November, 11 2005
TATA Steel and BlueScope Steel announce JV
TATA Steel and BlueScope Steel have announced formation of a 50:50 JV to manufacture zinc & aluminium metallic coated steel, painted steel and roll formed steel products, and deliver pre engineered buildings and other building solutions. The head office will be located in Pune and the JV agreement is likely to be signed later this month.
The new facility will have an annual metallic coating capacity of 250,000 tonnes and paint line capacity of 150,000 tonnes. The capital cost of the project will be approximately Rs 900 crores. The new facilities are expected to be operational by mid 2008.
TATA Steel MD Mr B Muthuraman said ''TATA Steel and BlueScope Steel share a similar approach to value creation in the steel business. Consumers would benefit from the range of solutions that will now be available to the Buildings industry. This JV combines the strengths of the two organizations and would increase the use of value added steel products.''
Siemens VAI BF to cut hot metal cost at JSW Vijaynagar
JSW Limited, which will expand capacity at its Vijaynagar plant to 7 million tonnes by 2008, has tied up with Siemens VAI for the setting up of the blast furnace. Currently, the company is implementing the expansion in steel making capacity to 3.8 million tonnes by March, 2006 from the existing capacity of 2.5 million tonnes
Announcing the signing of a contract with Siemens VAI, JSW vice CMD Mr Sajjan Jindal said, The setting up of a 2.8 million tonnes blast furnace was crucial to the company's expansion of steel making capacity to seven million tonnes to be achieved by 2010, involving a capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore. The blast furnace component accounts for 20% of the planned capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore''
This technology will not only reduce our cost of production but will also help us attain size and capacity faster, added Mr Sajjan Jindal. Mr Jindal said that the cost of hot metal will come down by about 10% in the post blast furnace situation.
IISCOs expansion plans
Mr Nilotpal Roy, the newly appointed MD of Indian Iron & Steel Company IISCO, which is being merged with SAIL, believes that it is feasible to increase its capacity to 4 million tonnes in the long run. As per present plans, in the first phase of modernization the plant will add 1.5 million tonnes of steel making capacity to existing 0.42 million tonnes and the second phase will add another 1 million tonnes in two to three years. These two phases, which will cost about Rs 7,800 crore
In the first phase IISCO, will invest in a 2,000 cubic meter blast furnace apart from renovating two blast furnaces, each of 1,170 cubic meters. It will also set up a coke-oven battery, besides the two existing coke oven batteries, a new sinter plant and a continuous casting plant
The 125 year-old company was taken over by the government in 1972 and attached to SAIL as its subsidiary six years later and since the take over, the government has mulled over some 11 proposals to modernize IISCOs more than 75 year-old Burnpur steel plant. But political indifference and bureaucratic indifference put paid to virtually all of them. This will be the first time money will be spent at IISCO to modernize it and add capacity since 1958 when Sir Biren Mukherjees Martin & Burn management agency took an IMF loan to modernize the steelmaker
JSW on ally hunt for Jharkhand
Mr Sajjan Jindal vice MD of JSW Limited could consider a foreign partner for an Rs 35000-crore project that has just been formalized in Jharkhand. I am open to joint ventures with other steel companies or even setting up an independent company under the JSW umbrella in Jharkhand. We are considering all options. We do not rule out anything, he is reported to have said
The need for an ally has been prompted by the realization that there is a need to share the kind of risks that were faced by them when they set up projects in the early 90s.Many of these have had to be revived through loan revamps; a few had to wait for an upturn in the industry cycle.
Almost all domestic players are setting up steel making facilities and are joined by POSCO and Mittal Steel. But there are still some other players including Arcelor, who are looking for an entry into India. All the same, Jindal is unflappable. Even Japanese steel makers are yet to make an entry into India, Mr Jindal said
SEIL net zooms 265%
Vizag-based Steel Exchange India Limited (SEIL), a steel trading and manufacturing company, registered a 265% growth in net profit to Rs 7.75 crore for the first half of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 2.14 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. Its income increased by about Rs 102 crore to Rs 256.73 crore as compared to the Rs 154.30 crore for the first half of the previous year, registering a growth of 68%.
The company posted a net profit of Rs 6.97 crore on an income of Rs 357 crore last fiscal.
SEIL is investing Rs 1.5 crore in its Simhadri Steel Mill. After the completion of the mills expansion by this fiscal end, its annual production capacity will increase to 90,000 tonnes from the existing 60,000 tonnes.
NTPC to brand fly ash for exports
National Power Thermal Corporation NTPC plans to sell fly ash commercially in the domestic and global markets mainly in the Gulf countries according to Mr T Sankarlingam, Director Projects through its subsidiary NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam.
A highly pollution ridden by-product of the thermal power plants, disposing of fly ash has been a major issue for the players. The power major set up the ash utilization division in 1991 and all its new units are provided with the facility of dry ash collection system. For the past four years, NTPC, as part of its corporate social responsibility rive, has been converting fly ash into bricks. Experts say the ash generated by NTPC can be used for cement, concrete and light aggregates like bricks and tiles to construct roads, fill mines, embankments and hydraulic structures.
Despite these uses, the fly ash utilization generated by more than a dozen of NTPCs coal-based plants is only 45% and NTPC needs to find more buyers in India and neighboring countries
Uttam Galva in talks with Detroit Steel
With reference to the news item appearing in a leading financial daily titled `Uttam Galva set to buy US steel mill`, Uttam Galva Steels Ltd has clarified that the Company has always been evaluating opportunities which are synergistic with the company`s business.
The company`s discussion with the Detroit Steel Company (DSC) is at very preliminary stage and as soon as the decision is reached on the issue, the company will definitely inform the same.
China remains net importer of steel so far
Despite fears that Chinese steel mills would flood the world this year, Chinese customs data showed the world's top producer and consumer of steel remained a net importer during the first 10 months.
Its exports stood at 17.15 million tonnes, up 69.1% YOY, while imports were greater at 21.93 million tonnes despite a YOY decline of 14.2%
Referring to the imports, one industry official said: "For the whole year, we still have to import about 26 million tonnes, of which 90% is flat products. We cannot meet demand for high-quality products. Most of the production is at low end ... It takes time to improve the quality."
Global stainless steel estimated at 25 million in 2005
Mr N Mathur, Director of Jindal Stainless and president of the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association ISDA has, in his paper presented at the 8th International Stainless Steel Conference in New Delhi, estimated a 6% growth in SS output in 2006 to reach 26.5 million tonnes over expected output of 25 million tonnes in 2005
The sluggish growth rate in 2005 is attributed to high prices of raw materials like nickel and ferrochrome and the production cutback in by several mills around the world to reduce stocks due to sluggish demand
Despite the cutback in production and sluggish production growth, the global stainless steel demand, ranging between 18 million and 21 million, is seen lagging behind production. The supply overhang would be there despite strong demand from China and India, the world's two most populous nations. India and China will contribute the most to the demand growth in years ahead, Mr Mathur said.
"If any company is planning a new investment in the sector, I would urge it to consider the supply and demand situation," said Mr Pekka Erkkilia, the executive vice president at Outokumpu. Global stainless steel output capacity is expected to rise to 35 million by 2010, compared with demand projections that range between 23 million and 27 million he said.
India's annual demand for stainless steel, which is currently around 1.2 million, is expected to grow by 12% in the years ahead. The consumption in neighboring China is likely to expand yearly by 9% over the next 10 years, Mr Gautam Verma, manager market development at BHP Billiton, said. The stainless steel consumption in China is seen topping 10 million by calendar 2012 and 12 million by 2014, he said. Chinese stainless steel demand in 2005 is estimated at 5.75 million.
MIT Professor pushes new process for making iron
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and holder of 13 patents, Mr Sadoway has researched how NASA might extract oxygen from moon rocks for the space program. He believes that the same process, similar to the way aluminum has been made for more than 100 years, can be used to make iron. Moreover, the process will create another marketable commodity, oxygen, instead of polluting carbon gasses, Mr Sadoway said. He's persuaded the American Iron and Steel Institute to sponsor for a two year study to see if his concept, known as molten oxide electrolysis, can be commercialized.
The roots of Mr. Sadoway's research run back to Charles Martin Hall who in 1886 discovered a way to produce aluminum using electrolysis, running an electric current through a liquid solution of aluminum oxide. Two years later, Mr Hall and financier Alfred E Hunt opened the Pittsburgh Reduction today known as Alcoa, the global aluminum giant.
The process has been modified and refined since then and in the 1980s, Mr. Sadoway and Alcoa conducted separate research on anodes there weren't made of carbon. What they were looking for was an anode that lasted longer and, because it wasn't made of carbon, wouldn't produce carbon gases. While Alcoa is still attempting to commercialize the new anodes, Mr. Sadoway is applying his knowledge of the anodes and electrolysis to making steel.
He intends to dissolve iron oxide in a solution a little thicker than water, much like sugar is dissolved in water. The solution will be fluid enough to conduct electricity discharged by the anodes. What the anodes will be made of is a major topic of his research. Another hurdle is how much of a jolt to deliver. Mr. Sadoway says the iron won't be extracted from the iron oxide if the electric current is too low, but that the walls of the crucible will melt if the current is too high. Then there's the temperature. While aluminum is smelted at temperatures of less than 1,000 degrees Celsius, Mr. Sadoway expects his process will have to crank it up to 1,500 degrees Celsius or greater. "No one's ever run electrolysis that high," he said.
Finally, just because the process will work on a small scale, ramping it up to produce a million or more tons annually is another matter. "It's got to be robust enough to run 24/7 for years," Mr. Sadoway said.
One of Pittsburgh's top materials scientists says that while Mr. Sadoway's twist on electrolysis can work, the global warming angle leaves him a bit cold. Even if the MIT professor can produce iron and oxygen simultaneously, what about all the greenhouse gasses created by burning coal to generate the electricity needed to run the process, asks Mr Richard J. Fruehan, the U.S. Steel professor of materials science at Carnegie Mellon University.
"His theory is absolutely correct if you don't think about the supply of electricity," Mr Fruehan says. "It's not reducing the carbon dioxide once you consider the power plant. In fact, it's increasing carbon dioxide." Mr. Sadoway acknowledges his process will shift the source of pollution from steel mills to coal-powered electric plants. However, it eliminates the need for coke, a baked coal used to fuel iron-producing blast furnaces. Plants that produce coke are perennially on environmental hit lists, so getting rid of them and burning coal in more efficient electric power plants is a better option, he says. "It's a half ton of carbon [coke] to make a ton of steel. That's all gone," he said.
Mr Sadoway has two years to figure out if the process is technically feasible on a small scale. If the results are encouraging, much more work would be needed to determine if it can be commercialized.
Finland's Outokumpu planning to cut jobs at SS unit
Finnish metals group Outokumpu Oyj, the world's second largest stainless steel maker, which has been suffering from increased competition from China, said that it plans to cut up to 700 jobs as part of a restructuring scheme aimed at reducing costs at its main stainless steel unit. It said 300 jobs would be cut in Finland, another 300 in Sweden and the remaining 100 in other countries. The restructuring is expected to reduce annual costs by euro100 million from mid 2006.
"It is regrettable that we have to take these drastic actions but they are necessary to so that we can ensure that Outokumpu is financially robust even in current difficult market conditions," CEO Mr Juha Rantanen said in a statement.
In October, Outokumpu said it would close its coil products unit in Sheffield, Britain, possibly resulting in hundreds of layoffs.
Salzgitter likely to go for price increase in Q1 2006
Salgitter AG CFO Mr Heinz Joerg Fuhrmann said the company's third quarter results 'will not disappoint. The MDAX-listed steelmaker is scheduled to publish third quarter results on Monday. 'And we stand by all our previous targets,' Mr Fuhrmann said. The company in August said it is targeting full year pretax profit of Euro 600 million
He also reiterated that Salzgitter is planning to hike flat carbon steel prices in the first quarter of next year. 'There is a solid basis for further price hikes in some divisions in the first quarter,' he said, adding it is still too early to make more detailed statements.
Tight supply to dominate ore price talks
Leading iron ore producer Rio Tinto has warned its steel mill customers to expect some tough bargaining for a substantial price increase in the soon-to-start annual negotiations.
As lead negotiators from Australia and Brazil arrive in Tokyo for opening pleasantries in the annual negotiations in the price-setting Japanese market, Rio CEO Mr Leigh Clifford has warned that the supply of iron ore is "extremely tight" and remained vulnerable to the type of supply shock that cyclones, among other things, could deliver. Mr Clifford said he expected some noise from Asian steel mills that steel prices had come off. But with production in the boom China market continuing to rise, attention had to be paid to the tight supply situation.
Rio's tough stance on a price increase is in keeping with share market expectations of late. Several brokers have recently upgraded their iron ore price expectations from a "rollover" of the current price to a price increase of 10-20%.
Goldman Sachs JBWere was one such broker, saying in a recent note to clients that iron ore had the strongest price outlook of the bulk commodities. "Notwithstanding severe weakness in the domestic Chinese steel market, we believe Chinese pig iron production will rise by a further 15 per cent in 2006, generating demand for at least an additional 60 million tonnes of imported iron ore 2006," it said.
The broker said Japanese steel mills seemed resigned to a price rollover while suppliers were pushing for an increase of at least 20 %. "So it seems prudent to assume a 10 per cent price rise for iron ore fines.
US wire rod mills file AD petition against China, Germany and Turkey
Antidumping duty petitions were filed today by five US domestic producers of carbon and alloy steel wire rod charging that dumped imports of such wire rod products from China, Germany and Turkey is causing material injury to the domestic industry. The petitioners allege antidumping margins of 330% for the PRC, 42% to 82% for Germany, and 31% to 78% for Turkey. The petitioners are Connecticut Steel Corporation; Gerdau Ameristeel, Keystone Consolidated Industries, Mittal Steel US Georgetown and Rocky Mountain Steel Mills
The filing of the petitions starts the process by which the United States Department of Commerce will determine whether dumping exists and the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) will determine if the U.S. wire rod industry has been materially injured or threatened with material injury as a result. The USITC must reach its preliminary determination of material injury or threat of material injury within 45 days, and the Commerce Department is required to announce preliminary antidumping duties in 160 days. Once the Commerce Department makes its preliminary determination, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin to require importers to pay cash deposit or post a bond equal to the estimated dumping margin. The entire investigative process takes approximately one year, and final determinations of injury and dumping will occur in late 2006.
Carbon steel wire rod is an intermediate product that is ultimately used for the manufacture of wire and wire products such as coat hangers, fasteners, wire mesh, tire cord, and chain link fencing.
Wire rod imports from the three named countries have nearly doubled, from approximately 958,000 tons in 2002 to over 1.8 million tons in 2004. These imports accounted for nearly half of all imports during the most recent 12 month period, September 2004 to August 2005, for which data is available. Subject imports have similarly captured an increasing share of the U.S. market, jumping from 12% in 2002, to 23% in 2004, and reaching 28% of the domestic market in the first half of 2005.
The antidumping duty cases filed today follow successful unfair trade petitions filed in 2001 that resulted in the imposition of antidumping duties on wire rod imports from Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine in 2002.
Chinas steel export up by 69.1% during January to October
China's exports rose 29.7% in October YOY to $68.09 billion and imports reached $56.08 billion up 23.4% YOY, according to China customs data. The customs administration said that January to October exports were up 31.1% to $614.49 billion compared with last year, and imports stood at $534.12 billion up 16.7%
Based on these figures, XFN-Asia has calculated the trade surplus for October at $12.01 billion and the 10 month surplus at $80.37 billion. According to these unofficial figures the October trade surplus would be China's largest on record.
Coal imports jumped 43% YOY to 20.7 million tonnes for the first ten months of this year, and iron ore imports rose about 32.3% to 220 million tonnes
Steel exports jumped 69.1% to 17.15 million tonnes from January to October.
Daido develops steel with world's highest-level corrosion resistance
Japanese Daido Steel Co announced that it has developed a stainless steel with the world's highest level of corrosion resistance. Further details on the product are not available
The Nagoya-based steelmaker will market the new stainless steel, to be used in automobile components, edged tools and chemical plants, starting in fiscal 2007, Daido said.
Steel baron Mr LN Mittal is Europe's richest billionaire
Global steel baron Mr LN Mittal is the richest billionaire not only in Britain but also in Europe, according to latest research on the super-rich by the Luxury Institute. A listing of the 50 richest Europeans by the research organization mentions that Mittal's personal wealth is estimated at 24 billion euros.
The new ranking refutes October estimates that Russian billionaire Mr Roman Abramovich would soon overtake Mittal as Britain's richest. But Mittal's recent acquisition in Ukraine has helped reclaim the top spot. Abramovich is ranked sixth in the list with a personal fortune of 15 billion euros.
The top five European billionaires are
Mr LN Mittal (UK, steel) 24 billion
Mr Ingvar Kamprad (Switzerland, retail) 22.8 billon
Mr Karl Albrecht (Germany, retail) 19 billion
Ms Liliane Bettencourt (France, retail) 17.2 billion
Mr Bernard Arnault (France, retail) 17billion
Revenue from Russian ferrous metals export up 27%
Revenue from Russian ferrous metals export from January to September period made up US$14.006 billion, up 27.4% from the same period a year ago (US$10.993 billion) as per a release from Russian Federal Customs Services
Over the nine months Russia has exported 37.501 million tones of ferrous metals. Export of carbon steel increased to 8.152 million tones from 7.939 million tones and the exports of ferroalloys increased to 0.627 million tones from 0.477 million tones.
Mobarakeh Steel Plant to become MEAs biggest steelmaker
Isfahan based Mobarakeh Steel Plant will turn into the greatest steel producer in the Middle East by early 2006 with production of 4.2 million tonnes of steel product, Mr Salamian, the MD of MSC said recently
He put the steel production of the plant at 2.05 million tonnes in the first half of the current Iranian year, which starts on March 20
Venezuela wants Sidor to pay 70% more for iron ore from CVG
Venezuela wants Sidor steel company to pay 70% more for iron ore purchased from the state mining company as part of efforts to modify its supply contract, a government official said.
President Mr Hugo Chavez has been pressing to modify the supply deal under which the state firm sells Sidor iron ore at 44% of international market prices. Mr Chavez also wants Sidor, which was privatized before he was elected in 1998, to sell more steel to the domestic market as part of a nationalist campaign to ensure more state control over the countrys energy and natural resources. Chavez warned the government could takeover the steel company if it did not cooperate with his administrations demands.
It is reported in local dailies that the deputy minister of investment at the Basic Industries & Mines, Mr Valmore Vazquez, said the government wants Sidor to pay more than $30 per ton for iron purchased from CVG Ferrominera Orinoco.
The main shareholder in Sidor, Argentinas Techint had accepted the governments request to modify the contract last week. The Venezuelan state owns 30% of Sidor, 10% of shares are held by workers, while the rest are controlled by a consortium that includes Argentinas Techint, Brazils Usiminas and Venezuelan steelmaker Sivensa.
Steel prices fears in China
Prices for domestic steel in China are falling again due to overproduction following a brief respite with a 5% production cut in the fourth quarter, traders and industry officials said. They see little hope for exports, despite increased efforts to ship out the surplus. Profit margins are thin, and there are fears of anti-dumping charges.
"The steel market is not good, prices have begun to fall again," an industry official based in Beijing said Thursday. "Demand is strong, but incremental capacity is more than the rise in demand."
The sources see little hope for an attempt by the top steel mills to limit iron ore imports and to stabilize domestic steel prices "There's such a big iron ore demand in China. It's difficult to limit it, that's the problem," said an iron ore trader. While the miners are asking for price hikes of 10-20%, Chinese mills are digging their heels to win price cuts of 5-10%.
The traders and officials hope low prices will squeeze out obsolete mills in the near future, which will help stabilize prices and restrict the growth in the country's overall need for iron ore. "I suggest monitoring how many tonnages will be closed in the next three to six months," another iron ore trader said. "If they close, prices can stabilize. Otherwise, prices will remain soft, and the government might take some macro measures."
Ukraine to restart failed trade talks on pipes
The Russian government is currently considering imposing a 40% tariff or import quotas on all pipes of large diameter pipes imported from Ukraine due to alleged dumping.
After this was revealed, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers sent a letter to Russian Ministry of Economic Policy and Trade asking to restart the negotiations that failed and was abandoned in September this year.
Rising cheaper imports are hurting local Russian pipe makers. The bulk of pipes imported come from the Ukraine. If this tariff is imposed, the pipe trade will effectively be stopped and Ukraine pipe makers will lose lot of business
Avtron secures drive contracts for two Chinese hot strip mills
Avtron Manufacturing received a pair of contracts to supply the digital drives for new hot-strip mills in China, valued at over $1 million. Both mills are scheduled to be in operation by the third quarter of 2006. Each contract is for a new 1,250 mm wide hot strip mill, one at Yayiliancheng Steel in the Hebei Province and the other at DeLong Steel in Xingtai City.
Avtron will supply its ADDvantage-32 DC digital drives, which include a reversing roughing mill, seven-stand finishing mill, two drives for each of the two vertical edgers, a crop shear drive, and two down coiler drives.
Each mill will be used in the domestic China market for automotive and appliance manufacturing and boast an annual output of 2,000,000 tons.
Steel sculpture sets an auction record by fetching $23.8 million
A monumental steel sculpture "CUBI XXVIII" (1965) by the American artist Mr David Smith became the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold at auction last night when Mr Larry Gagosian, the Manhattan dealer, fought off five aggressive bidders and paid $23.8 million at Sotheby's.
TopChupit acquires stake in St Petersburg port
Chupit Ltd won an auction for 48.8% OAO St. Petersburg Sea Port with a bid that matched the starting price of 802.5 million rubles ($28 million) as per reports in press. It is also reported that Chupit will have to reveal soon that who is being represented by them
Other bidders were Jysk Staalindustri, representing NLMK and Nezavisimaya Transportnaya Kompaniya
The port is part of a loading complex that feeds both the Gulf of Finland on the eastern edge of the Baltic Sea and the harbor of St. Petersburg, Russias second-largest city. It is controlled by a unit of Novolipetsk, Russias fourth-largest steelmaker
Restructuring Stelco loses $42 million but wins back GM as customer
Stelco Inc. lost $42 million in the third quarter, and its CEO hopes that will be a wake up call for the company's stakeholders in the final days before creditors vote on the steel maker's restructuring plan. And now that the company appears to have ended the long-running fight with its union, General Motors has returned as a customer. Stelco's biggest battle is now with its creditors.
After 21 months of bankruptcy protection, the Hamilton-based steelmaker is asking creditors to vote on its restructuring plan November 15. Bondholders say they will vote the plan down, and Stelco's convertible debenture holders are asking an appeal court to make them a distinct creditor class giving them the power to vote down the plan if the bondholders approve it.
CEO Mr Courtney Pratt said Thursday that negotiations with the bondholders are continuing. Changes can still be made to the company's plan, which gives creditors 66 cents on the dollar. Pratt also said Stelco's loss of 41 cents per share compared to a profit of 57 cents per share, or $58 million a year earlier should "bring people back to reality in terms of the company's situation.We have been saying continuously that the company is not in great shape," he said Thursday.
During the three months ended Sept. 30, Stelco's sales were $725 million, down 19 per cent from $897 million a year ago. The company shipped 1.1 million tons of steel, 7% less than during the same period of 2004.
But Mr Pratt told analysts Thursday that Stelco has signed a 2006 contract with General Motors that will bring the automaker back as a "major customer." GM announced a year ago that it was dropping Stelco as a major steel supplier. That move came after the United Steelworkers union at Stelco's plant in Nanticoke refused to promise that it would not strike to assure GM's steel supply. The Nanticoke plant, on the shores of Lake Erie, was developed with GM in mind.
During the fourth quarter, Stelco will shut down the plant for 20 days to upgrade the hot-strip mill. That marks the first major step of the strategic capital spending program Stelco said it needed when it filed for bankruptcy protection. Stelco said shipments and prices should improve in the fourth quarter, but it expects that to be offset by higher energy costs and the Lake Erie shutdown.
Proposal to transform Bethlehem steel plant to SteelStax
A full decade after the shutting of Bethlehem Steels flagship plant, officials are rolling out their latest proposal to transform and resurrect the nations largest abandoned industrial site: an arts complex called SteelStax. The 17-story blast furnaces that have dominated the citys skyline for a century would tower over new performance spaces for music, dance and theater.
The design is to be unveiled Friday at a news conference inside the hollowed-out Electrical Furnace Building, one of two existing buildings to be retrofitted as part of the SteelStax development.
Mr Jeff Parks, president of ArtsQuest, the nonprofit organization behind SteelStax. Were trying to create one of the most unique performance venues in the world. Officials dont yet have a clear idea of how much SteelStax would cost, but Parks said the money would have to be raised from private donors and the government.
Leighton buying iron ore contract miner
Australia's largest contractor and project developer, Leighton Holdings Ltd, agreed to buy the Australian and New Zealand contract mining business of the Henry Walker Eltin Group for A$215 million.
The takeover came as Leighton, 53% owned by German construction group Hochtief, said its first-quarter operating profit rose 32% and forecast solid profit growth for the year.
Henry Walker Eltin was Australia's top iron ore contract miner when it went into voluntary administration, a form of bankruptcy, last January after racking up project losses
HudBay Minerals to restart Zinc mine in NY state
HudBay Minerals Inc., a Canadian zinc producer spun off last year by Anglo American Plc, will reopen a mine after prices for the metal rose to an eight-year high.
Output at the Balmat No 4 mine in New York State may resume in the second quarter of 2006, the Toronto-based company said yesterday. Balmat, which has been mothballed since 2001, will produce as much as 60,000 metric tons of zinc a year.
Forward prices for zinc rose to an eight year high yesterday in London. Demand for the metal, which is used to galvanize steel products will outpace production in 2005 by 318,000 tons, Standard Bank in London said in a Nov. 1 report. Zinc for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange rose $4, or 0.3 percent, to $1,583 a ton as of 8:37 a.m. local time today. It traded yesterday at an eight-year high of $1,590 a ton.
Grande Cache Coal announces Q2 2006 results
Grande Cache Coal Corporation announced today its financial and operating results for the three and six months ended September 30, 2005. The Corporation's net loss for the second quarter of 2006 was $10.5 million. Year to date, the net loss was $22.6 million.
During the second quarter sales levels improved to 0.4 million tonnes resulting in revenue of $35 million at an average sales price of $90 per tonne. Sales during the quarter included shipments at 2006 contracted prices, carryover tonnage from 2005 contracts, trial cargos and some thermal coal sales.
Productivity improvements in the Corporation's surface mining operation were achieved in September and continued through the month of October. The total material moved in the surface mine in October exceeded any prior period. Production in the underground mine also increased in the month of October reaching its highest level to date.
The seaborne metallurgical coal industry has recently been experiencing delays in customer shipments, making it difficult for the Corporation to predict the volume and timing of sales over the remainder of the fiscal year. Due to the uncertainty regarding the timing of shipments to Grande Cache Coal's Asian customers, the Corporation now projects total sales for the fiscal year to be 1.0 million tonnes. At these levels, cost of sales is expected to be approximately $105 per tonne for the next six months. Revenue for the next six months is anticipated to be approximately $123 per tonne
Breakwater Resources to develop Zinc mine in Quebec
Breakwater Resources Ltd., a Canadian mining company, said it will develop a 54,000 metric ton a year zinc mine in Quebec as prices for the metal rally. The Langlois mine will start producing zinc in mid-2007, the Toronto-based company said yesterday. The mine will operate for seven years based on current metal reserves.
"We believe that the zinc price will continue to show strength in the coming years given the shortage of new mines and the continued demand growth," Breakwater said in the statement.
Forward prices for zinc rose to an eight year high yesterday in London. Demand for the metal, which is used to galvanize steel products will outpace production in 2005 by 318,000 tons, Standard Bank in London said in a Nov. 1 report. Zinc for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange rose $4, or 0.3 percent, to $1,583 a ton as of 8:37 a.m. local time today. It traded yesterday at an eight-year high of $1,590 a ton.
ICG expects to raise nearly $300 million from IPO
International Coal Group Inc hopes to raise up to $291.7 million when it makes its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, according to registration documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Headed by Mr Wilbur Ross, ICG said it will use the proceeds to pay down its $236 million debt and could use some of the remainder for acquisitions.
Jabiru's Jaguar Zn project on track
With zinc prices at record highs and expected to remain so as unfulfilled demand increases, Jabiru Metals' Jaguar base metals project in Western Australia appears set for a bright future. Mining and construction of the $56 million predominantly zinc project at Teutonic Bore, 260 kilometers north of Kalgoorlie, will begin this month, with the mine expected to be in production in early 2007.
The project will involve an 18 month decline development to access the high-grade ore from which will come between 20,000 and 25,000 tonnes per annum of zinc in concentrate a year, between 8,000 and 10,000 tonnes per annum of copper and 800,000 tonnes per annum of silver over a five-year mine life.
BlueScope launches share buy-back
Australia's biggest steel maker BlueScope Steel Ltd has launched an on-market buy-back for up to 25 million of its shares. At Friday's prices the buy-back could cost more than $180 million. BlueScope said the buy-back program, launched after its previous program expired in September, did not require shareholder approval. The buy-back will add to the 102 million shares the company has repurchased since its public listing in 2002.
CEO Mr Kirby Adams said the company's strong balance sheet would allow it to continue with its growth program while carrying out a buy back that would benefit shareholders. "In our view, there is currently an excellent opportunity for us to utilize this program in a manner that we believe will deliver long-term value to our shareholders," he said. Mr Adams said that any shares purchased under the program would improve the earnings per share guidance the company issued last week.
BlueScope shares were sold off after the guidance, which saw the company warn that lower sales in its Asian businesses and a fire at its Western Port mill in Victoria would affect earnings.
