It is reported that Indian government revised its target of power capacity addition to 90,000 MW in the 11th five year plan up by 11,423 MW from the earlier estimate of 78,577 MW in order to meet the growing demand of electricity in the country.

Mr Sushilkumar Shinde Union Minister of Power said that "We will add 90,000 MW by the year 2012 to meet electricity demand of the nation."

He said that out of the earlier target of 78,577 MW of capacity, projects totaling 63,312 MW are under implementation of which 18,177 MW are in the private sector. However, this does not include captive generation projects and projects which are yet to yield benefits during the 12th Plan Period such as 3 ultra mega power projects.

Work on 32 coal blocks having total extractable reserves of 9,916 million tonnes allotted to various state and central public sector units and Independent Power Producers is in progress. These blocks are capable of feeding 29,000 MW.

Mr Shinde said that "Along with thermal and hydro capacity addition, we are also now eagerly looking forward to very fast developments on the nuclear side in the wake of the very important diplomatic breakthrough that the country has achieved with the NSG waiver."

PTI reported that Chhattisgarh government has directed closure of one factory and issued notices to ten others from the power, steel and iron sectors for not adhering to the pollution control norms.

Chhattisgarh government State Pollution Control Board officials told PTI that the government ordered the closure of Mahamaya Sponge Iron factory in Siltara area of Raipur district after a team of officials found non-functional pollution checking equipments during a surprise visit.

It said that a notice was also issued to ten other sponge iron, steel and power producing units of Siltara, Borjhara and Urla industrial areas of Raipur district.

For the first time action has been initiated against so many industrial plants. This was also the first occasion when the Environment Secretary inspected any such plant and recommended action against them, the officials said referring to the inspection by the new Environment Secretary Mr N Baijendra Kumar.

The officials said that "The State government would no longer tolerate any one involved in polluting air, water or land and strong action would be initiated against them.” They added that action against the eleven industrial plants is a warning for rest of the polluting industries.

Bloomberg reported that POSCO may win a recommendation for iron ore mining rights for its planned USD 12 billion mill in India as the Orissa state government sends its consent to the ministry this month.

Mr Priyabrata Patnaik a government official monitoring the project in the eastern Indian state said that “We've completed all the necessary paperwork. We expect to submit all the necessary documents for the license recommendation this month.”

POSCO received approval from India's highest court on August 8th to acquire land. The court also allowed POSCO to buy iron ore from the market in addition to procuring the material from Orissa Mining Corporation which owns all the mines in the state.

Land disputes and delays in securing iron ore mining rights have prevented the POSCO from proceeding with potentially the biggest overseas investment in India. POSCO had expected to begin work on the venture in April 2007. Mr Lee Ku Taek CEO of POSCO had earlier said that it may delay construction work until next year because it has not secured a mining permit and residents on the planned site have not been relocated.

It is reported that National Thermal Power Corporation cited it has floated a JV with the Bihar State Electricity Board for setting up a coal based power project in that state.

NTPC in a statement said that the JV entity, Nabinagar Power Generating Company will set up the 1,980 MW project in Bihar's Aurangabad district. NTPC will set up the power project and would also look after the operations and maintenance at Nabinagar town in Aurangabad.

It is reported that inflation fell to 12.10% extending the decline to the third week in succession, even as the finance ministry pointed out that 30 essential commodities have become expensive during the week ended August 30th.

Inflation dipped by 0.24% for the week ended August 30th from 12.34% a week ago though none of the indices in the broad category declined. However, prices of some food items including imported edible oil and fruits saw a fall.

According to a statement by the finance ministry, inflation of 30 essential commodities increased to 7.52% during the week from 6.90% a week ago.

In the food articles group, imported edible oil prices which had been rising quite a bit, declined by 4%. The official data showed that besides, prices of fruits, maize and spices went down.

The finance ministry's statement also said that "In the primary articles group, the annual point to point inflation declined to 10.07% compared to 10.79% reported last week and 11.83% for the week ended August 9th 2008."

The statement said that out of total of 98 items in the primary articles group, 19 commodities have shown a decline in prices in the current week as compared to August 16th 2008. The statement added that the prices of various articles, including rice, maize, moong, masur, gram, onions and potatoes, declined during the week.

The finance ministry added that in the manufactured group's category, there was no increase in prices of 296 items out of total of 318 commodities.

It is reported that the Informal Advisory Committee has stressed upon the need for Indian Railways to go in quickly for high speed lines and also to increase speed and capacities on the existing lines for which the committee members felt that there was still scope.

At a meeting of the high level Informal Advisory Committee held recently, the committee deliberated on the requirement of investments on the Railways, the various project implementation challenges and also the need for high speed passenger travel. The committee is set up with the idea of deliberating on future strategies of Indian Railways.

The important points emerged from the meeting of the Committee were
1. A mechanism to monitor and ensure optimization of road and railway transport
2. To take quick action on the provision of ROBs/RUBs and to handle the problem of level crossings, particularly on the dedicated freight corridor routes
3. PPP in the Railway sector in general is difficult and it may involve the Railways sharing its earnings with the concessionaire
4. Railways should seek increased budgetary support from the Government, in view of its important role as an environment-friendly means of transport
5. New design of coaches, like LHB, should be proliferated
6. To evolve a policy whereby there can be increased participation in projects by State Governments
7. Double decker coaching stock should be used on busy sectors
8. Railways should, in the context of the huge increase in freight traffic, evolve a strategy for substantially increasing the speeds of goods trains
9. Railways should develop new Greenfield locations preferably within the city limits for big passenger stations, if need be, using railway land which is not presently being put to optimum use
10. Railways should find ways to increase the Engine-on-Load system of working,
11. There should be more efforts to have logistics integration.

With the continued high growth in the Rail Sector during the past few years, Indian Railways is facing many new challenges. Therefore, along with the new initiatives that have been taken, Railways have recognized that there is need to constantly innovate and bring about changes. For these, new concepts and ideas have to be tried out. This is so because conventional practices would not always give the necessary momentum to handle growth and massive change.

India is large market for import of steel scrap and this is the directory which is going to help many interested group to know this industry.

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This report covers name and product details of 1191 overseas scrap suppliers to India in alphabetical as well as location wise order. Look at the information you'll get in the 'Directory of Scrap Suppliers to India'

• Company name -1191 entries
• Address-1191 entries
• Email-1074
• Phone number-1140
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Financial Express reported that TIL Limited plans to invest INR 300 crore in the next 2 to 3 years to hike production capacity including setting up a Greenfield plant.

As per report, TIL has also tied up with US based high capacity lift truck maker, Hyster for marketing and distributing the latter's products to India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Mr Satish K Bhatnagar president of TIL said that "We are constructing our third manufacturing plant in Kharagpur. The estimated project cost during the first phase is INR 250 crore." He added that the first phase would be completed by mid 2009 and the company would thereafter decide on expansion in the second phase.

Mr Bhatnagar said that "We will be making machineries worth INR 400 crore per annum which will include port equipments, mobile cranes, container handling equipments and various components for cranes." He said that the company plans to export its container handling equipments to Germany, Middle East and South African countries.

Mr Bhatnagar said that besides, the company would also invest INR 50 crore over the next 2 years in up gradation and modernization of its existing two facilities in Kolkata and Sahibabad. He added that "We are producing mobile cranes of 75 tonne load and generator sets in these two facilities. The annual production capacity is of worth INR 400 crore a year."

It is reported that Kineta Power, the SPV floated by Kineta Minerals and Metals and partners is setting up a 2000 MW coal fired thermal power project at Krishnapatnam, Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

As per report, the project will be implemented in phases. Phase I will consist of 1.2x660 MW power and phase II will consist of 2.1x660 MW power. KPPL has acquired major portion of the land for the plant which is located near the Krishnapatnam Port.

The report added that Kineta Power has invited EoI's/ RFQ's from contractors for completing the project on turnkey basis or in packages like BTG & auxiliaries, BOP and plant civil works including chimney & cooling towers. The RFQ's have been invited on September 12th 2008 and the last date of submission is October 18th 2008.

The company has also appointed Zeus Infraservices & Energy for project management, procurement, financial closure etc.

Trough coal cost INR 4 crore per MW to INR 5 crore per MW

Hydro INR 6 crore per MW to INR 6.50 crore per MW

Nuclear INR 6 crore per MW to INR 8 crore per MW

Wind INR 6 crore per MW

Solar INR 20 crore per MW

Gas INR 2.8 crore per MW to INR 3.8 crore per MW

ET reported that TATA Power has charted out an aggressive growth plan to add 10,000 MW of generation capacity in the next 5 years.

Mr Ratan Tata Chairman of TATA Power said that "We have chalked out aggressive growth plans for the addition of 10,000 MW of power generation capacity in the next 5 years. We have completed financing of the 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Mundra in Gujarat and 1,050 MW Maithon power project in Jharkhand."

Mr Tata said that “The Mundra power project will cost INR 17,000 crore and Maithon, INR 4,450 crore. The funding of future projects will be financed through debts and special purpose vehicles which will be created for the various projects. The shareholders may be provided opportunities to participate in these SPVs.”

TATA Power has completed the signing of the financial agreements for the 4,000 MW at Mundra in Gujarat owned by its subsidiary, Coastal Gujarat Power Limited. The cost of the project is estimated at INR 17,000 crore with the first of the five units to be commissioned in September 2011. He said that the project will be funded through a debt equity mix of 75:25. The financing comprises equity of INR 4,250 crore, external commercial borrowings of up to USD 1.8 billion and rupee loans of up to INR 5,850 crore. More CGPL has successfully tied up the entire debt requirement through a consortium of overseas and domestic lenders at 9% and 10.5% respectively.

Financing has also been completed for the 1,050 MW Maithon JV project which is estimated to cost INR 4,450 crore and being funded on a debt equity ratio of 70:30. The promoters, TATA Power and Damodar Valley Corporation would bring in equity in the ratio of 74% and 26% respectively. The debt for the project is INR 3,115 crore and is being financed by the State Bank of India along with other banks.

Mr Tata said that the company has also finalized the location for the 2,400 MW coastal Maharashtra project. It is in discussions with the Maharashtra Government to get the required assistance and land acquisition.

He said that the company's 250 MW expansion project at Trombay is on schedule and will be commissioned by October 2008. The 120 MW power house at TATA Steel Works, Jamshedpur will be commissioned in FY 2009 and the 120 MW unit at Jojobera will be commissioned in FY 2010.

Mr Tata said that the acquisition of 30% equity in Indonesian coal mines, PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin Indonesia as well as trading companies from PT Bumi Resources has been completed. The acquisition will be financed through bridge loan of USD 950 million.

The company has also formed a JV agreement with Hindalco and Tubed Coal Mines Limited for the Tubed Coal Block in Jharkhand.

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.

“Directory of Construction Companies in India” is one of the top sources of information available on a construction companies in India. It is one of the most comprehensive and accurate directory of construction companies in India that ever published. This powerful directory is your connection to the entire construction companies in India.

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This report covers name and product details of 1000 Construction Companies in India in alphabetical as well as location wise order. Look at the information you'll get in the 'Directory of Construction Companies in India’
1. Company name -1000 entries
2. Address-1000 entries
3. Phone number-951
4. Fax number -652 entries
5. Mobile number-349
6. Email -749 entries
7. URL – 593

Format - PDF File (Total no of pages – 545), delivery by Email on receipt of payment of USD 950 or equivalent in INR. Additional charges would be levied for delivery of file on a CD or in printed form

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It is reported that JK Lakshmi Cement is planning to invest over INR 100 crore for a cement grinding plant at Kalol, Gujarat with 5 million tonnes per annum capacity to enhance its clinkerisation capacity.

Besides this, JK Lakshmi is also planning to set up three more RMC plants in near future with an investment of INR 8 crore to INR 10 crore for each plant. Each of the RMC plants will have a capacity of 60 cubic meters per hour.

Project monitor reported that ONGC Tripura Power Company Limited, a JV between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, IL&FS and Tripura government, is in the process of forming a JV with Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for setting up the transmission system associated with the 726.6 MW gas based power project in the northeastern state.

A senior official of IL&FS said that the JV agreement was under finalization. PGCIL is likely to hold around 26% stake in the yet unnamed JV. Once the JV is formed, the tendering process would begin and construction work is likely to start by March 2009.

The official said that the combined cycle gas based power project aims to monetize gas in the underdeveloped gas field of ONGC in Tripura. It would also help mitigate energy deficiency in the northeastern states. In June an INR 2,207 crore order to set up the power plant was placed on a consortium of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and GE. The first unit of 2x363.2 MW plant is scheduled to begin operations in 42 months and the second, three months thereafter.

It is learnt that INR 1,800 crore transmission line project involves setting up a dedicated 650 kilometer 400 kV line from Palatana, the power project site to 400 kV receiving substation of PGCIL at Bongaigaon, north Assam. The 400 kV line will traverse Meghalaya en route to Assam. Power will be fed to Tripura grid through a separate 200 kV system. PGCIL as project consultant has prepared the detailed project report while Jyoti Structures Limited has submitted the route alignment study. All major clearances are in the place.

ET reported that JV between India's Eicher Motors and Swedish truck maker Volvo plans to launch 2 new heavy duty commercial vehicles in 2 years.

The JV called VE Commercial Vehicles includes Eicher's commercial vehicles business along with its engineering components and engineering solutions businesses, besides Volvo's India truck sales and distribution network.

Mr Siddhartha Lal MD of Eicher Motors said that "We are in the process of development and hope to launch that in the next fiscal year." He said that JV plans to introduce a new 6X4 tipper and a 6X4 tractor trailer within 18th to 24th months. But this would be in addition to making variants of existing models and also improving on them."

He added that Eicher Motors which lags rivals TATA Motors and Ashok Leyland in sales currently holds about 2.5% market share in the heavy duty market.

It is reported that the talks between West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Ms Mamata Banerjee on Friday evening to settle the Singur imbroglio failed to bring out any positive results. As per report Ms Mamata walked out of the meeting demanding the return of full 300 acres of land in Singur and asking the government not to go back on gentleman’s words.

After the 75 minute meeting with Mr Bhattacharjee, Ms Banerjee told reporters that the Chief Minister offered to give back only 70 acres inside the project site to land losers at Singur and monetary compensation to those whose land fell outside.

She added that "It was clearly mentioned in the agreement at the Raj Bhavan talks on September 7 that maximum land will be made available to farmers inside the project area but it was intimated tonight that not land but monetary compensation will be given, to which we did not agree.”

She said that "Our two committee members have identified 300 acres of land inside the project and the area earmarked for the ancillary units.”

Earlier, on the basis of the satisfactory progress achieved at the afternoon meeting between the state government officials and Trinamool Congress, the Chief Minister had expressed the desire to hold immediate talks with Ms Banerjee.

Project Today reported that Epic Energy has successfully commissioned a 140 kVA energy saving project for the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking Limited at one of its transport terminals in Mumbai. The project will lead to a minimum saving of 25% of the energy costs of the transport terminal.

Epic plans to expand its presence across the country in the coming years. Currently, Epic has state of the art manufacturing facilities at Vadodara and workshops in Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Salem and Kozhikode.

Reuters reported that a Japanese consortium bidding for Brazilian steelmaker CSN's Namisa iron ore unit comprises Japan's top five steelmakers and trading company Itochu Corporation.

The group includes Sumitomo Metal Industries Limited, Kobe Steel Limited and Nisshin Steel Co. Nippon Steel Corporation and JFE Holdings Inc are also in the group.

This is the first time that Japan's top five blast furnace steelmakers have joined hands to secure resources abroad, signaling a major shift in their strategy amid soaring prices of iron ore and coal, the key raw materials for steel.

Japanese steelmakers until now have been reluctant to bet heavily on iron ore and coal mines, leaving that role to trading companies. Itochu is close to Nippon Steel, but has been relatively slow in its acquisitions of iron ore assets.

The decades old system of annual iron ore supply contracts is showing cracks after Brazil's Vale said this week that it was seeking to increase prices for Asian clients halfway through the annual contract cycle. Under the current annual benchmark system, the first major iron ore miner and steel mill to agree on a price for the year tend to be followed by the rest of the industry, guaranteeing stable prices for all steel mills.

It is reported that Industry Committee of European Parliament in a very narrow vote supported the fundamental principles of the Commission proposal for a revision of the EU Emissions Trading System. The industry has to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 21% in 2020 compared to 2005. All emission allowances of electricity generators will be auctioned as of 2013.

The committee proposes that manufacturing industry receives 100% free allowances in 2013 decreasing to full auctioning in 2020. The European People’s Party voted against the text after having failed with its proposal to allocate 100% free allowances, based on benchmarks, to manufacturing industry until an international agreement with equivalent measures for competitors is in force.

Mr Gordon Moffat director general of Eurofer said that "It is a huge step forward that allowances for waste gas recovery, which constitutes about 50% of steel industry’s CO2 emissions, now will not be fully auctioned in 2013 but treated equally with other industry sectors. But the decision on the fundamental principles of the directive falls short in adequately addressing the risk of carbon leakage and the possible de location of European industries outside the European Union. The uncertainty created by the Commission proposal remains, since it is the Commission which will decide in 2010 which sector or sub-sector may receive a certain percentage of allowances for free. In 2020 any free allocation will fall, regardless of carbon leakage. This could have serious consequences since we are talking about extra costs for the steel industry of about 50 to 100 billion Euros in the period from 2013 to 2020 alone."

The parliamentarians further propose to apply ambitious benchmarks set at a level of least CO2 intensive output per unit for installations in each sector receiving free allocation. Member States may exempt small emitters with emissions of less than 20 000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent and combustion installations with a rated thermal input below 35 MW from the system.

On October 7th 2008, the EP Environment Committee will decide whether to adopt the proposals of the Industry Committee before the Parliament starts negotiations with the Member States for a first reading agreement in December 2008.

Represented by EUROFER, the European steel industry is the world leader in its sector with a turnover of EUR 140 billion and direct employment of 370,000 people, producing 200 million tonnes of steel per year.

Platts reported that spot prices of domestic made hot rolled coil and cold rolled coil continued to slide in the US market. The Platts reference price of HRC declined USD 15 to a midpoint of USD 1,010 per short tonne ex works Indiana, within a range of USD 1,000 to USD 1,020 per short tonne. Meanwhile, the price of CRC dropped USD 5 per short tonne to a new midpoint of USD 1,115 per short tonne ex works Indiana, within a range of USD 1,110 to USD 1,120 per short tonne.

With demand from the automotive and appliance sectors remaining weak for an extended period of time this year, steel demand from the energy sector has been one bright spot. New investments in wind turbines and transmission pipelines have fueled demand in the sector.

The August 2008 survey conducted by the National Steel Buyers' Forum of the Institute for Supply Management pointed to a slide in business activity. More than 82% of respondents said they expected incoming orders over the next 3 months would be down, or remain the same. Also, 47.1% of survey respondents said August shipments were below the previous 3 months.

Overall, 70.6% of respondents to the August survey noted that inventory levels were too high as compared to demand, the highest level of respondents in more than a year.

Kobe Steel Limited and Voestalpine Krems GmbH, a company of Voestalpine Group, have announced that they signed a cooperation agreement covering the application of ultra high strength steel and roll forming technology in auto parts.

Kobe Steel and Voestalpine Krems anticipate that the agreement will enable them to jointly contribute to automotive light weighting in 2011 car models and beyond.

Kobe Steel and Voestalpine Krems plan to make proposals to Japanese automakers on the advantages of using ultra high strength steel and roll forming in auto parts. To further promote lighter cars, they intend to encourage automakers in the application of UHSS and roll forming technology. The arrangement calls for Kobe Steel to supply the steel sheet and Voestalpine Krems to provide the processing know how.

In this way, Kobe Steel, as a materials producer, will benefit from the increased supply of UHSS to carmakers in Japan and Asia. Voestalpine Krems will gain from the growing need for roll-formed parts made of UHSS to Japanese automakers in Europe, North America and South America.

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co has announced to raise their scrap purchasing price to JPY 43,000 to JPY 45,000 per tonne, up by JPY 3,000 per tonne, confirming the bottom up of Japanese scrap market started last week.

On the other hand, US scrap export prices are going up too. It’s reported that the latest price of 30,000 tons bulk scrap to Korean electric furnace steel mill is traded at USD 440 per tonne CNF. At the same time, price of US container scrap to Taiwan has been lift up to USD 370 per tonne CNF from its earlier bottom of USD 350 per tonne CNF.

The rebound of scrap price will no doubt be a strong stimulation to the dropping rebar market. Market participants believe that the bounce back of scrap price would end the downturn of rebar price and activate the weak demand.

Platts reported that scrap processors and industry analysts have begun to speculate that ferrous scrap prices may be at or near the bottom of the pricing curve after various grades plummeted between USD 165 and USD 300 per long tonne in September trading.

Mr Eric Glover analyst at Canaccord Adams said that "Going forward, you might see some more settling, but then things will stabilize." He added that he is already beginning to see a slowing of material coming into his yards.

Mr Glover said that "With overseas buyers re entering the market, the conditions are in place for ferrous scrap to settle out and find a floor over the next month or two."

Mr Glover noted that Sims Metal Management said in a recent earnings call that Chinese buyers had entered the scrap market, also suggesting that the export rebound may have already begun.

Mr Bob Richard a Longbow analyst said that activity could resume in the international scrap market as early as September, in line with the processor's claim that export activity had returned.

ArcelorMittal South Africa has announced its first price decrease for 2008 and will cut the price of both hot rolled coil and wire rod by 5% as from October 2008.

The price of HRC, which provides the base price for flat steel, will decline from its record levels of ZAR 8,485 per tonne in September 2008 to ZAR 7,997 per tonne in October 2008, while the price of wire rod will decline to ZAR 7,418 per tonne from ZAR 7,808 per tonne.

Prior to September 2008, when prices were held stable, there had been 7 upward revisions in the price of HRC, which, by the beginning of September 2008 was up by over 100% year to date. Similarly, there had been 6 increases in the price of wire rod. Therefore, despite the October reduction, HRC will still be up 96% for the year, while wire rod prices have climbed 81% since January 2008.

In addition, the downward revision, which is based on material reductions in domestic selling prices in the US, Germany, China and Russia over the past months, but offset against the weaker South African currency against the US dollar might simply be a seasonal phenomenon, precipitated by lower demand traditionally associated with the Northern Hemisphere's summer holiday period.

The sustained increases over the past 8 months have been partly blamed for South Africa's high producer price inflation, which jumped to 18.9% YoY in July 2008 from 16.8% YoY in June 2008. The higher prices have also put pressure on margins at factories and mines and have added to escalation pressures in the construction and building sector.

Vietnam’s dealing price for China's hot rolled sheets come to unbelievably USD 870 per tonne on CNF basis, which has gone far beyond Chinese insiders’ imagination.

China’s first class steel mills set their export price at USD 1,050 per tonne CNF, much higher than that dealing price. It is therefore estimated that such low price is presumably resulted by some brokers’ hasty sales to collect cash.

Some insiders believe that USD 870 per tonne for hot rolled sheets are definitely too low and such dealing price could be an individual case. Despite the general slide, China’s current steel prices won’t suffer such severe nosedive at present.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Taiwanese steel major China Steel Corporation has given the following update on production during August 2008

In tonnes

In million TWD

It is reported that Italy’s rebar market is facing a difficult situation now due to a sluggish global economy, Western countries’ financial crisis and lower demand.

The deformed bar current price has decreased to EUR 510 to EUR 530 per tonne, about EUR 100 per tonne lower than that of June 2008. Both distributors and end users have ceased purchases for a while because such price plunges.

Moreover, the fasting month of Ramadan in the Middle East and the falling scrap price have also contributed to this recession.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Mr Paul O'Malley MD & CEO of BlueScope Steel has called on the federal government to ensure that its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme maintains the continued viability of Australia's iron and steel industry against international competitors.

Mr O'Malley said that an effective CPRS must meet the five imperatives of

1. Recognizing technological constraints to reducing emissions from iron and steelmaking

2 Classifying iron and steel manufacturing activities as emission intensive trade exposed

3 Allowing for expected growth in demand for steel products

4 Basing transitional assistance for EITE activities on the total financial impact of the CPRS

5 A level playing field ensuring the withdrawal of assistance only after enforceable carbon constraints are implemented amongst international competitors

He commended the Australian government for the extensive consultation with industry that has been undertaken to date and said he supported the government's objective to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. He said that "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global problem that requires a global response. BlueScope recognizes the role of the Australian iron and steel industry, along with other sectors of the Australian economy and the global industry, in transitioning to a low emissions economy in a sustainable and economically responsible way."

He added that "The introduction of a domestic emissions trading scheme is the single most important public policy issue currently facing the Australian iron and steel industry. While we support the Government's policy objectives, we believe that the policy framework, as currently proposed in the CPRS Green Paper, may risk imposing substantial new costs on the Australian iron and steel industry that are not faced by our major international competitors. This has the potential to constrain our industry's ability to invest and, over time, cause carbon leakage and a net increase in global emissions."

BlueScope Steel believes that to be effective and sustainable, the CPRS must be designed according to the following key principles

1. Contributes to a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions

2. Prevents carbon leakage, in which emissions are simply transferred offshore with no net global reduction or, worse still, increase

3. Is economically responsible and moves in step with effective and enforceable global carbon constraints

4. Encourages a level of abatement by industry that is technically and financially feasible rather than simply acting as a deadweight burden

5. Provides short and medium term policy certainty that encourages investment in long lived assets, including capital investment in GHG abatement projects

6. Incorporates transitional assistance for EITE activities at a level and duration that does not damage the competitiveness of the iron and steel industry in domestic and export markets

7. Allows for growth in domestic steel production as government and industry invest to overcome the backlog of critical infrastructure and to service Australia's growing economy and population.

It is reported that prices of steel bars and pipes in Philippine are expected to increase in the fourth quarter of 2008 due to a projected rise in demand but prices of steel sheets may dip as the demand for these continue to weaken. Demand for steel bars and pipes are expected to surge back in the last quarter.

Mr Alexander Wang Ariza chairman of TKC steel subsidiary Zhangzhou Stronghold Steel Works Co Limited said that he expects the current slump in demand for steel bars and pipes to turn around by the fourth quarter. He added that "The current slowdown in steel demand is seasonal. The monsoons deter construction. China needed to stop factory production and halt construction to meet air quality standards. August was vacation time in Europe, and now it’s Ramadan in Muslim countries. But the general belief is, when these are over, demand will pick up in the fourth quarter of 2008. Prices should increase as well."

Data from the Metro Manila arm of the Trade department show that a 6 meter steel bar measuring 10mm across costs PHP 235 last week while a 12mm bar costs PHP 350. Prices remained constant from the past month.

Mr Arthur M Florendo executive director of Philippine Iron & Steel Institute said that demand for flat steel products such as galvanized iron sheets and pre-painted roofing materials will continue to decline in the fourth quarter. As such, he expects a 3% to 5% dip in the prices of these items. Mr Florendo said that "If you go by the seasonality of the industry, demand will continue to soften. Construction is not the priority during that time. There may be some pockets of growth, probably in Metro Manila, but in general, I don’t see a significant growth in demand."

Corrugated GI sheets measuring 0.4mm sold in Metro Manila cost PHP 56 per foot last week. A 3% to 5% decrease would mean a cut of around PHP 1.68 to PHP 2.80 in prices.

Mr Florendo said that demand for these materials had declined as consumers were put off by the previously high prices in the first two quarters. He added that "We have seen in the past months a negative to flat growth in demand because prices were too high. We were forced to accept raw material prices that were close to 70% higher than prices last year. The industry had to pass on a portion of the price increases."

He said that "We get our raw materials from Taiwan, Australia and Japan. If ever the steel mills abroad feel that their domestic consumption is increasing, especially for their automotives sector, they will cut their exports to us. In 2009, if the US recovers, I think it will have a big effect on global supply and prices of raw materials."

Although the American wire rod market continues to be weak, American steel mills are still firmly maintaining their prices.

Most domestic wire rod mills may try their best to keep the present price level, instead of following the weak scrap price and import price reductions day by day.

Gerdau Ameristeel formally proclaimed to its customers that it will maintain the price of all products until the end of 2008.

Meanwhile, the import price has also continuously weakened, suggesting sluggish activity in the global market. A distributor said that some trade was cancelled in some areas, so America has become a target market.

Purchasingdata.com reported that the summer seasonal demand weakness for steel, particularly for carbon flat rolled mill products, was more intense than had been expected by most analysts and that has caused domestic sheet steel prices to soften slightly. In fact, it appears that the global steel price surge has peaked and there is the possibility of a declining price environment in the second half, according to some market watchers.

In the US, there has been a growing disconnect between steel sheet mills and end users. Although demand has been weak this summer and the outlook for increased buying is dark, flat rolled steel producers in recent weeks have moved to increase carbon sheet prices for September deliveries to offset higher prices for such raw materials as iron ore, coke and scrap. Most mill executives believe the fundamentals remain in place for transaction sheet steel prices to remain at high levels and for the third-quarter price increase to be absorbed by the market.

However, demand in the domestic market has been feeble all year, down about 4% at midyear. Domestic shipments actually began slipping in May and midyear imports of 15.92 million tons are on pace for a 4.2% slide this year after a 26.6% collapse in 2007.

North American benchmark price for hot rolled sheet steel averaged USD 661 per tonne in the first quarter and USD 974 in the second quarter and expects to average USD 1,035 per tonne in the third quarter and USD 930 per tonne in the fourth quarter.

Selwyn Resources said that it has found higher grade zinc deposits in a newly discovered zinc mineralization zone at its Yukon Territories based Selwyn Project in Canada.

After drilling 6 holes on the approximate 1,400 meter XY West zone, Selwyn said that it has found a 35.84 meter deposit grading 9.99% zinc and 3.34% lead, including 10.36 meter section grading 16.08% zinc and 5.71% lead.

Drilling revealed another zinc rich area on the site spanning 9.10 meters and grading 8.16% zinc and 2.88% lead, and within that area, a smaller 3.71 meter region grading 14.81% zinc and 5.49% lead.

The Vancouver said that the extensive zinc lead deposits in the Selwyn Project have the potential to provide a secure supply of zinc and lead to meet the future needs of the zinc and lead markets in Asia and beyond.

Ziarul Financial, citing the ranking compiled by Deloitte Central Europe, reported that 30 Romanian companies are among the top 500 companies in terms of turnover in Central and Eastern Europe in 2008.

As per report, the best ranked Romanian firm is Petrom SA, with a 16th spot, down from 12th place in 2007, followed by Rompetrol Rafinare at 50th, ArcelorMittal Galati at 63rd, Dacia Automobile at 64th and Metro Romania at 91st spot.

Among the 30 Romanian companies that entered the top echelon, 24 are foreign companies and 6 are state owned. No private enterprises entered the top 500.

Among all Central European countries, Poland dominates the ranking with 176 companies. According to the Deloitte report, the overall turnover of Polish companies accounts for 34.3% in the overall revenues of the 500 largest companies in the region. Polish oil refiner PKN Orlen again ranked the first as it did in 2007.

Booming agribusiness and industry helped Brazil's economy grow by 6.1% in the second quarter of 2008. The increase in gross domestic product, announced by Brazil's statistics bureau, surpassed the 5.2% growth rate.

The result was likely partly responsible for central bankers' decision to boost Brazil's Selic interest rate 0.75 percentage points to 13.75% in a bid to control 6.3% annual inflation in Latin America's largest economy.

As growth in the United States and Europe slowed in the second quarter, Brazil's robust agribusiness sector expanded 7.1% over the year ago period, even though big gains by the nation's currency against the US dollar made Brazilian exports more expensive abroad. Brazil is the world's top exporter of sugar, beef, chicken and orange juice, and second only to the United States for soy.

Industry grew by 5.7% as millions of Brazilians took advantage of easier credit to buy houses, cars, motorcycles and appliances on payment plans lasting years. The service sector grew 5.5%, while iron ore production gained a whopping 7.3% on high demand from China for the raw ingredient for steel.

Alcoa has received a Global Innovation Award from Nissan Motor for its proprietary vacuum die casting process and new, advanced alloys used on the GT R high performance sports sedan. The award was presented at the Nissan Global Supplier Awards ceremony held recently in Tokyo.

Mr Kevin Kramer president of Alcoa Wheel & Transportation Products said that "We are honored that Alcoa's vacuum die casting process has been recognized by Nissan for technical innovation. The blending of this manufacturing process with advanced alloys enabled us to meet Nissan's performance requirements, particularly strength and deformation characteristics, while still keeping a high-performance body made of lightweight materials."

The GT R features aluminum inner door and rear seat structures made from Alcoa's new die casting process. The inner door, which is the largest vacuum die casting in the auto industry, and the rear seat structures offer weight savings up to 35% over steel designs. The components were produced at Alcoa's Soest Germany plant.

It is reported that Iran has begun construction of its largest steel mill with an annual capacity of 1 million tonnes in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

Mr Nourallah Hassanzadeh head of Khuzestan's Industries and Mines Department said that this is an industrial project which was initiated with an USD 808 million private investment and will be built in the city of Khorramshahr. He added that the plant will be built in two phases. The first allows for 1 million tonnes of steel production per year which can be increased to 5 million tonnes during the second phase.

When the steel mill becomes operational, it will employ 5,000 of the local population.

The official mentioned that in the event additional financing would be available for the project, construction could be completed in less than 30 months.

MEED reported that contractors will submit technical bids on September 13th for the contract to build 2 new gas pipelines planned by Petroleum Development Oman in the south of the sultanate following a deadline extension.

Several local contractors are expected to bid for the USD 60 million plus contract which covers the installation, testing and pre commissioning of a pipeline between the Hubara compressor station and the Marmul oil field and another pipeline between Harweel and Marmul.

The work involves converting the existing 84 kilometer oil pipeline between Marmul and the Nimr field and adding a new 75 kilometer section between Nimr and Hubara.

The contract also calls for the installation of a gas export pipeline between Harweel and Marmul. Contractors expect to submit commercial bids in the first week of October.

Other facilities covered in the contract include two block valve stations between Harbura and the Amal field, receivers and launchers, tie ins, and pressure reduction stations. PDO said that it will procure the line pipe, valves, flanges and couplings with any other equipment supplied by the winning bidder.

Reuter reported that Abu Dhabi government owned International Petroleum Investment Company aims to double its international investment portfolio to USD 40 billion in the next 5 years.

IPIC in a statement said that it was planning to increase its investment portfolio to USD 20 billion from USD 11 billion over 5 years, but Mr Khadem Al-Qubaisi managing director of IPIC said that it had already reached USD 14 billion last year.

Mr Al-Qubaisi said that “IPIC plans to increase its international investments to USD 40 billion in the next 5 years. This number is double our previous estimates of USD 20 billion that we are so close to reaching.” He said that IPIC was planning to expand its operations into new areas as well as expanding its investments in the international oil and gas sector.

He said that “We have ambitious plans for the near future. When we decide and take a final decision, we will announce that.”

IPIC invests in oil related projects for the government of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates which is the world's 5th largest oil exporter. Abu Dhabi controls more than 90% of the oil reserves of the UAE an Opec member. IPIC has stakes in several international oil and gas companies and has been expanding rapidly.

Bloomberg cited Chevron Corporation has recently extended a production and exploration agreement for 30 years with Saudi Arabia.

Chevron Corporation in a statement said that the agreement represents roughly 4% of Chevron's daily production in the second quarter or 105,000 barrels a day out of a total 2.537 million barrels a day.

It added that the accord extends the existing arrangement through February 19th 2039 and allows for the continuation of exploration and production of oil and natural gas on behalf of Saudi Arabia in the onshore partitioned neutral zone.

Press TV cited Mr Abdullah Al Badri secretary general of OPEC as saying that the organization's closer relations with Russia will not affect consumer countries.

Mr Al Badri in a press briefing at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna said that “I do not think our cooperation with Russia will affect the consumer, because as far as we are concerned we are trying to encourage dialogue between producers and consumers.”

Mr Al- Badri was responding to allegations that Russia seeks closer ties with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at a time when Moscow's relations with the West have become strained over the conflict in South Ossetia.

Mr Al Badri said that “As far as OPEC is concerned, we are willing to review this MoU. We will try to see how we can cooperate through this MoU.”

Mr Al Badri said that he would visit Russia in October to take part in a workshop to look at oil markets and look at supply, demand and market movements and any other kind of activities that we can cooperate on together. He added that the invitation had been extended several months before the beginning of the conflict in South Ossetia.

Mr Igor Sechin deputy PM of Russian who attended a OPEC summit as an observer said that Russia had submitted a draft MoU to OPEC on closer cooperation. An unnamed Russian official quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying that the MoU would revive a Russia OPEC agreement that existed until 2005. The Russian official said that the MoU could be finalized during an international oil conference due to be held in Russia in October.

According to data released by the International Energy Agency, the UAE's crude oil production remained unchanged in August from the previous month.

The data further disclosed that the UAE's averaging crude oil output was at 2.66 million barrels per day. In June, the country's output was marginally higher averaging 2.69 million barrels per day.

During the Q2 of 2008, the UAE's oil output was at around 2.67 million barrels per day, while for the Q1 the average was 2.62 million barrels per day. The UAE has a sustainable output capacity of 2.85 million barrels per day and its production capacity at the end of the current year is seen at 2.87 million barrels per day.

Arab News reported that Jordanian government recently inked a MoU with France's Total and Brazil's Petrobras for producing crude from the country's oil shale resources.

As per report, the MoU is for 3 years and commits the consortium to carry out a comprehensive exploration program upon which it will present a feasibility study and a financial plan to the government for the proposed project.

The government has already signed memos with four international coalitions including Estonian Eesti Energia which said in its feasibility study released in May that there was potential to produce 36,000 barrels of oil a day from just one of Jordan's 20 locations rich in oil shale.

On another note, as part of a USD 6 billion deal signed by the company and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources earlier this year, Eesti Energia will also develop a 600 MW power plant utilizing oil shale.

Jordan Times reported that Natural Resources Authority signed a MoU with a Brazilian and a French company to produce oil through oil shale surface mining.

Under the MoU, the 2 companies will initially carry out a year long prospecting program before submitting feasibility studies.

According to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khaldoun Qteishat, if the studies show that the project could yield oil shale in commercial quantities, the project will need another 3 years to become viable.

Gulf News UAE based Nobles Properties a real estate company is developing the USD 500 million Tripolis Towers in Libya.

A spokesperson told Gulf News that the towers will be located in the heart of the Libyan capital Tripoli will be developed in line with an agreement signed with OYA Tourism Investment and Development, a subsidiary of Libya's Economic and Social Development Fund.

The Tripolis Towers will comprise two 40 storey residential towers on 275,000 square feet of waterfront land in Tripoli and will have an overall built up area of 3.5 million square feet.

The report added that one tower will include a 5 star hotel with business facilities, serviced apartments and retail space. The second tower will contain office space. It is worth mentioning that there is a growing demand in Libya for multi purpose property developments which Dubai developers plan to exploit.

Associated Press of Pakistan reported that Mr Munawar Mughal President Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry has urged the government to reduce oil prices to give relief to the common man.

He said that “Increasing oil and gas prices in the country will increase the cost of production which would effect the industrial production in the country and the cost of production must be reduced.”

The report added that Mr Mughal appealed the government to bring down the fuel prices in accordance with the decrease of oil prices in the international market.

He further said that oil prices in international market were raised to USD 147 per barrel but now it was reduced to USD 100 adding that the local oil prices were fixed despite decrease in the prices in the international market. He added that it is unjust to fix the prices to overcome the trade deficit. It is impossible to control the price hike without controlling the oil and gas prices in the local market.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's monthly production of crude steel scored 42.57 million tonnes in August 2008, up by 1.3% from a year earlier, while monthly productions of pig iron and finished steel product slid 1.5% and 0.2% to 40.05 million tonnes and 47.8 million tonnes respectively.

National Bureau of Statistics in a statement said that the nation also churned out 220 million tonnes of raw coal and 16.03 million tonnes of crude oil in August up by 12.1% and 1.6% respectively compared with same period last year.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

China's August steel export has again beaten market speculations at a record high of 7.68 million tonnes an increase of 0.47 million tonnes from the previous month or up 43% YoY.

According to Mysteel analyst Mr Liu Yuan the flying rumor of a stiffer export policy has sparked the record export in August since exporters are eager to rush out shipments before the tougher policy sets in. Meanwhile, the widening price spread between home and global markets also spurred steel exports. The price fall in international market in August is narrower than the sharp decline at home. And the price premium with US for CR has added to USD 393 per tonne in August from USD 309 per tonne in middle July.

Mr Liu suggests relative departments to offer a clear timing for the export tax change, for the ongoing worry would whip steel producers to export, leading to shipment increase, and that is not wanted by the central government. He said that moreover, export rebate removal would tip in favor of the sustainable development for Chinese steel industry, and he listed the following facts to support his idea.

1. Export rebate cut will not check Chinese steel sector's strong growth. China's steel sector has experienced a swift developing period following the export rebate cut since Jan 2004. And crude steel output has soared 74.4% to 489 million tons in 2007 from that in 2004; steel products production also climbed 88.8% in the period.

Crude steel production keeps the high growth so far this year despite the moderated growth rate. As a result, to remove export rebate might in some degree promote the country's steel sector's expansion instead of holding it back.

2. Gradual export rebate cancellation would help improve Chinese steel industry's competitiveness at the time of the current swift export growth, which represents in several aspects.

I. Rebate removal would change the feeling of "cheap" Chinese steel products. The removal will help lift export offers and improve "China-Made" image in international market. And offer price rises would help check the steel export growth and control it in a certain proportion.

II. The removal will help stabilize domestic steel market. Reduced export means less supply to global markets, which will be conducive to haul up steel prices in international market amidst the current slack market, and which will in turn lend a support to domestic steel prices.

III. The cancellation will help ease the pressure of AD & CVD from EU and U.S. in particular. The lower Chinese export prices and the expanding price gap with global market are very likely to be used by those countries as an excuse for anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes.

The increasing dual probes so far this year has dented Chinese steel export substantially, welded pipes in particular, and only export offer rises can pull China out of the mire.

IV. The phase out of export rebate would help increase steel products competitiveness. Domestic steel mills will suffer profit squeeze and face direct competition with foreign rivals by then.

Therefore, they have to increase spending on R&D to improve added-value for their products to secure a favorable competitive position in global market. High value-added products have more risk-hedge capabilities than those low-added ones amid a quiet market.

V. The rebate removal will boost domestic steel consolidation. A host of smaller mills relying on export subsidy will find it hard to survive after the cancellation of export rebate, particularly under current weak market.

Some large and-medium scale mills will also see profit decline resulted from irrational product mix by then. Thus, some first tier mills like Baosteel, Wuhan Steel will grab the chance to speed up domestic merger and acquisitions to strengthen their presence.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

It is reported that China Iron & Steel Association has lately responded to Vale's request for imposing a term price increase halfway through the typical annually contract cycle as breaking the convention and trade law.

Mr Zhang Jingang deputy secretary-general of CISA said that in fact, this is due to different historical base prices since Vale had given Asian and European mills a same hike this year. He said that though Vale said it is in negotiation, many Chinese steelmakers were just shelved at the ports not allowed to load the ore resources after they arrived in Brazil recently. The brazilin seller would not like to load the resource unless China agrees on price hike. He added that this is against the trade law, as the term price has already set this year.

CISA has got responses from the domestic mills on this matter it yet declined to disclose their countermeasures.

As per report, the practice is term iron ore price is only negotiated and fixed once a year between the top three mining giants and the major steel mills in the world. The 2008 fiscal year talks led to a 65% t0 71% increase for Vale and 79.88% to 96.5% hike for Rio and BHP. Currently, benchmark price of some ore varieties from Vale stands 11% to 11.5% lower in Asia than in European market.

(Source Beijing Times)