The variation in newly developed indices for steel products in India reflects that on the whole, steel prices are on upward trend during the first 5 days of August 2008.

Long products have witnessed minor correction and flat product prices have strengthened

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

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

It is reported that Heavy Engineering Corporation along with Mumbai based Shapoorji & Pallonjee Group bagged a INR 742 crore order from Steel Authority of India for setting up new ore bedding and blending plant and base blending facilities at Rourkela steel plant expansion project in Sundargarh district of Orissa. In March 2008, HEC had emerged as the lowest bidder for the RSP expansion project.

As per report, the major equipment which will be manufactured by HEC are wagon handling systems that include wagon tipplers, side arm chargers, apron feeders, paddle feeders etc, crushing & screening equipment including reversible hammer crushers, roll crushers and screens and yard equipment including twin boom stackers, bucket wheel reclaimers, stacker cum reclaimers, barrel type reclaimers and transfer cars.

The work order has to complete within 30 months from the date of award of the contract.

Mumbai

Price in INR per tonne
Including ED and VAT
Delivery FOT

Price in INR per tonne
Including ED and VAT
Delivery FOT

(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)

SNS reported that Rourkela Steel Plant has received the coveted ‘Best Organization Gold Award’ under the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial National Awards 2008 for excellence in Indian industries.

The award instituted by a national magazine ‘What Hails Public Sector Today’ was presented to RSP at a glittering ceremony organized at the Institution of Engineers (India) Ltd.

The prestigious prize is bestowed upon organizations that have achieved significant success in the field of organizational development and are rated as the best organizations amongst the Indian industries.

Rourkela Steel Plant was chosen for this prestigious award in recognition of the excellence achieved by the Steel Plant in various fields of endeavor. It may be noted that the steel plant has not only touched peaks in production, productivity and profitability but has also taken huge strides in the field of quality, employee welfare, environment management and corporate social responsibility.

Daily Star reported that BSRM Steel Limited, Bangladesh's largest steel plant with the yearly producing capacity of 375,000 tonnes, has started commercial operation from June 14th 2008. The new steel plant has been set up in Bangladesh's southeastern port city Chittagong at a cost of around BDT 4.7 billion.

Mr Ali Hussain Akberali chairman of BSRM Group claimed that this is one of the largest steel plants in South Asia, as only TATA and Essar of India have plants exceeding the production capacity of the plant.

Mr Akberali said that the steel rod the plant will produce might get market in Middle East countries. He added that "We will consider exporting the product after meeting demand of local market as it has tremendous potentialities in the Middle East."

The BSRM Group, involved in steel sector since 1930 in the region, has an annual turnover over BDT 9 billion.

BL reported that the first ship carrying 53,969 tonnes of thermal coal from Indonesia arrived at the newly constructed Gangavaram port. Though the port has not been officially declared open or inaugurated, the vessel has started discharging the coal.

According to Mr KN Rao GM of Knowledge Infrastructure Systems Private Limited, MV Ikan Sembak arrived late on Sunday night and was berthed on Monday afternoon. He said the coal is meant for a thermal plant, belonging to the Maharashtra Power Generation Company near Nagpur.

He said that “Maha Genco has 5 thermal power stations and we supply coal to all of them. But for 3 of the power plants we bring in coal through Mumbai port and for the remaining we find Visakhapatnam more convenient logistically.”

He added that “Maha Genco had imported thermal coal through the Visakhapatnam port but there were some constraints at the main port. The waiting time was longer. Gangavaram being a new port, we need not wait and consequently we can cut down on demurrages and other costs. The new port also has mechanized handling facilities and therefore the discharge rate will be much higher compared with the Vizag port. Therefore, we can cut down on costs considerably. On the other hand, the handling costs are much higher at Gangavaram port. We will continue to favour Gangavaram port, considering the pros and cons.”

Exim News reported that a record 10,116 tonnes of ground granulated blast furnace bags, with a gang shift output of 843 tonnes, was loaded on to the vessel MV Gretke Oldendorff at EQ-5 at Vizag Port on July 31.

This surpasses the previous best loading of 8,396 tonnes, with a gang shift output of 763 tonnes achieved on June 14, 2008, on to the vessel MV Eastern Star.

The cargo was exported by Toshali Cements Pvt Ltd Visakhapatnam. Srivalli Shipping and Transport was the stevedore and Navship Marine Services Pvt Ltd the steamer agent for the vessel on behalf of Holcium Trading FZCO of Dubai.

Project today reported that the task force formed under the chairmanship of the Planning Commission has proposed fixation of upfront tariff for major port projects in the country.

As per report, the new guidelines for upfront tariff setting at major ports will be applicable only to new PPP projects for which bids will be invited or projects awarded under BOT or BOOT or any other arrangement for private sector participation under the Major Port Trusts Act 1963.

The guidelines contain the details for fixing upfront tariff for services rendered at container, iron ore, coal, liquid bulk terminals and multi purpose berths.

Once the tariff limitations are imposed they will apply to all terminals that are bid out subsequently at the Port for 5 years and would be reviewed after every five years. Tariff Authority for Major Ports will recognize capital and operating costs estimates based on the norms set by the guidelines and allow a reasonable return on capital employed which is around 16% currently.

According to the new system, before reviewing the tariff ceilings, the norms relating to performance will be set at progressively higher levels than those adopted in the past and will take into account the technological developments. Also, the tariff ceilings will be indexed to inflation but only to the extent of 60% of the variation in the wholesale price index occurring between January 1st 2008 and January 1st of the relevant year.

The report added that the fixing of tariff at major ports and private terminals already operating and where the bidding process has concluded will continue with the existing regulations.

BL reported that in 2007-08, the growth of container traffic in Indian ports was more than 19% YoY at a throughput of 6.7 million TEUs.

The report said that in first quarter of the April to June 2008-09 fiscal, the container throughput in Indian ports was 1,056,556 TEUs compared with 9,41,829 TEUs in the same period of 2007 -08, thus posting 12.18% growth.

In the first half of the current year, the sea ports of China handled 56.98 million TEUs, registering an increase of 16.6 per cent over the same period of last year.

It is estimated that at this growth rate the throughput will reach 21 million TEUs by 2016, which means India has to add substantially to its container handling capacity in ports.

Rathi Udyog has announced a phenomenal rise in its standalone net profit for the first quarter ended June 2008.

Rathi Udyog said that during the quarter, the profit of the company rose to INR 61.55 million up by 85.5 YoY as compared from INR 33.18 million.

Its net sales for the quarter surged by 60.4% YoY to INR 1,713.54 million while total income for the quarter jumped 60.52% YoY to INR 1,716.81 million and the operating margin of the company increased to 10.3% as compared with 5.6% in the previous year period.

ET reported that two companies from Germany and one each from Spain, England and India have been short listed for the final selection of the consultant to undertake a feasibility study of the elevated AC suburban rail corridor project in Mumbai. The project is likely to be executed on the PPP model.

The final decision on the consultant will be taken by end August 2008.

The proposed project involves the suburban rail service from Churchgate to Virar in Mumbai, which will be the first fully air conditioned suburban rail service in the country.

The consultant will be required to do the initial planning, designing and finding possible places for the proposed 60 kilometer long elevated suburban rail corridor project. Besides the Virar to Churchgate route, the consultant will also examine the possibility of extending the elevated corridor further to Mantralaya and Nariman Point to CST.

Initially the proposal was for the 60 kilometer long Virar to Churchgate only. But the Maharashtra government suggested to extend it further. So the feasibility study will also examine the possibility of construction of elevated rail corridor on all the three routes.

It is reported that India, Asia's third largest economy faced a power deficit of 73,050 million units between April 2007 and March 2008.

An internal official audit said that even as hope of power sufficiency emanates from the India US nuclear deal 6,53,172 million units of power were supplied last fiscal against a demand of 7,26,222 million units. The 73,050 million unit deficit was largely in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh.

As per the report, states accounted for 80% to 90% of the total power demanded. The audit by the ministry statistics and program implementation Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala met at least 90% of their power needs.

Some of the states and union territories that supplied 100% or marginally less electricity were Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.

A ministry official said that "There was a shortage of 64,368 million units in April 2007 to February 2008 which increased to 73,050 million units by March end."

The Hindu reported that preliminary works of Neyveli Lignite Corporation's 1,600 MW Jayamkondam lignite based power project in Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu is expected by January 2009.

Currently around 8,000 acres of land have been acquired for the project. The proposed project comprises two 800 MW power plants. The plants will require an investment of INR 6,750 crore for installation and about INR 2,000 crore towards mining activities.

The Hindu reported that Steel Authority of India Limited’s Salem Steel Plant organized a massive medical camp for the villagers of Sivathapuram. The camp was inaugurated by Mr BB Singh executive director of Salem Steel Plant.

The report said that a team of doctors from the Steel Plant conducted screening of nearly 850 villagers for various ailments and issued medical cards containing name, age, sex, pervious history of ailments, address and other details to each attendant of the camp. The total 820 villagers, many were given medicines free of cost for simple ailments.

The report added that another batch of 102 was subjected to sugar tests and another 70 for anemia. Appropriate advice on nutrition and awareness on management of sugar were also provided. Nine had been diagnosed to have developed cataracts. They were admitted in the Salem Steel Plant Main Hospital for cataract surgeries. These surgeries would be carried out free of cost.

Nepalese media reported that India based Bhushan Group plans to operate 3 big industries in Nepal, 2 in Biratnagar in the eastern region and one in Surkhet in the mid western region as soon as the political uncertainty ends in Nepal.

As per report, Bhushan Group, which is already operating Arati Strips at Tankisinwari in Morang district in Nepal for past 6 years, is carrying out feasibility study regarding the establishment of the industries. Bhushan Group is

The report cited Mr Roshit Unnithan GM of Arati Strips as saying that "Many Indian investors are in confusion because of the political instability in Nepal. The group has already got approval for the establishment of a cement factory in Surkhet at a cost of INR 1600 million.”

He added that study regarding the establishment of 2 industries manufacturing plastic pipes and corrugated iron in Morang-Sunsari corridor is underway.

BS reported that Bharat Heavy Electricals will be given preference over others during the international competitive bidding process for manufacturing 660 mw supercritical units in the country.

Mr Anil Razdan Power Secretary told reporters that “Yes, though BHEL will also have to bid during the international bidding process for manufacturing 660 mw supercritical units in the country, but we would make sure that some orders do go to the company.”

Mr Razdan however added that “We want more than one player to manufacture both 660 MW and 800 MW supercritical equipment here.”

Mr Rakesh Nath chairman of Central Electricity Authority also said that “Even if BHEL is not the lowest bidder, it would be given the option to match the lowest bid in order to bag the project.”

Government plans to invite bids for nine units of 660 MW supercritical equipment from NTPC for its seven projects and Damodar Valley Corporation for its two projects.

Reuters reported that India's National Aluminum Company Limited has resumed normal production at its alumina refinery which was hit by a coal shortage last week.

A senior company official said that "On Sunday, we produced about 4,300 tonnes of alumina and on Monday we are close to 4,500 tonnes, the full capacity of the refinery."

Last week output at the alumina refinery at Damanjodi in the eastern state of Orissa fell by half and the company had said the unit would be shut if coal supplies did not improve in a few days.

BL reported that Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has approved the Nava Bharat-Maytas consortium as the BOT developer for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project. The consortium was the lowest bidder for the INR 12,132-crore project.

Mr Anam Ramnarayan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh Information and Public Relations Minister said that “The Cabinet has also approved the extension of the Metro Rail Corridor-III by 4.77 kilometer up to Nagole and also the Draft Concession Agreement (DCA) for the project.”

He added that the consortium was informed that though it had time to complete the project over the next five years, it must do so in four years so that the metro is operational by the beginning of 2011.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for the DCA which is based on the Central Government’s Model Concession Agreement.

It is reported that NTPC Limited, Asian Development Bank, GE Energy Financial Services, Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc and Brookfield Renewable Power Inc have signed a MoU to form a Joint Venture Company for undertaking the renewable power generation activities. According to the MoU NTPC will hold 40% equity in the proposed JV Company while the balance will be equally shared by the other constituents.

The MoU document was signed by Mr RK Jain director technical of NTPC, Mr S Chander DDG of ADB, Mr Raghuveer Kurada MD of GE Energy Financial Services, Mr Kiyoshi Ogawa Group Manager of Kyushu Electric Power Co Ltd and Mr Ralf Rank VP of Brookfield Renewal Power Inc in New Delhi in the presence of Mr Anil Razdan power secretary of India.

The chairman of the JV shall be nominated by NTPC Limited. The proposed JV, over the next three years, will develop Greenfield and under utilized potential sites to establish and hold a portfolio of about 500 MW of renewable power generation resources in India.

The JV would initially develop projects in India and may consider having a regional and global outlook as a major investor and facilitator of renewable energy. Initially the JVC will primarily concentrate on wind power, mini and micro hydro electric power.

Jiji Press reported that Japan Iron & Steel Federation and six other major steel makers will jointly develop technologies for reducing about 30% of the current level of greenhouse gas emitted by the steel industry.

As per report, the team will try to develop technologies for separating and storing carbon dioxide contained in blast furnace gases and enables the use of hydrogen instead of carbon for iron ore reductions. The new technologies are expected to be operational by 2050.

The first phase of the initiative through March 2013 will cost around USD 1 billion and will be financed by New Energy & Industrial Technology Development Organization. More than 60 members of the Japan Iron & Steel Federation announced last year that they will buy 44 million tonnes of carbon emission credits from United Nations, up from a planned 28 million tonnes.

Japanese industry has also endorsed a global approach as the best way for steel to help address climate change. The industry says that it will collect and report the carbon dioxide emissions data of steel plants in all the major steel producing countries.

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc announced that its Auto Parts Business has acquired 3 self service used auto parts businesses located in Little Rock, Arkansas and San Antonio, taking total number to 30. It purchased the assets and business of U-Pull-It Auto Parts Inc, U-Pull-It Jacksonville Inc and Roosevelt U-Pull-It Inc, which were previously owned and operated by Gary Johnson.

Mr Tom Klauer president of Auto Parts Business said that “These 3 facilities complement our self service franchise and are another important step in the growth of the company’s auto parts business.”

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of recycled ferrous metal products in the US with 39 operating facilities located in 12 states. Its vertically integrated operating platform also includes its auto parts and steel manufacturing businesses. With an annual production capacity of over 750,000 tons, its steel manufacturing business produces finished steel products, including rebar, wire rod and other specialty products.

Ruukki has developed an unrivalled direct quenching method for rolling steel. The result is that customers’ products are lighter, more wear resistant and cause less environmental impact.

Ruukki’s active product development and collaboration with customers have resulted in direct-quenched steels, which are considerably more wear resistant and stronger than traditional structural steels. Other benefits include lower energy consumption and thus environmental loading, as well as improved steel quality and shorter delivery times.

The direct quenching method developed at the Raahe Works in Finland has taken Ruukki to the cutting edge in the production of hard and high strength steels, even by international standards. Strong growth in demand for special steels shows that the products are meeting customer needs.

Investments of around EUR 100 million have been made in steel production and the rolling mills at the Raahe Works to ensure production capacity and high product quality also meet considerably greater demand than at present. The latest stage in the investment program is a direct quenching unit for plates, which started up in 2007.

However, production equipment alone does not ensure good end results. Direct quenching also calls for good process control and expertise on the production line, in product development and throughout the order to cash process.

High strength steels have long been used in lifting, handling and transportation equipment to make equipment lighter and thus increase payload. High strength steels have traditionally been made using a method involving separate heating and quenching.

It is reported that Corus is continuing to see unprecedented market turbulence in the steel supply chain, with increasing input cost pressures in areas of raw materials, shipping and energy.

Mr Scott MacDonald executive committee member of Corus said that “This situation has already led Corus to examine its operating efficiencies in order to minimize the impact on its customer base. However, part of this process has focused on customer payment terms, which are being evaluated on a country by country basis.”

Corus business units have started contacting all their customers to inform them of the new payment terms. This Corus initiative is part of a trend that is being witnessed across the steel industry.

Reuters reported that Chilean steel and iron ore producer CAP’s shareholders have approved a USD 550 million capital increase as it embarks on an expansion plan.

CAP, which announced the proposed increase in July 2008, is in the midst of an aggressive USD 1.6 billion expansion. It has been expanding its iron ore production and is considering increasing its steel output as prices rise on booming Asian demand.

CAP plans to gradually increase iron ore output to 17 million tonnes per year from its current level of 8 million tonnes.

'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.

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Dnevnik Daily reported that the money that debt ridden steel maker Kremikovtzi owes to the Bulgarian government may top BGL 900 million, elevating the state to the top of the creditors' list.

Mr Petar Dimitrov economy minister of Bulgaria said that Kremikovtzi owes some BGL 200 million in unpaid bills to gas distributor Bulgargaz, state railway operator BDZ and electric utility NEK.

He added that "In addition, the government may be in position to make a BGL 400 million claim against the plant. The amount was made available to the company prior to its privatization. The management's subsequent failure to execute a viability program renders the lifeline inadmissible under EU rules. The amount now stands at around BGL 700 million with interest."

Mr Dimitrov said that with claims of around BGL 900 million in total, the government will also have a leading role in the selection of a new owner for the struggling steel maker. The total liabilities of the company are estimated at around BGL 2.5 billion.

At the beginning of the year Safal Group a leading supplier of metal coated Roofing in Africa has chosen Tenova Hypertherm as the furnace supplier for their two new strip processing lines to be set up in Tanzania and South Africa.

Now these two furnaces, installed in Dar-es-Salam and KwaZulu-Natal plants respectively are in an advanced phase of construction. The Dar-es-Salam facility is expected to be commissioned in the 4th quarter of 2008 and the one at Durban in the 1st quarter of 2009 both furnaces will be used for the production of aluminum zinc coated product.

The horizontal non ox based furnaces of Safal Group will be equipped with cutting edge low temperature strip heating technology developed by Tenova Hypertherm to reduce energy consumption and is expected to result in substantial savings for Safal Group. The two contracts mark the entry of Tenova Hypertherm into the coveted and as yet untapped market of AZ coatings.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Company announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the outstanding capital stock of steel service center group PNA Group Holding Corporation. The transaction value of approximately USD 1.065 billion including approximately USD 725 million of PNA’s debt that was repaid or refinanced, including the settlement of Reliance’s cash tender offers for 100% of PNA’s outstanding notes.

Reliance Steel funded the purchase of PNA with proceeds from its new USD 500 million senior unsecured term loan and borrowings under Reliance’s existing USD 1.1 billion credit facility.

Mr David H Hannah chairman & CEO of Reliance Steel said that “We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition. PNA is a strong fit for Reliance’s continued growth strategy as it complements our existing business, adds new products in new areas, and enhances our product, geographic and customer diversification which have been key factors in our success. We also continue to have a solid balance sheet with a pro forma net debt to total capital ratio of about 50% and availability under our USD 1.1 billion credit facility of about USD 200 million. Our weighted average borrowing cost for the financing of the PNA acquisition is approximately 4%.”

In addition, Reliance Steel entered into a new USD 500 million senior unsecured term loan on July 31st 2008. The proceeds were used to fund the purchase of PNA, including the repayment of PNA’s debt. Banc of America Securities LLC was the sole lead arranger of the term loan.

It is reported that Chatham Steel Corporation has purchased a 12.26 acre parcel in Hamilton Township to build a nearly USD 7.5 million warehousing and fabricating plant that will provide some 50 to 60 jobs once the plant opens next year.

Chatham Steel will build a 65,000 square foot building that can be doubled in size down the road. The plant will be a regional distribution site for several states. Chatham Steel has plants in Savannah, Durham, Columbia, Orlando and Birmingham.

Mr Bert Tenenbaum president of Chatham Steel said that "We are excited about this new location planned for Chatham Steel. This facility will allow us to better serve our current customers in the Huntington and Charleston markets, plus it allows us to serve new customers in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton as well as Lexington."

Mr Ralph Kline assistant executive director for Ironton Lawrence County Area Community Action Organization said that Chatham Steel bought the property last week from the Lawrence County Port Authority for about USD 12,000 an acre He added that the company plans to let the project for bid shortly and open in the first half of 2009.

Mr Kline said that, while Chatham Steel is putting about USD 6.6 million toward the project, the state already has approved USD 620,000 in state grants. Another grant is being sought for USD 750,000 to help build a sewer plant to serve industrial customers in the area.

Jiji Press reported that three of Japan's six major trading houses enjoyed record consolidated net profits in April to June 2008 quarter, thanks chiefly to highflying prices of crude oil, iron ores and other commodities.

The three are Mitsubishi Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation Marubeni Corporation. The other three, namely, Mitsui & Company, Itochu Corporation and Sojitz Corporation reported double digit declines in their net profits but nevertheless secured gains in operating profits, reflecting strong performances in core operations.

Following are the six trading houses' group sales and net profits in April to June period.

In JPY billions

Mr Junichi Matsumoto VP of Mitsui said that the trading firm made a good start to the year, despite its 43% profit fall in the fiscal first quarter. The profit fall reflected year before special gains from the sale of part of its stake in the Sakhalin II oil and gas development project in Russia.

Sumitomo, by contrast, saw its net profit surge by 51% YoY following a year before setback connected to botch trading in copper and zinc. Mitsubishi anticipates benefits from price hikes for iron ore used in steel products.

American Iron & Steel Industries reported that in the week ending August 4th 2008, US’s raw steel production was 2.113 million net tons while the capability utilization rate was 89.8%. Production was 2.059 million net tons in the week ending August 4th 2007, while the capability utilization then was 87%. The current week production represents 2.7% YoY increase from the same period in 2007.

Production for the week ending August 4th 2008 is down by 1.4% from the previous week ending July 26th 2008 when production was 2.142 million tons and the rate of capability utilization was 89.8%

Adjusted YTD production through August 4th 2008 was 64.955 million tons at a capability utilization rate of 88.6%. That is a 2.5% increase from the 63.412 million tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 85.9%

District wise production for the week ending June 26th 2008
1. Northeast Coast: 178
2. Pittsburgh/Youngstown: 217
3. Lake Erie: 87
4. Detroit: 102
5. Indiana/Chicago: 499
6. Midwest: 271
7. Southern: 663
8. Western: 96
(In thousands of net tons)

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

Daily Champion reported that, disturbed by reported cases of building collapse in the country, the Standards Organization of Nigeria has threatened to shut down all steel rolling mills in the country, especially in Ogun state, if they fail to comply with the Nigerian Industrial Standards on steel bars for reinforcement of concretes.

Handing down the warning in a meeting with steel manufacturing companies in Ota, Dr John Ndanusa Akanya director general of SON expressed displeasure at the level of tricks applied by some manufacturers to circumvent the law and maximize profit to the detriment of lives and property.

He warned that such ugly trend would no longer be tolerated by his organization, saying such act was dangerous for lives and property of end users of the product. He added that "This sends wrong impression on the minds of some Nigerians about the effectiveness of government regulatory agencies in combating fake and substandard goods in the country."

Mitsui & Company Limited announced that it has approved AUD 395 million through its 100% subsidiary Mitsui Iron Ore Development Pty Limited for early commencement of infrastructure work and acquisition of long lead items for a further expansion of iron ore export capacity at Cape Lambert and the associated rail network, owned by Robe River in Western Australia.

The port at Cape Lambert is currently under construction to increase its nameplate capacity from 55 to 80 million tonnes per annum by the end of 2008. The early planning and acquisitions are for maintaining the time to market schedule of a plan currently undergoing a pre feasibility study to further increase export capacity to 180 million tonnes per annum.

The early work involves significant infrastructure for the port operations, including the development of a new service of wharf facility, relocation of existing gas and power lines to enable commencement of stockyard work and the securing of production slots for dumper casting and slew bearings. It also includes the early procurement of rail sleepers. Completion of the total expansion is scheduled for the end of 2012.

Air Liquide SA has posted net profit of EUR 601 million in January to June 2008 period up by 8.1% YoY as against EUR 556 million in January to June 2007 period. Revenue gained by 13% YoY to EUR 6.37 billion.

Air Liquide said that it has seen no sign of a slowdown in demand and the company reiterated a target for profit growth of at least 10% this year, at constant exchange rates. It plans to spend EUR 10 billion by 2011 on purchases and new factories to meet surging emerging market demand for gases in the oil refining and health industries.

It is on track to reach EUR 600 million in savings through 2010, with EUR 102 million in costs stripped away in the first six months. Net income grew by 11% YoY at constant exchange rates in the first half. The operating margin in the company's main gases and services division will widen this year.

It is reported that German industrial gas producer Linde will invest USD 180 million to expand city owned gas production facilities in South Korea.

Mr Lee Jae hoon vice energy minister of South Korea will sign a MoU with Mr Aldo Belloni member of Linde's executive board on the development of the facilities in Yongin.

South Korea's industrial gas market grew to KRW 1 trillion last year and has been expanding at a double digit growth rate.

Shipbuilding and repair firm COSCO Corporation has posted a 60% YoY rise in quarterly profit, boosted by a booming ship repair and building business. It said that it remained confident of its prospects for the full year.

COSCO's sales of scrap materials during April to June 2008 quarter more than doubled to SGD 38.4 million from SGD 17 million a year ago, thanks to the soaring steel prices and as the firm takes on more ship conversion contracts.

COSCO said that it has not been hit by any order cancellations for its new ships, after stocks of Singapore listed shipbuilders including COSCO fell on Monday on news of order cancellations from Korean shipbuilders.

Mr Ji Hai Sheng president of COSCO said that "People are concerned about what is happening in Korean shipyards. I'm glad to tell you we did not receive cancellations of new buildings at present. In future, the situation could change but COSCO Group is doing quite well."

Despite the slowing global economy, Mr Ji said that COSCO would not slow down the expansion of its facilities, which would boost capacity 88% by early 2010, on a bright outlook for rig building.

Commercial Metals Company recently announced that it has sold USD 500 million principal amount of Senior Unsecured Notes due 2018. The Notes have a coupon rate of 7.35% and were sold at the offering price of USD 998.28 for each USD 1,000 of principal to yield 7.374% to maturity.

In anticipation of the offering, it entered into a hedge transaction based on then existing treasury rates which had the effect of reducing its effective interest rate cost on the Notes to approximately 7.29%. The Notes were assigned a Baa2 rating by Moody's Investors Service Inc and Standard & Poor's assigned a BBB rating.

Commercial Metals intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay its 6.75% notes due February 15th 2009 to repay commercial paper including that incurred to fund the purchase price of recently completed acquisitions, to fund the purchase price of future acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.

Banc America Securities LLC and JP Morgan Securities Inc acted as joint book running managers on the transaction.

Reuters reported that Australia's biggest port & rail operator Asciano Limited has rejected an unsolicited private equity bid worth around AUD 2.9 billion, saying the offer undervalued its business.

Asciano runs a national rail operation and also a ports and stevedoring business Patrick, at Australia's four major ports. Australia is enjoying an export boom on robust demand for commodities such as coal, iron ore, oil and food. But Asciano has been having trouble meeting customer demand due to capacity constraints in coal producing regions and delays in improvements to infrastructure.

Asciano owns rail operator Pacific National, with 2007 revenues of AUD 1.5 billion, and Patrick, with 2007 revenue of AUD 900 million.

The Wall Street Journal reported that union workers at the giant, troubled Kremikovtzi Steel recently held managers as virtual prisoners to force them to sign a contract. Suppliers are suing the factory to force it into bankruptcy as 2 steel magnates compete to gain control of it.

Kremikovtzi steel plant is in the European Union. Last year it accounted for about 7% of the exports of Bulgaria. Now a Bulgarian court is about to decide what to do about the debt ridden steel firm's imminent collapse after years of stripped assets and neglect, even as thieves plunder the site.

Bulgaria's troubles with corruption, organized crime, theft of economic assets and an ineffectual judicial system are testing the EU's ability to keep absorbing new countries. Now 27 members strong, the political bloc is looking next at taking in Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey, and then Serbia, each of which brings its own challenges. But Bulgaria's example could give ammunition to opponents who say the EU already has brought too many difficult cases inside its borders.

Bulgaria already is a highway for smuggling people, drugs, counterfeit money and Chinese pirated goods such as CDs into Europe, according to a March report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The majority of heroin on Europe's streets comes via Bulgaria, from Afghanistan.

Kremikovtzi's issues alone make up a major caseload. Prosecutors are investigating whether a recently fired Kremikovtzi chief executive embezzled funds that were transferred from the plant to Bulgaria's top soccer club, where he was the chairman until last month. The plant, now running at half capacity, this year has repeatedly failed to pay its workers or its suppliers.

VNA reported that Vietnam has banned companies from raising prices of electricity, coal, water and bus transportation in 2008 to slow the fastest inflation in Asia. Keeping prices unchanged means state owned enterprises will have to reduce production costs and accept lower profits.

As per report, the government will revoke licenses or prosecute companies that take advantage of higher fuel costs to increase prices of products without justification. The 76 companies, which contribute 40% to Vietnam's gross domestic product, have to share the burden in fighting inflation.

Mr Nguyen Tan Dung PM of Vietnam said that the global and Vietnamese economies are still in an unstable, complicated and unpredictable state, making it more difficult for the authorities to slow inflation.

It may be noted that Vietnam government on July 21st 2008 raised the retail price of the most commonly used grade of gasoline by 31% and kerosene by 44% to reduce the burden of government subsidies paid to fuel retailers. Vietnam's consumer prices rose by 27% YoY in July 2008, the fastest since at least 1992.

Blaze Recycling & Metals LLC has acquired a site in Albany that the company intends to open as a scrap metal buying facility. Blaze said that it expects the Albany location as well as the company’s recently acquired site in Montgomery to open during the third quarter of 2008.

The yards will support the company’s new automobile shredder in Phenix City, which is also expected to begin operating in the third quarter.

Mr Gary Blase co president & co CEO of Blaze said that “We are excited to be able to establish a facility in Albany. We have been sourcing a significant amount of scrap in that market for about a year. This facility will allow us to further exploit the Albany market.”

He added that “Within weeks of our Phenix City, shredder becoming operational later this summer, we will have 8 full service facilities. We believe our new facilities will allow us to quickly ramp up the throughput at our new shredder.”

Blaze Recycling & Metals is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blaze Metals LLC. It also owns Ocala Recycling, which operates two yards in the Ocala market.

Mr Tunji Sarafa Isola Nigerian minister of mines & steel development chief has hinted that the Nigerian steel sector is at the verge of collapsing if some drastic measures are not taken to develop the iron ore sector.

He said that "The scrap metals which is currently the critical raw material for steel industries will soon finish even without smuggling so we need to develop our iron ore deposits which we have abundantly."

Mr Isola noted that Nigeria has the largest resources of iron ore on 10 West Coast of Africa, with inferred reservations estimated at 5 billion tonnes. He added that Itakpe, with 30 tonnes of iron ore provides immediate supply to most of the plants and this government has provided a beneficiated plant that was supposed to come in about a year ago but it just came in last year. With this beneficiation which the iron ore can use and it will complete by 2009.

He said that the government is putting together the best foundations for the mining sector for its proper development as a major determinant of the vision 2020. He added that government has set up the infrastructure regulatory commission to ensure the basic infrastructure pro