Essar Steel gets approval for steel plant in Trinidad & Tobago

PTI reported that Essar Steel has received approval of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for its proposed USD 1.76 billion plant in the Caribbean and that it will start construction by July 2007.

The report cites an official of Essar as saying that "We have got necessary approvals for our integrated iron and steel plant in the Caribbean. We would start construction activity in the next three four months after the necessary formalities are over.

The plant would have an annual production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes and would be operational by 2010.

Essar is setting up the new plant primarily to meet the needs of the US market and also of the Caribbean.

Bellary based sponge units call for iron ore policy

It is reported that members of the Bellary District Sponge Iron Manufacturers' Association have appealed to Dr Manmohan Singh to formulate a national policy on mining to safeguard the interests of small scale sponge iron industries. Mr T Srinivas Rao president of the association said that they were finding it difficult to get raw materials and appealed to him to ensure regular quota of raw materials.

Mr Rao said that 30 sponge iron units were set up in Bellary district, which had abundant deposits of quality rich iron ore. But the survival of these units was at stake as the lease hold rights of these iron ore deposits were controlled by a few major players who have been exporting a major chunk of the iron ore extracted.

He added that as a result sponge iron units had to rely on private supply which was not assured and came in the way of maintaining the expected production.

He urged the Prime Minister to instruct state and central government owned undertakings Mysore engaged in mining activities in Bellary district, to allot a regular quota of iron ore to the sponge iron units.

Seaways starts coastal movement of RINLs steel to Kolkata

Business Line has reported that shipping and logistics service provider Hyderabad based Seaways has commenced coastal movement of steel from Vizag to Kolkata ports. For the first time, steel products from Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd were loaded into containers and moved from Vizag port to Kolkata.

Captain Vijay Gopal CEO of Seaways Group said that with the growing economy and significant infrastructure development across the country, there has been increased activity in movement of various cargoes in the country. He said "Though India has over 7,000 kilometer vast coast line, there has not been much emphasis on carriage of goods through coastal shipping.

Minor fire at sinter conveyor at RINLs Vizag Steel Plant

According to a release by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, a minor fire accident occurred in its Visakhapatnam steel plant on Monday morning but there was no substantial damage or production loss.

The release said, "Sinter is cooled in the drum coolers and then in straight line coolers and is transported to the blast furnace through a series of conveyor belts. On Monday at 8.30 AM two of the belts were burnt partially due to the discharge of hot sinter. The discharge was stopped immediately and further damage to the belts was avoided. Production, however, continued through another sinter machine."

CILs additional coal output adding to inventory

It is reported that Coal India Ltd It is going ahead with its targeted production of 363 million tonnes for 2006-07 and plans to stick to its extraction schedule of mining 384 million tonnes in 2007-08, despite the large inventory position of about 34 million tonnes.

Mr PS Bhattacharyya chairman of CIL told reporters that Currently, we are extracting about 1.3 million tonnes of coal every day between 60 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes of which are piling up every day. The stockpile had resulted from power companies not lifting coal as projected and problems in movement.

Mr PS Bhattacharyya however added that CIL extracted 343 million tonnes of coal in 2005-06 and fixed a target of 363 million tonnes for 2006-07 at an additional production of 20 million tonnes. The additional production was arrived at on the basis of projected increase in demand from the power sector. This, however, did not materialize and the power sector lifted an additional amount of 2 million tonnes till February 2007, leading to an excess supply situation of 18 million tonnes for the sector.

PGCIL to invest heavily to match power generation plans

Power Grid Corporation of India plans to triple investments during the 11th Plan period of 2007-12 to increase its transmission capacity to more than 3 fold to match the planned increase in power generation capacity.

As per reports, PGCIL may invest INR 55,000 crore in the next 5 years compared with INR 18,000 crore in the past 5 years to achieve an inter regional transmission target of 37,200 MW from current11,500 MW. About 70 % of the proposed INR 55,000 crore investments will be financed through debt, while the balance will be funded through equity.

Mr RP Singh CMD of PGCIL said that Companies generally reduce their original targets, but Powergrid has increased it by 20 % to 25 % because there is demand in transmission.

PGCIL is also facilitating the independent power transmission company route as part of Western Region Strengthening Scheme. The government has also roped in PGCIL for building transmission lines for the ultra mega power projects with an investment of INR 4,000 to INR 5,000 crore per project. Mr Singh added that There is a requirement of INR 71,000 crore in the transmission sector by 2012 and private participation is necessary for this.

SC stays Chhattisgarh HC order on captive power plant

It is reported that a Supreme Court has stayed a Chhattisgarh High Court order that had struck down the state governments decision to impose a INR 100 crore cess on sale of electricity by captive power producers. Chhattisgarh government had approached the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the high court order that struck down its notification imposing 10 paisa per unit cess on sale of electricity by the captive power plants.

The captive power producers had challenged the decision on the ground that they were being discriminated as the independent power producers were not required to pay the cess.

The state government said that the captive and the independent power producers could not be equated as the IPPs were subject to different tax regimes. The state government said that CPPs were exempt from electricity duty for 5 years and did not pay any surcharge, while IPPs had to incur additional cost in the form of wheeling charges, transmission losses and surcharge.

India to spend INR 55,804 crore for port development

Mr TR Baalu union minister of shipping, road transport and highways informed that the central government, keeping in view the demands of maritime trade, has taken measures for increasing the capacity in the major ports as part of an on going process through implementation of development plans for the ports, improvement in productivity etc.

Under the National Maritime Development Program, INR 100,339 crores will be invested for implementation of 387 specific projects over a defined period. Out of this, a total of 276 projects involving an investment of INR 55,804 crores pertain to the major ports and the balance pertain to the shipping and inland water transport sectors.

Out of INR 55,804 crores envisaged for the Major Ports, INR 34,505 crores is expected from the private sector mainly in commercially viable projects like development and operation of berths, terminals, etc. The balance is planned to be met from public funds including government grants and internal and extra budgetary resources of the Major Ports. Thus public private partnership will be a significant mode for implementing the programme in the Major Ports.

Indian governments power projects abroad

Mr Sushilkumar Shinde union power minister of India informed that Indian government is gearing up for following major power projects abroad.

1. India will invest INR 478 crores in constructing a 220 KV double circuit transmission line of 202 kilometers from Pul e Khumri to Kabul and a 220/110/20 KV sub station at Kabul in Afghanistan. This project will supply power to Kabul from Uzbekistan. It is expected to be completed by February 2009.

2. India is also reconstructing the 42 MW Salma Dam Power Project involving erection of 110 KV power transmission lines from Salma Dam to Herat city in Herat province in Afghanistan at an estimated cost of INR 498 crores. The project is likely to be completed by January 2009.

3. India is also supplying equipment for 110 KV transmission line of 130 kilometers and 20 KV transmission line for 150 kilometers along with 20/0.4 KV substation along with 110 KV and 20 KV transmission line material in Faryab province, in northern Afghanistan at an estimated expenditure of INR 39.2 crores.

4. India has financially and technically assisted the government of Bhutan in constructing 336 MW Chukha Hydro Power Project, 60 MW Kurichhu Hydro Power Project and 1020 MW Tala Hydro Power Project. The 3 projects in Bhutan are supplying power to India at mutually agreed rates to meet the demand supply gap.

5. India had also provided assistance to Nepal for the development of hydroelectric power projects like 1 MW Pokhra, 21 MW Trisuli, 15 MW Western Gandak and 14.1 MW Devighat.

Kolkata Port to clock 19% growth in 2006-07

Exim News Service reported that the Kolkata Port Trust is expecting a growth of over 19% in cargo handling in 2006-07.

Dr AK Chanda chairman of the Kolkata Port Trust said that the Tariff Authority for Major Ports has introduced a new tariff structure which is down by around 20 %for Kolkata Port users from March 8th 2007 and the dwell time for cargo would be reduced from an average of 8 days to 3 days as against 20 days earlier.

He said that KoPT had added about 29,000 square meters of container stacking capacity in the Kolkata dock system bringing the total to more than 0.1 million square meters capable of accommodating around 10,000 TEUs at a time. Out of the 29,000 square meters, 23,000 square meters were in the Basra Extension area and the remaining 6,000 square meters in berth No 5 area.

The total cost of the extension had cost the KoPT about INR 5.5 crore. The Port authorities had also installed a computerized information centre in the KDS at a cost of about INR 1.6 million to facilitate the handling of containers and other cargoes.

Chinas February trade surplus crosses USD 23 billion

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, China has posted a trade surplus of USD 23.76 billion in February 2007 with the surplus for the first 2 months amounting to USD 39.6 billion.

Chinas exports for February totaled USD 82.1 billion up by 51.7 % YoY while exports for the January to February period totaled USD 168.7 billion up by 41.5 % YoY.

Chinas imports for February 2007 also increased by 13.1 % YoY from a year earlier to USD 58.34 billion while imports for the January to February period were USD 129.1 billion up by 20.6 % YoY.

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Baosteel and Baotou in merger talks

Xinhua reported that Baosteel is in talks to integrate mid sized Baotou Iron & Steel in north China. Mr Lin Donglu board chairman of the Baotou Iron & Steel Group confirmed that it is in talks with the Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp

Mr Lin added that the consolidation of steel businesses in China is key to the profit prospect of steel plants with annual production capacity of less than 10 million tons. He said "The restructuring is in line with the government policy of encouraging consolidation in the steel sector and a win win strategy for all since we can share technology, capital and sales network.

Mr Liang Tiecheng director of the Regional Reform and Development Commission in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region where Baotou is located, said that Baosteel had proposed to purchase a controlling stake of Baotou Iron & Steel Group but the request has not been decided. He said that Baotou Iron & Steel is faced with growth bottlenecks as the profit margin from traditional steel products has become very thin.

Baotou Iron & Steel produced 7.48 million tons of crude steel last year, compared with 22.5 million tons from Baosteel.

NDRC conditionally rejects Arcelor bid for Laiwu Report

China Business reported that the National Development and Reform Commission have conditionally rejected the proposed purchase by Arcelor Mittal of Laiwu Steel Co Ltd by putting forward objections concerning price and technology transfer.

NDRC believe Laiwu has been undervalued if Arcelor Mittal pays CNY 2 billion in exchange for 38% stake of Laiwu based on the previous share price. Shares of Laiwu Steel have soared 57.25% since Arcelor Mittal announced the plan in February. The company stock has resumed trading on January 19th 2007 after being halted trading for almost four months. Moreover, Beijing is expecting more technology transfer from Arcelor Mittal. The report mentions a sources as saying that subsequent to Mittal Steels acquisition of 37% of Hunan Valin Steel Tube & Wire Co for CNY 2.56 billion, the cooperation has not fared smoothly so far as Arcelor Mittal is not fully committed to the technology transfer it promised to Valin, so Beijing would try to avoid that in Laiwu's case.

Laigang Group, parent of Laiwu Steel Co Ltd, said that it is not aware of any rejection issued by regulators of Arcelor Mittal's latest proposal. A spokesman for the group's capital operations department Talks with Arcelor are still in progress and our high level officials are still studying the most recent proposal. I know of no rejection by the regulator.

Another company official from Laiwu told China Business that "NDRC just gave their advice instead of rejection, and we still have leeway for pushing forward the deal. Two sides have already started second round of talks for working out solution to pass over the hurdle put up by NDRC.

Arcelor and Laiwu Group reached an agreement for Arcelor to acquire a 38.41 % stake in listed Laiwu Steel for CNY 2.09 billion in February 2006. Laiwu Steel had extended the date of its stock purchasing agreement with Arcelor Mittal to June 30th in a notice filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange in January after going through nearly 3 year long marathon negotiations.

Steel is considered a strategic sector in China, with foreign involvement subject to review over and above normal acquisitions. Most industry sources say that Arcelor Mittal now has less chance of securing the stake. This reflects the fears of the Chinese government and others of the mega sized steelmaker operating in China.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

Iron Ore Company workers strike

Reuters reported that the proposed talks between the Iron Ore Co of Canada and striking workers of United Steelworkers union has been called off after about 1,000 unionized workers rejected a new labor contract and downed tools on Friday. But the company is continuing to ship pellets to customers despite a strike that shut down mining operations.

Mr Wayne Fraser, a spokesman for the United Steelworkers union said that "Productivity levels are the highest they have ever been within that facility and yet employees are getting absolutely no respect from the employer." Mr Fraser said a key sticking point in the negotiations is workers' demand for their seniority rights to be respected. He added that "We have made it very clear to the company that we are willing to go back to the bargaining table and sort this out."

Iron Ore said it was disappointed by the workers' decision to strike and said that it had offered employees a wage and benefit increase of almost 10 % over 3 years at CAD 4,000 signing bonus, the continuation of an electricity subsidy and had kept the status quo on contracting out.

Iron Ore spokesman Michel Filion said that the company had large inventories of pellets at its port facilities in Sept-Iles in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and was in a position to satisfy customers.

This is the second time in three years that workers at Iron Ore have gone on strike. A 2004 work stoppage lasted six weeks.

Rio Tinto owns 59% stake in Iron Ore Co, which produces iron ore pellets and concentrates at its Labrador City site on the Newfoundland and Labrador border with Quebec. The company's other shareholders are Japan's Mitsubishi Corp with a 26 % stake and the Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Fund with a 15% interest. Iron Ore last year produced 13 million tons of pellets.

US steel imports in February down by 9% MoM

The American Iron and Steel Institute reported last week that steel import permit applications for the month of February 2007 totaled 2.625 million net tons at 9 % decrease from the 2.889 million net tons recorded in January 2007.

Import permit tonnage for finished steel totaled 2.136 million net tons in February 2007 as against preliminary imports of 2.153 million net tons in January 2007 and a monthly average of 2.099 million net tons in 2005.

The largest volume of steel import permit applications for an individual country was Canada at 443,000 net tons. Other notable countries include China at 317,000 net tons, Mexico at 246,000 net tons and Brazil at 177,000 net ton.

Mr Andrew G Sharkey III president and CEO of AISI said that Following last years record import levels and inventory build, we are continuing to monitor imports closely, especially from Asia and countries with a history of unfair trading. At the same time we are working with Members of Congress and other industries to advance a pro manufacturing agenda that recognizes the urgent need to strengthen our nations vital laws against foreign dumping and subsidies so that we can ensure market based outcomes for efficient US producers.

AISI is comprised of 32 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers and 125 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry in North America.

FMGs Pilbara operations suffer due to cyclone George

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd has warned of possible delays and cost overruns at its flagship project after cyclone George battered the Pilbara recently. FMG said the extent of damage to its rail construction sites and mine site are yet to be fully assessed but the company anticipated the cyclone has had an impact.

FMG said The extent of damage to the actual rail construction sites has yet to be fully determined. It is expected the heavy rains will have affected parts of the earthworks along the rail line and a more detailed assessment of any material impact of the project schedule will be advised as soon as possible."

FMG said it was anticipated that sections of the site earthworks at the Cloud Break mine site would have been affected by the heavy rainfall and an assessment would be made once all access roads are open. It said the impact of cyclone George will be felt across both the project cost and schedule. And the full affect of this will not be known until a proper assessment of the extent of damage and remobilization costs can be quantified.

FMG has also appointed an independent panel of experts to review the company's procedures and processes after damage at the company's Rail Camp 1 accommodation camp caused by Cyclone George left two people dead and 16 injured. Mr Andrew Forrest CEO of FMG said that the panel, led by risk management and incident investigation specialist Dr Derek Griffiths, will investigate why a number of the supposedly cyclone proof structures collapsed during the category 4 cyclone.

FMG is looking to ship first ore from its project in early 2008.

Chinese steel export prices moving up

Chinese steel export prices continue to move up last week as many steel makers are fully booked till May shipment.

1. HRC
Export offers actually have been continuously on the rise. Now commercial HRC offers have risen to USD 530 per tonne FOB from USD 520 to USD 530 per tonne in last week. One steel maker has concluded its re rolling grade material at USD 550 per tonne FOB for May shipments. Also latest Chinese HRC offers to EU have reached EUR 475 per tonne CFR.

2. HGD
A shanghai based trader is offering 0.6m to 1.5mm HDG in Z120 at USD 810 to USD 820 per tonne CFR for shipments to Spain with 1.0mm to 1.5mm taking major part. While another East China based steel maker is tagging at high price level and is quoting its DX51D 1.2mm-1.5mm HDG in Z220 at USD 860 to USD 870 per tonne CFR for shipments to Europe. 0.5mm material in Z180 is even offered at USD 980 to USD 990 per tonne CFR in June shipment.

3. HR plate
Plate exports are so hot that most steel makers vie to raise export offers by great amount. A Major steel maker in East China is offering S235JR HR plate at USD 610 to USD 620 per tonne FOB up by USD 40 to USD 50 per tonne than this January. Also it has recently concluded S355JR exports at about USD 700 per tonne FOB for April May shipment. By comparison, a big plate producer in Shandong province is quoting SS400 or Q235 plate at about USD 600 per tonne CFR for shipments to South Korea. At the same time, a North China based steel maker are exporting SS400 or Q235 HR plate at USD 583 per tonne FOB and S275 material at USD 598 per tonne FOB May shipment, which compares with USD 550 to USD 560 per tonne FOB for March April shipment and USD 480 per USD 520 per tonne FOB for February shipment.

4. Long products
A central China based steel maker has concluded SAE1008/1010 wire rod at USD 465 to USD 470 per tonne FOB for shipments to Italy. This is reported to be the first wire rod exports that in large quantity. At the same time, a East China based steel maker is even reported to have raised SAE1008 grade 5.5mmwire rod to USD 490 to USD 500 per tonne FOB. Another steel maker in North China is offering 10mm rebar at USD 460per tonne CFR for shipments to South Korea up by USD 20 per tonne than last month.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

BHP resumes Pilbara mining operations

It is reported that BHP Billiton has resumed mining activities at its Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia but port facilities remain closed in preparation for a second cyclone.

Ms Emma Meade spokesperson of BHPB said "The majority of sites are operating as normal with railing temporarily suspended until tropical cyclone Jacob passes. The Yarrie mine, located approximately 200 kilometer to the east of Port Hedland is operating in a limited capacity following the downing of power lines as a result of George. BHP Billiton is working with Government agencies to restore power as quickly as possible with the site currently operating on generators."

Ms Meade said "It had been planned to load a ship in the early hours of this morning with the change of alert status the harbor has been closed and the vessel sent out to safe waters. She said depending on the progress of the cyclone it is possible the port will re open later this afternoon.

Jacob is the third tropical cyclone to hit the WA coast after Isobel disrupted a number of oil, gas and inland mining operations in January followed by George last week.

US SS makers increase alloy surcharges again

YIEH reported that major US stainless steel makers announced a price increase for alloy surcharges to offset the increasing costs for nickel, chromium, unalloyed scrap and other inputs.

As per report the flat rolled stainless steel consumer in North US will face another price increase in raw material surcharges in April. Austenitic grades surcharge will hit a new record high level in April, in case of type 304 of USD1.7363 to USD 1.7421 per pound doubled since August 2006 and tripled compared to last March.

Ferritic stainless surcharges are also on the rise. Type 430 in April reaches the highest so far this year at USD 0.1323 USD 0.1382 per lb.

Gibraltar acquires Montreal based Dramex Corp

Gibraltar Industries Inc announced that it acquired Montreal based Dramex Corp. Terms of the transaction were not announced.

Founded in 1958, Dramex is a private Canadian manufacturer of expanded metal products and has annual sales of about USD 25 million. It makes standard and flattened expanded metal, structural grating, micro mesh, and decorative metal patterns sold under the trademark DRAMEX. It has 90 employees at five plants in Quebec, Ontario, Ohio, Louisiana, and England.

Mr Brian Lipke chairman and CEO said Dramex broadens Gibraltar's product offering provides manufacturing facilities in new markets, and expands and diversifies the company's customer base. It further strengthens Gibraltar's global leadership position in the growing expanded metal market.

Metalico eying more shredders

Platts has reported that scrap processor Metalico is considering other options for acquiring shredders after a deal to acquire one in Rochester in New York fell through in 2006.

Mr Carlos Aguero president and CEO of Metalico said that "We were not able to come to satisfactory terms and so we terminated that effort. We have locations under consideration in Rochester and Syracuse is in the process of determining now which is best for us."

Metalico announced in March 2006 that it intended to acquire Union Processing in Rochester which processes approximately 120,000 long tons per year of ferrous scrap using a 98 inch shredder. Metalico has in the past supplied a small portion of Union's ferrous throughput.

Metalico's expansion strategy received another setback last year when it terminated the planned acquisition of Niles Iron & Metal which operates 2 scrap yards in northeastern Ohio processing a combined 200,000 tonnes per year of ferrous scrap.

Shougang to reduce work force at Caofeidian project

Reuters reported that Shougang Iron and Steel Group will further cut its workforce to about 20,000 as it moves to a new coastal facility and closes its polluting plants in Beijing. The cut of 64,700 jobs comes on top of a reduction to around 83,000 employees at the end of last year from 174,000 employees in 2001.

Mr Zhu Jimin chairman of Shougang at a news conference said "It's a problem we must solve for the sake of social stability and to meet our responsibilities so that everyone can be taken care of and get a job. If even one worker is not taken care of our cadres can't leave their posts."

Mr Zhu said that by the time its Beijing operations are phased out in 2010, 10,900 workers would have retired and that another 13,000 will be forced into early retirement. He added that About 20,000 will move to Caofeidian for non core businesses, while 21,200 will be given a termination payment and be retrained for new jobs.

Shougang produced 12.48 million tonnes of steel in 2006, earning it revenue of CNY 87.47 billion and profits of CNY 1.65 billion. Shougang is closing its Beijing plants and building a new mill with an annual capacity of 9.7 million tonnes on the Hebei coast in order to modernize and help reduce Beijing's choking pollution. It will hold 51% of the new Caofeidian project and Tangshang Iron and Steel Group the balance.

Shanxi to hold coal expo in September

China daily reported that China International Coal and Energy Expo will be held September 16th to 18th 2007 in North China's Shanxi Province, when coal producers from across the globe will meet to discuss various aspects of the industry.

Mr Gao Hucheng vice minister of commerce of China said that the expo is co organized by the Shanxi provincial government and the Ministry of Commerce and will be important for future development of the Chinas coal industry.

North China's Shanxi Province is the Chinas largest coal producing region. According to provincial authorities the province has produced 580 million tons of coal in 2006. According to the National Bureau of Statistics China consumed 2.46 billion tons of coal equivalent last year, up by 9.3% from 2005.

Shougang Group plans to fully list its assets in 2010

Xinhua reported that Shougang Group is planning to fully list its assets before the end of 2010 when its new production base in neighboring Hebei Province is put into full operation.

Mr Zhu Jimin board chairman of Shougang Group, without mentioning the specific stock market the company targeting, said that the listing is one of our future goals. He said that the group has been restructuring and optimizing its Hong Kong listed companies focused on high end services and high technologies.

Shougang Group now has one subsidiary listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and four on the Hong Kong market.

Shougangs new plant with an annual production capacity of 9.7 million tons, is scheduled for operation in half capacity in 2008 and will become China's largest steel plant when it is in full operation in 2010.

US opposing coal mine in British Columbia

It is reported that US is challenging a coal mine proposed in British Columbia in Canada saying that it poses an environmental threat that could extend south of the border. British Columbia gave Cline a permit for exploratory work to determine whether the coal mine should be developed in 2005.

US State Department in a letter to the British Columbia government said that Cline Mining Cos proposed coal mine just north of Glacier National Park could cause significant adverse environmental effects the United States.

US official said that the open pit mine would jeopardize water quality in the Flathead area, which includes Flathead Lake and other waters popular for recreation. The Flathead River system spans the international border and the north fork of the river is Glacier's western boundary.

Another proposal for another mine just north of Glacier was scrapped after Montana raised concerns about potential harm to water downstream in 2004. Earlier in the 1980s, a proposal for coal mining north of Glacier ended after the International Joint Commission initiated an assessment of the mine's potential effect on Flathead water and fish and found that the project likely to violate the water treaty.

Polaris plans to focus on iron ore business in WA

Polaris Metals NL has recently provided details of its plans to spin off its precious and base metals portfolio and to focus on developing its iron ore assets in Western Australia.

Polaris is now making plans to progress another IPO featuring the companys base metals, gold and nickel prospects and intends acquiring International Goldfields Ltds Evanston tenement package for inclusion with Polaris projects north of Southern Cross in a new company spin off. The new company which will have its own dedicated exploration management team will seek to raise capital through an IPO and list on the ASX.

Polaris also agreed with Gondwana Resources Ltd to vend its projects south of Southern Cross into a new company, Regatta Resources Ltd, which is also expected to lodge an IPO Prospectus in the near future.

Mr Kevin Schultz MD of Polaris said, We are very fortunate to have accumulated such a large, quality portfolio of gold, base metals, uranium and iron ore prospects since listing in 2004. Going forward is the best way to progress these assets and derive value for our shareholders is to focus on our iron ore projects, whilst spinning off the non core assets into their own dedicated companies.

SDI orders for melt shop material handling system for Columbia City mill

It is reported that Steel Dynamics Inc has awarded Pittsburgh based Core Furnace Systems a USD 200 million contract to design and supply a melt shop material handling system for its mini mill based at Columbia City in Indiana. The project is expected to start up soon.

Core's project includes a new flux charging bucket additive system for the electric furnace and calls for relocating the alloy handling system for the plant's ladle met furnace. New system components include conveyors, storage silos, bins, vibratory feeders, and unloading stations. The ladle met system improvements call for a system that collects emissions during ferroalloy transfer, loading and weighing. Besides, Core will design and supply a process control and automation system that will interface with the plant's current control architecture.

This will be the second melt shop material handling system designed by Core for SDI at Columbia City.

JP Steel Plantech gets higher order for steel plant equipments

Yokohama based steel making facility maker JP Steel Plantech expects the order receipt increases to around JPY 42 billion in fiscal 2006 ending March 2007 as compared with original plan of JPY 31 billion and JPY 35 billion in fiscal 2005.

JP Steel Plantech got order from Nakayama Steel Works, Cosipa of Brazil and Riva Group of Italy in fiscal 2006. JP Steel Plantech' sales increase by around 40 % to JPY 36.5 billion in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005.

Arch Coal appoints Mr Ziegler as president of sales

Arch Coal Inc announced that Mr John Ziegler Jr has been named president of Arch Coal Sales for Arch's sales and marketing subsidiary effective immediately. Mr Ziegler will have responsibility for contract administration and the day to day marketing of Arch's geographically diverse operations. He will report to Mr David N Warnecke Arch's VP of marketing and trading.

Mr Ziegler served as VP of marketing administration for Arch Coal sales and joined Arch Coal in 2002 as director of internal audit. Prior to joining Arch Coal and held various finance and accounting positions with bioMerieux and Ernst & Young. Mr Ziegler earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from St Louis University in 1989. He is a certified public accountant.

Mr Warnecke said that Mr John has shown tremendous leadership in our sales and marketing efforts. We're pleased Mr John has accepted this expanded role and believe he can aptly lead our efforts in providing power producers with progressive fuel sourcing solutions and unmatched customer service."