Indian domestic steel prices continued their down slide last week. But long products were severely affected, which is reflected in 234 point fall in LPPI during the period. But fall in flat products was nominal. Overall, the Indian Steel Price Index fell by 122 points, as against 115 points in the previous week.

LPPI - Long Product Price Index
FPPI - Flat Product Price Index
ISPI - Indian Steel Price Index

Long products

Flat products

To know more about these indices please visit
http://steelprices-india.com/spi_services/spi.html

Input materials

Iron ore prices remained unchanged at Burwil but sponge iron and scrap prices at some locations went down.

Sponge iron

Change on August 14th is with respect to prices on August 8th 2008
Change is in INR per tonne

Melting scrap
80:20
HMS

Change on August 14th is with respect to prices on August 8th 2008
Change is in INR per tonne

Plate cutting and ship scarp at Alang also went down as under

Change on August 14th is with respect to prices on August 8th 2008
Change is in INR per tonne

Pencil ingot

Change on August 14th is with respect to prices on August 8th 2008
Change is in INR per tonne

Long products

ANGL
GR A
65x6

Change on August 14th is with respect to prices on August 8th 2008
Change is in INR per tonne

CHNL
GR A
75/100

Change on August 14th is with respect to prices on August 8th 2008
Change is in INR per tonne

TMT
Fe 415
12mm

Change on August 14th is with respect to prices on August 8th 2008
Change is in INR per tonne

WRC
SWR14
5.5/6

Change on August 14th is with respect to prices on August 8th 2008
Change is in INR per tonne

Flat products

Prices for flat products were somewhat stable except for some locations, where regional availability factors resulted in variances

If you want to know the prevailing prices and changes across the week on daily basis, please subscribe to services of www.steelprices-india.com

Rajya Sabha member & former minister Mr T Subbarami Reddy had appealed to the Mr Manmohan Singh PM of India to initiate steps for the merger of National Mineral Development Corporation with the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.

In a letter to the PM, Mr Reddy pointed out that the VSP had no iron ores of its own and had been purchasing the same from NMDC and others at a high cost.

He said that if things were allowed to continue like this the VSP which had been doing exceedingly well and earning good profits would become sick in future. The VSP had applied for iron ore to iron ore rich States like Orissa, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand.

He had stated in his letter that “Since both VSP and NMDC are public sector undertakings under the ministry of steel a merger would be convenient.”

Ranchi Express reported that the Heavy Engineering Corporation has successfully handed over an important part of a nuclear plant to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai.

HEC has successfully initiated, developed and produced special quality forgings meant for BARC. It has fulfilled the stringent quality requirements of forgings with the strong support and single point clearance from BARC, which has been instrumental in nurturing the special project with HEC.

BL reported that the Indian Railways seems to have agreed to Japanese condition of building the Western freight corridor with electric traction. Earlier, it had decided to build the corridor on diesel traction and the Eastern corridor on electric traction.

Citing environmental requirements of JBIC, Japan International Cooperation Agency which is conducting the feasibility study said funding could be extended only if the Western corridor was electrified.

The report said that the Railways conducted the world’s first trial for moving international standard sized double stack containers in Daitari-Tomka section by placing the overhead electrical contact wire at a higher height of 7.45 meters. It said that “Trials have been successful.”

JBIC said that it would “first consider” the loan only for the Rewari-Vadodara section of the corridor. The Vadodara-Mumbai section comprises several bridges and accounts for 20% to 25% of the total cost.

India wants to access long term soft loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation for the project. JBIC extends loans for 30 to 40 years at 0.2% interest. But the borrower has to spend at least 30% of the loan on Japanese firms.

Western corridor, which will primarily serve the export & import container traffic between the Northern hinterland and the Western ports, was envisaged to be on diesel traction to enable double stack container movement. The Railway Ministry currently pegs the construction of the entire Western corridor at INR 23,680 crore.

National Thermal Power Corporation Limited has informed BSE that a 500 MW unit of Sipat Super Thermal Power Project Stage II of NTPC Limited located in the state of Chattisgarh has been successfully synchronized on August 13th 2008.

This is the second unit that has been commissioned in respect of Sipat Super Thermal Power Project slated to have an ultimate capacity of 2980 MW. With the commissioning of this unit, the total installed capacity of the Company has become 29,894 MW.

ET reported that the advent of a couple of state of the art technology ports across east coast with rail linkages to mineral rich regions in their backyard and deeper draught conditions is expected to change the way the country handles its exim business.

There are reports of numerous ports coming up across the eastern coast, mainly Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. The latest addition to the long list is the deepwater port that is being planned in Orissa by JSW Steel.

According to a Mumbai shipping analyst, such capacity enhancements would lead to quantum jump in use of Capsize and post Panamax vessels as against prevailing use of Handymaxes and Panamaxs. Port consultant in Mumbai said that "Until now bigger ships were not able to come to India. We have only one true Capesize port in the country Mundra. While Vizag and Chennai have facilities for such a vessel but they have restrictions and in Murmagoa, only part loading is possible. But all the new ports which are coming are equipped to receive Capesize vessels."

Most of the iron ore exported out of India is in spot and in Handymax vessels. Indian ore is costly compared to that of Australia, but it enjoys freight advantage over Brazilian cargo. However, Australian ore is cheaper as it is closer and moves on bigger vessels like Capesizes.

In this context, the host of new ports, which are either operational like Krishnapatnam or are on development stage like Gopalpur would help to equalize rates and to make for a level playing field for buyers. The ports would also help to have economies of scale not only by loading in Capes but also by providing rail linkages they could ensure that similar vessels get loaded much faster.

Haldia, Chennai, Vizag and Paradip are the leading iron ore loading ports in east coast. Even though Haldia is nearer to south Asian export destinations, it would be the most affected port in the east coast by the new developments, according to the consultant.

It is reported that inflation is projected to remain in double digits till the end of this year as the fiscal measures initiated by the government are expected to yield results only by December.

Mr Kaushal Sampat COO of Dun & Bradstreet India said that "Given the supply driven nature of the current inflation, the RBI's measures are likely to have limited impact towards controlling inflation in the short run."

He said that the fiscal measures initiated by the government to augment supply are expected to begin yielding results from December. As such, we expect inflation to continue to remain elevated and in double digits till December 2008."

The report stated high input costs and rising interest rates have impacted industrial growth with IIP growth slowing down to 5.23% in Q1 of FY 2009 against a growth of 10.28% in the same period last year. However, with inflation continuing to be in double digits and the money supply growing well above target, RBI further tightened its monetary stance, increasing the CRR and repo rates.

MR Sampat said that "Recent increase in policy rates could lead to upward movement in banks' lending rates, thereby increasing pressure on corporate margins. Also, high interest rates would further dampen the demand in interest sensitive sectors. We may witness deferment in investment decisions by companies." He added that industrial growth is therefore, expected to be subdued in the months to come and average at around 6.8% during FY 2009.

CONTENT

Topics
1. Indian steel: an introduction to its structure and growth
2. Capacity: crude and finished steel: growth trends by major producers and segments.
3. Production trend analysis, crude and finished steel, for major producers and segments.
4. Consumption trends by products and in different regional markets.
5. Detailed status of the steel market in India, by products and with specific details such as size and shapes for HR Coils, CR Coils and Sheets, Galvanized sheets, Rebars, Sections, Wire Rods and Plates.
5. New investments in steel: latest status of the projects.
6. Expected production of steel year wise till 2015, by products. Different scenarios.
7. Latest forecasts of annual steel demand by products till 2020.
8. The alloy and stainless steel market: trends in investment, production, consumption.
9. Forecast of alloy and stainless steel demand till 2020.
10. Specific opportunities in alloy and stainless steel.
11. Steel price trends and short term forecasts.
12. Costs of production of steel in India: past trends and forecasts.
13. The iron ore factor in Indian steel. Advantages and opportunities.
14. Details of captive mines with Indian steel producers and new prospecting and mining leases granted to them.
15. Coal and energy issues for the Indian steel industry: how is the industry placed today?
16. What is the impact of the rise in raw materials prices on major Indian companies or segments of the industry?
17. How are the merchant pig iron and sponge iron producers shaping up?
18. What is the steel scrap scenario? Estimates of domestically generated scrap and imports.
19. What are the M&A opportunities in Indian steel?
20. India’s external trade in pig iron, sponge iron, steel, iron ore and coal. What is the future for each of them?
21. Strategic Options and Recommendations

190 pages with more than 70 charts and tables

Scheduled for release on 1st September 2008

Price on release: USD 5000 or equivalent in INR

You can order your copy to reports@steelguru.com

Despite global slowdown India is set to become a potential goldmine as the capacity expansion plans announced by Indian corporate surged to INR 10,50,950 crore in the first 6th months of the current calendar year as against INR 5,67,851 crore between August to December 2007.

The ASSOCHAM Report on State wise Investments said that “Out of the total 24th states tracked by the Chamber Research Bureau among the top ten states Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Rajasthan were the most preferred destination by the private players for investments opportunities in the H1 of 2008.”

Mr Sajjan Jindal president of ASSOCHAM said that “With industrialization drive moving at a faster pace, the state of Maharashtra topped the chart with investment commitments worth INR 120,065 crore in sectors like power, real estate, automobiles, ports & shipping.”

The biggest of the announcements were made by TATA Power at INR 25,000 crore planning to increase generation capacity from 2368 MW to 12861 MW for the next 5th years, Reliance Industries for setting up semi conductors and other micro technology units announced an expenditure of INR 21,666 crore for the next 10th years.”

Andhra Pradesh being the second most mineral rich state of the country attracted the second highest investment announcements with a share of 10.11% totaling to INR 106,242 crore by major industrialist like Reliance Industries, Hindujas Group, Videocon Industries Limited GAIL India etc for the next 2 to 5th years. Home to huge iron ore and coal reserves, the state of Orissa emerged as the third most preferred destination with investment announcements worth INR 88,902 crore for the next 2 to 5th years.

Companies like Vedanta Resources announced a CAPEX of INR 24,000 crore for the production of 35 million cubic meters to 40 million cubic meters of gas per day. Sterlite Industries with a CAPEX of INR 17,000 crore announced its plan for generation of power. National Aluminum Cooperation made the third largest announcement in the state worth INR 14,000 crore for setting up a Greenfield aluminum and captive power plant.

Powered by huge potential in steel and manufacturing sectors, the state of West Bengal attracted investment announcements worth INR 83,287 crore majority of which will go into steel, manufacturing, hospitality. The top potential investor in the state was Cals Refineries planning to set up by 20 million tonnes per anum capacity refinery project with a CAPEX plan worth INR 20,000 crore for the next 6th years. Shyam Group with an investment of INR 9,900 crore announced its plans to set up an integrated steel power plant in Jamuria near Ansol district in West Bengal.

Rajasthan attracted 7.69% of the total capital outlay proclaimed across the country over the next 2 to 5th years. The sectors that drew maximum investment plans were real estate, retail, expressways, energy alone attracting INR 68,400 crore by industrialist like Omaxe Limited, Parsvanath Developers, Carin India. Apart from the investment of INR 68,400 crore corporate also planned investments in sectors like steel, cement, hospitality, cement and telecom.

The state of Chattisgarh was host to outlay plans of about INR 67,212 crore as per the CAPEX announcements made during the first 6th months of the current calendar year. Most of the capital spending was proclaimed in sectors like power, steel, cement, real estate mainly for setting up manufacturing plant for the next 5th years.

Among the corporate investing in the state, Gujarat Mineral Development Cooperation announced the maximum CAPEX worth INR 20,000 crore followed by Sterlite Industries with a plan of INR 17,000 crore and TATA steel with a CAPEX plan worth INR 16,000 crore.

With rising property prices in the capital, corporate India has lined up investment plans worth INR 50,595 crore in the state of Haryana. As per the announcements, industrialists like Omaxe, CHD Developers planning to come up with residential and commercial projects have lined up by INR 40,250 crore alone in the real estate sector. Apart from these sectors, investments were also announced in IT and retail sectors.

Delhi & NCR took a backseat in terms of the investments announcements attracting INR 38,237 crore. NCR took the major share of CAPEX plans worth INR 32,220 crore while Delhi with announcements worth INR 6,017 crore. Major developers like Parsvath Developers, Raheja Developers, Paramount Group have plans to expand their real estate business and set up group housing projects by next 2 to 3 years.

The city of Bangalore being high on industrialization scale attracted number of investments announcements. The state of Karnataka with a share of 3.08% in the total CAPEX plan for the H1 of the current year attracted capital expenditure worth INR 32,321 crore. Companies like Hindujas along with ONGC have planned to invest around INR 20,000 crore for setting up by 15 million tonne refinery in Kakinada and an LNG terminal at Mangalore. Baldota group with a CAPEX plan of INR 4,469 crore have planned to set up an integrated steel plant in Koppal district.

Gujarat being one of the most industrialized state was among the top ten states attracting maximum investment announcements. The state attracted an outlay worth INR 28,136 crore for the next 2 to 7th years. Jindal Saw with the maximum capital expenditure plans to set up first shipbuilding and repair hub. Essar Power announced a CAPEX plan of INR 4,800 crore for setting up 1200 MW power plant in the state. The state also attracted investment announcements in the cement sector with Unitech cement planning to set up an establishment of Greenfield project in an outlay worth INR 3000 crore by the end of this fiscal.

Amidst the currently prevailing volatile and speculative steel price scenario in India, SteelGuru.com has started the much needed barometer to track and measure the price movements on daily basis.

Steel prices being an issue at the forefront in the context of inflation, drawing significant government attention, making up for about 4 per cent in the Wholesale Price Index(WPI), has been media's most favorite and hot topic at the moment. Unfortunately, the facts are misrepresented very often due to complexity in the structure and the dynamics of the steel market, leaving the users of the information mostly in a state of confusion.

In order to provide an index for steel prices, we call it SENSEX for steel, SteelGuru.com decided to work on both long products and flat products for respective category indices as also a composite one for steel. We call them LPPI, FPPI and SPI and have started releasing these indices with effect from July 1st 2008, after taking June 30th 2008 as base.

LPPI is based on daily market prices of three benchmark products rebars, wire rod and sections in 4 metros, whereas FPPI is based on HRC, plates, CR and HDG. These indices have been built considering their respective weights in the composite categories as also in the shares of sales in the regional markets.

The pricing input is from www.steelprices-india.com, which publishes market transaction prices of benchmark products among select locations 5 days a week.

These price indices outline the way domestic steel market is moving day by day and will help producers, agents in the supply chain, steel buyers, bankers and analysts in their respective businesses.

To know more, please visit
http://steelprices-india.com/spi_services/spi.html

One can have an idea about the importance of the construction industry in India from the fact that it is the second largest contributor to the GDP after agriculture. The industry provides employment to more than 3% of the population. Its market size is around USD 55 billion and is growing at around 7% to 8% per annually, faster than the GDP growth. As the Construction sector is growing faster than the country’s project GDP growth, there exist a tremendous potential for development in the related area.

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Project monitor reported that dredging Corporation of India Limited has recently begun work on the INR 253 crore capital dredging project of Paradip Port Trust.

Confirming the development a senior port official told Project monitor that the project involved deepening the existing channel from the existing 12.5 meters to 16 meters by dredging a volume of 15 million cubic meters. He said that "All issues relating to cost overruns have been resolved."

The project has faced delays with tenders first floated in December 2005. The project that was to cost INR 117 crore would now cost INR 253 crore. The cost escalation was approved last year by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs after which DCI was given the work order as it had emerged L1 from amongst five contenders.

The channel is being deepened to provide draft to the upcoming coal and iron ore terminals that are being developed on BOT basis. It will enable handling of super Panamax vessels as against the maximum of 65,000 DWT now.

BS reported that aiming to further expand the industrial network, Bihar's NDA government has cleared altogether 135 proposals worth INR 71,289.64 crore submitted by big entrepreneurs for setting up medium and large industries.

Bihar state's industry department sources said that "All these proposals have been approved by the State Investment Promotion Board.”

The source said that the proposals are related to sugar mills, ethanol production, engineering and medical colleges and power production in Bihar. The source said that the proposals approved by the SIPB include opening of 23 new sugar mills and the expansion of the seven existing ones, apart from the production of ethanol in two sugar mills and five sugar cane juice production plants.

He added that the projects regarding five power plants, 12 food processing units and 15 steel processing and cement plants have also been cleared.

It added that a sum of INR 602.54 crore had already been spent on various activities pertaining to the cleared projects, which are likely to create job opportunities for over 0.114 million people.

Moneycontrol.com quoted Mr Raj Kamal Rao member of Railway Board as saying that the Railways has accorded sanction to carry out expansion works in the railway workshops in the country.

Mr Rao said that “Owing to unprecedented growth in traffic volume both passenger and freight in the past 4 years, the Railways has embarked on the task of enhancing its capacity by adopting new technologies.”

He said that “The Diesel Loco Works at Varanasi will manufacture 250 diesel engines this year, while the Chittaranjan Loco Works will produce 220 electric engines in the current fiscal. The capacity of the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur in Chennai and the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala had also been augmented. To meet the increasing demand, the Railways had switched over to stainless wagons with a higher payload.”

He said that “The Railways will set up 2 new factories in Bihar to manufacture locomotives and a passenger coach manufacturing unit at Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh as part of its effort to augment the capacity in order to meet the increasing traffic demand. While the new plant in Madora will manufacture diesel engines, the factory at Madhepura will produce electric engines. All three factories would be a JV between the Railways and a private partner and are expected to be commissioned in 2 to 3 years’ time. Each of the new loco plant will have the capacity to manufacture 100 engines per year, while the coach factory at Rae Bareilly will roll out 1,000 passenger coaches every year. The diesel locos, which will roll out from the Madora plant would be better than the General Motors locomotives.”

The Railways had planned to procure 20,000 wagons in the current fiscal as compared with 15,000 wagons last year. Mr Rao said that “In the current year, we plan to do better than that.”

BL reported that state run hydroelectric power producer NHPC has lined up whopping INR 90,000 crore investment in the next 10th years to augment its power generation capacity and to become 11,000 MW company.

Mr SK Garg CMD of NHPC Limited said that “We are planning an investment of INR 90,000 crore in over the next decade to increase the generation capacity.''

He said that the present electricity generation capacity of the company is 5,300 MW and it plans to add another 5,800 MW of power in the XIth 5th year plan which accounts for 35% of the total hydro power capacity addition during the period.

Mr Garg said that hydro power is one of the best sources of power present in the country, he added that “Hydro power is liquid gold, it is economically and environmentally the best option available in the country.''

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It is reported that the wind power potential in the country is 45,000MW.The present production is 8,760MW where as the Ministry has decided the target for 11th plan at 10,500 MW.

The ministry has initiated new scheme of Generation Based Initiative scheme for wind power generation. The objective of the scheme is to attract new and large independent power producers to wind sector.

The report said that GBI would be paid only to Grid Interactive plants of capacity 5MW or more. The rate of GBI will be 50 paisa per unit of electricity and would be paid for a period of 10 years

Asia Pulse reported that the Birla Corporation’s new plant would augment the company's total cement capacity to over 10 million tonne by 2011.

Mr RS Lodha chairman of Birla corporation said that "We have decided to install a 3 million tonne cement plant in Madhya Pradesh for which we have already signed an MoU with the state government. With commencement of this Greenfield plant the cement capacity will cross 10 million tonne per annum."

Mr Lodha said that the investment in the MP project would be INR 1,200 crore and it would be funded through debt and equity which would come mostly from internal accruals.

He said that "We are waiting for the limestone mining block and the state is in the process of allotting it to us canceling the right given wrongfully to someone else. The company would go for land acquisition only after the limestone block has been offered. Birla Corp has asked for 2,000 acres.”

As per the report, if the company fails to receive the limestone block which may run into rough weather if the state government fails to cancel the right presently in force, then Birla Corp would relocate the project to other location. The company has also received an exclusive coal mining block in Madhya Pradesh.

The ongoing brown field expansion at its existing 0sites like Satna, Chittor and Durgapur would be completed by June 2009 and the capacity would increase to 7.5 million tonnes from 3.5 million tonnes now. Mr Lodha said that the group was planning to shift the operation of Soorah jute mill to Birlapur and all its employees close to 12,000, would be absorbed at the new location.

BL reported that Garware Offshore which provides offshore support services to oil and gas exploration companies such as ONGC and Reliance will be adding 5th more offshore vessels to its existing fleet within the next 12th to 18th months.

The 5th vessels involve a total cost of about USD 100 million with 2 of these being purchased by the company’s Singapore subsidiary through the bareboat charter route. The new vessels include 2 anchor handling tug supply vessels one of which will be delivered in October this year while the other is scheduled for delivery in February 2009.

Mr Sandeep P Akolkar president of Garware Offshore said that “Both these vessels are new building orders and would cost about USD 32 million.”

The third vessel being procured is a USD 27 million platform supply vessel which is likely to join the company’s existing fleet of 7th vessels in January 2009. The remaining two vessels one anchor handling tug and a work barge are being procured by the company’s Singapore arm, Garware Offshore International Services Pte Ltd. These 2 vessels are worth about USD 41 million.

Mr Akolkar said that for these 2 vessels, the company had negotiated a unique package with a Singapore based bank which exclusively dealt with financing of marine assets.

Under the agreement, the bank will finance the entire fund requirement for the 2 vessels and hand them over to Garware for operation as bareboat charter. After a period of 2 years of operations, Garware will have the option to buy back the vessels from the bank at rates already determined in fact it can buy the vessels back anytime between 2 to 10th years of their operation.

BlueScope Steel announced a reported Net Profit After Tax for FY08 of AUD 596 million for the year ended June 30th 2008 from AUD 686 million in the previous year. Its underlying profit rose by 27% to AUD 816 million as compared with AUD 643 million a year earlier.

Mr Paul O'Malley MD & CEO of BlueScope Steel said that "This result was driven by strong global demand and improved spreads, particularly in export markets where higher global steel prices offset rising raw material costs.”

Mr O'Malley said that "A better than expected performance from the acquisitions made during FY 2008, namely Smorgon Steel's Distribution business and IMSA Steel Corp North America also contributed positively to the result.

He added that "Performance was further boosted by sales growth in the Coated and Building Products businesses across all regions in Asia and North America. However, these were partly offset by reduced spread for North Star BlueScope Steel and a strengthening AUD."

It is reported that Malaysian government has liberalized certain categories in the steel industry.

Mr Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin International Trade and Industry Minister of Malaysia while announcing this move said that the ministry is still discussing the standards for steel bars.

He said that "The government has decided to liberalize steel bars but we are still imposing some control. The industry players are allowed to import steel bars and cement as well.”

Mr Muhyiddin said that “With the government's decision to liberalize, said the steel supply and the current shortage situation should improve.”

Malaysian government abolished ceiling price for steel bars in the local market on May 12th 2008. Steel importers have been exempted from getting import licenses and paying import duties while local steel manufacturers were allowed to export their steel products.

It is reported that Nigerian Federal Government will establish an iron and steel company at Gusau in Zamfara State.

The state governor Mr Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi said that the establishment of the company in the state was based on the discovery of large deposit of iron ore, gold, silver and copper in the state as a result of the findings conducted by some foreign experts and geologists from Ahmadu Bello University.

According to him, the identification of these bounties in the state made President Mr Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to direct the federal ministry of industries to explore the possibility of establishing the company in the state, adding that the project, when completed, will lure investors to the state.

While announcing the results for the first half of 2008 has given the following outlook.

1. In terms of activity, the outlook for the second half of 2008 is good. The US Oil & Gas market is performing very well and Vallourec will benefit in this market from its acquisition of Atlas Bradford®, TCA® and Tube-Alloy(TM). Outside North America, the Oil & Gas order book represents around seven months' sales, with a notable increase in activity in the North Sea and new orders to equip oil fields in West Africa for Total and Petrobras.

2. The Power generation market, in which Vallourec is the world leader, remains very buoyant due to a combination of the increasingly stringent requirements for the reduction of CO2 emissions and the need to replace power plants that are becoming obsolete. The order book remains very healthy at a little over seven months' sales and the product mix is continuing to improve.

3. The petrochemicals activity is expanding, mechanical engineering is stable at a good level and the structural tubes market remains buoyant.

4. Vallourec's plants are expected to operate at high capacity and the Group therefore forecasts production volume in the second half of 2008 in line with that of the second half of 2007.

5. The Group stresses that it is continuing to implement selling price increases to offset the sharp rises in raw material costs (iron ore, coke, scrap metal and alloys) seen in recent months and to minimize the impact of movements in the euro/dollar exchange rate. A series of prices increases have been implemented, both during the first half and subsequent to the balance sheet date. Given that price increases in the Oil & Gas market outside North America cannot be applied retrospectively to orders already taken by the Group, such increases will not be reflected in the sales figures before first quarter 2009.

6. The Group forecasts a sales growth rate in the second half close to that achieved in the first half (+3.5%) on a comparable basis(2).

7. The effect of the dollar's continued weakness on new orders combined with the exceptionally high raw material costs (iron ore, coke, scrap metal and alloys) will have a greater impact on earnings in the second half than in the first half of the year. Moreover, the Group stresses that maintenance operations are seasonal in nature, with the majority of such work being carried out in the second half. Vallourec will, however, benefit from progressive price increases and from the integration of its recent acquisitions in the United States.

Given all the above factors, Vallourec forecasts a second-half EBITDA close to that of the first half in absolute terms, which represents an EBITDA/sales ratio of around 23%.

Longer term, the Group has complete confidence in the outlook offered by the Oil & Gas and Power generation markets in particular. Vallourec will benefit from its cost-reduction programme, the integration of Atlas Bradford®, TCA® and Tube-Alloy(TM) and the competitiveness of its new pipe mill in Brazil.
(1) Scope effect not significant for production volume between the second half of 2007 and the second half of 2008.
(2) On the same basis as that of the second half of 2008, sales in the second half of 2007 would have totalled E 3,154 million.

Japan Economic Newswire reported that Japan’s industry ministry has decided to extend financial support to Japanese companies for their acquisitions of foreign resource related firms as part of efforts to secure stable supplies of mineral resources such as iron ore and rare metals.

AS per report, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to seek a budgetary allocation of about JPY 20 billion for the project for fiscal 2009 starting in next April when it files requests with the Finance Ministry later this month.

To back up Japanese firms' efforts to gain more development rights in major overseas mines, METI decided to expand the scope of coverage of financial support to the acquisition of foreign firms holding such development rights by Japanese companies. The ministry will also assist Japanese firms' efforts to enhance exploitation technology as cooperation with overseas firms in the exploration of mines will be instrumental in securing the supply of natural resources.

Resource scarce Japan relies on imports from overseas for nearly all its necessary mineral resources and a stable procurement of supplies is one of its key policy tasks. The decision comes at a time when prices of natural resources have continued to rise amid tightening supply in the global market coupled with growing demand in emerging economies such as China.

'Directory of Electrical Steel Users in India' is one of the top sources of information available on electrical steel users in India. It is one of the most comprehensive and accurate directory of electrical steel users in India.

Published in May 2008, 'Directory of Electrical Steel Users in India' has been comprehensively researched and prepared, to bring you a fully up to date guide to Indian users of electrical steel. This report will be extremely useful to businesses that deal specifically with companies in the electrical steel segment.

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

Why spend hundreds of hours searching for new contacts? Invest in a copy TODAY!

This report covers name and product details of 340 of Indian electrical users in Alphabetical order.

Look at the information you'll get in the 'Directory of Electrical Steel Users in India'

• Company name -340 entries
• Address-340 entries
• Phone number-338 entries
• Fax number -317 entries
• Email -300 entries

Report Summary:
1. Published: May 2008
2. Format PDF File (Delivery by Email on receipt of payment)
3. Total no of pages – 190

Price: USD 625 or equivalent in INR
(Additional Charges would be levied for delivery of file on a CD or in printed form)

You can order your copy to reports@steelguru.com

It is reported that Sims Australia will be installing a 100SXS shredder made by The Shredder Co at a scrap recycling location in Brisbane. The purchase was made to replace the present machine with a new mill with added capacity.

Mr Scotty Newell president of The Shredder Co said that the modernization will make the plant the most advanced shredder in the Sims inventory in Australia.

The shredder and systems upgrades include automation technology from TSC’s smart shredding system, the automatic smart water system and the super double feed roll squared system. The shredder system will also include TSC’s Special Alloy Steel Rotor and TSC’s latest castings design.

The shredder is scheduled to be shipped from Texas and delivered to Australia in March 2009.

'Directory of Tin Plate Users in India' is one of the top sources of information available on tin plate users in India. It is one of the most comprehensive and accurate directory of Indian tin plate users that have ever been published. This powerful report is your connection to the entire Indian tin plate industries sector.

Published in May 2008, 'Directory of Tin Plate Users in India' has been comprehensively researched and prepared, to bring you a fully up to date guide to India's rapidly growing tin plate makers. This report will be extremely useful to businesses that deal specifically with companies in the tin plate industry, consumable suppliers, raw material sellers, equipment makers and others.

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

Why spend hundreds of hours searching for new contacts? Invest in a copy TODAY!

This report covers name and product details of 147 of Indian tin plate makers in alphabetical order as well as location wise.

Look at the information you'll get in the 'Directory of Tin Plate Users in India'

• Company name -147 entries
• Address-147 entries
• Phone number-143 entries
• Fax number -110 entries
• Email -90 entries

Report Summary:
1. Published: May 2008
2. Format PDF File (Delivery by Email on receipt of payment)
3. Total no of pages – 87

Price: USD 625 or equivalent in INR
(Additional Charges would be levied for delivery of file on a CD or in printed form)

You can order your copy to reports@steelguru.com

Brazilian refractory brick producer Magnesita Refratários reported a 14.5% YoY net revenue increase in the April to June 2008 quarter to BRR 318 million as compared to BRR 278 million in April to June 2007