February, 01 2006
Essar's Chattisgarh to Vizag slurry pipeline commissioned
Essar Steel has commissioned its 267 km. pipeline connecting Kirandul mines in Bailadilla Chattisgarh and its pelletization plant in Vizag to transport iron ore from the mine head in the form of slurry. The slurry pipeline is the second in the country after Kudremukh Iron and Steel Limited's 67 km. pipeline. It is also the world's second largest, the first one operating from the Germano Mines of Brazil. The project has been executed by a consortium of JSC Stroytransgaz and Essar Constructions in 18 months and has used the pumps supplied by Geho of the Netherlands.
The pipeline passes through Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh States and will transport 8 million tonnes of slurry per annum to the Vizag pelletization plant, which is operating at four million tonnes per annum currently. The capacity of the plant, built with technology from Lurgi GmbH of Germany, will be doubled in a couple of months.
"The slurry pipeline would bring down Essar Steel's ore transportation cost from Rs. 550 per tonne to a mere Rs. 80 per tonne, besides eliminating logistic bottlenecks and ensuring real time inventory management," as per a report in daily.
Jyoti Structures in a transmission tower JV in Dubai
Gulf Jyoti International LLC GJI, a JV between Gulf Investment Corporation of Kuwait and Jyoti Structures Limited of India, has announced the setting up of a state of the art transmission tower manufacturing facility at Dubai Investments Park. The new facility will have the latest technology and equipment that will enable the plant to achieve a production capacity of 33,000 metric tonnes per annum on a two shift basis.
Mr Mohammed Al-Melhem Chairman of GJI said, "Our decision to set up this modern transmission tower manufacturing facility at Dubai Investments Park is certain to pay rich dividends as the Park is a comprehensive, self-contained business zone. The proximity of the Park to the Jebel Ali port is another factor that will smoothen our operations here. We will be adopting the most advanced technology in our new facility which will help us achieve an excellent production capacity."
The presence of a world-class manufacturing facility of this kind in the UAE is expected to significantly contribute to the country's diverse business potential.
Sandro to build iron ore & coal terminal in South Africa
Sandro Power Supply, an Indian power generating and coal trading company, plans to list on the JSE and to build a terminal to ship coal and iron ore to India and China. The shares will be sold in Sandro's Osho South Africa Coal Mining unit.
Osho plans to buy magnetite from Palabora Mining and Foskor. The materials are often mined as a by-product and stockpiled because they are too far away from rail or port facilities. "These discards can be consumed comfortably by Indian industry," Sandro said in a copy of a presentation due to be given to the McCloskey coal conference in Cape Town
Palabora, which is controlled by the Rio Tinto Group and Anglo American, is seeking buyers for a 241 million ton stockpile of magnetite produced as a by-product of copper mining at its mine in the east of South Africa. Foskor, a government-owned phosphate producer, has a 55 million ton stockpile at its adjacent operations. Sandro plans to build a pipeline that would transport 10 million tons of the ore annually to ports.
Osho's plan includes the construction of a terminal to export as much as 15 million tons of coal a year from South Africa. Sandro did not say where it plans to build the terminal. It would compete with Richards Bay, which shipped about 69 million tons in 2005, and smaller terminals at Durban and Maputo in Mozambique.
The company estimated discarded stockpiles of steam coal in South African at 50 million tons and those of anthracite, a type of coal used in metal plants, at 10 million tons. It also assessed stockpiles of iron ore pellets and iron flux at 60 million tons.
Sandro, a closely held company based in Mumbai, is seeking to take advantage of growing demand from China and India for commodities such as iron ore and coal. The move comes at a time when South Africa's is keen to diversify its export markets away from Europe.
Tribal protest chariot rolls on roads in Orissa
The development versus displacement debate rages on in Orissa as tribal Tuesday took out a chariot procession carrying the ashes of those killed in a police firing in Kalinga Nagar of Jajpur district in Orissa. Twelve tribal were killed on January 2nd when over 500 tribal clashed with police at the Kalinga Nagar industrial complex in Jajpur while protesting against construction works by the TATA Steel.
The tribal are incensed over the atrocities committed against them in Kalinga Nagar after they had been rendered landless. They flagged off the chariot carrying the urns of the remains of those who died in the firing. The chariot carries pictures of the mass cremation of the tribal as well as the gruesome spectacle of palms of the dead that were chopped off after the incident. Tribal leader Mr Chakradhar Hibaru said that the chariot will crisscross the state to highlight police brutality.
When the chariot reaches the state capital Bhubaneswar February 3, the tribal will demonstrate outside the state Assembly where the budget session is poised to begin.
Jindal Stainless Limited Q3 dips 68%
Jindal Stainless Limited has reported 68% dip in the net profits at 20.9 crores for the quarter ended on December 31st 2005 as compared to Rs 66.38 crores for the same quarter in last fiscal.
Total income decline by 16.5% to Rs 711.6 crores for Q3 in 2005 as against that of Rs 852.8 crores in year ago period.
Monnet Ispat net dips 15% in Q3
Monnet Ispat reported 15.21% decline in net profit at Rs 30.04 crore for the third quarter ended December 2005 as compared with Rs 35.43 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year.
Net sales from operations decreased 17.84 per cent to Rs 120.91 crore from Rs 147.18 crore in the year-ago period, a company release said. Profit before tax decreased to Rs 33.24 crore during the quarter as against Rs 38.44 crore in the year-ago period.
Paradip port's traffic handling jumps 11% in 2005
Paradip Port Trust PPT handled 24.47 million tonnes of traffic for the year ended December 31 2005 a jump of 11.15% compared to 21.29 million tonnes during corresponding period of previous year. PPT has failed to achieve the target of 33.47 million tonnes traffic handling set by Ministry of Shipping. The port reported jump of 12.88 per cent in handling 973 vessels during 2005 as against 862 last year.
As per a statement issued by PPT Chairman Mr K Raghuramaiah, the port touched many milestones during the year 2005. The cargo handling during the month of August was recorded at an all-time high of 2.943 million tonne. The port railway imported record 1.272 million tonnes during June and handled record 2.229 million tonnes of cargo during December 2005.
During the year PPT proposed to deepen the approach channel and entrance channel to depth of 18.90 meters and the Ministry of Shipping has already sanctioned Rs 154.82 crore for building a channel width of 300 meters to handle 125,000 DWT vessels. Keeping the traffic potential of iron ore in view, the PPT also proposed to develop a new deep draft berth on BOT basis. The other project undertaken during the year included extension of iron ore berth to handle 75,000 DWT vessels.
GMDC to mine coal in MP and Jharkhand
The Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation GMDC is pursuing its applications for allocation of Coal Blocks outside Gujarat. GMDC has identified few potential blocks in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand states. GMDC is expected to sign MoU with KSK Energy of Hyderabad.
Once the Coal Blocks are awarded, GMDC will carry out mining of coal to provide feed stock to the Power Stations proposed to be set up by a JV Company to be set up with KSK Energy.
Gangavaram Port aims to handle 8 million tonnes
The Gangavaram Port, which plans to commence cargo handling operations from December 2007, is aiming to handle about 8 million tonnes of cargo in the first year of operations. We have already awarded the break water construction, berths construction and other civil works to L&T, and the dredging works to Belgium-based Dredge International. These companies have started works recently, Mr A Rama Raju, AVP told. The port would award the equipment supply contract to a foreign company shortly, he added. We expect the work to complete before December 2007. In 2008-09, we expect to handle 8-10 million tonnes of cargo, he said.
In the first phase, the company is constructing five berths, which can accommodate 200,000 DWT vessels. The five berths would enable the port to handle up to 15 million tonnes a year. "In the first phase, we are constructing 1,750 meter long south break water, 800 meter long northern break water, and 300 length 21 meter draft entrance channel, besides five berths, stockyards and warehouses. We are providing the latest and higher capacity handling equipment and all handling operations will be fully mechanized, he said.
The state government, which has an 11% equity, had provided 2,800 acres of land and was creating infrastructure facilities like roads, while the remaining equity was with DVS Raju consortium. During the first phase, the company was investing Rs 1,850 crore, Mr Raju said.
Several companies like the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, National Thermal Power Corporation, Pharmacity, MMTC Limited, Jindal Aluminum Company, and others which are coming up at the proposed Andhra Pradesh special economic zone, were in negotiations to import/export their cargo though the new port, he added.
Kanishk Steel net up 374%
Kanishk Steel reported a jump of 373.5% in net profit to Rs 1.95 crore for the third quarter ended December 2005 compared with Rs 41.34 lakh recorded during the same period last year.
Total turnover registered growth of 142% to Rs 74 crore from Rs 30.6 crore in the year-ago period.
GVK to set up power plants in Uttaranchal & Punjab
Chennai based GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd GVKPIL is planning to set up hydro and coal-based power plants in Uttranchal and Punjab, generating 1,200 MW power, at a cost of Rs 5,500 crore. The proposed plants would come up in Srinagar and Napang in Uttaranchal and in Govindwal Saheb in Punjab.
The first hydel project with a power generating capacity of 330 MW will be ready for financial closure' by the end of this year and the second project, which generates 370 MW, is in the initial stage of development, he added. Both these projects will cost Rs 3,500 crore. The Rs 2,000 coal-based project with a power generating capacity of 500 MW was in an advance stage of development and would be ready for financial closure' by this year.
As a strategy to spread our risk, we are spread our fuel base and geography, and setting up two hydel projects, generating 700 MW in Uttaranchal and one coal-based project, generating 500 MW in Punjab,'' said Mr Som Bhupal director of GVKPIL in a press conference in Chennai.
M&M net profit up by 75% at Rs 234 crore in Q3
Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra M&M Ltd has posted a 75% increase in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2005 at Rs 233.50 crore as compared to Rs 133.20 crore in the corresponding quarter previous fiscal.
Net sales and income from operations during the reporting quarter increased 25% to Rs 2,207.20 crore as compared to Rs 1,772.30 crore in Q3 of FY-05, the company said in a release.
Ashok Leyland net at Rs 54.5 crores in Q3
Ashok Leyland Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 54.5 crore during the third quarter ended December 2005 compared to Rs 53.65 crore in the same period previous year.
Income from operations during the period, after taking into account excise duty, has gone up to Rs 1,202.42 crore from Rs 987.12 crore in the quarter ended December 2004.
Nippon Steel posts quarterly profit rise
Japan's largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel Corp, posted a 13% rise in profit for the quarter though December as increasing sales offset the negative impact of high raw materials prices and other one-off factors.
Nippon Steel said its net profit in the October-December percent came to 74.42 billion yen ($630.68 million) up from 66.07 billion yen a year earlier. Groups sales increased 11% to 952.70 billion yen ($8.07 billion) from 859.49 billion yen. Nippon Steel's group sales in the steelmaking division for the three-month period rose to 762.26 billion yen ($6.46 billion) from 692.03 billion a year earlier. Its group operating profit in the steel division was 108.97 billion yen ($923.47 million), down slightly from 112.67 billion yen in the same quarter last year. But for the nine months through December, Nippon Steel's group net profit climbed 84% to 270.11 billion yen ($2.29 billion) from 147.11 billion yen.
Nippon Steel's main business of making high grade steels sheets and plates for automobile production and shipbuilding remains strong, although one off factors such as cutbacks in commodity grade steel output and higher raw materials costs are hurting the company's profitability said Nippon Steel spokeswoman Ms Yoshiko Shin. Prices of coal and iron ore in annual purchase contracts sharply rose from last April, eroding part of Nippon Steel's profits. Earlier in the fiscal year, the company was able to use raw materials purchased before prices increased.
EU antitrust chief not in principle opposed to large steel merger
European Union antitrust chief Ms Neelie Kroes said that she was not in principle opposed to large steel merger such as Mittal Steel Co.'s bid for Arcelor SA. "I am not shocked by big, little or small mergers,'' she said.
The EU's executive Commission had not yet received a request by either company to clear the merger and Kroes said she would look at it carefully in line with EU competition rules.
Chinas steel sector profits to decline by 50 to 60% in 2006
China's steel sector could see a sharp decline in profits this year due to weakening prices for steel products. The development is expected to spark mergers and acquisitions in the fragmented sector starting from 2007, Mr Zheng Dong from Beijing-based Guosen Securities said. He predicted that the sector's 2006 profits would plunge by 60% from 2005 as the steel prices will remain at low levels during 2006 due excess production capacity as well as slowing demand because of the central government's measures to prevent the economy overheating.
Statistics from the CISA show the nation's top 68 steel makers reported 73.1 billion yuan ($9 billion) in combined profits during the first 11 months of last year, down 1.01% from a year earlier. However analysts anticipate the sector's full year profits fell in 2005 as compared to the previous four years. In 2004, profits in the sector rocketed by 68.3% to a record 81.2 billion yuan ($10 billion). The sector's profits are going from staggering to reasonable levels," Mr Zheng told.
Mr Zhou Xizeng, from CITIC Securities, also based in Beijing, forecast that profits would fall by more than 50% this year. "Steel prices are unlikely to recover this year to sensationally-high levels due to over production capacity and weakening demand, although they will rebound slightly from the low experienced at the end of last year," Mr Zhou said.
Nucor profits up 17% to $1.31 billion in 2005
US steelmaker and recycler Nucor reported a net profit of $1.31bn last year, up 17% from $1.12 billion in 2004. Nucor's net revenue in 2005 totaled $12.7 billion up 12% from $11.4 billion in 2004 the company said in a statement. Steel production in 2005 totaled 20.3 million tonnes up by 3% from 2004 output of 19.8 million tonnes.
In the fourth quarter of 2005, the steel company's net profit came in at $341 million a shade higher than its profit in Q4 of 2004. During the Q4 of 2005 net sales grew by 4% to $3.21 billion.
"Nucor expects 1Q06 to be another strong quarter, as we continue to benefit from product line diversification," the company said in a statement.
Portman tips 10% plus price gain in iron ore
Iron ore prices could rise more than 10% this year as demand from Chinese steel mills grows while Australian producers struggle to find workers said Portman Ltd., Australia's third biggest iron ore miner. "The market will support a price increase and it could well be double digit," Portman CEO Mr Richard Mehan told. "Much of the Chinese demand is industry and regionally driven and there is still a lot of people adding capacity and trying to increase throughputs of their blast furnaces and needing more iron ore," Mr Mehan said.
Big iron ore miners BHPB, Rio Tinto and CVRD are in talks with steel makers such as Nippon Steel Corp and JFE Holdings Inc to settle prices for the Japanese fiscal year starting April 1. There is no set date for the talks to finish. The prices, when set by the big miners and steel makers, are then used as a benchmark by smaller producers such as Portman, whose output is less than 10% of either BHP or Rio Tinto.
Most analysts are tipping price rises, with ANZ Bank and Citigroup both predicting gains of 20%.
US miner Cleveland Cliffs Inc snared 80% control of Portman in early 2005.
Mixed response from French authorities on Mittal Steel bid
France's Finance Minister Thierry Breton disparaged Mittal's offer, telling parliament Tuesday that he has never seen such a "badly prepared" takeover attempt. "I have seen many operations like that in my life," said Breton, a former CEO of France Telecom. "But I want to tell you that it is the first time that I have seen one that seems so badly prepared."
Mr Jean Arthuis, head of the finance commission in the French Senate, gave Mittal a warmer reception, saying the deal was "a textbook case to learn what globalization is." "Let's make sure that the operation isn't obstructed by passionate considerations," he told reporters. "This is a globalize economy. When Arcelor makes an offer for Dofasco in Canada, I think that's good. We have to admit that this can play out in the other direction."
Mr Jean Arthuis met Mr Mittal with other Senate officials for an hour in a closed committee session at the French upper house and afterwards gave a warm assessment. "I met a chief executive who seemed to me sincere both in his project and in his motivation ... He just wanted to explain and remove a misunderstanding," Mr Arthuis told reporters.
"It is normal that the government should get involved but these are two European companies and we are in a European Union which is open to the world economy," he said, adding, "I am not shocked by this operation."
All eyes on Nippon as talks with Dollbegin
Mr Akio Mimura president of Nippon Steel, the world's third biggest steelmaker, is meeting Arcelor CEO in Paris on Thursday amid speculation the Japanese group could act as a potential merger partner to help the European group fend off a hostile bid from Mittal Steel. The discussion between Akio Mimura and Mr Dollis part of a long-arranged meeting, described by Arcelor as routine, to consider progress on their five-year-old alliance, in which the two companies share process technologies involving high value automotive steel.
An Arcelor official is reported to have said that he did not want to reveal the agenda for Thursday's meeting. Nippon Steel Corp declined to comment. 'We cannot make any comments,' said a Nippon Steel spokesman.
But their encounter has taken on added importance, as Mr Dollhas said he is open to discussions with other companies about uniting and making it more difficult for Netherlands-based Mittal to take over his company. Mr Dollsaid on Tuesday in London such an option was one of several he and his board were studying to prevent Arcelor being acquired. He said any future tie-up would probably not involve a European company, on the grounds that such a combination would almost certainly be blocked by competition authorities.
While Arcelor is the biggest maker in the world of high-value flat steel of the kind required for automotive bodies, with an output of 10 million tonnes a year, Nippon Steel makes 6 million tonnes, about the same as Mittal.
China's 2006 steel demand up 10 % -CISA
China's demand for steel is expected to grow by 10% this year, down from a 20% growth rate in 2005, Mr Luo Bingsheng, secretary general of the China Iron & Steel Association CISA said. The association expects national crude steel output to grow by 10 to 15% or about by 40 million tons this year.
Mr Luo told at a CISA conference that demand for steel beams is expected to account for about 50% of total steel demand this year due to the booming real estate sector. Demand for steel plates is also expected to rise by 38% this year, he said.
China produced a total of 349.36 mln tons of crude steel in 2005, up 24.56% from a year earlier, with steel product output rising 24.13% to 371.17 mln tons, CISA figures show.
CVRD to invest $ 5.3 billion in 2006
CVRD should invest R$ 11.8 billion ($ 5.3 billion) in Brazil and abroad this year, according to a company statement published last week. The money will be invested in expansion and modernization projects, including transport infrastructure, electric energy and expansion of productive capacity. According to the company CEO Mr Roger Agnelli, the Chinese growth has caused an increase in the demand for iron ore, and is fuelling company investment.
The expansion should increase group production to 264.4 million tonnes of iron ore up to the end of the year. Next year, production should exceed 300 million tonnes.
CVRD has significantly increased its investment in recent years. In 2001, the company invested R$ 3.7 billion ($ 1.7 billion). Last year, the volume reached R$ 10.1 billion ($ 4.6 billion).
China's Shanxi province produced 543 million tonnes coal
North China's Shanxi Province, the country's major coal production base, turned out 543 million tons of raw coal in 2005, according to the provincial administration of coal industry. That's a 10% growth over the previous year, said an official with the administration. He said nearly 80 percent of the output has been sold to areas outside Shanxi.
According to the official, state owned key coal enterprises yielded more than 265 million tons of raw coal, making up about half of the province's total. Township mines saw their output growth slow down to less than 5% as the government intensified measures to enhance coal mining safety and closed unqualified mines.
The province exported 34.77 million tons of coal last year, a decrease of more than 20% due to fluctuations of the international and domestic markets and China's export policy.
Shanxi suffered 179 fatal coal mine accidents in 2005, which killed 468 miners. The death rate per million ton of coal production stood at 0.766, far below the national average, said the official.
Tenaris completes acquisition of Acindars welded tube mills
Argentina's Tenaris and Siderar, both controlled by the Techint steel group, bought three plants from Acindar for a total of $83.2 million, under a LOI signed in May 2005, the two companies announced. Techint owned Siderar said in a statement it paid $55.2 million for Acindar cold formed product plants in Rosario and San Luis that together produce 140,000 tonnes per
Tenaris also announced that, through its Argentine welded pipe subsidiary, Siat SA, it has completed the acquisition of the welded pipe assets and facilities of Acindar Industria Argentina de Aceros SA located in Villa Constitucion Santa Fe for $28 million. The facilities acquired has an annual capacity of 80,000 tonnes of welded pipes whose small diameter range largely complements the range of welded pipes that Tenaris currently produces in Argentina.
Siat is a unit of Luxembourg-based steel pipe manufacturer Tenaris and Siderar is part of the Latin American steelmaking giant Ternium. Both Ternium and Tenaris are related to the Techint group.
Tenaris is a leading global manufacturer of seamless steel pipe products and provider of pipe handling, stocking and distribution services to the oil and gas, energy and mechanical industries and a leading regional supplier of welded steel pipes for gas pipelines in South America. Domiciled in Luxembourg, it has pipe manufacturing facilities in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Romania and Venezuela and a network of customer service centers present in over 20 countries worldwide.
Acindar, controlled by Brazilian steelmaker Belgo-Mineira, exports 25% of its production, primarily to Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru and the US.
US Steel CEO hopes that China's growth soaks up excess supply
US Steel Corp, the biggest US steelmaker, said China's economic growth is soaking up surplus production capacity and helping to reduce the threat of cheap supplies that can be exported to the US. After some very long periods of difficult prices, we've seen the glimmer of some price increases coming in China,'' CEO Mr John Surma said today in a conference call. What we do see anecdotally is a more robust domestic economy that's managed to chew up a little more of that supply than we might have anticipated.''
China remains a net importer of flat-rolled steel, Surma said. A lot of capacity comes on in China, there's no doubt about that,'' he said. There's excess that we're concerned about. But the overall supply-demand balance in China seems like it's moved a bit more in a favorable direction as reflected by the prices.''
Chinese economic growth and steel demand is really strong, and maybe stronger than the official figures and, in our particular sector, maybe stronger than we all anticipated or have seen in the past year or so,'' Mr Surma said.
SUEK increased coal output in 2005.
Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK) increased the production of coal by 3.5% in 2005 to 84.4 million tones. The coal deliveries to consumers rose by 6% to come to 80.2 million tones. The increased in coal shipments was primarily due to the growth of export.
Last year SUEK supplied 18.7 million tones of coal to foreign consumers, representing an increase of 27% from the year 2004. The Company's share in the structure of Russian coal deliveries widened from 19% up to 23%.
Siberian Coal Energy Company is the major coal group in Russia. The company supplies nearly 30% of coal to the domestic market and around 20% of export. SUEK is the only coal company in Russia which has entered the top ten global coal producers. Siberian Coal Energy Company has its affiliates and subsidiaries in Krasnoyarsk, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, Irkutsk, Chita and Kemerovo regions, Buryatia and Khakassia, with the total number of employees exceeding 45 thousand.
Chilean CAPs profits up by 49.8% in 2005
Chilean iron and steel company Compaa de Acero del Pacico CAP posted a $187 million consolidated net profit in 2005 up by 49.8% from 2004. The increased shipments and prices helped revenue grow by 21.3% to $880 million while operating profit grew by 1.1% to $155 million. Increased operating, administrative and sales costs, including higher energy and raw material prices and exchange rate differences, impacted the revenue gain.
CAPs Huachipato iron and steel complex in Region VIII shipped 1.07 million tonnes, a 2.1% increase from 2004. Out of which 96.7% was sold in the domestic market and 3.3% was exported. The products' average price rose to $593 per tonne in 2005 from $517 per tonne in 2004.
CAP's iron deposits in the country's north, where it operates through Minera del Pacico, shipped 7.58 million tonnes during 2005 up by 3.6% from 2004. The average price rose 27.6% to $27 per tonne.
The company plans to further develop iron ore output and energy projects to reduce costs for steel production this year. It does not plan to increase steel exports but to export raw materials.
Smorgon acquires US metal recycler ITI
Australian steel maker and metals recycler Smorgon Steel Group has acquired the operating assets of US metal recycler ITI and Steelport of Florida. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed. The acquisition would be funded using debt facilities and would contribute to earnings in the first year of ownership, Smorgon Steel said.
Smorgon Steel MD Mr Ray Horsburgh said "The ITI business meets our strategic criteria and represents our second major presence in metal recycling outside Australia. While acquisition of the ITI assets represents an important step towards achieving our strategic objectives, we continue to evaluate other metal recycling opportunities in targeted parts of the global market that fit our criteria."
Smorgon Steel Recycling CEO Mr Shane Grice said that the ITI acquisition was attractive in its own right. He said We believe the longer-term outlook for metal recycling globally, combined with our plans for the business, will increase returns over the next few years. Both the Norfolk and Tampa operations are located close to high quality port facilities that enable ready access to export markets, which is an important element of our strategy."
ITI has collection and processing facilities at Norfolk in Virginia and at Tampa in Florida. ITI handles about 100,000 tonnes of ferrous scrap annually.
Arcelor may seek Asian alliance to thwart Mittal Steels bid
Arcelor SA said that it may seek an alliance with an Asian company to thwart a hostile takeover bid by Mittal Steel.
We will take legal action and may consider an alliance or some kind of cooperation,'' Arcelor CFO Mr Gonzalo Urquijo said in a press conference in Madrid today without naming any possible partners.
Pakistans CBR takes steps to save local steel industry
Pakistans Central Board of Revenue fixed on Monday a new sales tax assessable value for the import of four types of scrap in the country to protect the local steel industry and also reduced the minimum value addition from $300 to $220 for assessment of sales tax for the ship-breaking industry.
The Pakistan Steel Smelters Association had informed the CBR that billets were being imported from Ukraine, Turkey and Iran. Imports from Ukraine were being made at a very low price of $340 a metric ton. Resultantly, the price difference between billet and scrap had decreased from $150 to $100 in the past few months. There was a cost difference of about Rs 2,000 between imported and local billet, which resulted in closure of 22 billet manufacturing plants. Steel bars were being imported from Iran and Saudi Arabia making the local industry unviable.
The Pakistan Ship Breakers Association had informed the CBR that there was a marginal difference in the prices of ships imported for scraping and imported billet due to which the ship-breaking industry was suffering badly and the relief of fixation of deemed value at $ 300 per metric ton was not making any improvement.
According to a notification issued here on Monday, the CBR has fixed the minimum assessable value of four types of iron and steel scrap for the assessment of sales tax chargeable at the import stage. The assessable value has been fixed at $175 & $200 for different types of scrap categories. CBR has also made amendments to the Special Procedure for the Ship-Breaking Industry through notification.
Arcelor again in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations
For the second time in a row, Arcelor has been included in the Global100, an annual ranking of the world's 100 most sustainable corporations (www.global100.org) which was launched for the first time during the World Economic Forum in Davos, on January 28, 2005. Arcelor, the only steelmaker in the Global100, considers this inclusion as excellent news for its sustainability endeavors and an important reward for all its employees that have contributed to the success of Arcelor's sustainable development strategy.
This ranking is compiled by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors Inc. (www.innovestgroup.com), a world leading research firm specializing in analyzing drivers of risk and shareholder value based on companies' performance on social, environmental and strategic governance issues.
To enter the Global100, a company must display a better ability than most of its industry peers to identify and effectively manage material environmental, social and governance factors impacting the up (opportunity) and down (risk) sides of their business. Every year, 1800 companies forming the reference MSCI World Index are screened by Innovest. Only the top 5% best performing companies make it to the final ranking.
Interpipe plans IPO
Ukraine's Interpipe Corporation is considering an initial public offering. Mr Viktor Pinchuk, the corporation's owner founder said "An IPO wouldn't do any harm," Mr Pinchuk said that Interpipe might float 15%-20% of its shares in an IPO. He did not say when an offering might take place.
Interpipe is one of Ukraine's biggest privately held companies and specializes in metals and pipes. Revenue was UAH 7.946 billion and net profit UAH 82.2 million in 2004.
New AISI chairman Mr Lou Schorsch to push for fair trade
The board of the American Iron and Steel Institute AISI has elected Mr Louis Schorsch, who is the CEO of Mittal Steel US, as chairman to take over from Mr John Surma CEO of US Steel on April 1, AISI said in a statement.
Mr Schorsch said AISI will work with other industry groups to strengthen and preserve fair trade rules and get governments out of the steel business."
AISI, which represents steel producers from Mexico, the US and Canada, has urged NAFTA members to review trade policy with China in light of the latter's "artificial" competitive advantages.
Venezuelan iron ore miner FMO announces investments in 2006
Venezuelan state owned iron ore producer Ferrominera Orinoco FMO, a subsidiary of state heavy industry holding company CVG, plans to invest an estimated $79.2 million in 2006, as per a report in a daily. FMO invested $173 millions in 2005. .
Puerto Ordaz-based FMO in the southeastern state of Bolar produced 22 million tonnes of iron ore in 2005 while 2006 forecasts call for 23.5 million tonnes of output.
Japanese mega trading houses report bumper profits
Japan's top trading companies, Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui & Co Ltd reported a tripling of quarterly profits and said they were on track to match or better their full year forecasts on surging commodities prices. Both Mitsubishi and Mitsui have enjoyed a bumper year in 2005-06 as a big rise in oil, iron ore and coking coal prices due to brisk demand from China has boosted their earnings.
Mitsubishi CFO Mr Ichiro Mizuno told reporters "We think we can beat our estimate of 340 billion yen " Mitsubishi, a major world supplier of coking coal and liquefied natural gas, posted a group net profit of 101.7 billion yen ($864 million) for the third quarter ended December 31, compared with 31.8 billion yen a year earlier.
Second-ranked Mitsui posted a 239% rise in third-quarter profit and stuck to its target of a record annual net profit of 180 billion yen ($1.53 billion).
Itochu Corp lifted its full-year group net profit outlook by 12.5 percent to 135 billion yen ($1.15 billion).
California Steel Industries reports results for 2005
California Steel Industries Inc CSI today reported results for the quarter and year ended December 31 2005. Net income for the year is $43.4 million from sales of $1.23 billion on shipments of 1.8 million tons.
Sales during the quarter were $300.8 million, with net income of $12.7 million and shipments of 479,380 tons. Net sales for fourth quarter decreased 12% from the same period a year earlier, while billed net tons were 6% higher, reflecting a decline in the average selling price of about 17%, when compared to fourth quarter 2004.
For the year, net sales were just 2% lower, although billed net tons were 14% lower. The average sales price for the year is 14% higher than in 2004; however, sales prices fell about 17% during 2005.
"Although 2005 presented some challenges to California Steel," said Mr Masakazu Kurushima, President & CEO, "we finished the year on a more positive note, and are well positioned through first quarter of 2006."
Corus Group raises prices for organic coated steel products
Corus Colors, a division of steel producer Corus Group PLC, has announced price increases of between Euro 50 to 70 for its organic coated steel products for the European market for deliveries in the second quarter of 2006.
'Since last summer, there is growing evidence that underlying demand is improving for organic coated steel. The momentum seen at the end of last year clearly appears to have continued in to the New Year and we expect this will continue into the second quarter,' a Corus spokesman said. 'The on-going input cost pressure is another factor for the increase,' he added.
Kumba to help develop Botswana coal deposit
South Africa's Kumba Resources said yesterday that it had agreed with a Botswana company to develop a coal deposit with a scope for 2 to 2.5 million tons per annum of thermal coal. Kumba also said in a statement a preliminary analysis of the coal resource showed a further 0.5 million tonnes per annum metallurgical coal being produced from an open-cast mine with an envisaged life of more than 20 years.
Kumba, which is majority owned by mining giant Anglo American, said it had agreed with Botswana's Magaleng to start a pre-feasibility study for the development of the Mmamabula Central Coal Resource in Botswana. The Mmamabula Coal Resource is an extension of the Waterberg coalfield in the northern part of South Africa, which hosts Kumba's flagship Grootegeluk coal mine - the country's largest coal operation.
Kumba is the biggest iron ore producer in South Africa, and also has interests in coal, base and heavy metals.
NEMI commissions coal preparation plant
Northern Energy & Mining Inc NEMI announced that the Trend Small Mine coal preparation plant has commenced clean coal production to produce saleable metallurgical coal from the Trend Small Mine located in northeast British Columbia.
In less than a year, NEMI has successfully advanced the Trend Coal Project from an exploration project through the regulatory process, mine development and into operations.
NEMI Northern Energy and Mining Inc. is a western Canadian based coal company with strategically located metallurgical coal properties in northeast British Columbia. The Company owns a 100% interest in the Trend Property located near the town of Tumbler Ridge. NEMI also has a 50% interest in the Belcourt Saxon Limited Partnership that covers over 50,000 hectares of known and highly prospective coal bearing land in northeast British Columbia.
EPA assesses Fortescues Pilbara mining project
The Fortescue Metals Group's $2 billion mining project in the Pilbara, in north-west Western Australia, is a step closer after an assessment by the Environmental Protection Authority. The EPA has forwarded advice to the State Government detailing aspects of Fortescue's proposal to develop an iron ore mine at Cloud Break north of Newman.
EPA chairman Dr Wally Cox says management plans to protect the Fortescue Marsh, groundwater and native fauna need to be created. Dr Cox says if the project proceeds, the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) will receive some of the surrounding land to create a nature reserve. "The company and CALM have negotiated an arrangement whereby the company would fund the acquisition of areas that are to become part of the conservation estate in 2015 and that, of course, requires the agreement of all parties to proceed," he said.
Gindalbies Karara iron ore project move ahead
Gindalbie Metals says its plan to start iron ore production next year at its project in the mid-west of Western Australia is on track. The Karara Iron ore project is located 260 kilometers east of Geraldton, with the deposit estimated to contain more than 400 million tonnes of magnetite ore.
During the December quarter, Gindalbie says it achieved excellent drilling results, as well as board approval for a definitive feasibility study. The company has also welcomed Government plans to construct a new ship loader at the Geraldton Port.
Gindalbie CFO Mr Darren Gordon says the investment is great news for the company. "We're aiming to bring our hematite project online around the time of that ship loader being available," he said. "It certainly upgrades the capacity of the Geraldton Port and gives them about probably another 10 million tonnes per annum of dedicated iron ore capacity which we're certainly aiming to be using a significant portion of that."
Coal & Allied boosts profit by 150%
Hunter Valley thermal coal miner Coal & Allied has boosted its full year net profit by nearly 150% due to soaring coal prices. The company posted a record net profit of $290 million for 2005 compared to the $116 million it recorded in the previous year. Sales revenue for the year was $1.44 billion up by 36% cent on the previous year.
Coal & Allied MD Dr Grant Thorne said the healthy result reflected the continuation of strong demand for coal in 2005 and was achieved in the face of rising costs and infrastructure bottlenecks. Dr Thorne said despite continuing port constraints on exports, the miner had managed to increase coal shipments for the year by 1% to 29 million tonnes. "New investments in rail and port infrastructure, announced in 2005, are expected to provide increasing capacity from mid-2006," he added.
Company said that higher fuel prices alone had increased costs by $19 million in 2005.Analysts said Coal & Allied's costs appeared to be up by about 12% YOY.
Coal & Allied is managed and 75.7% owned by mining giant Rio Tinto.
HC FeCr market on upswing in China
The ferrochrome prices in China's domestic market rose by about RMB 100-200 per metric ton for high carbon and low carbon products during last week to reach RMB 5100-5200 per metric ton for the HC FeCr.
The increase in the HC ferrochrome price may be attributed to purchasing activity by the steel makers who need to rebuild their stockpiles. Reduced warehouse ferrochrome inventories in the past several months and higher demand resulted in the tight supply and rise in ferrochrome prices. There are positive tendencies also on the chrome ore market.
One trader noted that the number of transactions has increased. "We are confident in the future growth in chrome ore prices," he said.
Xin'gang's electrical steel output crosses 100,000 tonnes
It is reported that the output of electrical steel sheet in Xin'gang's sheet plant, exceeded 100,000 tons for the first time to 102,400 tons in 2005 up by 7,000 tons from 2004.
Meanwhile, the plant realized sales income 564 million Yuan, 30 million Yuan more than that of 2004. Both the output and sales income made new records, and both the performance and profit of the plant were among the tops of Xin'gang.
Heidtman orders strip inspection systems
Heidtman Steel, a chain of nine flat-rolled steel service centers, has ordered five Parsytec surface-inspection systems for several of its pickling lines. Each installation will include "customer-specific production decision intelligence solutions, based on parsytec 5i."
Parsytec 5i is a software platform that allows customers to create individual surface-quality yield-management applications. It also integrates surface-quality data with process data.
According to Parsytec, Heidtman's goal is to improve and "harmonize" the product quality at its pickle lines in Baltimore; Butler and Crawfordsville, IN; Cleveland; and Granite City, IL. Also, working from the inspection data, Heidtman Steel will apply various production decision intelligence applications based on parsytec 5i software.
Terra Nostra Resources announces production at Quanxin plant
Terra Nostra Resources Corporation has officially commenced production at the 180,000 ton casting mill in its new state of the art stainless steel production facility, through its majority owned JV Shandong Quanxin Stainless Steel Co Ltd situated in the Zibo City High Tech Zone in Shandong Province of China. The commencement of stainless operations is a major milestone in Terra Nostra's overall growth strategy in the copper and stainless steel industries.
The production output from the casting mill will be utilized in the rolling mill, presently under construction. The rolling mill will initially be comprised of a stainless steel strip line that is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2006, and the company is planning to phase in new production lines for stainless steel rods and welded pipes over the next 12 to 18 months. The total design capacity of the rolling mill is 450,000 tons per annum.
Mr Zhang Ke, Vice-Chairman of Shandong Quanxin, stated, "The objective of the Company is to reach a casting capacity of 500,000 tons by 2008, to further integrate with domestic and international customers, and to strategically develop downstream value added fabrication of stainless steel products."
US Steel Board approves new buyback program
United States Steel Corp. on Tuesday said its board approved the repurchase of up to 8 million shares of its common stock. The new buyback program replaces a previous program announced in July, through which the company repurchased 5.8 million shares.
"By replenishing our program at 8 million shares we continue to show our commitment to our shareholders and our long term optimism for our company," Mr John Surma said in a statement.
Mechel appoints Mr Prkhomchouk as senior VP for Sales
Mechel OAO announced the appointment of Mr Andrey V Parkhomchouk as Senior VP for Sales and Procurement. Mr Andrey will be responsible for the development of Mechel's domestic and international mining and steel sales.
"We believe that we can significantly increase the effectiveness of our mining and steel sales, and we are looking to Mr Andrey to accomplish this goal. His many years of experience in sales and his proven track record at Mechel makes us confident that he will succeed," Mechel's CEO Mr Vladimir Iorich, commented on the appointment.
"I am looking forward to this challenge, and excited about the opportunities I see for improved sales margins and sourcing efficiencies created by the unification of these functions in a single department," remarked Mr Andrey Parkhomchuk.
Harsco reports record Q4 & 2005 results
Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation reported record fourth quarter and full-year 2005 results from continuing operations. Fourth quarter income from continuing operations were a record $51.9 million, compared with $35.0 million last year, an increase of 48%. Fourth quarter sales totaled $733 million, also a record, and up 3% from sales of $711 million in the same period last year.
For the full year 2005, income from continuing operations was $156.8 million compared with income from continuing operations of $113.5 million in 2004, an increase in income. Sales for the full year 2005 reached a record $2.77 billion, an increase of 11% from last year's sales of $2.50 billion.
Harsco Corporation is a diversified, worldwide industrial services and products company with four market-leading business groups that provide mill services, access services, engineered products and services, and gas containment and control technologies to customers around the globe.
Luxembourg PM to discuss steel bid with French president
Prime Minister Mr Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg will meet French President Mr Jacques Chirac on Wednesday to discuss Mittal Steel's hostile takeover bid for Arcelor, the French president's office said Monday.
Mr Juncker earlier told reporters that he would leave for Paris on Tuesday, after holding talks with Mittal Steel's chairman Mr LN Mittal and making a statement before the Luxembourg parliament on the matter.
The state of Luxembourg holds a 5.6% stake in Arcelor, and the steelmaker is a major employer in the country.
Talks with Luxembourg PM constructive Mr LN Mittal
As per reports in media Mittal Steel CEO Mr LN Mittal described his talks with Luxembourg Prime Minister Mr Jean-Claude Juncker on Mittal Steels bid for European group Arcelor as constructive and said contacts would continue. The meeting was constructive and discussions will go on with the Luxembourg authorities, he told journalists after meeting Mr Juncker.
Mr Mittal sought to reassure the Luxembourg leader by telling him that We are prepared to have friendly discussions to construct the best industry in the world. I have explained to the Prime Minister the need for consolidation of the steel industry, he said. Mittal Steel has offered to locate the headquarters of the combined group in Luxembourg.
On the other hand, as per some other reports in media Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday that his government backed Arcelor's strategic plan and did not share Mittal's view that the combined company could form a European industrial champion Mr Juncker said he was worried about the impact a takeover could have on Arcelor and on his principality, where it is based and has 6,000 workers, making it Luxembourgs largest private sector employer. "We say no to the public offer launched by Mittal for Arcelor," Mr Juncker said. He told the principality's parliament that the government, which holds a 5.6% stake in the steelmaker, would not sell its shares to Mittal for short-term profit though he did concede that he recognized the bid offered "opportunities" and he would stay in contact with the company.
