It is reported that the Board of Steel Authority of India accorded approval for the installation of steel processing unit at Nahan in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh at a cost of INR 100 crore.

The establishment of SPU at Nahan will provide employment to more than 2,000 people.

ET reported that Ruias led Essar Steel has sought Dr Manmohan Singh's PM of India intervention in getting allocation of 3.5 million tonnes of iron ore reserved by mining giant NMDC for exports.

Mr Shashi Ruia chairman of Essar group said in a letter to the PM that any permission to MMTC for export of NMDC's iron ore would deprive the national exchequer of INR 6,500 crore which would have accrued through export of value added steel.

Mr Ruia said that "Availability of 3.5 million tonnes of iron ore would enable export of minimum 2 million tonnes of value added steel products. He said that which would result in additional foreign exchange earning of USD 1.5 billion."

Urging Dr Singh to direct NMDC not to export the vital raw material for steel making, Mr Ruia said that Essar Steel is ready to adequately compensate the Indian miner at par with the FoB value being sought through exports.

He said that "This will ensure that NMDC/MMTC do not lose by way of any price differential, which it may finalize with the overseas steel mills."

ET reported that leading steel players have lined up INR 514,000 crore investments in the country. Mr Jitin Prasada minister of state for steel in a written reply to Rajya Sabha said that "As per the latest information, 193 investors have signed MoU with state governments to set up steel projects at a proposed cost of INR 514,000 crore."

Among the major steel producers that plan to put up new manufacturing units include SAIL, TATA Steel, ArcelorMittal, Posco, RINL, JSW, Essar, JSPL and Ispat Industries. While country's largest steel producer SAIL plans to ramp up its production to 60 million tonnes by 2020, TATA Steel intends to increase the output to 33.5 million tonnes.

JSW Steel and Ispat Industries too plan to increase their production capacities to 31 million tonnes and 17 million tonnes respectively. Other than brown field expansions by domestic steel producers, India has in its offing a number of Greenfield projects including those from global steel producers like ArcelorMittal and POSCO.

It is reported that Pennar Engineered Building Systems Limited, a member of the Hyderabad based Pennar Group, is setting up a new INR 105 crore project in Andhra Pradesh for the design, manufacture, supply and erection of pre engineered steel buildings and building components catering to segments such as industries, war houses, commercial centers, multi storied buildings, air craft hangars and sports complexes.

As per report Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy CM of Andhra Pradesh will unveil the foundation stone for the project. The company has acquired 28 acres of land for the plant in Anakapalli and Chandapur villages of Sadashivpet Mandal of Medak district about 45 kilometer from here.

Mr P V Rao president of Pennar Group said that the project was being set up with an equity component of INR 42 crore. The rest would be financed through debt as convertible debentures of term loans.

Mr Rao said that the production would be rolled out from June 2009 and would be fully operational by December 2009. He added that at full capacity utilization the company would have annual sales turnover of INR 500 crore. The project would generate 600 direct and 3,000 indirect employment opportunities.

Mr Rao further added that the company would shortly finalize techno marketing tie ups with reputed international companies, to tap the latest technology to provide its customers the most optimized design, leak proof roofing systems and higher value proposition.

Pennar Engineered Building Systems Limited has a strategic association with ''My Home Group'' a leader in infrastructure area with interests in the construction, cement and non conventional energy sectors. PEBSL will be entering into the market with a two tier product model. The higher tier model will have pre galvanized purlines and standing seam roof sheeting with a 10 year leak proof warranty.

It is reported that hundreds of college and school students have launched a protest against the proposed steel plant by South Korean steel major POSCO in the region.

As per report students from Nuagaon, Gada Kujanga and Dhinkia villages carried out processions holding placards, banners and posters Sunday at Dhinkia the epicentre of the anti POSCO agitation in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur, over 100 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

They demanded the withdrawal of the project from the area and the release of anti POSCO leader Mr Abhaya Kumar Sahu who was arrested October 12.

Mr Arun Sahu a police official said that “The protest was peaceful.”

SNS reported that villagers affected due to the expansion of Steel Authority of India Limited’s IISCO Steel Plant in Burnpur has started receiving compensation cheque with 226 affected families at Purusottampur receiving the amount.

Farmers had earlier refused to accept the cheque demanding a revised rate and absorption in the steel plant. SAIL ISP had faced stiff resistance from villagers in Purusottampur, Kuilapur and adjacent areas in Asansol early this year when the district administration went there to acquire 305 acres of land for the expansion plan. The land acquisition was proposed as early as 1984, but it had to be kept in abeyance till December 2007.

As per report the villagers committee had demanded a rise in the compensation rate. The amount was finally increased by INR 0.2 to 0.4 million per acre as per the instruction of the Burdwan district judge’s court where the Purusottampur land-losers had filed a suit. The land price offered by the district administration initially was Rs 0.65 million to INR 0.85 million per acre.

The secretary of Purusottampur Land losers committee Mr Lakhsman Roy said that “We have won the court battle and have got justice. We are happy to get a higher price according to our demand. But, we will continue agitation demanding a permanent job in the plant."

ISP had paid INR 40 crore for acquisition of 305 acres of land in September 2006 and the administration started distributing compensation cheque to the villagers from the same month. The land-losers of Nakrasota and Hirapur had accepted the cheque but a majority of them at Purusottampur had turned them down.

It is reported that oil and gas carrier Varun Shipping Ltd's quarterly net profit nearly tripled on new market forays and firm charter hire rates.

The report quoted Mr Yudhishthir Khatau MD of Varun Shipping as saying that its net profit rose to INR 442.7 million in July to September compared with INR 153.7 million a year ago. Total income for the quarter came in at 2.57 billion rupees versus 2.4 billion rupees.

Mr Khatau said that "Improvement in charter rates in crude tanker has contributed significantly.”

Varun had contracted one of its large anchor handling tugs in August to South Africa's Sassol for 4-6 months and had deployed another in the North Sea, where the rates have been strong this year.

Mr Khatau said that the company has increased its exposure in the offshore market to 22% from about 3% last last year which also contributed to the bottomline.

Freight rates in the offshore segment have been very buoyant due to higher crude prices, which hit new life highs in 2008, crossing USD 147 a barrel.

My Iris reported that the launch of diesel Nano has been postponed because of demand slowdown and capex crunch owing to the shift from Singur to Sanand.

According to auto industry sources, diesel Nano which was scheduled to rollout sometime in 2009 has now been delayed with the focus on first launching the gasoline version in the Q1 of the next calendar year.

TATA Motors has consistently said that Nano will be launched with a gasoline engine. Mr Ratan Tata chairman of TATA Motors said at the Auto Expo that Nano will be launched with a gasoline engine and added that we would also work on other engine options including diesel, CNG etc. There is no departure from that plan. But the car will be launched with a gasoline engine.

As late as September, TATA Motors shared variant and feature details with dealers as part of a product familiarization and training program to prepare them for Nano launch. It informed dealers that Nano is set to roll out in three petrol variants standard, deluxe and luxury. And when the diesel version comes, it too would sport the same three variants.

TATA Motors is planning to strap on a diesel engine developed by German powertrain maker FEV on Nano. The small diesel engine will have fuel injection systems developed by Bosch, but the rest of the platform is being developed by TATA Motors and FEV, an independent engine and power train systems research, design and development company, based in Aachen, Germany. The 800cc, turbo charged, CRDi diesel engine will be two-cylinder and crank out at least 30% more mileage compared to 800cc petrol cars.

Project Today reported that Indian railways were made a supplementary demand for grants for expenditure of the central government on railways to the tune of INR 526 crore.

The fund will be utilized to meet the additional requirement to execute certain projects identified as national projects. The projects include 290 kilometer new line between Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramula at an investment of INR 16 crore, a new 109 kilometer new line between Kumarghat and Agartala at INR 37 crore and also new lines between Jiribam to Imphal at INR 17 crore along with a bridge with linking lines between Dibrugarh and North Bank at INR 58 crore.

Among the major works for which the supplementary grant has been demanded include system of online monitoring of the rolling stock, escalators at major stations of the Indian railways and revival of Bharat Wagon & Engineering, among others.

The Financial Express reported that after brainstorming with top world leaders in Beijing on the raging financial turmoil, Dr Manmohan Singh PM of India has cautioned that India's economy was also bound to feel the pain ‘sooner or later’ as we are not in complete control.

Mr Singh said after participating at the 7th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Beijing, attended by 45 leaders "We are not in complete control. There are bigger players and we are victims of that. The crisis is not of our making."

The economist turned politician whose speeches were listened with rapt attention in Beijing said that "Well, it all depends on how long it takes the world community to restore confidence to the global financial markets."

Sooner or later, the economy is bound to experience the pain, Singh warned during an interaction with reporters on board his special aircraft while returning home from his two-nation tour of Japan and China.

Mr Singh said that tracing the origin of the current global financial crisis, it emerged in the US and Europe. He added that despite strong corrective measures like injecting more liquidity and capitalizing the banking system, he was still worried.

He said that "The type of integrated world economy we live in we are not immune and I had mentioned in Parliament earlier this week on Monday and I repeated that same sentiment in Beijing."

However he further added that his Government has had a reasonably good term in office till now.

BL reported that Gateway Terminals India Private Limited a JV between APM Terminals belonging to AP Moller-Maersk Group of Denmark and India’s Container Corporation of India operating a modern container terminal in Jawaharlal Nehru port, recently launched on its campus a Talent Development Centre, a state of the art training facility for the maritime sector.

The objective of the centre is to develop fresh talent as world class maritime professionals. The training centre is designed to provide hands on experience in terminal environment and the training program will include operational equipment training, lasher training with anchor wands fall arrestor usage, terminal transport training for tractor trailer drivers and container lasher training. Complete with world class simulator training tool for all 3 crane types RMQC, RMG and RTG the training centre can accommodate 55 people.

According to sources, GTI has plans to empower the centre to develop cutting edge professionals for the maritime sector.

Meanwhile, GTI, as sources pointed out, it has also launched safety program covering workshops and training not only for its employees but also for its various stakeholders, such as customers and contractors.

Gammon India Ltd has announced the following unaudited results for the quarter ended September 30th 2008. Gammon India in a statement said that it has posted a profit after tax of INR 103.00 million for the quarter ended September 30th 2008 as compared to INR 171.30 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

Its total income has increased from INR 4611.00 million for the quarter ended September 30th 2007 to INR 5151.70 million for the quarter ended September 30th 2008.

BS reported that the Empowered Group of Ministers on Special Economic Zones have agreed to the commerce ministry’s stand on vacant land in the context of the tax free industrial enclaves.

As per report this decision will come as a relief to Essar’s multi product port based SEZ project in Hazira as well as of Adani Group’s zone in Mundra, which the revenue department felt was not built on vacant land when it was notified and hence it had violated the law. Both the zones are in Gujarat.

A government official said that “The EGoM has taken a stand favoring the SEZs. The zones will not have to be de notified.” The EGoM is headed by Mr Pranab Mukherjee External Affairs Minister and Mr P Chidambaram Finance Minister and Mr Kamal Nath Commerce Minister as members amongst others.

Sources said that the EGoM is of the view that the port, which existed before the zone was notified would not enjoy any tax concessions. Moreover, any expansion activity of the port would also not be liable for any tax sops available under the SEZ Act of 2005, the senior group of ministers ruled.

Under SEZ rules, a developer has to file an affidavit stating that the land area of the zone is completely vacant and without any kind of industrial activity when the application is filed. The idea is to prevent operational industrial units from migrating to SEZs, which would defeat the employment-generating purpose of the SEZ policy.

The Department of Commerce felt that the vacant land meant no industrial activity should take place in the area, on which the SEZ is being set up. But the revenue department felt that the land should be absolutely vacant.

IANS reported that BOC India is in talks with Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group for supplying specialty gas for its planned project to generate energy from photovoltaic cells.

Mr S Menon MD of BOC India said that “Things are still at a very nascent stage. We are currently discussing the technology that they would prefer for their ambitious plan to produce solar energy.”

BL reported that Jogbani to Biratnagar route will now be used as an alternative to Raxaul to Birganj for rail containerized imports through Kolkata port bound for Nepal. Cargo inducement on the route is estimated at about 8,000 TEUs to 9,000 TEUs annually. At present, the entire volume is transported by road.

Container trains from Kolkata port previously went into Nepali territory right up to the Birganj inland container depot. This was possible because of the rail link between Raxaul which is on the Indian side of the border and Birganj which is in Nepal. This will be impossible on the Jogbani to Biratnagar route as there is no railway connection between Jogbani, India and Biratnagar, Nepal.

Loaded containers from Kolkata port will be offloaded and destuffed at Jogbani for onward transportation by road to Biratnagar container freight station.

According to report, rail movement of containers from Kolkata port to Jogbani will start as soon as the Jogbani railway goods shed being refurbished to handle containerized traffic is ready for operation.

However, the present arrangement of transhipment of containers at Jogbani could at best be a temporary one. There is a proposal for a full fledged facility for handling containers to be transported by rail and road at Bathnaha on the Indian side about 7 kilometer from Jogbani. There will be an integrated check post operated by customs authorities of the two countries. Also, connectivity and other infrastructure on both sides will be substantially improved.

Press Trust of India reported that Hindustan Construction Company profit after tax for the Q2 ended September 30th grew by 71.55% YoY at INR 19.90 crore from the corresponding period a year ago.

As per report, the company's turnover increased by 27% YoY at INR 689 crore in the quarter under review from INR 549 crore in the same period last year. HCC was trading at INR 38.55 down by 6.66% on the BSE.

BS reported that Orissa will set up a captive port at Chudamani in Bhadrakh district and an all weather multi user port at Ashtaranga in Puri district. It will sign MoUs with Essel Mining and Industries and Navyug Engineering, respectively for them.

Hyderabad based Navyug plans to invest INR 1,900 crore in the first phase for setting up the port at the mouth of the Devi river. While INR 1,500 crore will be invested for the port, INR 400 crore will be spent on railway connectivity. It will have a cargo handling capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum in the first phase.

Essel Mining will invest INR 1,500 crore to develop a port under a consortium of Aditya Birla Group companies for movement of cement, iron ore, thermal coal, limestone, gypsum, clinker, copper.

According to sources, it will have a cargo handling capacity of 2 million tonnes initially, to be enhanced to 10 million tonnes over a period of time.

A senior official of the state commerce & transport department said that "The chief minister has approved the proposal to sign MoUs with these two companies."

Project Today reported that Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority have finalized the financial model for the Mumbai metro rail project Line 2, which will run between Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd section. The proposed section though on PPP basis will not see any financial equity from MMRDA.

The financial structure of the proposed metro line is as per a model concession agreement, which has been designed by the planning commission. As per the guidelines, the SPV which needs to be formed for commencement of the project under the PPP model will have MMRDA as a part of it.

It is reported that Transport Corporation of India Limited the leading integrated supply chain and logistics solutions provider has made an operating profit of INR 4,102 million during April to September 2008-09 as against INR 3,917 million during the corresponding period of 2007-08 which works out to an increase of 5% YoY.

As per report, total revenue during the first half of the current fiscal registered a growth of 16.87% at INR 66,227 million as against INR 56,665 million in the same 6 month period of 2007-08.

Mr DP Agarwal vice chairman & MD of Transport Corporation of India said that for the Q2 July to September 2008, the profit after tax increased by 16% to INR 558 million from INR 481 million in the corresponding quarter of 2007.

PAT for the April to September 2008 period had shown a rise of 8.95% to INR 1,144 million as against INR 1,050 million during the H1 of 2007-08.

Press Trust of India reported that Binani Cement net profit for the Q2 ended September 30th stood at INR 26.81 crore, a 43.99% decline over the corresponding period a year ago.

Binani Cement informed the BSE that the company had a net profit of INR 47.87 crore for the Q2 FY 2008. Net sales of the company increased to INR 306.34 crore for the quarter under review from INR 213.74 crore for the same quarter last year.

For the 6 month period ended September 30th, the company has posted a net profit of INR 80.11 crore against INR 98.54 crore for the same period a year ago.

Reuter reported that Industrial gases supplier BOC India will spend INR 2.5 billion on existing projects by March 2009.

Mr S Menon MD of BOC said that BOC plans to invest INR 2.5 billion by next March on its ongoing projects. He said that “We had earlier announced at the beginning of the year that the company would be investing INR 6 billion of which INR 2.5 billion is yet to be invested.”

He said that the funds would mainly go into existing gas units for steel plants. He said that the funds would be part of the investments committed by German promoter Linde Group which owns 89.48% in BOC India.

Mr Menon said that "We are also looking at new products like gases used in photovoltaic panels." He said that BOC was in talks with India's Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group for a solar power project, but did not give details.

He said that currently, the company is focusing on completing the various projects that are in the pipeline. The 1,800 tonnes per day plant at Jindal Steel Works at Bellary in Karnataka is proceeding on schedule is likely to be commissioned by end of 2008.

Gas projects in steel units currently generate a little less than half of BOC's revenue. BOC has gas units at plants of steel makers such as TATA Steel and Steel Authority of India among others. Mr Menon said that BOC will keep focusing on projects across industry segments such as steel, refinery, glass and electronics, adding that 60% of the company’s revenue comes from steel companies.

It is reported that Graphite India Limited has posted an increase in sale by 45% while its net profit jacked up by 25% for the quarter ended September 30th 2008.

The company in a release said that it had achieved sales or income from operations of INR 403.33 crore during the quarter under review as against INR 277.99 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, registering a growth of 45%. The net profit for the quarter was higher at INR 47.65 crore as compared to INR 37.95 crore for the corresponding period previous year registering a growth of 25%.

The release added that the improvement in the operating performance despite exchange loss of INR 26.05 crore due to depreciation of the Indian currency against other major global currencies had been made possible by increased volumes, better realization, cost reduction and higher plant productivity.

The release said that the performance of the Electrode Division of the company during the quarter had been satisfactory, led by firm demand and realization.

It said that “The performance of the Graphite Industry is linked to that of the steel sector as Graphite Electrodes are required in the EAF route of steel production. The steel industry has shown phenomenal growth in the recent times and it is expected that the global steel demand will rise by about 4.9% up to 2010. It added that the National Steel Policy has set a target of 60 million metric tonnes of steel production by 2010 and to further increase it to a level of 100 million metric tonnes by 2018.”

It added that “Furthermore, as a percentage of total steel production, the production of steel through EAF route is estimated to rise from current levels of 34% to about 38% by 2010. With growing global steel production and consumption levels, the demand for graphite electrodes is expected to remain firm in coming years. However the present global financial crisis and economic slowdown may in the short term impact the demand supply dynamics.”

The release further added that the generation of power at the company's Hydel Plant at Karnataka till date had not been satisfactory due to paucity of rains in the catchment area, adding that the performance of Impervious Graphite Equipment Division and Glass Reinforced Plastic Pipes /Tanks division is likely to pick up in the coming quarters and should contribute to the overall performance of the company.

BOC India Limited now a member of the Linde Group has notched up 169% growth in its net profit at INR 46 crore during the first 9 months of the current calendar year over the corresponding period 2007.

Informing this, a BOCI communiqué recently said that the company's turnover posted 29% rise at INR 430 crore during the first 9 months over the same period in 2007, adding the engineering division delivered a growth of more than 200% between January and September.

According to the communiqué, the company was focusing its energy on completing various projects in the pipeline. It added that the 1,800 tonnes per day ASU plant at Jindal Steel Works at Bellary was proceeding well as per plan and likely to be commissioned by the end of the year.

Moreover, the firm had also taken on a strategy to focus on the North Indian market with a 210 tonnes per day ASU plant that was currently built in an industrial belt near Dehradun.

The communiqué further added that the board of directors had also appointed Mr Srikumar Menon as the MD of BOCI with immediate effect, adding he was serving as the acting MD for the past 6 months.

BS reported that Power Finance Corporation is planning to borrow USD 500 million from the overseas markets after the government relaxed the norms for external commercial borrowings. It had earlier got the central bank’s approval for USD 300 million ECB but could not borrow due to the ongoing financial crisis.

The Reserve Bank of India’s ECB policy restrained companies that do not come under the automatic route to two conditions for raising debt abroad maturity of at least 7 years and an interest rate ceiling of 450 basis points over London interbank offered rate.

Mr Satnam Singh chairman & MD of Power Finance Corporation said that “We could not borrow within the interest rate ceiling in the background of the current financial crisis affecting the overseas markets.”

Mr Singh however said that with the new ECB norms announced last Tuesday, PFC is hopeful of raising USD 500 million from the overseas markets.

PFC added that given the relaxation in the ECB norms and softening of interest rates it will be able to borrow from overseas markets. At present, domestic borrowing constitutes 95% of its total debt, but the Delhi based power sector financing company is planning to increase the share of overseas debt.

This is despite the fact that the company enjoys sovereign rating. Fitch Ratings has recently affirmed ‘BBB-’ rating for long term foreign currency issuer default rating. This is equal to the country’s sovereign credit rating.

As per report, with foreign investors pulling out USD 11 billion from the equity market in India, RBI has now allowed companies to borrow at Libor plus 500 basis points for loans with maturity period of five years and above.

It is reported that the Railways has recorded a drop in freight loading growth rate during the first 20 days of October.

Mr Lalu Prasad Railway Minister said that this while reviewing the progress of his department with general managers of all zonal Railways and production units here on Friday. The slump has been most prominent in loading iron ore, cement and finished steel.

Mr Prasad attributed the decrease to the impact of the economic crisis gripping various countries across the globe. He added that the fall would prove to be temporary and the situation would improve in the remaining months of the current financial year.

He directed the general managers to introduce 24 hour freight loading and unloading facilities at all goods sheds and to reduce wagon turnaround time to 4 days. He ordered the setting up of new goods sheds and asked the GMs to examine all aspects regarding the running of goods trains.

Wind power projects aggregating 9522 MW have been installed in the country till end of last month. State wise wind power installation capacity is given in the Annexure-I.

As compared to the achievement of about 5456 MW of wind power during the Tenth Five Year Plan, a target for capacity addition of 10,500 MW has been fixed for the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The capacities of wind turbines installed in the country ranges from 225 KW to 1650 KW. Adequate manufacturing facility exists in the country for achieving the above target.

A total of 216 potential locations have so far been identified in 13 States/UTs which could be considered suitable for installation of wind turbines. Of these, five new locations have been identified in 3 States during the last three years.

Total 9521.8
(as on 30.09.2008)

Locations regarding requirement of wind mills

Total 216 5
During last 3 year (2005-08)

Gerdau Ameristeel announced that it has acquired Metro Recycling a scrap processor headquartered at Guelph in Ontario. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Metro Recycling is a premier central Ontario recycler with three locations, two in Guelph and the other in Mississauga.

Mr Matt Yeatman vice president of Gerdau Ameristeel said that "Metro's operations and experienced leadership team will enhance Gerdau Ameristeel's continuing strategy to grow our scrap processing capability throughout North America.” He added that "Metro is an excellent complement to our existing recycling and production facilities."

Bloomberg reported that ArcelorMittal and Anglo American Plc are reviewing expansion plans on concern a global economic slowdown will curb metal demand. As per report, ArcelorMittal is reassessing the order of priority for its projects while, Anglo is reviewing all spending.

Mr Michael Shillaker a Credit Suisse Group analyst in London said that "The world has changed dramatically and Mittal is adapting. We will see steel and mining companies pull back from CAPEX plans for a year, maybe two.''

The weaker outlook prompted ArcelorMittal to say it's able to cut output 15% in Europe and the US if needed to support steel prices. It has been seeking to expand in emerging economies including China, India and Brazil, while increasing control over raw materials such as iron ore and coking coal to curb costs.

ArcelorMittal plans to make cost savings of USD 4 billion in the next 5 years. Rio Tinto Group said last week that it's cutting higher cost production. Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc said it may defer projects to save cash.

Refined output at Anglo Platinum fell 11% YoY to 543,000 ounces, due to maintenance related closures. It maintained its 2.4 million ounce target for the year. Anglo's Kumba Iron Ore Limited said third quarter production rose 29% YoY to 10.08 million tonnes.

Antara News reported that Mr Fazwar Bujang president director of PT Krakatau Steel paid a two day visit to Russia's biggest steel company Severstal to explore business cooperation with the company.

Mr M Aji Surya information counselor of Indonesian Embassy in Moscow said that besides holding talks with the Russian steel company executives, the PT Krakatau Steel's president director and entourage also made a field observation tour of the private steel firm.

Mr Bujang said that PT Krakatau Steel had historical ties with the Russian private steel company which had experience during the early development of Indonesian steel company. He added that "Our meeting produced positive results and they agreed to follow up our talks."

He added that Severstal at present was concentrating on internal development as a result of the decline in demand as a result of the global financial crisis. Indeed, all steel companies in the world, including PT Krakatau Steel, are experiencing declining demand due to the world financial meltdown.

He said that yet, the government hoped that PT Krakatau Steel could continue its plan to develop its infrastructure so that it would boost the growth of demotic economy. Besides, control over the entry into the country of illegal steel products must be tightened.

It is reported that Japanese exports of steel product totaled 3.813 million tonnes in September 2008, up by 13.5% MoM.

America has increased the import from Japan by 23.9% to 117,000 tons. Shipments of Japan’s steel product to EU totaled 53,000 tonnes, down by 19.5% YoY.

Moreover, Japanese imported 520,000 tonnes of steel products in September 2008.

(Sourced from YIEH.corp)

Bloomberg reported that Mitsui OSK Lines Limited and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Limited have cut their full year profit forecasts as shipping rates drop.

As per report, Mitsui OSK cut its full year net income forecast by 7% to JPY 195 billion and Kawasaki Kisen lowered its outlook by 9% to JPY 71 billion. Kawasaki Kisen also cut its full year dividend forecast to JPY 25 from JPY 27. Nippon Yusen kept its net income forecast unchanged.

It may be noted that the Baltic index, a measure of commodity shipping rates on the spot market, has plunged 88% this year, its biggest drop on record, as a money market freeze curbed traders' ability to purchase cargoes on credit. Asian container shipments to the US are also tumbling and fell 11% in July 2008 for a tenth monthly decline.

Mr Yoshihisa Miyamoto an analyst in Tokyo at Okasan Securities Co said that "There is a lot of scope for further cuts to the forecasts. Concerns about a US slowdown will strengthen and investors shouldn't expect any significant rebound in the companies' stock prices.''

JFE Holdings said that it has revised the full year outlook upward to JPY 500 billion of consolidated recurring profit for fiscal 2008 ending March 2009, which is higher than JPY 450 billion of former outlook as of July but 0.6% lower than previous year.

The firm tries to clear JPY 500 billion of the profit as the 3 year target ending fiscal 2008 despite of higher raw materials cost and slower economy.

Sims Group Limited said that its profit margins and sales volumes may be cut this quarter because of the global financial crisis. It wrote down AUD 70 million of inventory in the first quarter and may have to make further provisions should customers and trading partners not be able to meet payments.

Sims said that the deepening credit freeze has triggered concern of a global recession, prompting Credit Suisse Group AG this month to cut its rating for the steel industry, the biggest profit driver for Sims. Mills from China to Russia are curbing output as demand weakens for cars and buildings and banks withdraw funding for new plants.

Mr Marcus Droga a private client advisor at Macquarie Equities Limited said that "Entering into the second quarter, the global economic situation has been impacted by the crisis in the financial and credit markets and that will impact on the steel and metal market. The lack of certainty and direction creates negative sentiment and on that basis investors have sold the stock down today.''

Sims reported first quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by acquisitions, to AUD 145.1 million for the three months ended September 30th 2008. Sims is changing its name to Sims Metal Management at the end of 2009. North America is the biggest market for Sims, providing 59% of earnings in 2008.

Air Liquide SA said that its third quarter sales rose by 10% YoY and maintained profit targets on higher demand for hydrogen used to make cleaner gasoline. Sales increased to EUR 3.25 billion from EUR 2.94 billion. Analysts estimated EUR 3.22 billion.

Mr Benoit Potier CEO of Air Liquide SA said that he still plans to spend EUR 10 billion by 2011 on purchases and new factories to meet increasing emerging market demand, even as global economic uncertainty is reducing visibility. Growth was in line with previous quarters and the company continues to predict profit growth of at least 10% at constant exchange rates.

Sales at Air Liquide's main Gas & Services unit rose 11% to EUR 2.49 billion. First half net income growth was 11% at constant exchange rates.

It is reported that US scrap market is weakening further in what traders describe as a buyer’s market.

Current scrap price have plunged sharply, but the buyers are still adopting a wait and see attitude.

In October 2008, a large steel mill stopped purchase scrap, because of the lack of floating capital resulted from the bad delivery.

Some scrap processing mills also held off from purchasing the raw material. They are also faced with the difficulties of high stock and capital problem.

(Sourced from YIEH.corp)

Bloomberg reported that Japan Bank for International Cooperation will sign a USD 800 million syndicated loan for the expansion of the Panama Canal that will help Japan boost trade with the Americas.

Mr Ryutaro Nishizaki spokesman of JBIC said that JBIC will offer USD 400 million and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc will provide another USD 400 million. He added that the loan contract will be signed by year end.

The Panama Canal Authority said last month that it would arrange a total of USD 2.3 billion in loans from overseas lenders for the USD 5.2 billion project. The expansion of the 93 year old waterway will help Japan boost imports of iron ore and crude oil from Brazil and liquefied natural gas from Trinidad Tobago, as well as increase exports of electronics to North and South America.

The canal authority will borrow USD 500 million from European Investment Bank, USD 400 million from the Inter American Development Bank and USD 300 million each from the International Finance Corporation and Corporacion Andina de Fomento.

The Standart Daily newspaper reported that furnaces of Kremikovtsi steel mill were loaded with 1500 tonnes of coals.

Mr Liydmil Pavlov chairman of Federation Metal Workers' Association said that despite the distribution of coals in the furnaces the problem is still in the balance, because the supply will be sufficient for a day.

With both bulk and container shipping rates diving, at some major shipping lines are cutting out less profitable lanes. In a recent Reuters report, Mr Philip Damas, director of research at Drewry's ship consultancy in London, said that the growth of container trade is at its lowest level ever from Asia to the US this year, and was at a 15 year low from Asia to Europe.

He added that "As a result of the financial crisis we are seeing consumers buying less clothes and furniture and we've even got the start of bankruptcies for furniture importers."

The Wall Street Journal cites data from HIS Global Insights in saying the number of shipping containers entering the U.S. through its top 10 container ports between January and September was 7.2% lower than it was during the year earlier period.

With container demand down and rates following suit, ocean container lines are cutting out capacity. Denmark's AP Moller Maersk’s Maersk Line would remove 7,600 TEU per week from its Asia North Europe lanes.

The Maersk move comes only days after Neptune Orient Lines said in a statement its container shipping business APL will reduce capacity in transpacific trade by around 20% and reduce capacity in Asia Europe trade by around 25% by suspending certain service offerings.

Taiwan Maritime Transport has taken the unprecedented step of putting out a press release to deny what it said was market speculation over its financial position.

The statement said that TMT has noted the market speculation regarding its financial situation and would like to clarify that it is not currently facing any financial difficulties and that trading remains strong throughout the group.

TMT is frequently subject to market speculation and rarely talks to the media. But TMT’s London based manager Mr Robert Grantham said that the statement was necessary after its offices were inundated with calls and that he was fed up with explaining that all was well.

He said rumors appeared to originate in Asia and Eastern Europe and timed with pending monthly settlements of forward freight agreements later next week. He added that they also involved other companies.

Mr Grantham said that "We think the fact that all these rumors seem to come out at one time and one place in a period when the markets are in a very strange situation, especially towards the end of the FFA monthly settlement period makes us rather concerned. We will be trying to find out by talking to brokers and other sources about who originated these rumors and we will be asking the relevant authorities to follow up on that if we believe it’s a cause for concern."

He further added that "We need to find out where these rumors originated, who started them and why and we will try and find out what we should be doing about it."

AP reported that researchers at Florida State University plan to soon introduce commercial products make from buckypaper, perhaps as soon as the next 12 months.

Researchers said that "It’s called buckypaper and looks a lot like ordinary carbon paper, but do not be fooled by the cute name or flimsy appearance. It could revolutionize the way everything from airplanes to TVs is made."

Buckypaper is 10 times lighter but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite. Unlike conventional composite materials, though, it conducts electricity like copper or silicon and disperses heat like steel or brass.

Mr Wade Adams a scientist at Rice University said that "All those things are what a lot of people in nanotechnology have been working toward as sort of Holy Grails."

That idea, that there is great future promise for buckypaper and other derivatives of the ultra-tiny cylinders known as carbon nano tubes, has been floated for years now. However, researchers at Florida State University said that they have made important progress that may soon turn hype into reality.

The fast developing Indian steel industries are continuing beyond what most believed was possible. As one of the world's fastest growing economies, India has become the most happening place among world steel market over last few years and thus is in the radar of not only Indian but most of global players associated with steel industry. But due to fragmented nature of industry, a comprehensive list of smaller steel makers is not readily available.

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Turkish Daily news reported that steel prices have started hitting record highs before started to fall in April futures trading at the London Metal Exchange. Such volatility shows need for futures as financial instruments.

Mr Martin Abbott CEO of the LME said that the need to manage volatility in an unstable marketplace was among the reasons why they dared to venture into steel billet futures trading.

The global financial crisis has wiped trillions of dollars off equity values, taking once king commodities, everything from oil to coal to wheat to steel, down with them. Looking for escape, investors have fled to the safety of the greenback and government bonds in the West.

Amid such volatility, Ms Lotta Ulfsdotter steel market executive of LME sounded confident about the performance of the steel exchange. She said that "Since the launch of our two regional billet contracts, we have traded over 570,000 tonnes across 15 months.

She said that “The trading volumes are gathering momentum with over 75% of transactions taking place since we introduced the trading of spot on July 24th 2008 The interest in the LME steel futures has been widespread, in particular in our contracts for the Mediterranean region, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Middle East and the like which accounts for over three quarters of our trading volume."

According Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers' Association, Japanese electric copper wire shipment increased by 1.6% YoY to 70,400 tonnes in copper volume in September from a year earlier.

The shipment improved for almost all applications from August 2008 and the shipment of optical fiber products increased by 2.5% YoY to 2.57 million kilometers core in August 2008 from a year earlier.

It is reported that for one more time, OPEC did not manage to surprise the market and the opportunity to control oil prices in a difficult period for the world economy. The recent cut of daily production by 1.5 million barrels was already priced in by the market, so the effect on the prices was not supportive.

The fear of the recession proved stronger and then happened something unprecedented in oil markets history. OPEC cut production, but the prices continued their fall as crude oil for December delivery dropped as much as USD 4.99 to USD 62.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange marking the longest losing streak since January 2007. Oil prices are down 28% YoY from a year ago and 12% WoW for the week.

According to analysts in New York, the market expected a cut of 1 to 1.5 million barrels a day and it got it. With demand slowing and supplies rising, the world is awash in oil sending prices crashing by more than 50% from a record high of USD 147 a barrel just three months ago. That has prompted oil producers to convene an emergency meeting to try to regain some control over prices.

With oil revenues crashing, the 13 nation OPEC is trying to decide how much to cut production to try to keep prices from sliding further, so they left opened the option o f a new cut in December. OPEC's control of the world's oil production has declined over the years as non OPEC producers like Russia have expanded output. OPEC produces about 40 percent of the world's oil, while Russia alone produces around 11%.

Increasing freight throughput has changed the concept of sea transport. Container ports have developed into important gateway locations serving extensive inland networks and thus are crucial in logistics supply chains.

According to the European Seaports Organization, over 90% of Europe’s trade with the rest of the world is shipped through its seaports, as is 43% of intra European trade. Container trade volumes have increased significantly over the last decade. World port throughput was, at 493 million TEU1 in 2007, up by 12% YoY. It is more than sure that during the next 12 to 18 months the paces of expansion in world trade will slowdown because of the severe financial crisis and the threat of recession in world economy, but many European ports are running serious projects of expansion.

According to the last survey of international consultant company Jones Lang LaSalle, examples of port extensions leading to container capacity enhancements in Europe’s container ports include the following projects

Rotterdam – Netherlands
New barge and container terminals to increase TEU capacity to 17 million by 2014 and an additional 17 million by 2033

Hamburg – Germany
The Elbe River, leading to the port of Hamburg, is currently undergoing a deepening to allow the approach of larger ships. Container handling capacity is expected to almost double by 2015, increasing to 18.1 million TEU

Algerciras – Spain
A new container terminal is scheduled to open in 2010, providing an additional 1.8 million TEU capacity

Valencia – Spain
Proposes a 5th container terminal

Liverpool – UK
Proposed new post panamax terminal by 2011, increase of warehousing capacity of more than 40,000 square meters of space

Southampton – UK
Expansion of the container terminal footprint and improvement of rail freight capabilities to enhance the efficiency moving freight through the terminal

Harwich International Port at Bathside Bay – UK
Gained approval in early 2006. The project adjacent to Harwich International Port comprises a new deep water container port providing an annual throughput capacity of 1.7 million TEUs. Improved road and rail connections will also be included

Illichevsk – Ukraine
Upgrade of existing handling facilities over the next 5 years to increase total annual capacity to 3.2 million TEU

Odessa – Ukraine
New container terminal Peresyp on a 62 hectare plot, offering 1,300 meters of quay wall by 2011

Varna – Bulgaria
New container terminal on a 27 hectare plot by 2014

Marsaxlokk – Malta
Terminal extension approved, further upgrading through port infrastructure improvements

Gdynia – Poland
Development of a unitized cargo handling system, increase of draught to 13.5 meters, development of a new logistics centre on a 40 hectare plot

Kotka – Finland
Container capacity growth through port infrastructure improvements

Napoli Salerno – Italy
New container terminal and roll on roll off facility by 2008 and 2009 respectively. Accessibility improvements through widening of port entrance to accommodate vessels of 300 meters length and 14 meters draft. Further container handling improvements by 2020, offering a berth of 2 kilometers length and 500 meters width with a 17 to 22 meters water depth

Trieste – Italy
A new building plan for the port site has been submitted to the local authorities to extend quay walls, a new roll on roll off terminal improvement of storage spaces around the quays and a new logistics platform

Tallinn – Estonia
Muuga port development creating 27 hectares of port land and 400 meters of quay dedicated to container handling

France
Seven out of nine ports are to be privatized, to boost annual throughput to 10 million TEU by 2010

Poland
Polish ports are investing to improve access to ports by 2014

Vlore – Albania
Improvements in capacity handling and integrated transport infrastructure developments as well as a surrou