile Cranes of Model 2006 and above including operations and maintenance Staff for 24 Hrs for a period of 5 Years for the use of Stevedores and Port Users at west Quay Berths and other Visakhapatnam Port Trust.

Sikkim government scraps hydel projects

Project Today reported that the Sikkim government has scrapped 13 of the proposed 27 hydro power projects in the state citing inordinate delay in starting work by developers.

The hydro power projects cancelled include
1. Sada-Mangder (71 MW)
2. Rongnichu (96 MW)
3. Bhasmey (51 MW)
4. Rolep 36 MW)
5. Chakungchu (50 MW)
6. Ting Ting (90 MW)
7. Rateychu-Bakchachu (40 MW)
8. Tashiding (88 MW)
9. Ralong (40 MW)
10. Rangyong (117 MW)
11. Lingza (99 MW)
12. Ringi (90 MW)
13. Rukel 33 (MW)

As per report, the developers whose contracts had been cancelled have not even submitted the detailed project report.

Steel 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.

Directory of Autoparts Makers in India

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Global crude steel production details for June 2008

World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the International Iron and Steel Institute was 119.510 million tonnes in June 2008 up by 5.9% YoY as compared to June 2008.

The growth in crude steel production during June 2008 among regions was again led by Asia as usual.

In ‘000 tonnes
Source – IISI

Top 20 nations

In ‘000 tonnes
Source – IISI

European HR prices start slipping amid low offers

Platts reported that after months of near constant price rises, the European hot rolled coil market lost its strength last week. Platts said that the price of EU made HRC slipped by EUR 10 per tonne to a new midpoint of EUR 770 per tonne EXW Ruhr and imported material down by EUR 15 per tonne to EUR 765 per tonne CIF Antwerp.

The report cited a trader as saying that "We are now talking EUR 780 to EUR 790 per tonne DDP Germany for local HRC, a far cry from the EUR 820 per tonne July-August base prices announced by North and East-European mills a month ago.”

Imports from China now equate to EUR 750 per tonne to EUR 760 per tonne CIF Antwerp, while Indian material was selling at EUR 760 per tonne to EUR 780 per tonne CIF Antwerp.

As per report, Chinese tier 1mill’s offers were at USD 1,020 per tonne to USD 1,060 per tonne FOB basis and tier 2 mills offers, often for material with boron to reduce tax exposure, were at USD 980 per tonne to USD 990 per tonne on FOB basis.

Steel inventories in US in June continue deteriorating

According to the latest Metals Activity Report from US based Metals Service Center Institute, US and Canadian metals service centers, continued deterioration of economic conditions added to seasonal and cyclical weakness for metals shipments in June. End of June inventories of those metals also fell from 2007 levels, though slower activity contributed to slightly higher steel inventory levels in the US compared to last month.

Steel shipments from US metals service centers totaled 4.2 million tons in June 2008 down 4.3% from shipments during June 2007. First half 2008 steel-product shipments totaled nearly 26.3 million tons, off 3.8% from a year ago. Inventories, at nearly 12.9 million tons of steel products, were down 7.3% from last year and, at current shipping rates, represent a 3.1 month supply.

In Canada, steel product shipments from metals service centers totaled 293,000 tons in June, down 6.0% from June 2007 and first half shipments of almost 1.9 million tons were down 2.7% from a year ago. Canadian service center steel inventories of about 1.06 million tons at the end of June were down 12.1% from a year ago and, at current shipping rates, represent a 3.6 month supply.

The Metals Activity Report, based on data from metals service centers in the United States and Canada, is produced by the Metals Service Center Institute and a third party econometrics and strategy firm, McCoy, Scott & Co.

Founded in 1909, the Metals Service Center Institute has more than 420 members operating from about 1,200 locations in the US, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere in the world. Together, MSCI members constitute the largest single group of metals purchasers in North America, amounting each year to more than 65 million tons of steel, aluminum, and other metals, with about 300,000 manufacturers and fabricators as customers.

Global DRI production in H1 of 2008 up by 10.7% YoY

(In million tones)
(Source from IISI)

Global Steel reopens plate mill amid increased world demand

It is reported that Global Steel Philippines Inc has reopened its plate mill in its manufacturing complex amid increased global demand.

Global Steel Philippines said that its entry into steel plate production would translate into USD 26 million in monthly foreign exchange savings for the Philippines. It plans to produce around 20,000 tonnes of plates a month and increase its production gradually.

Mr Sangram Mohanty vice president for corporate communications told reporters that Global Steel’s plates would address the requirements of both the export and domestic markets. He said that “Changing trends and global needs have made it more viable for us to go into steel plates production.”

Mr Mohanty said that Global Steel’s steel plates can be used in various applications such as construction equipment, shipping and drilling platforms, pipelines, tunnel supports and excavator shovels. He said that “We will supply everyone. We will export. We will also substitute imports. The Philippines will no longer depend on imported steel products.”

The company said its entry into the plate market was advantageous to consumers because of competitive pricing, savings on freight costs and quick technical service without compromising on quality. Global Steel is also seeking exports to Asian countries, including Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia and India, which imports 700,000 tonne per year.

Mr Mohanty said the launch of the plate mill was in line with the company’s strategy of fully rehabilitating the assets of the defunct National Steel Corp as stipulated in an agreement when it acquired the facility in 2004.

At present, the country is importing over 72,000 metric tons per annum from Russia, China and Ukraine for commercial grades and from Japan, Korea, Europe for high tensile special grades.

ArcelorMittal Ostrava 2007 profit down at CZK 8.227 billion

CTK reported that the largest Czech steelworks ArcelorMittal Ostrava made profit worth CZK 8.227 billion in 2007 a drop of CZK 1.4 billion year on year. Its revenues fell by CZK 6 billion on the year to CZK 53 billion last year.

Mr Jan Rafaj of ArcelorMittal Ostrava said that "In May last year, we separated out a plant for pipes production into an independent subsidiary. All the influences on the market, such as exchange rate changes and rate losses, also played a role.”

He added that "Our business year ends in February and we feel this more than other firms that close their accounting at year end.”

Mr Rafaj said that the financial year in the company lasted from March 2007 till February 2008.

ArcelorMittal Ostrava made a consolidated profit worth CZK 9.176 billion in the 2007-08 business year, while its consolidated revenues amounted to CZK 57.745 billion.

POSCO to build USD 5.3 billion steel plant in Vietnam

It is reported that the Republic of Korea’s POSCO group has submitted a feasibility study to build a steel plant in central Vietnam,

According to Mr Pham Chi Cuong President of Vietnam Steel Association, if licensed, construction of the USD 5.3 billion plant in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa will start in November 2008 and be completed in March 2013.

In the first phase, the plant will be capable of producing 4 million tonnes of hot rolled steel and 2 million tonnes of sheet steel a year. In the second phase, the figures will be raised to 6 million and 8 million tonnes respectively.

POSCO is currently building an USD 11.5 billion steel complex in Khanh Hoa province’s Van Phong Bay together with the Vietnam Ship building Industry Group.

USA domestic shipment 5 months up by 3.7% YoY

It is reported that America domestic shipment in January to May 2008 totaled 45.879 million tons up by 3.7% YoY as compared to 44.230 million tons in January to May 2007.

In million tons

Thailand to maintain steel standards despite price complaints

It is reported that Thailand Industrial Standards Institute said that it will maintain the country's steel import standards in order to ensure public safety. As per report Thailand Industrial Standards Institute held two public hearings last month at which most participants said that it was better to keep high steel import standards rather than open the market wider for imported products.

Mr Pairoj Sanyadechakul secretary general of Thailand Industrial Standards Institute said that the local construction industry had been calling for eased standards in the face of sharp increases in local steel prices, as well as a shortage of raw materials, notably billet and scrap. Mr Payungsak said that "Steel standards need to be maintained as public safety needs to come first.”

However, Mr Pairoj said Thailand Industrial Standards Institute was reviewing methods to shorten steel importing procedures as it might be a way to help ease a domestic shortage. He said that "In cases where the domestic steel market faces a shortage, some temporary measures to make steel imports faster will be implemented, but this will be considered by the committee on a case-by-case basis.”

Thailand Industrial Standards Institute committee chaired by Mr Issara Chotburakarn Industry Ministry's deputy permanent secretary, concluded that high standards were needed to block the entry of low quality steel, which could contribute to lower quality of construction work or even public safety.

Steel prices have risen by 65% in the first six months of this year, along with other commodity goods for which prices are skyrocketing, driven by oil prices and a shift by big investors from stock markets to commodities. Contractors, steel importers and processed steel exporters had asked TISI to allow the imports of different grades of steel to ease supply constraints.

New service to keep you updated with steel prices on daily basis

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.

Mr N Sharma of SteelGuru.com said that “We have been receiving requests from Steel Trade Today subscribers for domestic steel prices during the last 3 years of SteelGuru’s operations. The volatility in the steel market in last 6 months to 8 months also propelled us to put it up quickly.”

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 “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.

North American wire rod price continues to climb

US domestic wire rod market price is slated to rise in August. The main reasons are raw material cost continuing to increase and global wire rod market prices remaining at a high price level.

US wire rod producers have added USD 66 per tonne for August shipments. Current low carbon wire rod prevailing prices are USD 1,235 to USD 1,257 per tonne and USD 1,290 to USD 1,312 per tonne for high carbon wire rod.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

World tin consumption in 5 months up by 1.1% YoY - WBMS

Preliminary statistics released by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics show a slight increase in world tin consumption in January to May 2008 period.

The Bureau said that global refined tin consumption is estimated to have increased by 1.1% YoY to 147, 900 tonnes in January to May 2008 as compared to the same period of 2007.

The WBMS data shows that growth in Asia has been partly offset by declines in apparent consumption in the USA and Europe. Chinese demand rose by 11.2% and Japanese consumption rose by 5.8% compared with the depressed 2007 total. However US consumption is estimated to have fallen

Japanese steelmakers to report lower profit - Nikkei

Nikkei reported that Japanese steelmakers will probably report smaller profit declines for the year ending March 2009 because they have managed to pass only part of increased costs to clients.

The newspaper, without saying where it obtained the information, reported that Nippon Steel Corp may report a 27% decline in operating profit to about JPY 400 billion (USD 3.8 billion) as compared with an earlier estimated 36%.

The newspaper said that Kobe Steel Ltd. may post an 11% drop in profit to about JPY 180 billion or JPY 10 billion higher than earlier forecast.

US Steel to raise prices for September

US Steel has announced plans to raise prices by USD 40 per short ton on all products for September shipments. The company is also planning a production cut of about 250,000 tons in the fourth quarter; the third blast furnace is to be overhauled.

The main factors causing the company to raise prices include: production cut by major domestic mills, electric furnace price pumped up by higher scrap costs, and a shortage in imports.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Valmont Industries posts higher profit in Q2 - Update

Valmont Industries Inc which produces fabricated metal products said that its second quarter profit increased from last year, boosted by stronger global demand for irrigation equipment and higher sales in structural segments.

Valmont said that its net earnings for the second quarter were USD 37.3 million up from USD 26.9 million. Its sales increased to USD 497.1 million from USD 402.3 million in the same quarter last year.

Valmont said that engineered support structures segment sales rose 19% to USD 191.0 million over last year. Sales from utility support structures segment grew by 13% to USD 101.3 million, led by the acquisition of PennSummit and sales price increases to recover higher steel costs.

Coatings segment sales improved 5% to $37.2 million from the year-ago quarter, as a result of stronger demand from agricultural and petrochemical markets.

Irrigation segment reported sales of $159.7 million, up 48% over last year, driven by increased global demand for grains for food and biofuel use.

Mr Mogens Bay chairman & CEO of Valmont said that "Substantially stronger global demand for irrigation equipment led to record second quarter sales. Sales in our structural segments also increased due to the impact of acquisitions made earlier in the year and effective pricing actions to recover higher input costs."

Samsung Engineering sets up US unit

Yonhap reported that Samsung Engineering Co has established a US unit to foray into the liquefied natural gas plant business.

Samsung Engineering in a regulatory filing said that the unit, named Samsung Engineering America Inc is capitalized at USD 2.5 million.

Sumitomo Metals gets appreciation from Keppel FELS

Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd has been awarded a commemorative gift of appreciation by Keppel FELS, the world's largest oil and gas offshore drilling rig builder. The commemorative gift is a mark of appreciation for the relationship of trust which has been nurtured for more than 20 years in steel plate business.

Sumitomo Metals has been supplying high grade steel plates to Keppel FELS for over 20 years and has thereby built a relationship of trust with the company. In recent years, Keppel FELS included semi submerged rigs for the deep sea in its business line. Sumitomo Metals has been highly appraised for its prompt manufacturing and supply of high end steel plates for these semi submerged rigs, based on a shipping classification standard requested by Keppel FELS.

The release added that “Sumitomo Metals has gained the trust of customers in the energy field for its wide product offering, delivery track record, and high quality of steel plates used for marine structures, LNG tanks, line pipes, and other infrastructure. Sumitomo Metals will continue to develop and supply products which anticipate customers' needs in the energy field and accelerate distinctiveness in product offering.”

Keppel FELS holds an approximately 50% share of the global off shore rig building market. Off shore rigs are the marine structures used for extracting submarine oil and natural gas and many high grade steel plates are used to build them.

Bulgarian zinc complex rejects merger with Gorubso-Madan

It is reported that the shareholders of Bulgarian Lead and Zink Complex voted against the merger of OTZK with Gorubso-Madan. However, the AGM proposed the beginning of negotiations for the acquisition of shares in Gorubso-Madan.

Gorubso-Madan is a mining and refining company owned by Intertrust Holding.

Klockner sell Koenig Verbindungstechnik for EUR 325 million

Acting through its Swiss subsidiary Debrunner Koenig Holding, Klöckner & Co AG has signed a contract to sell Koenig Verbindungstechnik to the private equity company Capvis. The sale price totals approximately EUR 325 million, resulting in a book profit after taxes of about EUR 265 million. The transaction is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.

KVT a wholly owned subsidiary of DKH is involved in the market of fastening systems and sealing plugs an area that is not part of the core business of Klöckner & Co AG. The planned sale was announced in the company’s report for the first quarter of 2008.

KVT, which is headquartered at Dietikon in Switzerland has a workforce of about 300 people. In fiscal year 2007, it generated sales of about EUR 120 million and earnings after taxes of around EUR 20 million. Among other things, the company for fastening systems and sealing plugs sells self clinching fasteners, riveting system, nuts as well as high-pressure fasteners used particularly in automotive technology for hydraulic applications.

Dr Thomas Ludwig, CEO of Klöckner & Co AG said that "We are intensifying our focus on our core business in Europe just as we are doing in North America. The funds generated by the sale of KVT can be used to finance the expansion of Klöckner & Co.

Damage halts Bluescope's New Zealand steel making

Reuters reported that Steel making was halted on Monday at Bluescope Steel Ltd's mill in New Zealand when a water cooling system failure caused furnace damage.

Bluescope said that repairs will take seven to 10 days and result in the loss of 12,000 tonnes to 15,000 tonnes of steel slab production.

German automotive suppliers see steel contracts breached – WirtschaftsWoche

WirtschaftsWoche citing letters it obtained reported that German automotive suppliers including Remscheid and Germany based Edscha have received letters from steel companies saying deliveries may be cut unless they accept price increases that breach previously signed contracts.

The magazine cited Mr Manfred Puhlmann CEO of Edscha as saying that “We are getting a clear message from many of our suppliers: either you pay EUR 180 more per tonne of shaped flat steel or we cannot guarantee that we can continue to supply you.” It added that “Even long term contracts hardly have relevance now.”

In an excerpt of an article to be published on Monday the magazine also said an unnamed southern German steel supplier told customers they will 'definitely' not receive steel ordered if they refuse to accept price increases.

South Korea may reach self sufficiency in scrap

According to the Korea Iron and Steel Association, steel inventories totaled 26.06 million tonne in 2007 reaching a peak high.

If the increasing rate of annual steel inventories stays at around the current 5.6% South Korea will reach self sufficiency in terms of scrap by 2022, if the rate stays at 3.2%.

The association indicated that scrap amounts will continue to increase by improving the technical and collection systems.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

SembMarine wins USD 220 million rig contract

Reuters reported that Sembcorp Marine’s unit PPL Shipyard has won a contract to build a USD 220 million jack up rig for the Egyptian Drilling Company.

SembMarine in a statement said that this is the second rig that PPL is building for the oil firm, a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp and Denmark's AP Moeller Maersk and is scheduled for delivery in mid-2010.

It said that the first rig, under construction, is due for delivery in December 2009

Spanish scrap imports decline in 2007

According to the related statistics, Spain imported 6.308 million tonne of scrap in 2007, decreased by 1.042 million tonne or 14.2%.

Those scraps included 1.721 million tonne from France up by 1.2 YoY. Shipments from UK totaled 1.492 million tonne down by 20.1% YoY.

Russia took 1.047 million tonnes down by 27.4% YoY. In addition, Netherland took 450,000 tonne and Portugal took 317,000 tonne.

Hoa Phat H1 profit exceeds target for 2008

Bloomberg reported that Hoa Phat Group Joint Stock Co a Vietnamese steel and real estate company net profit in the first half exceeded its full year target.

As per report Hoa Phat net profit increased to VND 848 billion (USD 50 million). But it didn't provide comparable figures for last year.

Hoa Phat expects profit to increase 15% to VND 740 billion in 2008 from VND 644 billion in 2007.

MEA crude steel in H1 of 2008 up by 5.5% YoY

International Iron and Steel Institute have released the global steel production figures for crude steel for the month of June 2008. Middle East production of crude steel in June 2008 was 1.377 million tonne up by 5.5% YoY as compared to 1.305 million tones in June 2007.

(In million tonnes)
(Source - IISI)

Monday Market Monitor - MEA (WEEK 29) - Stable

Domestic prices remained stable in most of the markets, except for Saudi Arab, which saw small rise in some of the products. In addition a sever jump is reported in rebar prices in Bahrain.

The trend for the most important steel product rebar is given below, which indicates that USD 1500 levels are prevailing across the region except for Qatar, where government is subsidizing the retail prices.

Rebar

Prices for some other locations are as under

Dammam

Dubai

(Sourced from www.steelprices-middleeast.com)

DRI production in MEA in H1 of 2008 up by 15.7% YoY

International Iron and Steel Institute have released the production figures for direct reduced iron for the month of June 2008. Middle East production of DRI in June 2008 was 1.294 million tonnes up by 1.64% as compared to 1.091 million tonnes in June 2007.

(In million tonnes)
(Source - IISI)

MEA - Domestic rebar price trends (WEEK 29)

Rebar
8mm-25mm
BS 4449 Grade 460 B

Price in per tonne
USD rates derived on current exchange rates

(Sourced from www.steelprices-middleeast.com)

Univers Acier production in H1 of 2008 surges by 33% YoY

Arab Steel reported that Univers Acier production of reinforcing steel amounted to 120,000 tonnes during the first half of 2008 as compared to 80,000 tonnes in the same period of 2007 up by 33.3% YoY.

Mr. Mohammad Azmi president & GM of Univers Acier told to the Arab Steel magazine that all this quantity was sold to the domestic Moroccan markets.

He said that “The rapid and significant growth concurrent with the development witnessed by the Moroccan housing sector and the infrastructure projects hove motivated "

Production of Longofer company, which is the sister company of Univers Acier specialized in pipes production, amounted to 30,000 tonnes of pipes in the first half of 2008 as compared to 20,000 tonnes in the same period of 2007.

Univers Acier took the initiative since 2007 to expand the production utilities and structures by a huge financial investment estimated by USD 150 million, which will enable it to meet its needs for billets and add 600,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel for the Moroccan market. This investment will also help boost the total production capacity in the company up to 1 million tonnes per year. Operation of the new expansions is expected to start by the end of 2009 or early 2010.

Pirelli may buy out minorities in Turkish unit

Thomson Financial reported that Pirelli & C SpA has launched negotiations to buy out minority shareholders in its 69% Turk Pirelli Lastikleri and its 51% unit Celikord both located in Turkey.

Turkey's Isbank owns 25.75% of Turk Pirelli Lastikleri and 48% of Celikord with private investors holding other shares.

The minority buy outs would consolidate Pirelli's presence in a fast growing and strategic market, where it has been present for 50 years.

Turk Pirelli Lastikleri supplies tyres for cars and lorrie, while Celikord operates a steel cord plant.

Pirelli officials were unable to confirm the talks or supply any details on the finances of the Turkish units.

MEA - Domestic plate price trends (WEEK 29)

Plates 2x6
6-20x2x6
A36/SS400

Price in per tonne
USD rates derived on current exchange rates

Plates 3x12
8-40x3x12
S275 JR

Price in per tonne
USD rates derived on current exchange rates

(Sourced from www.steelprices-middleeast.com)

Turkish crude steel in H1 of 2008 up by 12.2% YoY

International Iron and Steel Institute have released the global steel production figures for crude steel for the month of June 2008.

Turkish production of crude steel in June 2008 was 2.510 million tonne up by 19.9% YoY as compared to 2.094 million tones in June 2007.

(In million tonnes)
(Source - IISI)

Iran to privatize power plants soon

Tehran Times quoted Mr Parviz Fatah Iranian energy minister as saying that in 2 weeks the privatization of the country’s power plants will be commenced.

Mr Parviz Fatah said that all of the subsidiaries of the Energy Ministry will be privatized by the end of the current Iranian calendar year. Parviz Fatah explained that gradually 80 power plants will be transferred to the private sector.

He added that, at present the privatization of 10 power plants is being finalized. We have completed our part and it is now up to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and Iranian Privatization Organization to decide about the rest.

He went on to explain that the private sector is constructing some power plants and said, currently the private sector generates 3000 MW of electricity.

No limits on foreign investments in Iran

Tehran Times reported that Mr Mahdi Ghazanfari, deputy minister of commerce of Iran as saying that foreign investment in Iran simply requires an authorization permit with no additional complications.

In a meeting with South Korean private and public entrepreneurs designed to explain Iran’s rules and requirements for foreign investment and to introduce Iran’s economic and trade capabilities and potential, Mr Mahdi Ghazanfari discussed Iran’s ongoing privatization process of its industries and the many incentives for foreign investment, especially in Iran’s free trade zones.

Mr Gazanfari explained the existence of foreign investments in authorized sectors for the private sector, adding that the volume of foreign investment in Iran is not subject to any limitation. He added that privatization in Iran’s industries goes back 20 years but the trend has accelerated, making Iran a desirable place for investment.

Mr Ghazanfari further said that foreign investments in Iran are completely insured by export credit institutions from risks that may not be related to normal business risks.

As per reports, currently, industries such as mining, rail transport, aviation, insurance and banking are being privatized in Iran with foreign investment in these sectors facing no investment limits.

Threat against Iran would disrupt oil market

Reuters reported that Mr Mohammad Ali Khatibi Iran's OPEC governor, said that any threat against Iran will put the flow of oil from Persian Gulf states at risk.

Mr Ali Khatibi said that “If there is a threat in our region it will not be just Iran's oil exports that will be affected. It will affect other producers. The fallout will impact other oil exporters like Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Any problem created in the region by the US or Israel would pose a threat to 40 % of the world's traded oil.”

As per report the recent military maneuver carried out by Iran comes amid growing speculation over a possible military strike against the Islamic Republic and on the heels of military exercises by Israel last month over the eastern Mediterranean, which was seen as preparations for an attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.

Steel users 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.

China influencing global trends for steel

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-china.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-china.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.

Chinese steel output in H1 up by 12.5% YoY

According to National Bureau of Statistics report, due to consistently spiking cost and the nation's restrictive export policy and capacity limitation regulations, the steel industry has seen shrank export and slowed production growth since last Q4; but the market demand has supported constant advances in steel price and the industry kept a relatively high profit in H1. The industry is expected to maintain a moderate growth in production and profit in the next phase.

1. The industry slows down in production growth.

The steel production started to slow from September 2007 and tended to stabilize since 2008. The output at the enterprises with an above designated scale came to 263 million tonnes in H1 up by 9.6% YoY, 9.3 percentage points down from the comparable figure last year the total production was 300 million tonnes up by 12.5%, 11.4 percentage points down. By month, the crude steel output grew by a pace of between 7% to 11.5% from February to June and steel product output grew by a speed of 11.7 to 13.6% for this period. By product variety, sheet/plate/pipe/strip grew 17.4% while the long products grew 6.9% a gap of 10.5 percentage points.

2. The slowed growth in production is attributed to cost and the policy.

(I). Spiking cost forces small and medium-scaled steel enterprise to cut output. Iron ore, coal, coking coal, scrap and pig iron prices all surged since later 2007. According to CISA figures, during January to April large and medium scaled mills' purchase price for homemade ore fine was CNY 1254 per tonne up by 97.7% YoY; metallurgical coke was CNY 1760 per tonne up by 71.2%; coking coal was CNY 1026 per tonne up by 46.6%; scrap was CNY 3062 per tonne up by 56%. The smaller mills had to pay more. Coupled with intensified elimination campaign with the coming Olympics, the small and medium scaled mills have to cut output or suspend operation.

In H1, the medium and large scaled enterprises made crude steel of 242 million tonnes up by 9.7% YoY and steel products of 216 million tonnes up by 12.8%; the smaller enterprises produced 21.275 million tonnes and 84.136 million tonnes respectively, up 9% and 11.7%. Compared with last year, the growth rates for large-scaled enterprises slowed by 5.8 and 8.1 percentage points, and that for the small and medium-scaled enterprises lost 45.3 and 19.7 percentage points.

(II). The steel export slowed because of policy change. The nation has lowered steel export rebated or levied tax for four times since 2007. The export thus retreated from May 2007 and dropped Feb 2008. According to the Customs figures, from January to May, China exported totaled steel products of 21.72 million tonnes and steel billet of 110,000 tonnes down by 20.8% YoY and 96.9% YoY from the same period last year; in the meanwhile, it imported steel products of 7.02 million tonnes and steel billet of 80,000 tonnes down by 3.5% YoY and 29.3% YoY respectively. Net steel product export came to 14.7 million tonnes down by 27% YoY and export billet export was 30,000 tonnes down by 99.1%.

3. Steel demand remains strong.

When the steel supply growth slows, domestic demand yet did not shrink. In January to May, urban investment in fixed assets totaled CNY 4026.4 billion up by 25.6% YoY real estate investment was CNY 951.9 billion up b