Jindal Stainless net profit down in 2005-06

Jindal Stainless Ltd has announced the following unaudited results for the quarter & year ended March 31, 2006.

The Company has posted a net profit after tax of Rs 326.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 as compared to Rs 928.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. Total Income, net of excise, has decreased from Rs 9540.10 million in Q4 of 2004-05 to Rs 8343.20 million for Q4 of 2005-06.

The Company has posted a net profit after tax of Rs 1636.10 million for the year 2005-06 as compared to Rs 2458.50 million for 2004-05. Total Income, net of excise, has increased from Rs 32007.10 million in 2004-05 to Rs 32181.50 million for 2005-06.

Outsourcing for 5 million tonne addition approved for Dipka mine

Indias Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved enhancing coal production of the Dipka Open Cast Project by floating tenders for outsourcing additional 5 million tonnes per year coal by surface miner to increase production from 20 million tonnes to 25 million tonnes and corresponding overburden removal for five years.

CCEA also approved for re appropriation and re phasing of sanctioned capital between major heads in tune with requirement of advanced additional production program and flexibility in the implementation stage within the approved cost estimates to respond to improvements in technology and equipments which would result in improved profitability and productivity parameters.

Dipka OCP is linked to Seepat Super Thermal Power of NTPC and other power houses. Additional coal produced will go towards meeting the demand of power houses and other industries.

Iron ore exports during April on decline at Haldia & Paradip

It is reported that iron ore exports through Haldia and Paradip ports have shown a downward trend so far in the current month.

Paradip handled one million tonnes of ore exports in April 2005 as against 0.7 million tonnes in April 2006.

Haldia port has lesser shortfall as exports are likely at 0.71 million tonnes in April 2006 as against 0.75 million tonnes in April 2005.

Steel mills relived with planned power cuts

It is reported that the Punjab government has reached an agreement with the local induction furnaces and re rolling mills to have planned power cuts of 24 hours in rather than frequent & unscheduled power cuts. This would help the local industry to run their units efficiently.

There are approximately 19 induction furnaces and 320 re-rolling mills in the vicinity of Mandi Gobindgarh, which produce about 12,000 metric tonne of steel per day.

TATA Steel rumored to be picking up stake in Rajasthan Tubes

News daily has reported that TATA Steel is also believed to have evinced interest in picking up a strategic stake in Rajasthan Tubes.

Sources said that since Rajasthan Tubes is a captive supplier to Tata Steel it makes sense for Tata Steel to have a stake in the company. TATA Steel had reached an agreement with Rajasthan Steel Tubes some time ago to source over 80% of the latters production.

Siemens & BHEL sign MoU for power plant technology

Siemens and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited have signed a MoU to cooperate for advanced power plant technology. The agreement provides for BHEL and Siemens to jointly offer and install steam turbines for power plant projects in India that involve supercritical steam conditions with steam temperature just below 600 degree Celsius and a high pressure of approximately 250 bar giving higher plant efficiency.

Mr J Schubert MD of Siemens India said that the company will introduce the super critical technology for power plants of 800MW. This will help us support the government in its ambitious plans of providing power to all he said.

Baosteel Q1 earnings down by 55%

World's sixth-largest steel maker by output and China's top steel maker Baosteel has reported a 55.4% fall in the first quarter earnings, its worst performance in 14 quarters, as high iron ore costs and low steel prices eroded margins. It posted net earnings of 1.37 billion yuan ($171 million) in the three months to March as against 3.07 billion yuan in Q1 of 2005. It said its profit margin decreased by 9.91% points to 11.12% in the quarter compared with 21.03% for the year ago period. First quarter turnover rose to 32.5 billion yuan from 17.8 billion.

Baosteel said "In the first quarter, the global steel market continued to trend upward and the national economy continued its rapid development. But because domestic steel prices still were at a relatively low level, the drop in the company's profit from last year's level is obvious."

Baosteel has recently raised steel prices for delivery in the second quarter by an average of nearly 20%. It raised prices for hot rolled steel delivered in May and June by a further 7%, after earlier hiking second quarter prices by about 13%. The adjustments came after domestic prices rebounded in January-February following a 32% slump in March-December 2005 as capacity expansions led to a glut.

Baosteel has said its revenues would grow 2.6% to 130 billion yuan this year versus 2005, but it has not given a forecast for 2006 earnings, which are dependent on steel prices and other factors.

Arcelor Brasil studies new steel mill at Anchieta

Arcelor Brasil is studying a new steel slab mill at Anchieta in Brazil's Espirito Santo state. A company spokesman said "We would start with a plant of 3 million to 3.5 million tonnes per year capacity." Anchieta is 60kilometer from CSTs mill at Tubarao, Vitoria, which exports some 3 million tonnes a year of steel slabs. Anchieta would start to be viable at 3 million tonnes a year and would cost $2 billion and would be developed after 2010 when the CST expansion is completed.

Mr Jose Armando de Figueiredo Campos the president of Companhia Siderurgica de Tubarao, part of Arcelor Brasil, confirmed that the project is being examined. He said "We are studying it but that's different from carrying out the project adding that it would be difficult to go ahead without CVRD.

Mr Campos said that CST is expanding its crude steel capacity from 5 million to 7.5 million tonnes a year and considering further expansion to 9 million tonnes a year by 2010. CST cannot expand above 9 million tonnes a year of crude steel at its current site due to logistical reasons and lack of space and this was one reason why the company is looking at the Anchieta project, which would be supplied with iron ore by CVRD.

China to curb coal mines under construction

National Development and Reform Commission and related departments announced policies urging local governments across the country to make an overall liquidation on coal mines that are under construction so as to step up the structural adjustment of the coal industry. NDRC statistics showed that the country's investment in coal mines grew at an average of 40% from 2003 to 2005. As a result China's coal inventory is surging rapidly and coal prices are tending to fall.

NDRC official said "Construction on coal mines that are being built in violation of concerned regulations should stop immediately and violators will be punished. Construction on coal mines that are not in line with the country's concerned policies and development plans must stop. Coal mine projects that have not obtained opening approval, mining license and environment evaluation report should renew submission report and get approval before undergoing further construction.

Currently, small-sized coal mines account for 88.3% of the country's total and the mining mechanization is only 42%. The industry has been plagued by increasing and frequent coal mine accidents and environment pollution and deteriorating ecological problems.

WCI Steel to emerge from bankruptcy on May 1

WCI Steel Inc announced that it will emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a reorganized company on May 1 as the United Steelworkers union has ratified a labor contract with WCI's new owners, which was the final step necessary for WCI to emerge from bankruptcy reorganization. US Bankruptcy Judge Marilyn Shea-Stonum signed orders confirming a Plan of Reorganization for WCI On March 30. WCI filed a voluntary petition for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code on September 16, 2003.

Mr Patrick G Tatom president and CEO said The affirmative ratification vote, along with the support of the company's new ownership group led by the Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I Ltd will help build the reorganized WCI Steel as a strong, independent custom flat rolled producer. WCI will emerge with a new $150 million line of credit, an additional $50 million investment by our new ownership group and a competitive labor agreement that will significantly improve the efficiency and cost structure of our company."

He noted that the WCI Steel Inc. name will be kept, saying that the company has cultivated a strong reputation in the industry for providing high quality steel and superior customer service.

WCI is an integrated steelmaker producing more than 185 grades of custom and commodity flat-rolled steel at its Warren, Ohio facility. WCI products are used by steel service centers, converters and the automotive and construction markets. The company has approximately 1,600 employees.

Metal prices to be on a high in 2007 UBS

UBS AG said in a report that metal prices will mostly peak next year as bigger than expected investments from funds buoy prices, and investors should buy gold, zinc, uranium, platinum and aluminium.

The bank raised its forecasts for this year and next for aluminium, alumina, copper, nickel, zinc, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium and uranium. The 2006 and 2007 forecasts for thermal coal and benchmark European hot rolled coil steel were also increased.

The forecast for this years average zinc price increased 65% to $3,638 per metric tonne. The estimate for 2007 increased 95% to $4,079.

4 killed & 27 missing in NW China coal mine gas blast

A gas blast took place at 4:50 PM on Saturday in Wayaobao Coal Mine in Zichang County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, leaving four miners dead and 27 others missing. The local government source said 39 miners were working underground when the blast took place, only eight workers managed to escape.

Rescue operation is going on. Investigation into the cause of the blast is also underway.

VinaCoal asked to curb coal export to China

Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment has proposed the Government to reduce coal export to China, saying that the high export volume will have negative impact on the nation's thermal power development strategy and lead to a drain of natural resource. The retreating price is also another negative factor the ministry said. "The Government needs to direct VinaCoal not to export too much with such a low price to China," the ministry said in the report, warning that "coal export to China has been surging."

Coal export to China reached 8.7 million tons from January to April, growing by 70.4% YOY and equal to almost two thirds of the annual target. The price of coal shipped to China has fallen to $24 a ton in the January-April period, much lower than the average $37 in the same period last year.

Chile's CAP quarterly net profit dips by 70%

Chile's biggest steelmaker CAP said that its quarterly net profit fell by 70% to $21.2 million as compared with $68.7 million in the same period last year. CAP's revenue fell 9% to $215.6 million in the first quarter, as sales from steel production and iron ore mining both fell.

CAP said "The first quarter of 2006 is probably the moment of tightest margins in the current steel industry cycle, which is exactly opposite to the moment the industry went through in the first quarter last year, which was the best in CAP's history." The company said first quarter results are not the start of a trend "but are the lowest point in a period of adjustment and the beginning of a process of recovery and normal."

CAP said that the reason for the fall in our steel affiliate revenue was a reduction in 10.8% in average prices for shipments in the first quarter this year compared with those in the same quarter last year, which was compensated by a 5.4% increase in tonnes sold. The profit from its iron ore mining unit fell because of an accumulation of inventory because clients have put off orders. Shipments of iron ore fell 37% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year.

Evraz Group to increase shares on LSE to 25%

It is reported that Evraz Group will increase the share of its stocks circulating on the London Stock Exchange from 14% to 25%.

Mr Pavel Tatyanin senior VP and CFO said "The Company has announced that its strategic objective is to increase the share of stocks circulating on the London Stock Exchange to 25%. We confirm this."

Mr Tatyanin said that the board of directors would make its dividend recommendation in May. The annual shareholders meeting takes place in June. The group's dividend policy is to pay up to 25% of its net profit to shareholders.

Evraz Group comprises three of Russia's leading steelmakers and a number of mining and coal producing assets. The company controls over 20% of the world's primary production of vanadium.

Corus could be next on line for acquisition

Speculation is rife among industry watchdogs that a bid for Corus could be imminent. The rumors are very strong among workers in the UK that if the Mittal Steels bid for Arcelor does not succeed it will then make a bid for Corus.

Corus has also been the subject of speculation over a possible move by ThyssenKrupp. The company denied reports in a German magazine suggesting it was interested in buying Corus, but did feature it on an internal list of companies it could buy in 2004.

But this is not a view shared by the company. Corus head of media communications Ms Ananya Sarin said Rather than seeing ourselves as a potential target, we have made expansion part of our strategy and are looking at investment opportunities inside and outside Western Europe. She added that As well as a 153 million investment in Holland, 130 million is being spent to install new capacity and capabilities in Scunthorpe in the UK. We are continually evaluating new opportunities.

Cash Minerals to develop coal resources in Inner Magnolia

Canadian Cash Minerals Ltd announced that it has signed a MOU with the Chinese state owned Zhalainuoer Coal Industry Co Ltd and the Municipal Government of Manzhouli in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China for the development of a coal mine near the city of Manzhouli in the district of Zhalainuoer.

Cash Minerals plans to mine the coal resource to support a coal to liquids project using the Fischer-Tropsch process. Key elements of the MOU include that Cash Minerals to be a majority shareholder of the JV to mine the coal resource, favorable tax concessions, very low electricity cost and availability of third party coal at a pre determined price.

Mr Basil Botha President and CEO of Cash Minerals Ltd said "The signing of the MOU is the first concrete step towards achieving our vision of developing a major coal mine in China to feed a 50,000 barrel per day CTL plant. Our intention is to take a good sized position in the CTL plant together with a major FT technology partner."

Cash Minerals Ltd is an emerging energy resource company and its current activities are focused on uranium, coal and alternative fuels.

Excel Coal sales up by 31% in Q3

Australian miner Excel Coal Ltd announced that third quarter coal sales production rose to 1.3 million metric tons, from 1 million tons a year earlier.

Excel said that the development of the Millennium coal plant in Queensland is expected to be delayed another four to six weeks after a contractor went into administration and because of severe wet weather. But it still expects to commence sales from Millennium early in the new financial year and to achieve its 1.5 million ton sales target for Millennium in fiscal 2007.

Aztec Resources to commence construction at Koolan during the quarter

Aztec Resources said that commencement of construction and of Koolan Island Iron Ore mine is likely to start in the current quarter.

The company said that negotiations are well underway with major banks to provide the balance of funds required for the construction of the infrastructure and mining facilities on Koolan Island. By mid May 2006, it is anticipated that AZR will be in a position to select a bank or bank group with a view to having all categories of debt financing in place and available in August 2006.

Aztec also said that "During the current quarter, sales contract negotiations with Chinese MOU partners are expected to be concluded following various site visits. Negotiations with Japanese MOU partners are anticipated to be finalized towards the end of Q3, 2006, following the completion of test work on representative ore samples."

EEX to launch coal futures contracts

The European Energy Exchange AG will be the first European exchange to list financially settled coal futures and offer clearing services for contracts traded off exchange in the over the counter markets from 2nd May 2006. EEX coal futures will be settled against the API 2 and API 4 indexes as published in Argus/McCloskey's Coal Price Index Report. The indexes are calculated using assessments from Argus, Barlow Jonker and McCloskey. The coal contracts are quoted and cleared in US dollars, the first time that non Euro denominated trading and clearing have taken place at EEX.

The API 2 prices and indexes are based on Argus and McCloskey assessments for coal delivered into the Amsterdam / Rotterdam / Antwerp region. The API 4 prices and indexes are based on assessments from Argus, McCloskey and Barlow Jonker's South African Coal Report for coal traded out of Richards Bay.

The new products offered by EEX will help participants in the coal market solve an urgent problem caused by the rapid growth in volumes. Coal traders' bilateral credit lines are becoming exhausted and exchange traded futures will enable them to eliminate counterparty risk. Clearing allows flexibility in trading as well as security in the settlement of transactions.

Dr Hans-Bernd Menzel CEO of EEX said "The widening of EEX's product range to include coal is a natural extension of our business and enables market participants to enter the energy value chain at an earlier stage.

Mr Adrian Binks, CEO of Argus said, "We wish the EEX well with their launch of coal futures and are pleased that they have decided to use the standard industry benchmark as a settlement price."

Mr Gerard McCloskey, Chairman of the McCloskey Coal Group said, "Coal is immense with a vast reserve and very competitive price levels. Advances in technology are smacking down on the pollution that coal has caused in the past. What the industry has needed is sophisticated market implements to match all this. The agreement we have reached with EEX takes a huge stride over this threshold. It is overdue and extremely welcome."

Argus is the world's leading independent energy publishing company with over thirty five years of experience in energy market reporting. It uses a precise and transparent methodology to assess prices and analyze markets in the coal, oil, electricity, natural gas, LPG, LNG, emissions, freight and transportation sectors.

For over twenty years Barlow Jonker has offered consulting services to the energy industries. Barlow Jonker's special area of consultancy is market and supply economics in the international coal industry, covering the coal chain from resource evaluation through coal mining and coal consumption to long-term price and demand/supply forecasting. Strategic and independent advice is supplied on a regular basis, at board and senior management level, to the main coal producing and consuming companies worldwide.

The McCloskey Group publishes seven specialist publications on coal. In addition, it publishes information on electricity and very recently on the chemical industry. It also hosts over a dozen conferences around the world, mainly on the international coal industry but also on electricity, gas and petroleum coke. In addition it has a long-established respected consultancy covering all aspects of the coal markets.

European Exchange AG currently operates a Spot and a Derivatives Market for energy and CO2 emission allowances. With currently 138 trading participants from 17 countries, it is the energy exchange in continental Europe with the largest number of trading participants and the biggest turnover. The range of services provided by EEX is complemented by related services such as the integrated clearing of exchange transactions and over- the-counter transactions.

Kuzbassrazrezugol acquires 75% of Biiskenergo

The Kuzbassrazrezugol Coal Co said that it has acquired 75% of Biiskenergo, a power company in the Altai territory. A number of companies that are part of the Kuzbassrazrezugol and Novosibirskenergo group in April acquired the Southern Fuel Company which in turn owns 75% of Biiskenergo.

Biiskenergo's new board of directors includes representatives of the Altai territory administration as well as representatives of companies that are part of the Kuzbassrazrezugol and Novosibirskenergo group.

Biiskenergo chairman Mr Alexander Rogozhin said in a press release that the corporate and day to day management of the company would be handled by the Rukom management firm and the regional administration.

Kuzbassrazrezugol Management Co deputy GD Mr Daniil Nikitin said that Biiskenergo is expected to use about 1 million tonnes of Kuzbassrazrezugol coal per year.

Move of ESPO pipeline from Baikal may cost $1 billion

Mr. Dmitry Ogulchansky, general director of ESPO Management Center, a Transneft subsidiary responsible for the project, told journalists on Friday that the cost of building the first phase of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline may increase by about $1 billion due to the change of route.

He said that more than likely the new pipeline route will leave Irkutsk region along the Lena River through Yakutia. This territory has difficult conditions, on some sections there are no roads, he said. He also said that due to the decision to move the pipeline 40 kilometers north of Baikal, the route may increase by about 1250-1260 kilometers.

Huadian International acquires Stake in Huadian Coal

Huadian Power International Co Ltd, a listed subsidiary of China Huadian (Group) Corporation, announced that it has acquired a 20.19% stake in China Huadian Coal Co Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Huadian Group. Huadian International has signed agreement with Huadian Coal to take part in it capital expansion and will pay Yuan 315 million for this stake. Huadian Group and other investors will totally inject yuan 745 million in Huadian Coal at the same time.

After the increasing the capital base, Huadian Group is still the controlling shareholder of Huadian Coal with a 51.28% stake followed by Huadian International.

Huadian International explains that the investment in coal industry will benefit the coal supply for its power stations. Moreover, as the demand for coal is expected to grow higher, the investment in Huadian Coal will bring stable return.

Sheffield Steel & Gerdau announce change in merger agreement

Sheffield Steel & Gerdau announced that they have amended previously announced merger agreement. Sheffield shareholders owning approximately 53% of the outstanding shares of Sheffield have agreed to vote in favor of the amended merger agreement which increased the purchase price, subject to certain closing adjustments, to approximately $94 million in cash plus the assumption of approximately $94 million of debt and certain long term liabilities, net of cash.

The transaction, which is still subject to satisfactory completion of anti-trust and applicable regulatory reviews, formal shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2006.

Sheffield Steel is a mini-mill producer of SBQ and MBQ hot-rolled bar products, concrete reinforcing bar and fabricated products, including fabricated rebar, steel fence posts and railroad track spikes. The company's headquarters and largest manufacturing facility is located in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, where it has an annual billet making capacity of 650,000 tons. It also has a rolling mill in Joliet, Illinois, two fabrication shops in the Kansas City area, and a railroad spike producer in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. Sheffield also owns the Sand Springs Railway, which connects the Sand Springs industrial corridor to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Gerdau Ameristeel is the second largest mini mill steel producer in North America with annual manufacturing capacity of over 8.4 million tons of mill finished steel products. Through its vertically integrated network of 15 mini-mills including one 50% owned mini mill, 17 scrap recycling facilities and 43 downstream operations, Gerdau Ameristeel primarily serves customers in the eastern two thirds of North America. The company's products are generally sold to steel service centers, steel fabricators, or directly to original equipment manufacturers for use in a variety of industries, including construction, cellular and electrical transmission, automotive, mining and equipment manufacturing.

Dymaxion drilling technology to improve coal mining safety

A new drilling technology from Australia may help save Chinese coal miners' lives and also help reduce air pollution by capturing the methane before it spreads into the atmosphere. Pacific Asia China Energy along with its Australian partner Mitchell Drilling Company is offering drilling technology to capture methane gas released when the coal is mined, resulting in explosions at times and also polluting the atmosphere.

Mr Tunaye Sai director of China Operations for Pacific Asia China Energy said that overwhelming response has been received from several Chinese coal mining companies for Dymaxion technique, by which the gas is let out before mining a tunnel and captured to avoid accidents as well as pollution. Mr Tunaye Sai said he was in discussions with ten Chinese coal companies about implementing this new technology.

Ivanhoe Mines to merge its Mongolian coal division into Asia Gold

Mr Gene Wusaty President of the Coal Division of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd and Mr David Owens President of Asia Gold Corp announced that the two companies have reached an agreement in principle for Asia Gold to acquire Ivanhoe Mines' Coal Division in exchange for 82,576,383 common shares of Asia Gold. Ivanhoe Mines currently owns approximately 47% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Asia Gold and, as such, the transaction will constitute a related party transaction. Consequently, Asia Gold's participation in the transaction will be subject to the prior approval of Asia Gold's minority shareholders at a special meeting to be convened for that purpose. The transaction is subject to the signing of a definitive agreement, approval from the TSX Venture Exchange and fulfillment of all other applicable regulatory and stock exchange requirements.

The proposed transaction would result in Asia Gold becoming a majority owned, publicly traded subsidiary of Ivanhoe Mines and having a coal division and a mineral exploration division. The transaction would result in Ivanhoe Mines owning approximately 91.4% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Asia Gold and 88.8% on a fully diluted basis. As part of the transaction, Ivanhoe Mines has agreed to extend an interim working line of credit to Asia Gold of up to $10 million.

Ivanhoe Mines is an international mining company with operations focused in the Asia Pacific region. Ivanhoe Mines' core assets are its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in southern Mongolia, and extensive mineral rights that it holds or controls in Mongolia, where coal, copper and gold discoveries are being evaluated.

NEMI announces first coking coal export shipment

Northern Energy & Mining Inc announced the loading on April 15, 2006 of its first cargo of metallurgical coal from its Trend coking coal mine near Tumbler Ridge. NEMI loaded approximately 32,000 tonnes of coking coal for sale to a Japanese steel mill at an average price of $113.5 per tonne for sales proceeds of US$3.5 million.

NEMI commenced mining operations at its Trend Small Mine in December, 2005 and in February loaded its first unit train shipment of approximately 10,000 tonnes of metallurgical coal to the Ridley Terminals coal port, Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

NEMI has contracts or Letters of Intent in place for most of its 2006 production, and is continuing negotiations for Coal Purchase Agreements for the balance of its 2006 production with a number of international buyers.

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.

Fitch cuts Sahaviriya Steels ratings

Fitch Ratings (Thailand) has downgraded the National Long-term debt ratings of Sahaviriya Steel Industries PLC's secured debentures to BBB-(tha) from BBB(tha) and removed the Negative Watch on the ratings. At the same time, Fitch has withdrawn the ratings of SSI's secured debentures, due to insufficient information disclosure to maintain the ratings.

The ratings downgrade is based on the substantial deterioration in the company's financial position at end-2005, as a result of its worse than expected earnings performance and higher than expected working capital requirements, which have reduced its financial flexibility. In 2005, SSI's EBITDA substantially dropped by 57% YOY to THB2.8 billion, due largely to its slower sales volume and declining metal spread margins.

SSI is Thailand's largest producer of hot rolled steel coils and increased its capacity to 4 million tonnes per year in 2005 from 2.4 million tonnes in 2004. The company is part of the Sahaviriya Group, which currently holds a c.47% stake in the company.

Mr Bradshaw named CEO of Tarpon

Tarpon Industries Inc announced that it has named Mr James W. Bradshaw to the position of Chief Executive Officer and as Chairman of the company's Board of Directors. Mr Bradshaw succeeds Mr J Peter Farquhar, who resigned as Chairman and CEO, but will remain as a senior consultant to the company.

Mr Bradshaw is a steel industry veteran with more than 25 years executive management and operations experience. He joined Tarpon Industries in 2005 as Vice President of Mechanical Tubing after heading up several steel tubing and wire manufacturing companies over the past 15 years. From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Bradshaw served as President and COO of American Tube and Pipe.

Mr Michael A Ard a member of Tarpon's Board of Directors said "During the time Jim Bradshaw has been with Tarpon, he has distinguished himself as a knowledgeable leader with our employees, our customers, and our business partners. We believe his successful management, operations and industry experience will be invaluable as Tarpon moves into new markets, and continues to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions."

Tarpon Industries Inc through its wholly owned subsidiaries within the United States and Canada manufactures and sells structural and mechanical steel tubing and engineered steel storage rack systems. Through an aggressive acquisition driven business model, the company's mission is to become a larger and more significant manufacturer and distributor of structural and mechanical steel tubing, engineered steel storage rack systems and related products.

Top mining companies in Forbes 2000 list

BHP Billiton ranked 101 in Forbes magazine's coveted list of top 2000 corporate for 2005 has topped among the mining & steel companies.

The list includes following mining companies

All figures are in $ billion.