SAIL wins SCOPE Gold Trophy

Steel Authority of India Limited has been conferred the Gold Trophy of the SCOPE Award for Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to the Public Sector Management in the Institutional Category for the year 2004-05.

The award was presented by the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to SAIL Chairman Mr SK Roongta at a function held at the Parliament Library Building in New Delhi.

Instituted by the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, the apex body of public sector organizations, the award aims to reward, recognize and encourage the contribution of public enterprises as well as of outstanding individuals for their vision and leadership qualities in creating national wealth. The five member jury for the awards was headed by Justice PN Bhagwati.

SAIL had earlier bagged the special SCOPE Award in the Turnaround category for achieving a spectacular turnaround in 2003-04.

BCG estimates 8% growth of Indian steel sector

Boston Consulting Group has estimated that India's steel production would have to grow by 7% to 8% to produce more than 100 million tonnes to make Indian steel sector globally competitive.

Mr Sachin Nandgaonkar director of BCG told reporters "India plans to achieve global competitiveness in terms of quality, product mix, efficiency and productivity. This will require indigenous production of more than 100 million tonnes per year by 2019-20, up from 38 million tonnes in 2004-05. To achieve this goal the country would have to ensure growth of the steel sector by 7% to 8% every year. India will need to increase its productivity substantially.

He added that Indian steel makers are favorably placed as compared to their global counterparts due to cost competitiveness.

Cement producers to hold prices

Cement manufacturers have agreed to hold the price line and not increase cement prices any further for one year with effect from today and to absorb all the additional costs themselves. They have also agreed that if any concession is given to them by way of excise duty and other statutory levies, they would pass on the benefit of it entirely to the consumers.

However any rollback in the recent increase in prices is ruled out until the centre reviews the excise duty hike imposed in budget 2007-08.

Mr Kamal Nath union minister of commerce & industry during a meeting with senior representatives of the cement industry including the president of the Cement Manufacturers Association strongly urged the producers to reduce the cement prices which had risen significantly particularly after February 28th 2007 when an additional excise duty of INR 200 per tonne was levied on cement costing more than INR190 per bag.

No proposal for merging MECON with SAIL

Dr Akhilesh Das minister of state for steel informed Rajya Sabha that there is no proposal under consideration of the government for taking over of MECON Ltd by Steel Authority of India Limited.

MECON is an independent Public Sector Enterprise, engaged in consultancy and project management jobs in wide ranging fields like Metal, Power, Oil and Gas. MECON is also a leading metallurgical consultant in the country offering its services to steel units, both in public and private sectors.

Indian government takes steps to curb illegal coal mining

Indian government has detected several cases of illegal mining predominantly in Coal India Limiteds subsidiaries in the eastern region, mainly in the states of Jharkhand covering Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Central Coalfields Limited & Eastern Coalfield Limited and in West Bengal covering Eastern Coalfield Limited & Bharat Coking Coal Limited. The main reasons for illegal mining activities are densely populated coal bearing areas and adverse socio economic conditions.

Illegal mining takes place stealthily and clandestinely both inside and outside leasehold areas of CIL subsidiaries. As such it is not possible to quantify the exact amount of coal, which was extracted illegally during last three years. However, the quantity of coal seized from illegally worked out patches during last three years is given below

In '000 tonnes

A committee under the chairmanship of minister of state for coal has been constituted to look into the issues related to illegal mining of coal. In addition, the following steps are taken by coal companies to prevent illegal mining

1. Rat holes created by illegal mining are being dozed off and filled up with stone and debris wherever possible.
2. Concrete walls have been created on the mouth of the abandoned mines to prevent access and illegal activities in these areas.
3. Fencing is being constructed at the various illegal mining sites along with displaying of signboards mentioning Dangerous and Prohibited Place.
4. Dumping of the overburden is being done on the outcrop zones which are not required to be mined.
5. Collection of intelligence reports about illegal coal depots and illegal movement of coal and informing district authorities of the same for taking preventive action.
6. Installation of check-posts at vulnerable points to check transport documents.
7. Training of existing security personnel, refresher training of CISF personnel and basic training of new recruits in security discipline for strengthening the security setup.
8. The coal companies maintain close liaison with the state authorities.

VPT to touch 57 million tonne in 2006-07

Business Line reported that Indias biggest cargo handling port, Visakhapatnam Port is likely to handle about 57 million tonnes of traffic in 2006-07 as compared with 55.8 million tonnes handled in 2005-06. The throughput so far has been 51.81 million tonnes.

Mr K Ratna Kishore Chairman of VPT told Business that "The jump in traffic throughputs has been achieved despite the hit we took during the year on two fronts, namely, iron ore exports and coal imports.

The drop in iron ore export is reported to be about 2.3 million tonnes and that in coal import, covering both coking coal and steam coal, nearly 0.8 million tonne. The thermal coal for coastal shipment is also down by 0.28 million tonne.

The drop in iron ore exports was partly made up by the rise in coastal shipments of pellets by Essar by 1.1 million tonne. VPT has posted significant improvement in the handling of crude at 8.6 million tonne. Fertilizers import at 2.58 million tonne so far has also helped VPT. The throughputs of other cargoes were up by about half a million tonnes.

NTPC commissions Stage III of VSTTP

National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd announced that a 500 MW unit of Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Project Stage III has been successfully test synchronized in the night of March 8th 2007.

With the commissioning of this unit, the installed capacity of Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Project has become 3,260 MW, largest in the country. Earlier, NTPCs Talcher Super Thermal Power Station was the largest with the 3000 MW installed capacity.

NTPCs total installed capacity has become 26,904 MW.

Caparo to set up auto component plant near Chennai

It is reported that the Caparo group has signed a MoU with the Government of Tamil Nadu to set up an INR 300 crore plant at Oragadam near Chennai for producing a variety of components mainly for the automotive sector and aerospace. Tubular parts, braking systems, fasteners and composite material and testing facilities will come up at the new facility.

This is the group's second investment in Tamil Nadu. Caparo started work on a INR 400 crore facility in August 2006 which includes an aluminum foundry specializing in pressure die castings, a steel forge shop, an automotive stamping plant and a research & development centre incorporating a tool and die design and manufacturing plant. The facilities are to be commissioned in stages.

EU sets higher targets for fighting climate changes

Europe has embarked on a path to fight climate change after agreeing that a fifth of the energy used by the 27 nation bloc by 2020 will come from renewable sources like the sun and the wind and challenging the rest of the world to follow. The plan goes beyond the 35 nation Kyoto Protocol in setting targets for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases but it still faces problems over how to share the burden among its coal and oil dependent countries and what to do about nuclear power.

The leaders agreed that the EU will produce 20% of its power through renewable energy an increase from the current figure of around 6%.They also pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions at least 20% from 1990 levels but said the EU could go to 30% if other countries join. The plan also called for one tenth of all cars and trucks in the EU nations to run on biofuels made from plants.

The agreement, which does not have an enforcement mechanism yet, means more windmills, solar panels and energy efficient light bulbs for Europe and certainly changes in lifestyle, business and the economy.

EU deal was a compromise between nations that had demanded mandatory targets on clean energy and eastern European nations led by Poland and Slovakia that say they cannot afford to develop alternatives to meet such high targets. Those nations said they prefer to stay with cheaper but more polluting options such as coal and oil.

The reference to the role of nuclear power was a demand of the French, Czechs, Slovaks and others who argued nuclear power could play a crucial part in helping Europe move away from carbon fuels. It says each EU nation should decide whether to use nuclear power, but takes note of a Commission report that says nuclear energy could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and help alleviate worries about security of energy supply. It also stresses the need to improve nuclear safety. Austria, Ireland and Denmark did not want the EU to sanction nuclear power, and the German government is split over whether to develop atomic energy.

The EU leaders hope their commitment to tackling climate change will encourage other leading polluters, such as the United States, Russia, China and India to agree on deep cuts in emissions of the gases that contribute to global warming.

JFE and Georgsmarienhtte renews cooperation agreement

JFE Steel Corporation and Georgsmarienhtte GmbH of Germany have agreed to renew the comprehensive cooperation agreement on special steel bars for parts manufacturers in the automotive and bearing industries signed in April 2002. The agreement was renewed because the companies consider continued partnership to be an effective means for responding to the increasingly sophisticated requirements of the auto segment.

Mutual technology exchanges between JFE Steel and GMH have helped both companies to respond better to the needs of rapidly globalizing automakers and parts manufacturers.

Georgsmarienhtte GmbHs main products include special steel bars for supply to tope auto makers in Europe and it enjoys highest market share in Germany. Their sale in 2005 was EUR 510 million and crude steel production was 833,000 tonnes.

Cyclone George batters Pilbara and Jacob is on the way

It is reported that the mining activities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia could remain shut down for days as Tropical Cyclone George continued its destructive path and the progress of a second Tropical Cyclone Jacob is being monitored by mining majors.

Cyclone George crossed the coast east of Port Hedland about 1000 WDT on Thursday night, tearing off roofs, mangling fences, downing trees over power lines and cutting off power and phone services to most local towns. The severe tropical cyclone gusted with destructive winds of up to 275 kilometers per hour, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, affecting Port Hedland, South Hedland, Wedgefield and some outlying towns.

Fortescue Metals Group has confirmed the death of one of its workers at a camp south of Port Hedland but the company was still trying to piece together the situation at the railway construction camp.

BHP Billiton's entire iron ore operation was shut down. BHP said all of its operations in the Newman region had ceased and staff had been sent home from the remote sites, including Area C Yarrie and Yandi. Ms Emma Meade spokeswoman of BHPB said that all of the company's mining operations had moved to red alert but employees at Port Hedland were expected to return to work and ship loading could begin immediately. Ms Meade said "We don't have an indication of damage to Nelson Point or Finucane Island at this stage,"

Workers at Rio Tinto's coastal operations were back on the job but only the company's Pannawonica mine remained open as the cyclone moved through. Rio Tinto spokesperson Mr Gervase Greene said production had been halted at all its iron ore operations in the Pilbara, with the exception of the Pannawonica mine. Operations that were closed include the Brockman, Marandoo, Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Yandicoogina, Channar and Eastern Range mines.

Xstrata Zinc to expand concentrator capacity at McArthur River Mining

Xstrata Zinc announced that the capacity of the concentrator at the McArthur River open pit zinc-lead mine in the Northern Territory will be increased within the mine's overall footprint and in an energy efficient manner. The expansion is subject to the approval of an amendment to MRM's Mine Management Plan by the Northern Territory Government. It will reduce MRM's current mine life from 25 to 21 years. The expansion is expected to be commissioned in mid 2008 and will be fully operational by the end of the third quarter of 2008.

Xstrata said that MRM's concentrator capacity will be increased from an annual throughput of 1.8 million tonnes per annum of ore to 2.5 million tonnes per annum, at a capital cost of USD 37 million. Additional production will be achieved with no increase to the mine's overall footprint, through the installation of two newly-developed Xstrata Technology fine grinding M10,000 IsaMILLs, to be used in the primary grinding circuit. This will improve energy efficiency and enable additional production from existing power generation facilities.

The expansion will enable annual production capacity to increase from approximately 320,000 tonnes to around 430,000 tonnes of zinc lead concentrate, including the potential to produce a bulk concentrate with lower lead content, which can be processed in conventional smelters.

Mr Santiago Zaldumbide CEO of Xstrata Zinc said "The additional USD 37 million investments in MRM we are announcing today is a further demonstration of our commitment to the long term viability of our zinc-lead business in the Northern Territory. I am especially pleased that MRM senior management has been able to increase the capacity of the operation in an innovative, cost effective and energy efficient manner."

Mr Brian Hearne GM of MRM said "Current output from the MRM open pit is limited by electricity produced at the onsite power plant. The installation of new power factor correction capacitors will make an additional 2 megawatts of power available to provide a total of 6 megawatts of power for the expansion. Together with the new M10,000 IsaMILLs, MRM's output can be expanded from 1.8 to 2.5 million tonnes per annum."

Wuhan and Panzhihua Steel likely to merge

Mr Luo Zezhong GM of Panzhihua Iron & Steel located in southwestern China's Sichuan province told Beijing Business News that the company has been contacted by a few steel mills for the merger issue and that consolidation is an overwhelming trend and that it is imperative for China to consolidate its overly fragmented steel sector.

It's widely expected that Wuhan Steel has the greatest potential for the deal as it is located in nearby Hubei province and has expressed interest in expanding further into southwest China where Panzhihua is the largest steelmaker. It has taken control of Guangxi-based Liuzhou Steel and Panzhihuan could be the next target.

Panzhihua Steel is already essentially a merged group of steelmakers in Sichuan province, having taken over Chengdu Seamless Pipe, Chengdu Steel, Jinzhou Alloy Corp and Changcheng Special Steel.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Berg Pipe to set up pipe plant at Mobile in Alabama

It is reported that Berg Steel Pipe Corporation will build a plant at an investment of USD 75 million at the site of a former paper mill on land owned by the Alabama State Port Authority at Mobile in Alabama. Operations are expected to begin next year.

Mr Dave Delie president of BSPC said that the company considered locations in six states before choosing the former International Paper site at Mobile Alabama.

Berg Pipe, a division of Europipe of Mulheim Germany, already has a manufacturing plant in Panama City in Florida and a US sales office in Houston.

Sojitz Corp to invests in NECs Yamla coal project in Australia

XFN-ASIA reported that Japanese trading house Sojitz Corp has agreed to become a partner in Northern Energy Corp Ltd's Yamala coal project in the Bowen Basin in the north east state of Queensland of Australia.

Sojitz Corp will acquire a 30% stake in the project by funding a AUD 5.8 million exploration and evaluation program and will have the option to acquire a further 30% by paying AUD 6.65 million once the program is completed. Exploration is initially aimed at assessing potential for open cut coal mining prior to establishing an underground operation. Sojitz will also hold marketing rights for coal produced by the project.

Mr Keith Barker CEO of NEC said that the deal represents a significant milestone for the project's development. He said "We now intend to ramp-up activity on the project which is supported by some solid historical data.

StanChart raises nickel price forecast for 2007

Standard Chartered has raised its nickel price forecast for 2007 as it continues to see delays in new mining projects expected to come on stream this year. The bank now sees benchmark LME nickel contracts for 3 month delivery averaging USD 32,200 a tonne this year from a previous forecast of USD 29,875 a tonne.

Mr Tariq Salaria an analyst with Standard Chartered said that "There's a lot more risk to upside if planned projects don't come on line." He added that while demand for stainless steel should slow in the second half, this will not be enough to cushion nickel prices should new supplies not come on stream as expected.

He further added that "The ability of the market to quickly substitute away from grades of stainless steel which are highly nickel intensive and bring new supply to market is limited and therefore prices have solid support near term."

Nickel stocks in LME warehouses are at critically low levels at present equivalent to only one day of consumption. Stainless steel demand accounts for about 70 % of total nickel consumption.

Mr Surma welcomes Chinas steel capacity closure plan

Reuters reported that the US steel industry remains concerned about a rapid rise in imports from China but welcomes the Chinese government's announcement it will close 35 million tonnes of crude steel production capacity.

Mr John Surma CEO of US Steel Corp said that he was encouraged by other Chinese statements indicating the country plans to consolidate its steel industry and trim exports by bringing production into line with demand. Mr Surma said "That would be a very good step. But principally, what we'd like to see them get to do is to get to where normal market forces guide investment, instead of the government."

Mr Surma however said that he has asked officials of his company working in China to see if this is something new or just a recycling of previous policy statements.

Mr Wen Jiabao premier of China during a speech earlier this week to the National People's Congress said the country would close 30 million tonnes of outdated pig iron capacity and 35 million tonnes of crude steel capacity.

Chinas steel closure targets are part of a plan to reduce pig iron capacity at outdated facilities by 100 million tonnes and outdated steel capacity by 55 million tones in the five years from 2006 and 2010. China has increased its steel production rapidly in recent years and has shifted from a net importer to a substantial net exporter in 2006.

Gerdau Ameristeel and USW reach agreements at 3 locations

Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation announced that it has reached agreements with the United Steel Workers union at Gerdau Ameristeel's Beaumont in Texas, St Paul in Minnesota and Wilton in Iowa steel mills. The new contracts are effective March 2007 and run through March 2010, July 2010 and September 2010 respectively.

The plants had been owned by North Star Steel before being acquired by Gerdau in 2004.

The bargaining committees comprised of local union representatives accepted the tentative agreements and sent them for discussion and ratification votes that were held at each location concluding on March 8th 2007. Union members at each location were required to approve or reject a contract for their own location.

Mr Jim Stewart chief negotiator of USW said Negotiations with Gerdau Ameristeel have been drawn out and contentious. But the company made significant movement on important issues during the past few weeks allowing us to achieve agreements that were approved by our members at all three locations.

Mr Jim Rogers VP of human resources of Gerdau Ameristeel said "Our goal throughout all the negotiations has always been to work with the union to reach fair labor agreements that will help to position the company to deal with the cyclical nature of the steel industry and provide our employees with competitive compensation and benefits.

Negotiations continue at the company's steel mills at Calvert City in Kentucky, Joliet in Illinois, Sand Springs in Oklahoma and Whitby in Canada.

Gerdau Ameristeel is the second largest minimill steel producer in North America with annual manufacturing capacity of over 9 million tons of mill finished steel products.

Baosteel to grow through domestic M&A and tie ups with global majors

Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp plans to expand its cooperation with global steel majors but would focus on the domestic market for mergers and acquisitions rather than on international activity.

Mr Ai Baojun president of Baosteel on the sidelines of the National People's Congress said "We will strengthen cooperation with the three foreign companies." He declined to elaborate on the plan but the companies mentioned include Arcelor Mittal, Nippon Steel Corp and POSCO.

Mr Ai said that he expects the company's steel output in 2007 to remain steady from last year's 22.53 million tons. However, he added the forecast doesn't include additional capacity from Baosteel's recent purchase of 69.61% stake in Xinjiang Bayi Iron & Steel Group from Bayi Iron & Steel Group for CNY3 billion.

Mr Ai also said that Baosteel is planning to expand its automotive steel sheet production this year, without specifying whether the expansion would be with its joint venture partners or on its own. Mr Ai said that Baosteel accounts for more than 50% of China's automotive steel sheet market and produced 2.6 million tonnes last year, a combined total between its own production and that of the joint venture.

Ukrainian steelmakers use 34% of annual EU export quota in 2 months

Journal Staff Report citing Ukrainian economy ministry reported that the Ukrainian steel mills obtained licenses in January and February to ship to the European Union 343,962 tonnes of rolled steel or 34.24 % of the country's 2007 EU quota of nearly 1.005 million tonnes.

A source in the ministry said that a new agreement has not yet been signed between the European Union and Ukraine for rolled steel supplies and the 2007 quota will be 1.005 tons.

Gonvarri to set up new service center in Germany

YIEH reported that the Spanish steel processor and distributor Gonvarri has set up a new service center named Gonvauto Thuringen near Erfurt in Germany. Most of the business of this service center will come from its stamping department.

Corporaci Gestamp Group is a engaged in the steel, automotive components, storage and logistics sectors and is made up of two industrial divisions Gonvarri and Gestamp Automoci with 62 facilities in more than 14 countries in three continents.

MEPS forecast for SS in North America

UK based steel industry analysts MEPS has reported that stainless transaction values are expected to rise in March 2007 and surcharges will increase at least up to April 2007.

According to MEPS surcharge is predicted to represent a staggering 74% of stainless selling prices by April and if nickel continues on its upward path this percentage could become even higher. This could put mills under even greater pressure to reduce basis values further than anticipated.

MEPS said The price of nickel has again broken new record highs during February and stocks are as yet not arriving back onto the market and remain at critically low levels with less than one day's worth of global usage currently available to the market. This may keep nickel prices elevated in the short term. However high nickel prices are beginning to take their toll on the stainless steel industry with stainless demand expected to slow over the coming months. This could help to alleviate the current nickel supply shortages and bring prices down as the year progresses. The current elevated nickel prices are causing problems for both stainless steel consumers and producers.

MEPS added that in the longer term they forecast a decline in stainless selling values as nickel prices reduce with demand slowing sown and de stocking continuing. MEPS said Both basis figures and alloy surcharges should begin to decline into quarter four of this year before stabilizing as stock levels come under control. These factors would bring our prediction for grade 304 cold rolled coil transaction values in February 2008 to approximately USD 1150 below the anticipated high point in March 2007 which is a reduction of around 21% from current levels.

Star Steel to build rebar mill at Sharjah

YIEH reported that UAE based Star Steel International is all set to build up a rebar and section rolling process mill in the tax free zone in Sharjah with annual output capacity of 36,000 tonnes. It is expected to be finished in December 2007. In addition another section rolling mill will be put into production in 2008.

An official of Star Steel International said that the semi products will come from India and China to fit the mills demand and the company wish to sell its steel product in UAE and other countries which near Persian Gulf area.

Germanys February crude steel output up by 3.1% YoY

Germany's Federal Statistics Office said that crude steel production in February has climbed up by 3.1% YoY to 3.81 million tonnes while pig iron output was up by 1.2% YoY to 2.42 million tonnes.

The office said crude steel production was down by 11.7 % MoM in February while pig iron production was down by 11.9 % MoM and attributed it to seasonal and calendar effects.

China to reform pricing system for natural resources

It is reported that China will further reform the pricing system for its resource products.

Ms Ma Kai the head of National Development and Reform Commission said that "The current problem in the pricing of resources is that the prices do not reflect the preciousness of the resources or the costs to the environment. This reality runs counter to our efforts to transform the current pattern of economic growth to construct an energy saving and environmental friendly society and ensure sustainable development."

She added that the pricing of resource products involves the interests of the whole society and therefore reforms must be pursued in a stable gradual manner. Ms Ma said China will continue reforming the pricing system for oil natural gas water and other resources and in pursing these reforms the government must take the interests of low income groups into account.

Timken to close Brazilian auto component unit

World's largest manufacturer of tapered roller bearings Timken Co announced plans to close a factory in Sao Paolo in Brazil, which currently employ 300 people, will close, by the end of the year citing weak demand from North American auto makers.

Mr Jacqueline Dedo president of Timken's automotive group said "Following the dramatic decline in vehicle production by certain North American customers that occurred in 2006, we are balancing our manufacturing capacity.

AK Steels Ashland Kentucky coke plant earns safety award

AK Steel announced that employees of its Ashland Kentucky coke plant have earned the Max Eward Safety Award from the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute for the second consecutive year. This award also marks the 9th time in the past 10 years that one of AK Steel's two coke plants have been selected to receive ACCCI's highest safety honor. AK Steel's Middletown Ohio coke plant is a seven time recipient of the Max Eward Award.

Mr James L Wainscott chairman, president and CEO of AK Steel said "Congratulations to our Ashland coke plant employees for their tremendous safety performance which has earned them this prestigious award two years in a row. Employees at the Ashland coke plant have demonstrated an outstanding dedication to safety which is AK Steel's highest priority."

Mr Bruce Steiner, president of ACCCI said "The employees of AK Steel's Ashland coke plant have made safety their top priority. Coke plants are challenging work environments from the standpoint of keeping employees safe and AK Steel has done a tremendous job year after year at both Ashland and Middletown to protect its most important asset its people.

Mr Steiner explained that the purpose of the award is to inspire and encourage ACCCI member companies to improve their industrial safety programs and prevent personal injuries.