March, 20 2006
Corus to join race for steel plant in Orissa
It is reported that UK based Corus group is exploring options for a 6 million tonne per annum capacity steel plant in Orissa. It has been in constant touch with the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd over the proposal. It is said that Corus does not want to state anything before filing a concrete proposal.
An expert team of Corus is scheduled to visit Keonjhar district to study facilities for company's proposed venture and have discussion to take a decision whether to file a formal proposal for the steel plant.
Penalty for less import of thermal coal by power plants
Power utilities may be penalized for importing less than the targeted amount of coal. One of the options being explored is to reduce the subsequent year's domestic allotment of coal by an amount equivalent to the shortfall. The move is aimed at discouraging companies that do not import and miss their generation capacity targets said Mr AK Basu chairman of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Under the current practice, the power ministry sets targets for power utilities with regard to the quantum of imports through the year. The move is meant to encourage import of cost effective coal.
A system of penalty for power utilities will be evolved. There will be suitable disincentives for companies failing to import the stipulated amount of coal, an official told Business Standard. The ministry has already intimated power utilities of the decision.
Luxembourg minister to state their stance on Mittal Steels bid
It is reported that Luxembourg is sending its minister for economy and foreign affairs Mr J Kreeke to New Delhi on March 28 to explain its opposition to Mittal Steels bid for Arcelor and emphasize that the issue should not spoil ties between the two countries. During his two day visit, Mr Kreeke will meet Mr Kamal Nath, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan and Mr P Chidambaram as reported by PTI. He may also meet Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh but the meeting has not been confirmed yet.
It is reported that Luxembourg wanted to convey to India that the Mittal Steel controversy should not spoil ties between the two countries as the matter concerned two European companies. The two sides are also expected to discuss the proposed double tax avoidance agreement which was reported to be a victim of the Mr Mittal takeover controversy.
Luxembourgs ambassador Mr Herepaul Steinmetz had earlier told that His country had no issue with the Indian government and we hope the Indian government also has no issue with us. We dont want it to be a subject of dispute between India and Luxembourg. He said Mr Mittal was big enough to fight for himself. He is so strong and so rich. I wonder whether he needs any help.
Russia mulling participation in Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline
Russia is ready to consider the possibility of taking part in a project to build an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline Russian Prime Minister Mr Mikhail Fradkov said. "If there are proposals, we will consider them," Mr Fradkov said.
Mr Fradkov said that gas cooperation between the two countries is developing and Russia is widely represented in India in this area. In particular, Russian companies are working in the Bay of Bengal.
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said "Russia has enormous experience in the construction of gas pipelines. I hope that Russia will find a place in this project."
RSP adjudged best among SAIL units
Rourkela Steel Plant has emerged as the best plant among SAILs units in a organization climate survey carried out by International Management Institute recently. One of the main objectives of the survey was to compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of various units of SAIL.
It was found out that RSP was adjudged best plant for having the highest rated organizational climate. Several factors were considered while determining the final rating of organizational climate including communication system, customer orientation, decision making, grievance handling, objectivity and rationality, quality consciousness, safety orientation, teamwork, training and development and organizational commitment.
RSP has been able to achieve a remarkable turnaround in physical and financial terms over the last couple of years due to the dedication and commitment of the workforce.
TATA Sponge led consortium allotted coal blocks in Orissa
A consortium of TATA Sponge Iron Ltd, Scaw Industries and SPS Steel & Power Ltd are reported to have been allotted coal blocks on a 30 year lease basis at Radhikapur East in Angul district of Orissa.
TATA Sponge Iron Ltd is the leader of the consortium and would deploy its financial resources to mine the coal, which would then be passed on to the other partners in the consortium. The cost to the partners thereof would be based on transfer pricing that would be fixed by the three partners.
TATA Sponge would get 76 million tonnes of the coal reserves, Scaw Industries 40 million tonnes and the SPS group 32 million tonnes.
MMTC to supply LNG to POSCO steel plant
Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation, which is in the process of setting up a 5 metric tonnes per annum liquefied natural gas terminal at Paradip port, is reported to be firming up an agreement for LNG supply to the upcoming POSCO's steel plant in Orissa.
MMTC's director marketing Mr MP Gupta is quoted by FE, "We are in an advanced stage of discussions with Posco to supply LNG to them." However, Mr Gupta did not divulge how much LNG would be supplied to Posco or at what price.
Call to abolish octroi in Maharashtra
Mr Rohit Shah President of Bombay Metal Exchange has announced that various trade associations including the Indian Merchants Chamber and affiliates of chambers of commerce in the state of Maharashtra are participating in the mass agitation led by Maharashtra State Octroi Abolition Committee to demand total abolition of octroi.
Mr Rohit Shah said "Maharashtra government promised to remove octroi immediately after replacement of sales tax by value added tax. Now, since nine month revenue from VAT has exceeded over Rs 900 crore, why should we continue paying octroi?"
Out of the three states that levy octroi, Gujarat and Punjab have agreed to remove it from next year, he said and globally octroi exists in only two countries Ethiopia and India.
More and more businesses have shifted out of the state over the past few years due to various taxes and the state is losing revenue and employment opportunities as well said Mr Ashok Bafna director of Bombay Metal Exchange.
Nepal to import electricity from India
Nepal will import 70MW of electricity from India as per Mr Uttar Kumar Shrestha deputy MD of Nepal Electricity Authority. Nepal has a power exchange agreement with India for up to 150MW. "Negotiations are in the final stages to import 70MW of additional power from India," he said.
The import of 20MW from Bihar Electricity Board is expected to take place very soon said Mr Shrestha adding that import of another 50MW will take place next year from West Bengal.
Nepal is currently facing a major power deficit of 1.3 million units, making load shedding unavoidable for hours. The total demand of power is 8.2 million units in the country, he added.
Jindal group supports India House project in Houston
Jindal Group has donated $1 million to the India House project in Houston. The India House in its Phase 1 would be known as OP Jindal Center, in memory of their father who had died in a helicopter crash in India," said Mr Ashok Dhingra VP of Operations for the non profit India House Inc.
"Our company has always contributed to social good, which gets highlighted by the fact that it runs many hospitals and Schools on charity basis," said Mr Indresh Batra CEO of Jindal SAW LTD. "The group adopts the villages wherever its operating units are and since we operate the largest steel plate and DSAW pipe capacity of North America in Houston it made sense to contribute to the local community. We believed that having such a centre in Houston would be of use to South Asian community," Mr Batra said.
RILs pipeline between AP and Gujarat expected soon
Reliance Industries is giving final touches to a pipeline that will connect Andhra Pradeshs Kakinada to Ahmedabad and cost Rs 10,000 crore to build. Sources said work on the project could begin in the second half of this year.
The pipe line will run through Karnataka and Uran in Maharashtra, besides Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat at the two ends. It will help RIL ferry gas from the energy abundant KG-basin to the gas hungry industries in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Nagarjuna Power to transport coal through Konkan Railways
It is reported that Nagarjuna Thermal Power Project has approached the Konkan Railway Corporation to transport coal required by it for the thermal power plant to be set up at Nandikur.
TopSteel demand to grow by 5% this year & China to export Mr Varin
Global steel demand is set to grow by 5% this year, while China likely to become a net exporter of steel said Mr Philippe Varin CEO of Corus. "We estimate that the demand will grow at 5% in 2006. And it's a high level, but also balanced across all the regions. Last year, China was in the driving seat and we have experienced negative growth for upper-end demand in North America and in Europe because of the destocking. This year it's not the case," Mr Varin said
"With this level of demand, we think that the supply and demand balance will remain tight, although we see China starting to export. Last year was balanced, in previous years China was importing," Mr Varin said, adding: "This year we expect China to export from 10 million to 20 million tonnes."
MMK denies interest in MSC
Magnitorsk Iron & Steel Works said that it had no intentions to bid in the privatization of Iranian Mobarakeh Steel Company.
"Our interests are focused on the Asian market. We have not been looking to bid in Iran due to the country's security risks," Ms Yelena Azovtseva spokeswoman for MMK said refuting earlier media speculation.
Australia & Japan tangle over thermal coal price
Australia's big thermal coal producers are pressing Japanese power utilities for a rollover of last year's high contract prices compared with an expected cut of up to a quarter three months ago. Leading producers Xstrata and Rio Tinto will meet in Japan next week with Chubu Electric Power in hard-fought negotiations for contract prices for the energy-producing coal for the Japanese fiscal year beginning April 1.
Nagoya-based Chubu Electric, lead negotiator for the Japanese power utilities, is expected to resist Australian demands for a rollover of contract prices of between $52 and $54 a ton.
But the spot market has turned in Australia's favor. Spot prices in recent deals have risen to around $50 a ton, in a strong recovery from less than $40 a ton in November and December last year. "The market is jumping in leaps and bounds," one Australian coal industry source said. Three months ago forecasters were looking at price cuts of up to 25% for Australian thermal coal contracts with Japan, which set a global benchmark. This would have given Japan renewed control of a market which experienced price rises of 20% in 2005-6.
Japanese power stations bought an extra one million tons of thermal coal during the cold winter months, soaking up available supplies. Exports from Indonesia have been hit by heavy rains, while South African supply has been affected by a rail strike. Chinese thermal coal production has been flat, while demand from the latest regional powerhouse, India, has soared. Some Australian Hunter Valley producers have diversified their sales into markets such as Taiwan, Mexico and the Philippines. A combination of these factors adds up to a different situation now.
SteelBenchmarker a new global pricing system on the anvil
The steel industry is headed for a systematic pricing regime with the launch of the SteelBenchmarker, a global pricing system, in April 2006.Mooted by World Steel Dynamics and Metal Bulletin with some of the international commodity trading consultants, SteelBenchmarker would auto generate independent prices across various global markets for some basic steel products. The benchmark price could then be used for contracts for futures and spot trading in commodity exchanges like Nymex, London Metal Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Product coverage would entail benchmark prices for commodity grade hot rolled band, cold rolled coil, rebar, standard plate and shredded steel scrap. For these products, the regions would include the US (east of Mississipi), Western Europe, mainland China and the world export market. However, for steel scrap, the region is the United States, east of Mississippi.
The steel benchmark prices generated by the SteelBenchmarker system were expected to be derived from at least 1,000 price opinions providers consisting of steel mills, steel traders, steel service centers, large and small steel users and steel scrap processors. The providers, in turn, were expected to provide, twice a month, at least 2,000 price opinion data points. The idea was to provide the steel industry and the financial trading industry with an investable and robust steel benchmark price.
WSD & MB have explained what was meant by investable and robust in their manual. Investable implies that exchanges and firms engaged in over the counter transactions would be able to use the steel benchmark prices to create financially settled prices without physical delivery that permit the forward hedging of risk. It is expected that the pricing system would be robust as there would be many providers and results would not be manipulated.
Ukrainian President promises to reform coal industry
At a press conference in Kiev, Mr Victor Yushchenko said Ukraine would soon start to develop its coal industry. Today, we are reappraising the role of Ukraines coal industry in its energy balance and energy policy, and very soon we will introduce reforms ensuring the development of the sector, he said.
The Head of State added that the government would help coal industry workers to explore new fields. They also plan to seriously revise and diversify property at efficient, inefficient and unprofitable mines. The President said the industry needs new policies in order to consolidate funds of business and government to boost the sector.
Yushchenko also said it is important to liberalize coal prices. He opined that it was a great economic mistake not to liberalize prices, for Ukrainian miners could not earn bigger salaries.
Cape Lambert to sign iron deal with Chinese companies
It is reported that few Chinese companies are set to sign a deal with a junior Australian iron ore company Cape Lambert Iron Ore days after the Chinese Government accused iron ore majors BHPB and Rio Tinto of monopolistic tendencies. Cape Lambert Iron Ore is expected to release details of an agreement with a three Chinese steel maker after entering a trading halt on Friday. The Chinese companies are believed to be Sinosteel and Shandong Yuansheng International Trading.
Cape Lambert will continue negotiations with Shandong after signing a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Sinosteel, meaning there could be a bidding war before a final contract is settled.
Cape Lambert executive chairman Mr Tony Sage couldn't reveal the details of the deal, but said the Chinese partner wanted to take an active role in the project and would buy all of the iron ore produced.
Sinosteel had last year earmarked $1 billion for overseas investment as part of a strategy to diversify supply away from iron ore majors. Shandong Yuansheng International Trading has offered to buy all of the offtake in return for a 19.9% equity stake in the project.
Cape Lambert's project was originally owned by Robe River. Due to lower iron ore prices it was not considered economical a few years ago. Cape Lambert bought the project from a private consortium for $20 million in a deal finalized late last year. Cape Lambert's $350 million project would produce 7 million tonnes of magnetite iron ore a year, starting in 2009. Cape Lambert's project is particularly attractive because it is just 10 kilometres from the nearest port.
Vietnams coal mines to have gas warning equipment by 2007
Mr Doan Van Kien General Director of the Viet Nam Coal Mineral Industrial Group while speaking at the final review of a five-year project on gas management inside coal mines in association with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which is set to end by March 31, confirmed that all coal mines will be equipped with gas warning equipment by next year.
The project built a centre to manage mineral gas, which will provide technical assistance on mineral gas safety to coal mines in order to avoid possible gas explosions inside coal mines. Eventually, the mineral gas safety technology will become popular in the coal mining industry across the country said Mr Kien.
The project has helped equip the coal industry with a modern material and technical infrastructure in service of calculating, examining and testing almost all details of labor safety, such as facilities for observing mineral gas and measuring methane condensation and for emergency management.
Siemens VAI to supply new coating line at Steelscape
The Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) received a contract from the North American company Steelscape Inc to supply process equipment and solutions for a new metallic coating line in Shreveport Louisiana US. The project will be implemented by Voest-Alpine Industries Inc Pittsburgh, a company of the I&S division VAI. It was agreed not to disclose the contract price. Upon completion of this new facility scheduled for November 2006.
The new coating line will be built for the production of galvanized and galvalume at Steelscapes Shreveport Louisiana based facility. Purchased cold-rolled coils will be used as the starting material for production. The line will be comprised of a mixture of new equipment and existing equipment from an idled Steelscape continuous galvanizing line in Richmond, California. Steelscape will produce an additional 260,000 tons of hot dipped galvanized and galvalume products for use in the construction industry.
Voest-Alpine Industries, Inc. will participate in this project with the supply of engineering and new process equipment. This will include a welder, cleaning section, entry accumulator, dual-pot coating system, dynamic air knives, a surface-conditioning mill, tension leveler, roll coaters, a strip-transport system in addition to the electrical and automation systems.
Steelscape Inc is a 100% subsidiary of IMSA Acero, the leading supplier of metallic coated steel in Mexico and a company of the Grupo IMSA Group. Steelscape produces cold-rolled, metallic coated and painted steel coils for use in the construction market in the United States and Canada. The company has several production facilities in the US.
Columbus BWS JV decides on Coega for SS facility
Columbus has invited German steel company Boecker & Wender Stahl to set up the proposed facility in South Africa. BWS will ultimately hold a controlling share of 51% in the facility, Columbus Stainless 23% and the Industrial Development Corporation 26%.
Various locations were looked at before the companies decided on the Coega IDZ, which is close to the customers.
The construction, which will cost R50 million, is expected to start by mid year and should be completed within two years. State of the art equipment will be imported from Germany and will ensure that the plant is equipped with the latest technologies. The facility will produce up to five grades of steel with a thickness of up to 0,35mm and width of 400mm during the first phase of production and 800mm during the second phase.
China's CIMC 2005 net profit up by 11.73%
China International Marine Containers (Group) Ltd, the world's largest shipping container maker said its net profit climbed 11.73% in 2005 as a result of rising prices but it warned that overcapacity might pose risks to its performance in future. CIMC said excess production capacity has already formed in the industry and the competition in the dry container market will become tougher in 2006 and the years to come.
CIMC recorded net profit of 2.67 billion yuan for 2005 compared with 2.39 billion yuan in 2004. Revenues from its core business jumped 16.53% to 30.96 billion yuan from 26.57 billion.
Baosteels four BFs create new records
The producing indexes for February of four furnaces in one of Baosteels subsidiaries made new records. While the molten iron output averaged 39,000 tons per day, the consumed coal for four furnaces averaged 211.49 kilogram a ton of iron, making new record.
The hot charged ratio in the whole output declined 1.27% from that of last month, setting the lowest ratio since launching operation.
SMS Demag to modernize annealing line at ThyssenKrupp Dortmund
ThyssenKrupp Steel AG, Dortmund, has placed an order with SMS Demag, both Germany for the first modernization stage of its continuous annealing line in CRM No 3 in Dortmund. The line, which went into operation in 1985, has a production capacity of 65,000 tons per month. The first stage of modernization will be completed in June 2007.
SMS Demag will in various steps supply a complete set of new electrical equipment for the continuous annealing line. As part of the first stage, functions covering all production levels such as the material tracking system, quality data recording system, Level 2 and the basic automation system for the strip exit area will be replaced and implemented within a short modification period. In addition, a novel flatness measuring roller including control system will be installed.
The scope of the order also includes a new four-high skin-pass mill with modern greasing and roll cleaning technology using liquid nitrogen. The newly developed technologies ensure a longer utilization of the work roll, thus reducing operating costs. Moreover, the new technologies employed will improve the quality of the strip surface.
Belon to invest for developing Kuzbass coal industry
OJSC Belon, a leader in Russia's coal sector, has signed a protocol agreement with the Kemerovo Regional Administration, forging a Social and Economic Partnership for 2006.
According to the agreement, Belon is to invest around RUR3.7 billion to develop the coal mining sector in the Kuzbass of Kemerovo region RUR2.4 billion more than the previous year. Around RUR490 million of the total investment will be spent on industrial safety equipment systems.
Russia iron ore production up by 4.3% in January to February
Rudprom has informed local media that Russian iron ore production increased by 4.3% YOY in January to February to 16.37 million tonnes. Russia produced 792,100 tonnes of sinter down by 18.9%, 15.69 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate up by 3.2% and 6.19 million tonnes of pellets up by 2.4%.
Concentrate output fell by 4.7% at the Lebedinsky GOK mine, but iron ore commodity output rose by 12.7% at Karelsky Okatysh, by 7.6% at Mikhailovsky GOK and by 4.8% at Stoilensky GOK.
Guangdong Province to stop coal mining
Mr Tong Xing vice governor of Guangdong and head of the provincial Safety Production Supervision Bureau said that its government is determined to terminate coal mining production in the province while inspecting the Daxing Coal Mine of Meizhou City which was flooded on August 7 last year with a loss of 123 lives underground. Mr Tong urged supervision departments to make sure the mines are closed, and miners helped to find alternative jobs.
Meizhou is one of the coal mining bases in the southern China economic powerhouse. Prior to the mining industry rectification in the city, mining had been halted permanently in another mining city of Shaoguan in the province. 366 mines owned by 81 mining firms in Meizhou City were closed in the investigation supervised by Mr Tong.
Yuzhny Kuzbass to increase out put by 9.6% in 2006
Kemerov based Russian coal mining firm Yuzhny Kuzbass plans to increase output by 9.6% this year. The increase in coal output to 17.15 million tons, part of Mechel's planned $750 million 5 year investment program in mining, would be achieved by revamping the company's equipment and installing new excavators a Mechel official said.
Mechel plans to mine 25 million tons a year of coal by 2010 compared with 15.65 million tons in 2005.
Mechel owns 96.7% of Yuzhny Kuzbass.
China eyeing to become world biggest shipbuilder
The current flourishing world ship market has brought opportunities for China to strive to be the biggest shipbuilder with a sharp competitive edge in technological innovation rather than low cost labor force. The growing orders from shipping companies worldwide will bring great business opportunities for Chinese shipbuilders, said Mr He Rongguang chairman and general manager of the Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co Ltd.
He said that global orders for ships have topped 100 million deadweight tons for consecutive two years, and the demand is expected to remain at 60 million deadweight tons annually up to the year 2010. Currently, South Korea and Japan account for almost 70% of the world's shipbuilding market, with China and the European Union sharing 15% and 17% respectively.
China's growing need for foreign energy and mineral resources will surely spur Chinese shipping companies to expand their fleets. Although it is very difficult for China to compete with South Korea and Japan, especially in such high value added products as large liquefied natural gas and container carriers Mr He is optimistic about China's chance to become the world's biggest shipbuilder.
The draft outline of the country's next five-year development program, currently under deliberation at the national legislature, sets forth the goals of strengthening the shipbuilding industry by improving the capacity for the self-design of ships and marine equipment, and the infrastructure for building heavy ships.
ThyssenKrupp Steel extends Parsytec license
Parsytec AG, which supplies surface inspection systems for strip products, has two orders from ThyssenKrupp Steel to extend the existing Parsytec 5i licenses. Besides maintaining the use for its process line in Duisburg, ThyssenKrupp will be incorporating new applications for other sites.
With the new order, ThyssenKrupp Steel is asking Parsytec to develop new Parsytec 5i applications for other sites. Networking with Duisburg and online analysis for several process lines will be the new objectives.
ThyssenKrupp Steel was among the first steelmakers to adopt Parsytec 5i upon its introduction in 2004. It reportedly has registered success with two quality management applications.
Compliance Energy announces coking coal deposits update
Canadian Compliance Energy Corporation announced that it has completed an initial evaluation for the large coal package recently optioned on Vancouver Island and has planned a 2006 confirmation program. Exploration permits have been applied for and are expected to be received shortly. The coal licenses consist of approximately 82,000 acres or about 75% of the Comox Coal Basin and are reported to have metallurgical coal resources.
The exploration program, which will focus on the Raven and Bear Metallurgical Deposits, will consist of 30 rotary and core holes totaling 7,900 meters of drilling and 34 kilometers of geological seismic surveys to help delineate both open pit and underground mining resources. In addition, baseline environmental studies will be started and bulk samples for metallurgical testing are planned.
The Raven has a 38.5 million tonne good quality coking coal resource as reported by Gardner Exploration Consultants Ltd in their technical report dated July 2001.The Bear has a 5.0 million tonne open pitable resource that needs to be upgraded to a 43-101 classification and readers are cautioned that this resource should not be relied upon.
Compliance is a Canadian mining company that operates the Basin Coal Mine near Princeton, BC and also has significant metallurgical and thermal coal interest on Vancouver Island. In addition, Compliance is also advancing a proposed net 49 MW wood waste power plant project, supplemented by coal, to be located near its Basin Coal Mine.
Imphy Alloys to supply Invar M93 to Daewoo Shipyard
Imphy Alloys has signed a contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd for the supply of Invar M93 for 10 LNG carriers and 10 optional ones.
Invar M93 is a 36% nickel alloy used in LNG tanks designed with membrane technology.
Imphy Alloys is a company within the stainless steels sector of the Arcelor group, specializing in nickel and cobalt alloys.
Grande Cache crosses 1 million sales mark for coking coal
Grande Cache Coal Corporation announced today that it has sold one million tonnes of metallurgical coal since its shipments began in November 2004. The one millionth tonne was loaded onto a Nippon Steel Corporation vessel on March 13, 2006, by Westshore Terminals Ltd. at Roberts Bank, British Columbia. The one million tonnes of metallurgical coal does not include any thermal coal sold by Grande Cache Coal to an adjacent power facility.
"This is an important milestone for Grande Cache Coal as we continue to build a viable, sustainable, long-term mining operation" said Mr Robert Stan President and CEO. "The first one million tonnes provides us with a solid foundation to build on as we pursue market share growth and customer diversification which will result in an increase in shareholder value" said Mr. Stan.
Grande Cache Coal is an Alberta based metallurgical coal mining company which has developed a long term mining operation for producing metallurgical coal for the export market from coal leases covering over 18,200 hectares in the Smoky River Coalfield located in west-central Alberta.
Wuxi Tongda gets approval to invest in South African mine
Wuxi Tongda Import & Export Co Ltd has received government approval to invest in a mining project in South Africa. They are the first Wuxi company to obtain government approval to invest in the mining industry abroad.
Wuxi Tongda is mainly engaged in stainless steel and metal raw materials. They have recently bought a 51% stake in a South African mine for a total investment of $1.5 million. They company further plans to also invest in copper mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other Southern African countries.
Steel Industries to install CNC machines for cutting production time
Steel Industries is investing $12 million in a new facility next to its headquarters on Beech Daly Road. The new facility will increase the usage of CNC equipment and cut production time by 25%.
President Mr Keith Woodland said "We heat a piece of steel and beat it only we use sophisticated equipment. We already enjoy a competitive advantage, and we intend to improve on that."
Steel Industries of Redford, a subsidiary of Houston based Ameriforge Group Inc, forges large steel parts used primarily for power generation, mining, construction, machine tooling and oil and gas production.
Zamil Steel wins Customer Care Excellence Award
Zamil Steel Industries has been awarded the Middle East Customer Care Excellence Award for innovation and best practices in customer care in manufacturing. Dr Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Zamil Chairman of Zamil Industrial Investment Company received the award on behalf of Zamil Steel at a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi UAE recently.
The mission of the Middle East Excellence Awards Institute is to highlight, acknowledge, and celebrate outstanding achievements by regional government and business organizations in customer care, service and satisfaction.
The award presented to Zamil Steel is based on its efforts and results in consistently exceeding customer expectations, setting new standards for customer care and service, improving its service record through innovative practices and in raising its customers experiences in their interactions with the organization.
We are delighted to be the recipient of this award conferred by the Middle East Excellence Awards Institute which is based on having demonstrated exemplary customer care in the sector in which we operate and in acknowledgement of the Zamil Steel brand as being synonymous with quality products and services, said Dr Al Zamil.
Asia Energy to go public for Phulbari coal & power projects
Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Pty Ltd plans to float primary shares worth a total of around $ 10 million for its Phulbari coalmine project and 500MW coal fired power plant in Bangladesh stock market. The amount is, however a small portion of its planned $2.0 billion investment earmarked for its Phulbari coalmine project and 500MW coal fired power plant close to the mine site.
Commenting on the IPO floatation plan in Bangladesh its CEO Mr Gary Lye said: "This decision is part of Asia Energy's commitment to giving investors in Bangladesh an opportunity to share in this major development project." "It is also a measure of our long-term commitment to Bangladesh," he added.
Shares of Asia Energy's parent company, Asia Energy PLC, are quoted on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
The Asia Energy has already submitted its development plan to the government involving $ 12 billion investment at Phulbari coalmine project over the next 30 years. It has also submitted a $ 476 million investment proposal to install a 500MW coal fired power plant alongside its planned Phulbari coalmine in Dinajpur. Of the total $12 billion investment at Phulbari coalmine, $2.0 billion would be spent as capital costs and $ 10 billion as operating cost.
UMWA pursues organizing effort at Peabody coal mines
The United Mine Workers of America is in the third month of a nationwide effort to organize the US operations of Peabody Energy, the worlds largest private sector coal company. Organizers are working to assist miners in their efforts to bring in the union at the seven nonunion mines Peabody operates in Indiana and the three it owns in Southern Illinois.
The UMWA launched this campaign, called Justice at Peabody, at a December 9 rally in St. Louis. Organizers say that hundreds of nonunion miners at Peabody mines across the country have requested assistance from the UMWA to form a union.
Peabody Energy reported 2005 sales of 240 million tons and $4.6 billion in revenues. The company operates 28 coal mines in the United States, nine of which are currently unionized. Some 36% of the companys US workforce is unionized, a percentage Peabody has pledged to lower.
Bohai Bank to fund Tianjin dock construction project
China's Bohai Bank, which started operations in north China's port city of Tianjin last month, will lend 300 million yuan ($37.5 million) to a dock construction project. The loan will be used to support the construction of a coal dock in Tianjin's Nanjiang port area.
The new dock will be operated by Tianjin Shenhua Coal Dock CoLtd and is being built as a joint venture between China Shenhua Energy Company Limited and Tianjin Port Group.
