Harsco secures service contract from TATA Steel

Worldwide industrial services company Harsco Corporation announced that it has secured a new contract with global steel producer TATA Steel to provide rental scaffolding throughout a two year plant maintenance cycle at TATA Steel’s Jamshedpur plant in India.

According to the release, the contract valued initially at more than USD 2 million in new revenues includes provisions for a follow on three year extension and comes as a result of Harsco's ongoing relationship with TATA Steel throughout Europe as a leading on site mill services provider.

The released added that Harsco will support the TATA Steel with its Cuplok scaffolding system backed by a full service erection and dismantling crew that is expected to more than triple in size by the end of the first year as the maintenance program expands to other areas of the steelmaking plant. The massive Jamshedpur works is completing a major facility upgrade that increases production capacity from 5 million tonnes to 7 million tonnes of steel products annually. Key to Harsco's winning solution is its enterprise wide safety culture, a core company value that complements TATA objectives for improving its on-site safety record at the Jamshedpur works.

Mr Salvatore D Fazzolari chairman & CEO of Harsco said “We are particularly gratified to see our successful customer relationships from other parts of the world facilitate Harsco's timely re entrance into India's rapidly expanding infrastructure and construction markets. These are significant early steps in our anticipated build-up to a strong and growing Harsco presence in India in the coming years, as we see similar opportunities for our mill services and rail services businesses.''

Indian railways withdraws special levy on freight

PTI reported that Indian railways withdrew its earlier order for the special supplementary charge to be levied on certain commodities from July 1st due to fearing an adverse impact on the price of essential commodities.

As per the earlier notification, coke and coal, accounting for about 40% share of railways goods traffic would attract 5% levy while for other items would be 7%.

A senior railways Ministry official said it has been decided to hold the earlier instructions of levying special supplementary charge on freight rate on certain commodities from July 1st to September 30th 2008 in abeyance and the latest instructions will come into effect from July 1st only.

The official said considering the volatile market condition, it was feared that the hike would escalate the price further and it was decided at a higher level not to go ahead with the special levy decision.

Transporter strike called off in India

The All India Motor Transport Congress has called off their indefinite strike after reaching an agreement with the Government in the wee hours of Friday. The talks with the transporters were led by Mr Brahm Dutt secretary of road transport & highways and were later joined by Mr PV Bhide revenue secretary.

It was mutually agreed that the increase in toll effective from 1.12.2007 in respect of public funded National highways controlled and managed by National Highways Authority of India shall be kept in abeyance and the toll rates applicable prior to December 1st 2007 shall apply henceforth. It was also decided that there would not be any increase in toll for a period of one year for such NH stretches and this will also apply for ‘Operation, Maintenance & Transfer contracts given by NHAI for such projects.

Mr Brahm Dutt also announced that the Government will constitute a committee to look into all toll related issues including the user fee rates. The Committee will have members from NHAI, Department of Road Transport & Highways, other related Departments and six members from the AIMTC besides some road sector experts, he said. The Committee would be asked to give its report within nine months of its formation.

It was also mutually agreed upon that a permanent mechanism would be set up by the Government to monitor, review and oversee the functioning of the toll system. This mechanism would be headed by NHAI Chairman and would have the powers to examine the standards and service levels provided by the Service provider and will recommend suitable corrective actions.

As regards the Service Tax issues, the following was agreed in principle:

1. Service Tax under Goods Transport Agency Services would be levied on value added services provided by GTA. Since mere transportation of goods is not proposed to be taxed, service tax under GTA services would be levied on 25% of the total amount charged.

A. Any service provided by GTA in relation to transportation of goods are to be treated as GTA services and leviable to service tax as above.

B. Services subcontracted by GTA from other service providers for providing GTA services are to be excluded from levy of service tax since the value of such services is already taxed under GTA services as last point.

2. Services provided by GTA are classified in some cases also as courier service and cargo handling service and subjected to service tax on full value without giving abatement of 75%. To avoid disputes, all services relating to transportation of goods by road is to be levied service tax under GTA service only, since there are no clear cut criteria to distinguish courier and/or cargo handling services from GTA service.

3. Departmental proceedings were initiated against some GTAs and person(s) providing services used by GTA in relation to transportation of goods since January, 2005. These proceedings shall be considered and dropped, wherever eligible, in the light of the above principles.

It may be recalled that Mr Thiru TR Baalu union minister of shipping, road transport & highways had made an appeal to the transporters to call off their strike in the interest of the nation and the common man.

Jindal Saw to build 7,000 wagons in 5 years

Economic Times reported that Steel maker Jindal Saw plans to set up a modern wagon manufacturing facility in Gujarat that will roll out 2,000 special wagons in the first year staring from 2009. According to the report, the company would subsequently manufacture 7,000 wagons in five years.

The project is part of JSL major diversification plan in the infrastructure sector.

The wagon manufacturing unit would be set up near Jindal Shipyards owned 700 hectare India Maritime Technology Park at Dahej where it is investing around INR 8,000 crore. The facility would be located at a recently acquired 120 acre site near Bharuch within 30 kilometer of IMTP. The wagons would be produced for deployment both domestically and abroad. One unique feature of JRIL’s wagons would be that they will be able to carry 10% more load than conventional wagons without increasing the load on railway tracks.

Mr Indresh Batra MD of Jindal Saw said that “Wagon manufacturing is part of our strategy to have physical possession of assets for delivery of services rather than being a stand-alone service provider. The detailed project report for the wagon manufacturing unit has already been completed and we hope to commission the project by September 2009. He added that the company would invest INR 200 crore initially in the project that would be scaled up phases.”

Apart from manufacturing high capacity rail wagons, the company would also develop ancillary units near the location for production of various wagon components. The India Maritime Technology Park would also house a modern container rails that would be procured by other players already in the container business. Jindal Saw also intends to run its own container trains at a later stage.

MMTC to seek shareholders nod for JV investment

Economic Times that reported State run minerals and metals trading firm MMTC will seek shareholders' approval to invest INR 2.60 crore in a JV company being created with TATA Steel.

According to the report, MMTC plans to invest INR 2.60 crore for acquiring equity shares of the joint venture firm.

MMTC in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange said the last date for receiving postal ballot forms would be August 8th 2008. The ballot results would be announced on September 1st 2008.

Shipping ministry to meet port unions in bid to avert strike

According to a press release issued by Mr Mohan Aswani president of the Kandla Port Karmachari Sangh, secretary of shipping has invited the leaders of the five major federations of major port and dock employees unions for discussions on the issues concerned on July 8th 2008.

As already decided by the federations, the unions functioning at Kandla Port will join the proposed all India port strike from July 16th 2008. A notice in this connection was served on Capt B Tewari secretary of the Kandla Port Trust on July 1st 2008.

8 new cement unit to be set up in Chhattisgarh

IANS reported that 8 new cement units will be set up in Chhattisgarh with an investment of INR 43.4 billion.

The list of companies setting up cement plants in Chattisgarh include
1. Godawari Power and Ispat Ltd
2. Prakash Industries
3. Jaiswal Neco Industries
4. SKS Ispat and Power
5. Singhal Steel
6. Sarda Energy and Minerals
7. Topworth Cement
8. Mnherukha Cement.

Mr Rajesh Munat Minister of State for Industry said "After investment in the steel and power sectors, the state is now becoming a favorite ground for cement producers."

Government officials said that Chhattisgarh's annual cement production would increase to 50 million tonnes from 11 million tonnes after these eight units begin production.

NTPC and PFC ink pact for NTPC capacity addition program

BL reported that the National Thermal Power Corporation and Power Finance Corporation Ltd have entered into a memorandum of agreement for financing NTPC’s ongoing capacity addition program across the country. PFC has sanctioned a term loan of INR 10,000 crore to NTPC for the project.

The report added that the agreement was signed by Dr V.K Garg Chairman and Managing Director of PFC and Mr RS Sharma Chairman & MD of NTPC.

NTPC is the largest power generation company with an installed capacity of 29, 394 MW through 26 power stations including joint ventures.

Kerala HC dismissed plea against Vizhinjam project contract

BL reported that the Kerala High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Zoom Developers against the State Government and Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd for disqualifying the proposal submitted by the consortium for construction of the Vizhinjam Deepwater Seaport and International Transhipment Container Terminal.

Justice Mr Thottathil B Radhakrishnan while dismissing the petition said that the decision arrived at by the government and the Seaport Company thorough the High Level Bid Evaluation Committee was not vitiated.

According to the petitioner, five consortia had submitted tenders for the project. Of them, three were pre-qualified. They were Lanco Consortium, Videocon Consortium and Nagarjuna Consortium. Zoom Consortium and Apollo Consortium were disqualified.

According to the report, Zoom was disqualified on the main ground that they had changed the consortium partners after the final date of submission of the agreement and that they had not stated that they would be jointly and severely liable for execution of the project.

The work for the construction was finally awarded to the Lanco Kondapalli Power Pvt Ltd Hyderabad.

Punj Lloyd bags INR 1,005 crore GVK Power order

It is reported that engineering major Punj Lloyd Ltd has bagged a INR 1,005 crore contract from GVK Power Ltd. The project would be completed by mid 2011.

Punj Lloyd in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange said that under the contract, Punj Lloyd would execute the balance of plant work and the civil work for the 540 MW Govindwal Sahib coal fired thermal power project in Punjab.

Mr VK Kaushik MD of Punj Lloyd said that “Continuing our expansion in high growth areas, we believe that this project will play a vital role in strengthening our expertise.”

The filing added that “With this, the order book position of Punj Lloyd stands at INR 21,249.63 crore. Earlier, Punj Lloyd had bagged a INR 823 crore project from Rajasthan Vidhyut Utpadan Nigam for civil works in 2x250 MW Chhabra Thermal Power station on EPC basis.”

Suzlon to invest INR 4,000 crore in Tamil Nadu

MoneyControl.com reported that Suzlon Energy Ltd is planning to invest over INR 4,000 crore in Tamil Nadu to set up a cluster of production facilities for manufacture of wind turbine generators and related components at the SEZ being set up by Suzlon Infrastructure.

According to official sources, Suzlon is considering establishment of manufacturing facilities by various companies within the group to produce the entire range of components that go into the production of wind turbine generators. This would range from turbines, wind mill towers, rotor blades and forging and casting facilities.

Sources added that most of these facilities are to come up at Suzlon Infrastructure’s SEZ for the hi tech engineering sector at Palladam near Coimbatore.

Recently, Suzlon’s associate company Hansen Drives signed an agreement with the State Government to set up an INR 1,500 crore facility for manufacturing gear boxes for wind turbines at the SEZ.

Suzlon would be eligible for incentives under the Tamil Nadu Government’s new industrial policy announced last year, which categorizes investments of more than INR 1,500 crore in the manufacturing sector as super mega projects. Such projects are eligible for a package of incentives over and above the structured package announced for projects involving investments on a smaller scale. Also, the State has announced support for investments in industrially backward areas such as Palladam.

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.

India cements net down by 38%

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

Mr N Srinivasan vice CMD of India Cements said net profit for the fiscal however increased 33%YoY to INR 637.54 crore compared to INR 478.83 crore for the previous year. The operating margin for the year was at 36.5% YoY against 32.8% registered for the previous year.

Mr Srinivasan said net sales for the fiscal rose 36% to INR 3,554.47 crore. If the sales tax of INR 600 crore is included, the topline of the company would be USD 1 billion. The company's cement sales increased 9.5% to 9.215 million tonnes.

He said that "Demand for cement is still strong despite skyrocketing land prices and high interest rates. While demand grew 8% in Tamil Nadu, south registered a 10% increase for May to June. The cement industry is witnessing its best ever period with the domestic demand registering a 9.81% growth over and above the double digit growth for the previous year.”

He added that it has generated tremendous visibility. We have recognized that this would be a good income earner for us. The company is even considering changing the lettering on the back of the team uniform from Coromandel King to India Cements.”

He said that "We plan to reach a capacity of 14 million tonnes and produce 11 million tonnes by year end."

China Steel Industry Forecast till 2012

“China Steel Industry Forecast till 2012” is the latest market analysis by RNCOS on the world’s largest steel producer, China’s steel industry. This analysis gives an overview of the global steel industry and discusses the Chinese steel industry in detail, including production and consumption pattern, type of steel products, and major exporting importing countries. It also studies the growth drivers, opportunities, challenges, and future outlook of the industry.

China’s steel industry is among the world’s major industries and is registering the fastest growth rate not only in terms of production but consumption also. The country expanded its steel-making capacity to meet the demand of its rapidly growing economy. Basically, strong economic growth and cheap production base are the major driving forces for rise in steel consumption.

The steel industry of China has been witnessing phenomenal growth since the last few years. In 2006, total crude steel production in the country reached 422.7 Million Metric Tons. China accounted for approx 34% of total global crude steel demand in 2006. Government support and economic growth is propelling growth in the Chinese steel industry. During the period 2000-2006, demand for steel in China grew at a CAGR of 19.18%.

This section provides the overview and key financials of players like Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation, Anshan Iron & Steel Group, Wuhan Iron & Steel, Shougang, Jinan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd., Alison Group etc.

Publish Date: February 2008
Format: PDF Format: USD 1100
Multi User License: USD 2100
Hard Copy: USD 1300
CD-ROM: USD 1300
Number of Pages: 80

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

Vietnam may increase export tax on ingots

VietNamNet Bridge reported the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Steel Corporation have recommended increasing the ingot steel export tax from 10% since the latest tax increase has not slowed ingot steel exports.

The Vietnam Steel Corporation has proposed raising the ingot steel export tax to 30%. Meanwhile, sources say the Ministry of Industry and Trade may even recommend raising the tax rate to 40%.

The report said that, besides ingot steel producers, other enterprises are also trying to re export ingot steel they purchased at low prices several months ago to now sell at a profit.

They said that “It is a concern that wide scale exporting of ingot steel could lead to a lack of ingot steel for domestic steel laminating mills and drive up prices of finished products.”

Currently, finished steel prices remain at low levels of VND 17 million per tonne, while ingot steel producers are exporting products at USD 1,100 to USD 1,150 per tonne. This means producers can still earn USD 100 per tonne after paying a 10% export tax.

Ingot steel producers stated, following the release of the decision to raise the export tax to 10%, that they would continue exporting ingot steel.

Gerdau Ameristeel approves expansion of Jacksonville Steel Mill

Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation announced that it has approved the first two phases of the previously announced expansion of its Jacksonville, Florida steel mill. The total expansion project is planned to result in a melting and rolling capacity in excess of 1.0 million tons per year in rebar products.

Mr Jim Kerkvliet VP sales & marketing of Gerdau Ameristeel said that "With this expansion, our Jacksonville facility will be positioned to serve needs not only in Florida but also in the greater Southeast and Southern regions of the United States. Engineering, equipment procurement and subsequent construction will begin immediately.

Mr Terry Sutter COO of Gerdau Ameristeel said that "This expansion is part of the total capital strategy Gerdau Ameristeel has developed for our core products such as rebar, structural, merchants and wire rod. We are leaders in these products and we are committed to becoming the 'Supplier of Choice' for our customers. We have to earn our customers' business each and every day and that means leading with world class quality, on time delivery and capacity to meet their growth needs.”

Kremikovtzi and ArcelorMittal ink raw material pact

FOCUS News Agency reported that Bulgaria's largest steel mill Kremikovtzi signed a contract on Friday for the production of steel from all raw materials supplied by ArcelorMittal.

Kremikovtzi said in a statement the deal ArcelorMittal has a possibility to lead to potential investments in future and would ensure Kremikovtzi long term viability. No financial details were made public.

According to the agreement Kremikovtzi will manufacture steel from raw materials delivered by Arcelor Mittal. The production will remain up to standard 60,000 tones per month and will increase until the condition of the units become better. The contract also provides an obligation for investments in ecology installations and assistance when repairs of the mill equipment become necessary.

Kremikovtzi needs huge investment to meet EU environmental standards and is facing deep financial problems, with Bulgarian media speculating it could be near bankruptcy. As per report, Kremikovtzi has accumulated debts of EUR 870 million and will face an insolvency court hearing in late July.

Built on the outskirts of Sofia, the plant produces about 10% of Bulgaria's exports and is 25.3% owned by the state and 71% by Global Steel Holding.

ArcelorMittal and Vorskla Steel have already declared their interest in acquiring the plant. And now Essar Steel has also joined the race.

US steel import permit in June up by 1% MoM

Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis data, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported that steel import permit applications for the month of June totaled 2,533,000 net tons. This was a 1% increase from the 2,514,000 permit tons recorded in May 2008 and a 3% increase from the May preliminary imports total of 2,451,000 net tons.

Import permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 2,075,000 net tons an increase of 4% from the preliminary imports total of 1,998,000 net tons in May.

For the first six months of 2008 including June SIMA and May preliminary, total steel imports were 15,684,000 net tons down 12% from the 17,822,000 net tons imported in the first half of last year. Total steel imports for 2008 would annualize at 31.4 million net tons or 6% below the 2007 12-month total.

For June 2008, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were
1. China 359,000 net tons
2. Korea 196,000 net tons
3. Japan 130,000 net tons
4. Germany 107,000 net tons

Finished steel import permit applications for China increased 25 percent in June compared to May preliminary imports and were the highest monthly total since August of 2007.

Product categories that increased in June vs. May preliminary include:
1. Wire Rods up by 48%
2. Hot Rolled Bars up by 40%
3. Standard Pipe up by 41%
4. Oil Country Goods up by 21%
5. Line Pipe up by 16%.

Products that showed a significant year to date increase vs. 2007 include:
1. Oil Country Goods up by 25%
2. Line Pipe up by 16%

Mr Andrew G Sharkey, III president & CEO of AISI said that “Concerns remain about dumped and subsidized imports of certain products from certain countries, notwithstanding the decline in overall imports through June. One such concern is tubular products from China, which are continuing at high levels in the U.S. market and still receiving export tax rebates from the government of China.”

Oil crosses USD 145 mark

World oil prices blazed over a record USD 146 dollars a barrel on Thursday in the face of falling US oil reserves, geopolitical tensions and a weak dollar.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, leapt to an all time pinnacle of USD 145.85 before a record close at USD 145.29, marking a gain of USD 1.72 from a day earlier.

In London, Brent North Sea oil for August delivery surged to a lifetime peak of USD 146.69 a barrel after breaching USD 146 for the first time in earlier trading. The contract subsequently settled up by USD 1.82 at USD 146.08.

Living Steel announces winners of architecture competition

It is reported that Peter Stutchbury Architects has won the first prize in the 2008 Living Steel international architecture competition. Another Australian firm, Bligh Voller Nield Architecture and Canadian architects RVTR Toronto, received honorable mentions from the jury.

The competition jury said that the winning entry has a very imaginative understanding of the landscape theme and the suggested neighborhood plan provides an incredible play field for children and park like setting for the community".

Architects were asked to create energy efficient, single family detached homes for employees of SeverStal JSC in Cherepovets, Russia. The construction had to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and be able to withstand temperatures ranging from -49C to 39C. The homes also had to be affordable to build and buy.

The 12 finalists in this year's competition were chosen out of 246 proposals from 52 countries. For the first time in the competition's history, the teams were brought together at Helsinki in Finland where they made presentations to the jury.

Chair of the jury, Mr Glenn Mucutt said that "The quality of this year's entries is of a higher standard, the diversity is greater and the commitment to the work is greater. I think this is a consequence of the way Living Steel has conducted the competitions this time, where the teams have been invited here to present their work.”

Mr Murcutt said that “While the jury deliberated, the architects took part in a design charrette on the master plan for the community within which the homes will be sited. The charrette or design workshop, was another first in this edition of the competition. The jury appreciated the interactivity, openness and shared ideas in the new competition format.”

The winning firm receives a EUR 50,000 prize and will begin working with SeverStal and a local Russian architect to define the design for construction in Cherepovets. Living Steel plans to showcase a demonstration building in late 2009.

AISI joins American scrap coalition

The American Iron and Steel Institute announced that it has joined the American Scrap Coalition, which is urging strong, immediate government action to eliminate the taxes and other market access barriers that numerous offshore governments maintain on their exports of steel scrap.

Mr Keith E Busse chairman of AISI said that “The widespread use of steel scrap export taxes and other barriers initiated by foreign governments is one more important example of the uneven international playing field for steel and US manufacturing in general. These export restrictions by governments act as a significant subsidy for their domestic steel and steel using industries in those countries that restrict scrap exports. At the same time, they have the opposite, and very damaging, effect of limiting availability and driving up costs for steel and steel-using industries outside of those countries.”

In noting the importance of steel scrap and of trade policies that support free and fair trade in critical raw materials and minerals, Mr Andrew G Sharkey III president & CEO of AISI said that “All of AISI’s producer member companies whether EAF or integrated use scrap in varying degrees in the steelmaking process. On policy grounds, AISI strongly agrees with the U.S. government view that foreign government export barriers are a major market access problem of growing importance to US manufacturers not only for steel, but for our domestic customers as well. We therefore support vigorous US and NAFTA government efforts, in the WTO and in bilateral discussions, to eliminate these foreign government export barriers whether on scrap, coke, iron ore or ferroalloys.”

ArcelorMittal sees Canadian IOC as a natural fit

It is reported that ArcelorMittal would be interested in acquiring the Rio Tinto Group's Iron Ore Co of Canada unit because the business fits with its operations in Estern Canada.

Mr Lou Schorsch, head of Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal's flat rolled business in the Americas, said during an interview this week in Chicago said that “If that kind of opportunity arose, I'm sure we would take a look at it. That would kind of be a natural fit. We share a lot of infrastructure.''

However, Mr Nick Cobban, a spokesman for Rio, said that “Iron Ore Co of Canada, is a good operation and not on our short list of possible disposals.”

ArcelorMittal said in September that it would buy more than two thirds of Wabush Mines’ iron ore venture in Canada from US Steel Corp and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc for about USD 67 million. However, US Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs ended talks to sell the stake in March and ArcelorMittal has asked the Ontario Superior Court to force the transaction.

Wabush produces iron-ore concentrate in Newfoundland and Labrador and has port facilities on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, close to the operations of ArcelorMittal's QCM unit.

Mr Schorsch noted, “Part of why we are interested in Wabush is because QCM is, more or less, right down the road. Also right down the road is IOC, which Rio Tinto owns.''

Rautaruukki launches website for roofing products

Rautaruukki has opened a new roofing products website catering for home builders. www.Ruukkihome.com is an interactive site where customers can try out different alternatives and select the roof that best pleases them.

Mr Ari Vouti VP of Marketing at Ruukki Construction said that “The new site represents a significant advance in the personal approach to roofing choices among consumers. Our new service capitalizes on the growing potential of electronic marketing. We can now offer our customers an active service that is available 24/7.”

He said that choice of roofing is now quicker and easier to make with the new e-service, which however does not serve as an electronic marketplace. The chosen roofing products must still obtained from one of Ruukki’s qualified retailers.

Different language and country versions will later be introduced alongside the English-language site and made accessible directly from Ruukki’s website as well as at the address www.ruukkihome.com. Further development of the service will be undertaken in accordance with customer feedback and needs.

Dongkuk Steel to hike export price of coated steel

South Korea Dongkuk Steel said it has settled the export price negotiation. Consequently the export prices of hot dipped galvanized sheet and color coated sheet are at USD 1,300 per tonne and USD 1,450 to USD 1,500 per tonne respectively.

It is expected that export prices of Hyundai Hysco and Union Steel will be similar to this price range. Mills were forced to raise galvanized steel prices in order to offset climbing costs of hot rolled coil.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

TUVRheinland acquires UTS in Alabama

TÜVRheinland, the world leader in independent testing and certification services, has acquired Unified Testing Services Inc, a full service testing and consulting engineering firm based at Woodstock in Alabama. The acquisition folds a variety of new services into TÜVRheinland’s portfolio and makes UTS a standalone member of TUV Rheinland of North America Group.

Founded in 1993, the privately based UTS generates USD 8 million in annual revenues and has 70 employees. UTS offers a wide variety of testing and inspection services focused on materials, construction, transportation, facilities and environmental engineering. Overall, services include: environmental consulting and testing, destructive and nondestructive materials testing and shop fabrication inspection of structural steel bridges.

UTS features five service groups, which will become part of TUVRheinland’s wide range of testing, inspection and certification services for global clients.

Mr Stephan Schmitt president & CEO of TUV Rheinland of North America said that “Acquiring Unified Testing Services will extend our capabilities to include a broad spectrum of new industries, allowing TÜVRheinland to deliver a more comprehensive portfolio of services to our clients throughout the US, Canada and Mexico.”

Tokyo Steel Targets 1.5 million tonnes at Tahara in F2011

JMB reported that Tokyo Steel Manufacturing tries to ramp up the new Tahara plant with 2.5 million tonnes of capacity to annual 1.5 million tonnes level in fiscal 2011 ending March 2012 after the commissioning in October 2009.

The firm tries to ship the sheet steel from the state of the art electric furnace plant with world largest 420 tonnes of furnace to automotive industry.

The firm already talking with automakers for sales for inner structural parts including pillars, which the firm ships from Okayama plant.

Daewoo Ship wins USD 2.34 billion Maersk ship order

South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co said that it had received a KRW 2.44 trillion (USD 2.34 billion) ship order from Danish shipping company AP Moller Maersk.

Maersk in a statement said that it ordered 16 ships from Daewoo with individual capacities of 7,450 TEU and capable of carrying a record 1,700 refrigerated containers each, but did not give the value for the order.

According to Maersk, the ships, for delivery by 2012, are destined for transportation of goods between the east coast of South America and Asia and Europe.

The order is the second for a South Korean company from the Danish firm in the last 2 weeks.

EC adopts guidelines on competition rules for maritime transport

The European Commission has adopted Guidelines on applying EC Treaty rules on restrictive business practices to maritime transport services. This follows a public consultation in 2007.

In 2006, the Council repealed the exemption from the EU competition rules for the liner shipping industry. However, beginning October 2008, liner companies will have to assess whether their business practices comply with competition rules.

The Guidelines will help maritime operators understand the implications of this change, and provide details on market definition, information exchange in liner shipping and on operational cooperation agreements between tramp operators’ so called pool agreements. The Guidelines will be published in the EU Official Journal.

Ms Neelie Kroes EC’s Competition Commissioner said that "Given the importance of maritime transport of goods to so many areas of the European economy, I have to make sure that the sector is operating as competitively as possible, keeping prices down and the quality of service high. By providing guidance to maritime operators on EU competition rules, these Guidelines mark a significant step towards better enforcement in the maritime sector.”

Council Regulation 4056/86 allowed liner shipping operators an exemption from EU competition rules to organize themselves into so called "conferences", with the aim of fixing prices and coordinating capacity for the transport of containerized cargo.

The reform of competition rules applying to maritime transport services will be completed in the coming months. This will include a public consultation on a preliminary draft regulation on the renewal of the block exemption regulation for liner shipping consortia. That regulation allows shipping lines to enter into extensive cooperation for the purpose of providing a joint service. The Maritime Guidelines adopted today are an integral part of the Commission's Action Plan to implement the Integrated Maritime Policy

Domestic steel prices in important and emerging markets

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sumitomo consortium wins power and water projects in Saudi

It is reported that Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp said its consortium has won preferential rights to join a JPY 500 to JPY 600 billion power and water desalination project in Saudi Arabia.

A spokesman for Sumitomo, which leads the consortium, said that Malaysian power provider Malakoff Bhd and Saudi Arabia's Al Jomaih group are also in the consortium.

The Nikkei business daily reported that the Saudi government will take a 40 % stake in the plant, to be located northeast of Riyadh and the three companies will hold 20 % each.

The paper also said the water output would be the largest in the world and was expected to boost the supply of fresh water by 30 % in Saudi Arabia, where concerns about a shortage of electricity and water are mounting amid economic and population growth.
The spokesman said details had not been decided but the companies will likely hold equal stakes. The plant is expected to generate around 1 million kilowatts of electricity, equivalent to the amount produced by a typical nuclear reactor in Japan, and some 1 million tonnes of water a day.

The paper said that Sumitomo is expected to use equipment made by a unit of Fuji Electric Holdings for the plant, and operations will likely start in 2012.

Environment department warns steel industries in Lahore

The News reported that Pakistan’s Environment Protection Department has started issuing warnings to more than 700 industrial units including a major chunk of steel related industries causing serious environmental hazards especially noise and air pollution in various localities of Northern Lahore.

Light and heavy steel industry is developed in northern localities such as Misri Shah, Baghbanpura, Moghalpura, Daroghewala, Bhagat Pura, Chah Miran Shadbagh and other localities along the Bund Road and GT Road. These industries included Steel Foundries, Steel Re rolling Mills, Steel Furnaces and Scrap Yards. All of these industries are spreading different types of pollutions especially air, noise, vibration and heat.

Besides the residential areas, a good number of steel mills are also operating around the historical monuments i.e. Shalimar Garden, Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque and the environment department of CDGL had already served notices to some 48 such mills but the danger is still there.

A senior official of EPD while talking to The News said that “Air pollution is the key environmental issue of the steel industry which the residents are facing. The major source of air pollution is the furnace, which releases pollutants like carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides and toxic metals.”

He added that “The principle air pollutant in the smoke is Particulate Matter that includes toxic metal dusts and fumes of lead, chromium, cadmium and zinc. These uncontrolled emissions are resulting in deterioration of air quality, he said adding that the air pollutants restrict photosynthesis, increase respiratory infections, birth defects, acid rains, and lung damage. He said lead and cadmium are also present in the fumes released by furnaces that cause collapse of central nervous system and degeneration of joints, lung and kidney diseases respectively.”

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.

Oman to invite biding for 2 key construction contracts

Oman Daily Observer reported that development of a world class airport in Sohar is expected to begin in earnest with authorities inviting qualified international and local firms to bid for two key construction contracts linked to the project.

The report added that one contract involves site preparation works and the other entails the provision of complete airfield infrastructure facilities. Actual construction work on the project, which is being overseen by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, is expected to commence before the end of this year, or early in 2009.

Officials said that though it is conceived as a domestic airport, it is designed to international standards, the new Sohar Airport will form a key component in a broader land, rail and air transport network that will underpin the Batinah region's development as a major engine of economic growth. The facility will not only cater to the aviation needs of the industrial port city of Sohar, but also meet the growth needs of north Oman in the areas of air cargo, courier services and passenger traffic. According to officials, the new Sohar Airport will be built at a site about 10 kilometers northwest of downtown Sohar city.

Development of the facility is envisaged in three distinct contract packages. While the first package covers site preparation works, the second involves the construction of airside facilities, including the runway, taxiway, fuel and fire fighting systems and navigation aids.

The passenger and cargo terminal, as well as associated buildings, will be constructed as part of the third package of works. Design standards of the entire complex will be in keeping with IATA Class A standards, as well as the recommendations and standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Egypt based international engineering consultancy group Hamza Associates are the design consultants for the Sohar Airport project. Hamza Associates is supported by US based engineering, architecture and planning specialists Robert & Company and Burgess and Niple in the design of the project.

Egypt to offer sops for wind energy farms

Gomhouria quoted Dr Eng Hassan Younis minister of electricity & energy of Egypt as saying that the EU Delegation has completed its feasibility study of a 200 MW wind energy project on the Suez Gulf, which was backed by EUR 270 million soft finance.

The minister also announced new customs & tax incentives to private investors willing to build wind energy recovery farms of up to 400 MW annual capacities and to maximize manufacturing of components required for the project.

Emaar teams with Capri Capital on USD 2 billion project

Arabian Business reported that Emaar the Economic City saying that the company has teamed up with US firm Capri Capital Partners to develop a SAR 7.5 billion project within King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia.

According to the report, the company said that the 20 hectare mixed use project will include two five star hotels, office and residential towers, a retail centre and a convention centre and adjoining hotel.

Emaar the Economic City, an affiliate of Dubai developer Emaar Properties, said that Capri was in negotiations with the parent companies of the Waldorf Astoria and St. Regis hotels to operate the two hotels.

The official Saudi Press Agency reported that KAEC, the most prominent of a series of economic cities the Saudi government is building, has attracted SAR 130 billion of investment so far.

KAEC has six components a sea port, industrial zone, central business district, resort district, educational zone and residential communities. On completion the city will be home to around two million people.

China per capita use of steel reaches 307.3 kilograms in 2007

According to a release from International Iron and Steel Industry, China per capita use of apparent steel in 2007 reached 307.3 kilogram up by 12.3%YoY as compared to 273.6 kilogram in 2006

(Volume in kilogram)

(Sourced from IISI)

China sets energy saving and emission reduction targets for 2008

It is reported that Mr Wen Jiabao PM of China, who is also heading the team in command of the energy saving and emission reduction work, hosted a symposium on July 1st 2008, reviewing 2007's performance and setting up targets for 2008.

The meeting gave an affirmative comment on the progress achieved in 2007. But it highlighted there is still much work to do to obtain the target of 2008.

In order to accomplish the energy saving and emission reduction target of this year, concerned departments should learn well and carry out the following key tasks.

1. Make clear of targets and responsibilities and intensify evaluation and examining work. Concerned departments ought to make the evaluation and examining outcome open to the public and welcome the supervision of the society and the mass media. Those regions and enterprises that don't reach the target need to offer explanations and make-up measures.

2. Resolutely limit fast growth of high energy consuming and highly emissive enterprises. Concerned departments ought to strengthen inspection in land utilization and in assessment of energy saving and impacts on environment. Meanwhile, efforts should be done to strengthen the production license management and further limit the export of high energy-consuming, high polluting and resource-intensive products.

3. Accelerate winding down backward capacities. About 13 million KW capacities of small heat engine plants should be shut down, and other obsolete capacities include industries such as cement, steel, iron, electrolytic aluminum, ferroalloy, small machinery coke oven, paper making, calcium carbide and so on.

4. Make efforts to push forward the key items. The country has financially backed up ten key projects which mainly involve energy saving, sewage treatment and construction of supported pipe network.

5. The new building constructions must abide by the standards and the achieved ratio is supposed to go above 80% by the end of 2008.

6. Speed up the development and popularization of energy-saving technologies.

7. Workout development strategies of recycling industries in key industries and fields, as well as related encouraging policies.

8. Strengthen supervision of prime pollution sources. Urban sewage treatment system and related monitoring policies should be established as soon as possible. The source of drinking water in 113 main environmentally protected cities should meet the standard by 100%.

9. Implement economic policies in favor of energy saving and emission reduction and get afoot reform in compensated use of mineral resources.

10. Organize and carry out a nationwide campaign for energy saving and emission reduction.

(Sourced www.xinhuanet.com)

CR silicon steel to replace HR silicon steel in China

According to the source from Shanghai market, there has been acceleration in substitution of HR silicon steel products by CR products this year.

With deepening of the national regulation on backward capacity elimination, energy saving and emission reduction including differentiating power rate and limiting use of electricity in peak hours, the HR silicon steel is faced with a trend of being weeded out. This is the fundamental.

Production of CR silicon steel is increasing and has been able to meet market demand at large. In January to May, China's major producers rolled out CR silicon steel of 1.551 million tonnes up by 10.25% YoY from the same period of last year. The production is expected to rise in future since more plants have got afoot developing the product. In other words, the situation is in favor of buyers when it goes to low and medium grade CR silicon steel. This is a base of availability.

HR silicon steel prices are losing the price advantage as the billet and subsidiary materials cost higher. The price gap with CR silicon steel is normally about CNY 500 per tonne but now it's only CNY 200 per tonne. DR-510"0.5mmx 1000mm x 2000mm sheet is nominally priced at CNY 7850 per tonne July 2008 up by CNY 1770 per tonne or 29.11% YoY from last year; while 50WW800 grade 0.5mm x 1200mm in coil base price increased by 22.84% YoY to stand at CNY 6990 per tonne EXW and the market price is about CNY 7850 per tonne to CNY 7900 per tonne.

The price gap has been so thin, while CR silicon steel coil enjoys high utilization rate by 5% to 8% and saves buyers from making insulated coating, which needs extra cost. Thus, the replacement of HR silicon steel by CR product is considered ultimate outcome of the market economy system and mechanism.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Magang to produce wheels for high speed trains

It is reported that China’s high speed train wheel independent innovation project has been launched making Maanshan Iron and Steel becoming the first domestic manufacturing unit for high speed train wheels in China.

At the same time, Anhui University will be responsible for two research projects.

In order to break this technological bottleneck, the Transport Bureau of Ministry of Railways and Maanshan Iron and Steel Company and some other related research institutes together launched the China’s high speed train wheel innovation project.

As per reports, in the next two to three years, the related units will complete the independent innovation for 200 kilometers per hour to 250 kilometers per hour high speed train wheel, and realize mass production. In the next four to five years, they will complete the independent innovation for more than 350 kilometers per hour high speed train wheel.

Private steel mills in China step up regrouping moves

It is reported that medium and small scale steel mills in China are trapped in hopeless straits now as a result of the intensifying competition in steel sector. And they have to expand output or speed up regrouping pace to ward off being regrouped especially for private mills.

Jiangsu Shagang Group, the largest privately owned steel mill in China, has regrouped Anyang Yongxing Iron & Steel Co last September which is also the largest private mill in Henan marking the first cross region recombination for China's private mills. The move was achieved against the backdrop of the tighter liquidity and the nation's stricter macro policies on steel mills. And a year before the move, the mill has already spent approximately CNY 2 billion for 90.5% stake in Huaigang the largest steel mill in North Jiangsu.

Shagang Group boasts total assets of some CNY 60 billion with annual output capacity of 15 million tonnes of iron, 18 million tonnes of crude steel and finished products respectively and 1 million tonnes of stainless steel plate. Its output capacity is only below that of Baosteel, Tangshan Steel and Anshan Steel in China. But plus the capacity of its subsidiaries, its volume even approaches that of Baosteel, the top steelmaker in China.

According to the group's officials, the regrouping pace will not stop. And its board chairman Mr Shen Wenrong also notes that the group targets to add steel capacity by another 10 million tonnes by means of acquisitions in the following three to five years.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Chinese steel mills Q2 profits up by 30.64% YoY

China Securities Journal reported that profits reported by large and medium steelmakers in the second quarter are expected to reach CNY 55.6 billion up by 30.64%YoY and 27% QoQ owing to jumping steel price.

According to the report, profit growth rates of large steelmakers that boast long term iron ore supply contracts and shipping contracts, such as Baosteel, Anshan Steel and Wuhan Steel will exceed 35% MoM higher than average level.

Large and medium steelmakers realized total profit of CNY 82.788 billion during the first five months up by 23.92% YoY. The figure in May only recorded CNY 1.893 billion up by 20.6% YoY from last year and up by 4.94% MoM from last month.

The figure in June is expected to hit CNY 18.5 billion to CNY 18.7 billion. Despite price surges for coking coal and iron ore, steelmakers have raises steel price to offset cost hikes and gross profit rate posts modest uptrend since February. The rate stood at 13.57% in May, near 2% higher than the lowest record set in February.

Hyundai Heavy to invest USD 2 billion in China

Reuters reported that South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd plans to invest up to USD 2 billion in China in the next five years.

Mr Kang Chul-ho GM of Hyundai Heavy Industries Investment Co said Hyundai Heavy intends to invest CNY 50 million in a loader plant in the coastal province of Shandong.

The company is also considering increasing investment in new energy, construction machines, ocean logistics and passenger planes.

China to shut factories ahead of Olympics - Sources

Reuters quoted government and industry sources said that authorities in Tangshan, an industrial city in Hebei province north of Beijing have ordered 267 firms to shut down operations by July 8th to improve air quality ahead of the Olympics.

Government and industry sources said the firms include 66 steelmakers. Hebei accounts for about 20% of China's steel production capacity. The source said the firms would have to undergo strict environmental protection checks in order to resume production at an unspecified date.

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.

Shougang Baoye construction period ERP package starts

It is reported that Shougang Baoye construction period ERP information project went on line operation recently marking an important step in information technology and automation initiatives.

Baogang Baoye construction period SAP system mainly includes management, material management, financial management modules and the software supporting management.

Russian per capita use of steel reaches 279.9 kilograms in 2007

According to a release from International Iron and Steel Industry, Russia per capita use of apparent steel in 2007 reached 279.9 kilogram up by 14.0% YoY as compared to 245.5 kilogram in 2006

(Volume in kilogram)

(Sourced from IISI)

Ukrainian steel output in H1 2008 up by 4.0% YoY

According to Interfax, Ukrainian steelmakers increased crude steel output to a total of 22.2 million tonnes up by 4.0% YoY in H1 2008. Over the period pig iron output grew to 18.5 million tonnes up by 4.0% YoY while rolled steel production reached 18.9 million tonnes up by 6.0% YoY. The

The highest crude steel growth in YoY was posted by Alchevsk Steelworks up by 37.7% YoY. In Q2 2008 the operating performance of EMZ Group was worse than in Q1 up by 4.1% YoY steel output growth.

Crude steel

In million tonnes

Rolled steel

In million tonnes

(Sourced from Millennium Capital)

Russian pipe makers reject Chinese proposal import quota deal

It is reported that several rounds of meetings between Chinese and Russian pipe makers have failed to agree on a formula for pricing imports of Chinese pipes into the Russian market and for introducing voluntary quota limits on Chinese pipe exports.

Ukraine per capita use of steel reaches 172.7 kilograms in 2007

According to a release from International Iron and Steel Industry, Ukraine per capita use of apparent steel in 2007 reached 172.7 kilogram up by 23.2%YoY as compared to 140.1 kilogram in 2006

(Volume in kilogram)

(Sourced from IISI)

Mr Abramovich quits as governor of Chukotka

Bloomberg reported that Mr Roman Abramovich, Russia's second richest man with a fortune valued by Forbes at USD 24.3 billion quit as governor of the Chukotka region across the Baring Strait from Alaska. His resignation was accepted by Mr Dmitry Medvedev President of Russia.

Mr John Mann a spokesman for Millhouse LLC said that “His departure as governor does not mean he is pulling out of the region. Millhouse still has projects there.''

Mr Mann said “Mr Roman Arkadievich came to Chukotka when the region was in a state of crisis, adding that he has substantially improved the standard of living and infrastructure since then. The crisis manager can step down.''

Mr Mann said that Mr Putin refused to accept his resignation in 2006, because the administration had just approved a new medium to long term strategic development plan and several investment projects are now coming to fruition, making it a logical time to leave.

He added that although Mr Abramovich has homes and business interests abroad, Russia will continue to be his primary residence. He declined to speculate on whether Mr Abramovich may seek another role in public life.

NLMK inks contract to build new power plant in Lipetsk

NLMK announced that it has signed a contract to build a new 150 MW Power Plant at its main production site in Lipetsk.

According to the report, commissioning additional power facilities will allow NLMK to increase its Lipetsk production site electrical energy self-sufficiency to 66%. At the same time blast furnace gas, a by product of the main metallurgical production process will be used for power generation.

The released added that, the turn key contract to commission the power plant was signed with LLC ESK Soyuz. The project is to be implemented within the next 33 months in 2011.

National electricity regulatory commission to review gas tariffs

Ukrinform cited Mr Valeriy Kalchenko chairman of NERC as saying that the National Electricity Regulatory Commission plans to review natural gas tariffs for citizens by August 2008.

He said that as soon as the Cabinet of Ministers submits to the commission official recommendations on limit prices for the public, the NERC would send its calculations to the Economy Ministry and the Finance Ministry.

The Ukrainian government earlier suggested increasing on July 1st gas prices for citizens by 8% to 13.3% or UAH 28 to UAH 156 per 1,000 cubic meters to UAH 367 to UAH 1,329 per 1,000 cubic meters.

On January 1st 2007, gas tariffs for the public were differentiated according to the annual consumption of gas and the presence of gas counters at the level of UAH 0.315 to UAH 1.290 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.

SSEA suggests 5% export tax rebate on special steel

It is reported that Mr Hu Mingyang secretary general of Special Steel Enterprises Association of China suggested the nation to keep the 5% tax rebate for export of special steel products but also revise the tariff criteria to guard against possible tax elusion behaviors.

According to statistics, January to May 2008, export of other HR alloyed steel rods grew by 263.21% YoY. Mr Hu said this is obviously abnormal. Through analysis of the figures and prices, he asserted among the exports, a big ratio is not the real alloy steel, which enjoys supportive export policy.

Currently, export tax for common long steel is 15% and for common sheet and plate 5%, but by adding a tiny amount of alloy, the common steel products can be made into alloy steel and enjoy 5% tax rebate.

Based on survey at the ports, Mr Hu pointed out rebar, wire rod and some other steel products can reach standards of HS code 72283000 by adding boron or chrome, leading to steep export of so called alloy steels. There are also cases that some particular carbon steels escape the quarantine and increase alloy bar export. He added that "This disturbs export of high tech contained and high value added products. We're quite worried.”

He suggested the nation to pay attention to and support export of special steel products and keep the 5% tax rebate. Meanwhile it should revise the definition of other alloys in customs tariff, improving requirement for the chemicals components and distinguishing between the qualified and not. In addition, export qualification standard is also advisable to better control total export volume of steel products.

Eramet gets EU clearance to buy Tinfos

It is reported that French nickel and manganese group Eramet won European Commission clearance to buy Tinfos AS of Norway on Friday, a deal boosting Eramet's position in manganese alloys through an output increase of over 20%.

EC in a statement said that "The Commission's investigation has found that the proposed transaction would not impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it.”

The Commission said the companies' activities overlapped in the production and distribution of manganese alloys but their combined market shares in 2007 for manganese alloys was 7% worldwide and less than 20% at EEA level. In addition, there are strong competitors in the market.

It said that the transaction gave rise to a limited vertical overlap between the upstream market of manganese ores and downstream market of special steel products. However, the Commission found that the proposed concentration would not give rise to any competition concerns on these markets.

Eramet announced in April an agreement with the major shareholders of the family controlled firm, who will own some 2.4% of Eramet after the cash and share deal, which has an enterprise value of EUR 593 million.

Minara maintains output forecast despite gas shortage

Mining Weekly reported that Australia's second biggest nickel producer, Minara Resources has returned its Murrin Murrin plant in Western Australia to full production, after output was affected by an explosion that severed natural gas supplies to the region from an offshore plant.

As per report, Minara has arranged an alternative supply of gas, part of which is uninterruptible and believes it is on track to achieve its June production forecast of between 31,000 tonnes and 35,000 tonnes of nickel for this year.

Minara said that it had operated the plant at its Murrin Murrin mine at between half and two thirds capacity for the remainder of the month after the plant was restarted.

The company produced 7,268 tonne of nickel during the quarter ended June 30th as compared with 7,598 tonne in the same period last year.

Mr Peter Johnston MD & CEO of Minara said that “The Murrin Murrin plant performance was commendable throughout the quarter despite the difficult operating conditions with the plant now back to full production we are confident that we will meet our production forecast.”

Miners in Western Australia were left looking for energy alternatives early last month, after a pipeline ruptured at the Varanus Island plant, causing an explosion and cutting gas supplies from the plant, which supplies most of its production to industrial customers, including iron ore and gold mines and aluminum producers.

Outokumpu and Vattenfall sign major electricity deal

Outokumpu announced that it has signed a deal with Vattenfall about electricity deliveries amounting to around fifteen terawatt hours during a ten year period in Finland and Sweden. The deal is unique for its scope and is seen as a powerful contribution to Nordic co operation.

In addition to the extensive deliveries of electricity, Vattenfall and Outokumpu have also agreed about electricity portfolio management services to be provided by Vattenfall, as well as co operation on more efficient use of energy.

Mr Hans von Uthmann senior vice president of Vattenfall and Head of Vattenfall Nordic said that “It is a great pride for Vattenfall to sign this really significant partnership with a Nordic heavy industry company outside Sweden. This partnership is a clear testimony to Vattenfall's excellent relations with Nordic heavy industry. Our deal is unique for the energy industry for its scope and comprises deliveries in both Finland and Sweden.”

Mr Pekka Erkkilä executive vice president of General Stainless of Outokumpu Oyj said that “Almost fifteen years we have had a trustful co-operation with Vattenfall and we see it as a strength that we have now agreed upon conditions for a long term partnership, ensuring, among other things, stable long term power price for Outokumpu.”

He added that “Outokumpu is currently expanding its stainless steel operations in Finland and Sweden and this necessitates also additional electricity supply. This deal with Vattenfall will cover an important share of our electricity needs until the day when new generating capacity will be available for us.”

Import price of chrome ore at Tianjin port

It is reported that import price of chrome at Tianjin port is as under

Price in CNY per MTU

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Iron ore price negotiations - BHPB finally settles with BaoSteel

BHP Billiton announced that it has reached agreement with Chinese steel maker Baosteel on the price for iron ore deliveries for the contract year commencing April 1st 2008.

The following prices apply to all of its long term supply agreements for deliveries in the contract year with Baosteel.

1. Yandi Fine Ore and Newman Fine Ore
US cents144.66 per dry metric tonne unit

2. Newman Lump Ore
US cents 201.69 per dry metric tonne unit

Mr Tom Schutte president of BHP Billiton marketing said "We note the recent 2008 contract year price settlement of a major supply source for Australian iron ore with Baosteel. We are pleased to have also reached agreement with Baosteel at the prices announced today. We will now seek to settle agreements with the remainder of our customers under existing long term supply agreements both in China and other countries."

Marcus Randolph CEO of Ferrous and Coal added that "Together with our positions in metallurgical coal and manganese, our iron ore business gives us a leading position in the supply of commodities to the steelmaking industry. We are happy to have been able to settle the prices announced today with one of our most important customers and we've been particularly pleased with the spirit in which both Baosteel and BHP Billiton undertook negotiations. At the end of what has been a long process, we believe our relationship with our customers remains as positive and strong as ever."

FOB prices for India iron ore fines dip in Orissa

It is reported that the FOB levels on Eastern Coast of India have seen a correction today.

In USD per tonne
FOB Haldia

But the Ex mines levels for domestic sales for iron ore fines on spot basis are reported to have remain unchanged

And on July 1st 2008, domestic prices iron ore in Burwil area of Orissa had gone up by INR 500 per tonne.

1. Rates are in INR per tonne
2. Rates are Ex mines but include loading into rakes
3. VAT or CST is in addition
4. Royalty is INR 19 per tonne for Fe content of 63 and INR 27 per tonne for Fe content of 65%

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

Iron ore price negotiations - Vale, Rio and BHP comparison

For deliveries for the contract year commencing April 1st 2008

Vale - February 18th 2008 – Nippon Steel

US cents per dry metric tonne unit

Rio Tinto – June 23rd 2008 – BaoSteel

US cents per dry metric tonne unit

BHPB – July 4th 2008– BaoSteel

US cents per dry metric tonne unit

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

8 rescued after fire in LKAB iron ore mine in Sweden

It is reported that eight workers were rescued on Thursday after spending hours trapped in an underground safety chamber when fire broke out in an iron ore mine in northern Sweden.

Mr Bjorn Koorem a mining manager at Swedish state mining firm LKAB said that the eight men were in good health after firefighters brought them out from a chamber 1,250 meters underground.

Ms Kajsa Lindmark a spokeswoman of LKAB said that "They were hungry when they came up but they were all right.”

She added that the workers had been building a new transport facility when a fire broke out in the mine.

Mining operations were shut down and Ms Lindmark could not say when operations were due to resume.

POSCO takes 20% of Sandfire Resources

Business Spectator reported that South Korea's POSCO has taken a 19.9% stake in local diversified minerals explorer Sandfire Resources NL.

Sandfire said that it has received USD 7.23 million, before costs of the issue, for the placement of 16.5 million ordinary fully paid shares and 2.5 million ordinary contributing shares. The deal was well received by the market with Sandfire rising as much as 4%, despite the benchmark index falling 2.4%.

Sandfire said that it would use the funds to extend its drilling program at its Doolgunna iron ore project, 140 kilometers north of Meekatharra in Western Australia. It added that the funds would also be used to continue exploration activities at the Groote Eylandt Manganese Mine, located off the coast of the Northern Territory.

Sandfire also said that it would use some of the funds to conduct further exploration at its Borroloola lead zinc project, which is located near the Macarther River base metals project in the Northern Territory.

Iron ore price negotiations - Movement in last 13 years

Following is a table on iron ore settlement prices in last 13 years.

Price in US cents per dry metric tonne unit
For 63.5% in USD per tonne on FOB

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

MSTC to sell NMDC iron ore by e auction

Economic Times reported that that State owned trading firm Metals and Scrap Trading Corporation plans to offer e-commerce services for iron ore trading through e-auction platform to public sector mining firm NMDC.

According to the newspaper, Metals and Scrap Trading Corporation entered the e-auction market for iron ore this financial year with Orissa Minerals Development Company and wants to expand the model by forging alliance with other iron ore producers.

Mr Malay Sen Gupta chairman & MD of MSTC said “The talks are in advanced stage for including NMDC into our e-commerce platform. We hope to conclude the deal and start trading by next month.”

He said that NMDC may kickstart e-auction of iron ore through fines where trading is on a higher scale. He added that “Since iron ore fines market is fluctuating, auction is the best way for pricing and e-auction is even more convenient. The price discovery will be very transparent on our e-auction platform compared with what happens in normal spot trades where the buyer and the seller are never sure if they have got the right prices.”

Metals and Scrap Trading Corporation now trades coal, scrap and ferromanganese through the e-auction route. It procures industrial raw materials from foreign and domestic producers and sells them to the traders and buyers to do business in metal scrap.

Australia will toughen norms for foreign investments

Reuters quoted Mr Wayne Swan Treasurer as saying that Australia will increase its scrutiny of foreign investments in Australian mining companies, particularly when the investor is also a major customer seeking a majority stake.

Mr Swan while speaking at the Australia China Business Council said that Australia needed to make sure that Australian companies remained reliable suppliers to all current and potential trading partners.

China's increased interest in Australia's mining industry has aroused concerns that Australia could lose control of its natural resources to Beijing backed firms eager to lock up supplies.

Two Chinese firms qualify for KIOCL ductile iron spun pipe plant

Calcutta News reported that China National Metal Products and Dalian Wanton Industrial Equipment Co Ltd and their Indian partners Chennai based Sigma Minmet Ltd and the Mumbai based L&T's Engineering and Construction group have pre qualified to build INR.2.25 billion ductile iron spun pipe plant on a turnkey basis for the state run Kudremukh Iron Ore Co Ltd.

According to the report, the new 100,000 tonne per annum plant will be located near KIOCL's pelletization facility in Mangalore. The turnkey project also involves technology transfer by the successful bidder to KIOCL for operating the new plant and its subsequent expansion to meet the growing domestic market.

Mr K Ranganath C MD of KIOCL said that “Two Chinese joint venture firms have pre qualified for techno commercial evaluation. The process will be completed by this month end and the bids will be opened for ascertaining the quoted price. The lowest bidder will be short listed for executing the project in 20 months.”

Mr Ranganath said the company had received five bids from overseas and Indian firms following its global tender floated in April.

He added that “There is a huge market for ductile iron spun pipes across the country for irrigation projects, drinking water supply and sewage structures, mainly because of its durability and non-corrosive quality.”

AMEC wins contract for Arctic iron ore mine

The international project management and services company AMEC has been awarded a USD 150 million contract to engineer and manage construction on an iron ore mine in the Arctic.

The Mary River Iron Ore project is the first iron mine to be built in decades. It taps into a huge rich deposit on Baffin Island.

AMEC in a statement said that the project will take six years to build at an estimated cost of USD 4.1 billion, including not just the mine, but housing for employees, a railway and a port. When completed in 2014, the mine will produce around 18 million tonnes of iron ore, and is expected to have an initial life of 20 years.

AMEC's Natural Resources division will be doing the engineering, procurement management and construction management on behalf of Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation. Work is beginning immediately, and includes logistic planning and basic and detailed engineering services for the mine and the export infrastructure.

Mr Neil Bruce COO of AMEC's Natural Resources Division said that they are thrilled with the award of the project.

LongMay Mining Group hikes coking coal price

China Securities Journal reported that Heilongjiang LongMay Mining Group Co Ltd has raised prices by CNY 260 per tonne for prime coking coal and fat coal and CNY 200 per tonne for 1/3 coking coal.

Latest EXW price stands at CNY 1640 per tonne, CNY 1590 per tonne and CNY 1390 per tonne respectively for prime coking coal, fat coal and 1/3 coking coal.

The price hike follows LongMay's similar move in early June. Some local coking enterprises have received the notice.

Due to seller's market, downstream users such are more concerned about whether they can gain coal smoothly and have to accept the price advance passively.

Anglo American gains 3 awards for business in Africa

Anglo American is delighted to have been recognized for its approach to business in Africa at the inaugural Commonwealth Business Council African Business Awards in London on July 3rd 2008.

The event acknowledged the contribution of businesses in the continued economic development of Africa. The awards promote entrepreneurial excellence and the sharing of best practice in the fast developing business landscape in Africa.

Anglo American's leadership in progressive mining was recognized through the following awards:

1. Best International Business in Africa
Anglo American received the award for the Best International Business in Africa for its contribution to business growth and development in Africa, including its leading edge work on small and medium sized enterprise development.

2. Biggest contribution to the Millennium Development Goals
This award recognizes Anglo American's commitment to poverty alleviation and social and community investment, through such initiatives as the world's largest workplace HIV/AIDS program, the innovative Anglo Socio Economic Assessment Toolbox process for improving local accountability and development impacts and the Anglo Zimele small business development program.

3. Gender sensitivity
Anglo American was awarded for its Women in Mining program and its focus on the feminization of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in its community program.

Ms Cynthia Carroll CEO of Anglo American said that “These prestigious awards are a tribute to the excellent work that colleagues do throughout our operations and reflect the fact that Anglo American is a company with a strong commitment to making a positive difference to people in the societies where we work.”

China hikes check prices for FeSi exports in July

According to a report from industry sources, Chinese customs have raised check prices for FeSi exports in July 2008.

Price now rises to USD 2,450 per tonne for 75# FeSi, USD 2,050 per tonne for 72# FeSi, USD 1,930 per tonne for 70# FeSi and USD 1,930 per tonne for 65# FeSi.

Domestic suppliers are all surprised by this price advance. The move is expected to further curb FeSi exports.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Chinese iron ore prices in May to June up by 1.96% MoM

Interfax China quoted the Chinese ministry of commerce as saying that the average price for iron ore in China in June rose by 1.96% MoM to CNY 1,560 per tonne.

Czech NWR drops by 11% as coal prices fall

Reuters reported that shares in Czech coal miner NWR dropped 11.3% in early trade on Thursday after coal prices on world markets fell.

Mr Martin Urban a Ceska Sporitelna trader said that "Coal prices fell a lot and these mining titles have been hit. There may be some profit taking and some correction but I think the stock is interesting."

GrafTech acquires 18.9% stakes in Seadrift Coke

GrafTech International Ltd announced that it has acquired an 18.9% minority interest in Seadrift Coke LP a privately held producer of petroleum needle coke from Falcon Mezzanine Partners LP for USD 135 million.

Seadrift is the world’s second largest needle coke producer. Needle coke is the primary raw material used to manufacture graphite electrodes and represents approximately 40% of GrafTech’s total cost to produce a graphite electrode.

GrafTech will utilize approximately USD 35 million of cash on hand to fund the purchase price with the remainder to be financed utilizing our revolving credit facility. GrafTech expects to repay the amount drawn on the revolver with operating cash flow within the next 12 months.

Mr Craig Shular CEO of GrafTech said that “The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in 2008 and underscores our belief in the strong graphite electrode industry supply chain fundamentals. Based on market conditions, we expect the supply of needle coke to remain tight for the foreseeable future and our strategic investment in Seadrift will allow us to share in anticipated favorable economic returns.”

BISAN JV to palletize and briquette ore

It is reported that BISAN will establish a JV dedicated to developing and commercializing methods for palletizing and briquetting coal and iron ore.

As per report, the new company called Size Technologies Australia will take over the palletizing technologies which had been owned and developed by Dr Len Breytenbach of South Africa.

Dr Breytenbach will apply his expertise in coal and mineral ore agglomeration to the company, of which he and other investors own 50%. The other 50% is owned by Bisan.

The new company will build two coal briquetting pilot plants and one iron ore palletizing pilot plant, and Dr Breytenbach will relocate an existing palletizing pilot plant, briquetting machine, building and office to the STA site.

SACMH granted rights to explore in Mpumalanga

It is reported that South African Coal Mining Holdings had been granted the prospecting rights for the Kromkans property at Ermelo in Mpumalanga.

SACMH in a statement said that it had finalized its exploration plans for the Kromkrans property and exploration was expected to start later in the month. Test drilling results would be available after about three months.

Mr Karl Gribnitz CEO of SACMH said that "Exploration is another leg to our organic growth strategy. The granting of the prospecting rights over Kromkrans is an important and exciting development, especially due to its proximity to the Umlabu mine and as SACMH is embarking on exploration for the first time."

The property, which was situated some 30 kilometers north of the company's Umlabu mine, measured 561 ha.

Last week, the company announced it was expanding its Umlabu operations by building two new underground sections at the mine and improving its infrastructure.

Import price of manganese ore at Chinese ports

It is reported that import price of manganese price at Chinese port is as under

Price in CNY per MTU

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Kangaroo Metals update on Riverside Alluvial tin mine

It is reported that Kangaroo Metals Limited has begun full production at Riverside following formal signing of the Agreement to Purchase the site and surrounding prospects.

According to the report, modifications to the processing plant have now been completed lifting throughput to 250 meter cube per hour. Run of Mine alluvium stockpiles, totaling over 8,000 meter cube will now be processed with the first shipment of concentrate still expected in July.

As per report, in addition to the production of tin, Kangaroo Metals Limited will now investigate the viability for sale of pebble by products to the landscaping and construction industries.

China Railway cuts its funding in Congo project

Reuters reported that China Railway Group will cut its capital commitment to a Congo mining project to USD 2.64 billion from USD 4.04 billion and lower its stake as a state owned resource firm joins the venture.

China Railway the country's largest railway and highways builder in a statement said that state owned China Metallurgical Group Corp a resources development company will take a 20% stake in the project and offer financing.

According to the report, China Railway will lower its stake in the project to 28% from 43% and its partner Sinohydro Corp will reduce its holding to 25% from 20% to make room for China Metallurgical's investment.

China Railway announced plans in April to set up the joint venture to invest in a copper and cobalt mining project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. China Railway said China Metallurgical's expertise in resource development would contribute to the smooth progress of the project.

China Railway said one of the Congo partners in the project Mr Gilbert Kalamba Banika transferred his 12% stake to Congo Simco. The amended terms of the joint venture agreement will lower China Railway's share of responsibility for unsecured shareholders' loans and assistance in arranging financing to slightly less than USD 1.20 billion of the Chinese consortium's USD 2.90 billion total. Sinohydro and China Metallurgical will be responsible for USD 852.5 million each.

Riversdale gets license for power plant in Mozambique

Reuters citing Mr Syd Parkhouse director of Riversdale Mining Ltd as saying that Riversdale Mining Ltd has obtained a license to start building a USD 2 billion coal fired power plant in Mozambique

According to the report, the plant will be built in the northern Tete province in early 2009 after a feasibility study is done in December.