RINL orders BF from Paul Wurth and L&T consortium

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the holding company of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has signed the agreement with a consortium of Paul Wurth of Italy and Larsen & Toubro for the construction and commissioning of the 3rd blast furnace at a cost of more than INR 1500 crores. This is scheduled to be commissioned within 30 months.

The BF is of 3,800 cubic meters volume with a production of 2.5 million tons per annum and will hike RINLs hot metal capacity to 6.2 million tonnes.

The project is envisaged on a total turnkey concept including all civil, structural, electrical & automation works involved for commissioning of BF. The state of art technology in BF operations including coal dust Injection, oxygen enrichment, copper cooling plates and level 2 automation are incorporated to give best productivity levels and low energy consumption.

Mr PK Bishnoi CMD of RINL congratulated the parties involved and stressed that the project has to be completed ahead of schedule creating a landmark in the execution of major projects.

POSCOs India plans suffer major set back

POSCOs plans for setting up mega steel plant in India have suffered a major setback when two of its employees were taken hostage by the villagers opposing the venture. The employees were released after seven hours of captivity.

A three member team of the company had gone to the villages under Dhinkia gram panchayat to talk to the villagers about the project and convince them for handing over their land for the steel plant. The team was surrounded by the villagers opposing the proposed mega steel mill when they reached Gobindpur village at 4 PM. The two male employees were held captive by the agitating villagers and their vehicle was damaged. The activists allowed the woman employee and the driver of the car to return to the company's local office at Kujang.

After taking the two into hostage, the villagers had put a condition that they will release the employees only after the company gave in writing not to send their men to the area in the future. The villagers agreed to set the employees free after POSCO assured that they would not send their men to the area in the days to come.

Mr Abhay Sahu president of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti said "We agreed to release the two employees of POSCO after a top officer of the company spoke to us over the phone and the two employees gave in writing they would not come to the area again.

POSCO has signed a MoU with Orissa government for the setting up of a 12 million tonne per annum capacity steel plant nearly two years ago but the government has failed to acquire any private land for the project so far and has recently advised POSCO to deal with protesting land owners directly. With this incident, POSCO Indias efforts to hold direct talks with the people to acquire land could be severely effected.

Mr SS Ahmed joins SAIL board as Director Commercial

Steel Authority of India Limited announced that on nomination by government of India, SAILs board of directors has approved the appointment of Mr SS Ahmed ED of SAIL as director commercial on its board of directors.

Mr Ahmed, after BA (Honors) in English Literature and MBA from XLRI, joined as a senior executive in International Trade and HRD group of SAIL in 1974. After various positions in the marketing wing of SAIL, he was promoted as Executive Director of Corporate Affairs in 2002. His last assignment has been as Executive Director Marketing (Long Products) since 2003.

Bhushan Steel Limited to set up 2 million tonnes steel plant in WB

Bhushan Steel Limited has signed an agreement with West Bengal government for setting up an integrated steel plant, a captive power unit and a cold rolling & galvanizing plant in West Bengal at an investment of INR 8,800 crore. The plants are to come up at Salanpur in Burdwan and Bijpur in North 24 Parganas.

The project at Salanpur, estimated to cost INR 8,000 crore, will be set up over an area of 2500 acres. The integrated steel plant with 2 million tonne capacity and the captive power plant will be of 1,000MW size.

The Bijpur plant is estimated to cost INR 800 crore and will be set up over 90 acres. The cold rolled mill will have a capacity of 0.5 million tonne.

Mr Neeraj Singal MD of Bhushan Steel Limited said We have chosen West Bengal because the industrial climate here is good and there is political stability, which is also conducive for investment. We have been promised that we will be given land in one years time. In that case, we hope we will be able to commission the projects within four years.

Land for both projects will be acquired by the Land and Land Reforms Department and will be sold to WBIDC, which will ultimately hand them over to the company on a long term lease.

JSL moving ahead with SS project in Orissa

Jindal Stainless Limited has reaffirmed its plans to set up a 0.8 million tonnes per annum stainless steel plant at the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex in Orissa as a part of its expansion program at an investment of INR 5,600 crore as it intends to reach a final capacity of 1.6 million tonnes by 2012.

Mr VS Jain CEO of Jindal Stainless told ET that We are moving ahead on our Greenfield project in Orissa at a fast pace. The first phase entailing an investment of INR 2,250 crore would be completed by year end. Work on the second phase would start simultaneously so that we commission the 0.8 million tonnes plant by December 2009.

Mr Jain said that technical detailing and agreement for all major machinery and equipment for the new plant have been concluded. JSL has signed the contract for steel melt shop with SMS Demag and for hot strip mill with Siemens VAI.

Bastar set for a major makeover with the entering of the TATA Steel

ANI reported that Chattisgarhs Bastar district is set for a major makeover with the entering of the TATA Group.

The report cites to Mr Ganesh Shankar Mishra district collector of Bastar as saying that TATA Steel has taken care of affected families whose land is being acquired while launching this project and will give technical training prior to providing a job to one member of the affected families.

He added that The state government is also arranging bridge courses for middle and matriculate unemployed youth to get them adjusted in TATA Steel plant.

TATA Steel has signed a MoU with Chattisgarh government for a 5 million tonnes capacity steel plant cum township and about 5000 acres of land has been acquired for the project from 10 villages.

NOC required from NLC for development of lignite blocks

Indias major lignite and lignite based power producer Neyveli Lignite Corporation, in addition to exploration activities in lignite blocks to augment its lignite production, has planned development of blocks in open cast mining, underground coal gasification and coal bed methane in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Dr Dasari Narayana Rao minister of state for coal informed the Rajya Sabha that NLC is also designated as a data center for lignite resource database keeping in view the future plans and to ensure that the resources are put to use in a planned and scientific manner.

Dr Rao said Therefore, keeping in view the future plans of NLC and to ensure that the resources are put to use in a planned and scientific manner, it has been provided that a state government company or undertaking shall obtain a certificate from NLC to the effect that they have no plan or willingness to undertake mining operation in the concerned lignite block. The present arrangement is under review.

Regarding Raneri Lignite block in Bikaner district of Rajasthan NLC proposes to utilize the deposits from this block for an underground coal gasification project which was sanctioned on August 8th 2005. Dr Rao added that It is expected to be completed within 4 years form the date of sanction.

GAIL to invest INR 25,000 crore

It is reported that GAIL India Ltd has plan to invest about INR 25,000 crore in laying new pipelines and expanding petrochemical business during the next 5 years.

Mr RK Goel director finance of GAIL told that "Out of the total CAPEX, INR 10,000 crore will be funded from internal resources and the remaining INR 15,000 crore will be borrowed from domestic and overseas market. We may look at selling part of our holding in ONGC to meet the CAPEX requirements."

He said that GAIL will invest INR 2,744 crore during current fiscal with INR 1,761 crore in laying new gas pipelines, INR 146 crore in petrochemicals, INR 500 crore in oil and gas exploration and INR 268 crore in new projects.

Mr Goel added that "Next year, the CAPEX will be around INR 6,000 crore and we may borrow INR 2,500 crore toward the end of the current fiscal to meet part of that requirement."

GAIL has recorded an 11% jump in turnover in 2006-07 to INR 16,407 crore and its net profit was INR 2,387 crore as against INR 2,310 crore a year ago. GAIL holds 2.4% stake in Oil and Natural Gas Corp which is worth INR 4,672 crore at today's share price of INR 909 and its current debt equity ratio of 0.12:1 will help leverage debt for the expansion projects.

Sical Logistics to purchase 4 rakes fro container movement

Exim News Service reported that Sical Logistics which is putting up a rail cum road terminal and a container freight station at Nagpur has proposes to purchase a total of 4 rakes for its container freight train operations by the end of 2007 as a part of its extension logistics business.

The report mentions that each rake will cost slightly over INR 12 crore and contains a train of 45 flat beds, each of which can hold 2 TEUs. A rake, therefore, can transport 90 TEUs. The orders for rakes may be placed with either Texmaco of the KK Birla group or Titagarh Wagons Ltd.

Mr Karthik Menon director of Sical revealed that the container freight trains would run between Chennai and New Delhi but would also touch Bangalore and other industrial segments along the way.

Orissa to boost power transmission infrastructure

PTI reported that Orissa government had decided to borrow INR 500 crore from the Power Finance Corporation and other such agencies to strengthen the transmission infrastructure in the state.

Mr SN Patro energy minister of Orissa said that Though Orissa is capable of meeting electricity demands from different categories of consumers, including industries, it lacks requisite transmission infrastructure. The government had also decided to undertake electrification in 10,000 villages under the rural electrification scheme during 2009-10 and therefore there is a need to strengthen the transmission system in order to meet the demand.

He said that the state would require at least 3,633 MW of power during 2009-10 because of the commissioning of some new industries. He said Overall, the industries would demand more than 500 MW of power during 2009-10 and the state urgently needed to have at least 3 direct current lines between Meramunduli to Duburi and Meramunduli to Chandikhol.

Orissa suffers nearly 50% of transmission loss every year due to poor infrastructure in the power sector. An official source said that Orissas revenue loss owing to transmission loss was calculated to be INR 2,250 crore per annum. Most of the transformers operating in the state were in bad conditions, while the high tension lines were also weak to take the load thus causing severe power loss.

China's April steel exports hit all time high of 7.16 million tonnes

China's exports of finished steel products in April 2007 hit all time high at 7.16 million tonnes, breaking the previous monthly record of 5.55 million tonnes set in December 2006.

With this, Chinas exports of finished steel products add up to 21.28 million tonnes for January to April 2007 period. China exported semi steel of 870,000 tons in April 2007 and 2.65 million tons for January to April 2007.

China imported 1.63 million tons of finished steel products in April 2007 and 5.9 million tonnes for January to April 2007. Its imports of the semis stand at 20,000 tonnes in April 2007 and 100,000 tonne is January to April 2007.

In terms of total tonnage of finished steel product and semi steel combined, the nation exported 8.03 million tons and imported 1.65 million tons of combined tonnage in April 2007.

Chinas imports of iron ore are recorded at 33.37 million tons for April up by 23.3% YoY and 133.55 million tons for January to April 2007.

Exports of coke stand at 1.48 million tons for April up by 22.1% YoY and 5.13 million tons for the January to April 2007.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

ThyssenKrupp gives green light to steel mill at Alabama in USA

The supervisory board of ThyssenKrupp AG approved the EUR 3.1 billion investment in a steel mill to be operated jointly by the Steel and Stainless segments in Mount Vernon in the US state of Alabama. The plant is scheduled to start operation in 2010.

The central element of the new plant will be a jointly used hot strip mill with a capacity of up to 5.2 million tons per year. It will process 3 million tons of slabs from the new ThyssenKrupp CSA steel mill in Brazil and produce 4.1 million tons of flat carbon steel end products per year. Cold rolling and hot dip coating capacities will also be installed for premium carbon steel end products.

In addition, ThyssenKrupp Stainless will build an electric steel plant with a capacity of up to 1 million tons of slabs per year which will be rolled on the hot strip mill. A cold rolling facility is also to be erected which, in the first phase, will be designed to produce 350,000 tons of cold rolled strip and 125,000 tons of pickled hot rolled material. A further 340,000 tons of stainless hot rolled produced on the hot strip mill will be supplied to the ThyssenKrupp Mexinox cold rolling facility in San Luis Potosin Mexico.

The level of investment will be EUR 2.3 billion at ThyssenKrupp Steel and EUR 0.8 billion at ThyssenKrupp Stainless. The original investment volume of EUR 2.3 billion was raised to EUR 3.1 billion because higher capacities and extended plant configurations were shown to be feasible and economic. Beyond the original model, ThyssenKrupp Steel will install additional equipment to further diversify its product portfolio. ThyssenKrupp Stainless will increase its capacity and broaden its flat stainless steel product mix. In the future the company will also be able to supply products in widths of 72 inches, giving it a unique position on the US market.

Dr Ekkehard Schulz Executive Board Chairman said This project is a central element of the Groups strategy for the Steel and Stainless segments, aimed at achieving profitable growth in Europe and North America. It will considerably strengthen ThyssenKrupps position in North America. This combination of cost and quality leadership can only be achieved with the new steel mill.

TMK announces preliminary discussions with Interpipe

OAO TMK announces that it is engaging in preliminary discussions with regard to a potential transaction with Ukrainian pipe and steel products company, Interpipe.

TMK said that These talks are at an early and exploratory stage and there can be no certainty that they will lead to a transaction or the form it will take.

It added that TMK has no further comment at this time.

US Steel and Lone Star get early termination of Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period

US Steel Corporation and Lone Star Technologies Inc announced that they received notice from the Federal Trade Commission of early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period on May 10th 2007 in connection with the previously announced merger pursuant to which Lone Star would be acquired by US Steel for a cash consideration of USD 67.5 per share.

Completion of the merger is subject to the approval of Lone Star's shareholders and customary closing conditions. Both companies expect the transaction to close during the second quarter of 2007.

Lone Star Technologies Inc is a USD 1.4 billion holding company whose principal operating subsidiaries manufacture and market oilfield casing, tubing and line pipe, specialty tubing products, including finned tubes used in a variety of heat recovery applications, and flat rolled steel and other tubular products and services.

US Steel will be able to produce about 2.8 million tons of tubular steel in North America annually after the transaction is completed.

Heidtman Steel to build continuous annealing line

Steel sales and processors Heidtman Steel Products Inc is finalizing plans to construct a new continuous annealing facility. Heidtman is looking at several Midwest locations for this project that will cost approximately USD 225 million including downstream processing equipment and will create 200 jobs.

The 500,000 short tons per year new facility will be capable of producing advanced and ultra high strength steels including martensitic grades and it will produce material thicknesses from 0.4mm to 2.3mm (0.015 to 0.090 ) in a maximum width of 1651mm (65).

Mr John Bates CEO of Heidtman said that Our plan to build a new continuous annealing facility is a natural progression with higher strength steels, and reinforces our brand as the high strength experts. It also underscores our commitment to our customers to remain at the cutting edge of technology. We see an emerging growth in demand for these products, especially in the automotive market.

Mr John Dillingham director of technical services for automotive products at Heidtman said that We have completed a lengthy study and are moving forward with our plans to construct this facility.

Ohio based Heidtman Steel Products sells flat rolled carbon steel products through its 15 processing facilities. Heidtman processes nearly 5 million tons of steel annually through its wholly owned facilities and joint ventures. Its products are distributed to a variety of industries including automotive, heavy truck, construction, pipe and tube, metal building, appliance, and furniture.

Hyundai Steel inks iron ore agreement with CVRD

South Korea's No 2 steelmaker Hyundai Steel Co announced that it has signed an iron ore purchase contract with Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. Under the deal, Hyundai Steel will buy more than 4 million tons of iron ore annually from the world's biggest iron ore producer from 2010 to 2020.

The iron ore will be for the Hyundai Steel's furnace that it is now building in Dangjin southwest of Seoul. Hyundai Steel's new mill, once its construction is completed by 2011, will have an annual output capacity of 8 million tons at an investment of KWR 5.24 trillion.

The new steel mill is expected to consume 13 million tons of iron ore annually.

Mr Chung Mong-Koo chairman of its parent Hyundai Motor said For the best quality steel products and cars, securing good quality iron ore is important. Through this contract, we are confident of the success of Hyundai Steel's integrated steel mill operations.

Usiminas Q1 net surges by 86% YoY

Brazilian Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA announced that its net profit surged by 86% in Q1 of 2007 after it stepped up sales in the domestic market, where profit margins are higher. Usiminas in a statement said that its consolidated net income went up by BRR 641.8 million (USD 318 million) from BRR 344.6 million as compare to 2006 whereas its sales rose by 13% YoY to BRR 3.34 billion.

Highlights of Q1 result

Sales volume in 000 tonnes
Others in BRR millions

Mr Rinaldo Campos Soares CEO of Usiminas has sought to cut exports to 30% or less of total sales to get higher profit from galvanized and coiled steel and avoid transport costs that are eroding profit margins on foreign sales. Usiminas sold 72% of its output in Brazil during the quarter as compared with 62% a year earlier.

Higher steel prices helped make up for drop in total raw steel production during the quarter. Usiminas also benefited from a 5.1% gain in the value of the real as the stronger local currency reduced the value of its dollar denominated debt in reais.

Usiminas is the largest provider of flat steel' to the Brazilian auto and appliance industries. The company's domestic sales are dominated by products such as galvanized steel, HR and CR while exports are mostly slabs.

POSCO secures land for steel mill in Vietnam

It is reported that POSCO has clinched a land lease agreement with the Industrial Park and Urban Investment Development Corporation to build hot rolled and cold rolled steel plants in Vietnams southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

POSCO Vietnam the arm of POSCO Co Ltd will lease 130 hectares in the Phu My Industrial Park 2 for the hot rolled and cold rolled steel complex both worth USD 1.12 billion. The value of the leasing contract was not unveiled.

POSCOs hot rolled steel facility, estimated to cost USD 767 million is designed to produce 3 million tons annually.

POSCO is set to start work on the cold rolled steel facility with an estimated cost of USD 361 million in August. The mill will produce 700,000 tons of cold rolled products annually when it comes on line in 2009.

Hyundai Steel shares surge on takeover speculations

It is reported that shares in Hyundai Steel surged more than 14.44% to a record of KWR 51,500 on Friday on speculation that Arcelor Mittal was seeking to take it over. The gains added KWR 552 billion to Hyundai Steels market capitalization, raising it to USD 4.75 billion.

Talk that Hyundai Steel may come into play first surfaced last week when Steel Week, a local industry magazine, speculated in an article that South Koreas second largest steel firm, after POSCO, would make a good target for Arcelor Mittal.

The speculation grew to a fever pitch on Friday after Morgan Stanley analysts touted in a research note the strategic merits behind a tie up although they made clear they had no knowledge of whether or not any transaction will occur. Morgan Stanley estimated that Hyundai Steel could be worth KWR 61,191 per share in a takeover, valuing it at USD 6.05 billion.

A spokesman at Hyundai Steel said the firm has not been approached by Mittal while a source familiar with the situation played down talk of Mittal Steel bidding for Hyundai Steel.

Mittal Steel Galati reports net profit for 2006

Arcelor Mittals Romanian unit Mittal Steel Galati has reported a ROL 167 million (EUR 47.3 million) net profit in 2006 as against losses of ROL 161 million (EUR 44.4 million) in 2005 although its turnover saw a slight decline from ROL 6.35 billion (EUR 1.75 billion) in 2005 to ROL 6.08 billion (EUR 1.72 billion) in 2006.

Mr Augustine Kochuparampil CEO of Mittal Steel Galati told local media that "The decline in turnover was generated by a reduction in deliveries by 5% to 6%, prompted mainly by bad weather, which made it harder for us to make deliveries over water at the beginning of the year. This was compounded by the shutdown of a furnace due to major repair works. However we focused on products with a higher added value and we also benefited from an around 3% cut in the cost of raw materials, therefore managing to increase our profit margins."

FMG revises iron ore off take deal with Chinese Fengli Group

It is reported that Fortescue Metals Group Ltd has revised a 2004 iron ore sales agreement with Chinese Fengli Group Ltd to include a joint marketing agreement for excess production. As per report the agreement becomes effective only when Fengli injects USD 25 million (AUD 31 million) into FMG, by subscribing for about 1.1 million FMG shares at AUD 27.88 per share.

Under the new agreement the two companies have agreed to establish a 50:50 marketing JV to sell additional iron ore tonnage beyond FMG's targeted output of 45 million tonnes per year. Fengli will provide port facilities and office space in China to assist the joint venture and will take 9% of FMG's output up to a maximum of 4 million tonnes per year.

Fengli was one of the first company's to sign an off take deal with FMG when many market observers doubted FMG would ever proceed with its ambitious Pilbara mining and infrastructure project.

Olarra to increase SS capacity in 2007

Spanish SS maker, Aceros Inoxidables Olarra announced that it plan to invest USD16.3 million in the stainless steel plant in northern Spain.

Olarra expects that this investment will boost their liquid steel production capacity by 30% from 105,000 tonnes in 2006 to 130,000 tonnes in 2007. Olarra will also expand their electric arc furnace and converter.

In the mean time they will install two hoists, one flat finishing line and a slab grinding machine.

Salzgitters Peiner Trer orders straightener for medium sections

Peiner Trer GmbH a member of the Salzgitter Group has placed an order with SMS Meer for the supply of a straightener with CRS technology for its medium section mill.

The new straightener will allow Peiner Trer to expand its product range and to straighten special sections up to HE 260, IPE 450 and U/UPE 400. The maximum straightening speed is 10 meter per second and Commissioning is scheduled for the summer 2008.

The machine to be supplied is the patented CRS roller straightener with eleven individually driven straightening rollers supported in bearings on both sides. The straightening rollers are adjusted hydraulically in vertical and axial direction. Pivotable straightening shafts enable special sections to be straightened. The straightening rollers can be changed fully automatically within 20 minutes using a changing manipulator. The straightener is also equipped with a straightening model for optimum setting of the machine with respect to straightness and residual stresses.

Peiner Trer is the sixth operator to decide in favor of the CRS technology introduced in 2001 for producing sections with close tolerances, good surface finishes, high levels of straightness and low residual stresses.

Socotherm bags contract for coating of pipes from EMG (Cairo)

It is reported that the Engineering & Project Division of Socotherm has been awarded by EMG (Cairo) a contract for a CWC plant rental and technical assistance to apply concrete weight coating on approximately 60 kilometer of 26 inch diameter pipes for the Al Arish to Asquelon Pipeline Project. The value of the contract is about EUR 2.5 million.

Egyptian Petrojet said the Concrete Coating activities will be performed during 2007 by EMGs subcontractor in Port utilizing the Socotherm weight coating plant and under the supervision of Socotherm technicians.

Socotherm shall provide the design, engineering, quality, expertise and technology associated with the plant and production of the concrete weight coating of pipe as well as for anode installation by way of leasing such plant and associated equipment. Moreover Socotherm shall keep it in good working order throughout the project and through provision of export management and staff to ensure quality, training and production requirements are met all in accordance with project specification.

Socotherm one of the leading companies in the field of pipe coating and insulation for the transport of energy. Socotherm a public company listed on the Italian Stock Exchange and founded in 1859 at Vicenza in Italy. It is a world wide pipe coating contractor with plants in Italy, Spain, Australia, Malaysia, China, Nigeria, Angola and Qatar, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, USA.

SCMs 2006 profits up by 43% YoY

Journal Staff reported that Ukrainian System Capital Managements 2006 profit is up by 43% YoY to UKH 1.23 billion.

Mr Oleh Popov GD of SCM said that all of the profits will be reinvested in Ukraine on different projects.

System Capital Management is owned by Mr Rinat Akhmetov Ukraines richest person.

Coal shipping rates rise due to congestion at ports in Australia and Brazil

Bloomberg reported that the cost of shipping coal iron ore and other dry bulk commodities rose to a record for an eighth day as port congestion in Brazil and Australia kept vessels idle.

A data from the London based Baltic Exchange shows that the Baltic Dry Index, a global measure of commodity shipping costs on different routes and ship sizes, raised by 1.3% to 6,478. According to the Baltic Exchange the average daily rate to hire a Capesize carrier, which typically hauls 175,000 tons of coal or iron ore, rose by 1% to USD 108,903 as of May 9th.

Mr Ralph Leszczynski research manager at Banchero Costa and Co SpA based at Genoa in Italy said that Congestion problems in Australia are slowly improving. There are reportedly now increasing problems at Brazilian export ports.'' He said that the queue of ships waiting to load at Newcastle rose by three to 70 in the week ended May 7th 2007 from a record of 74 in the week ended April 23rd 2007.

Bulk freight rates have risen by 47% in 2007 to a record on increasing demand for raw materials from China, the world's biggest consumer of iron ore and coal. That contributed to port congestion in Australia as terminals became unable to handle the volume of goods sold for export.

Conservation Council of WA calls for compromise on iron ore mining

It is reported that the Conservation Council of Western Australia believes a compromise with mining companies can be reached to allow iron ore mining in the Mid West. The council said that it is no coincidence iron ore deposits are greatest in banded ironstone formation ranges where there are often rare plants and plant communities.

The growth of iron ore mining in the mid-west depends on how much of the rare flora the State Government wants to conserve. Mr Chris Tallentire director Council of Western Australia said that it is crucial that a compromise is reached to allow both to co exist. He said "We need to be able to find that common ground that must exist between mining interests and conservation interests.

Mr Ian Loftus from the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies believes too much emphasis is being placed on the environmental implications and not the social effects of mining. He said that "What we're not finding is a very, very significant public debate on what are the economic benefits, what do the people in the mid west want, what of the small communities, the small towns?"

South Korea seeking to develop coal mines in Mongolia

Yonhap reported that South Korea wants to cooperate with Mongolia to jointly develop coal and other natural resources.

As per report South Korean Government negotiators at the bilateral resources cooperation meeting in Ulsan said South Korean energy companies want to take part in the large Tavan Tolgoi mine 540 kilometers south of the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator.

Tavan Tolgoi, which is 100% owned by Mongolia's Energoresources Co, is estimated to hold 5 billion tons of good quality bituminous coal. It currently ships out 1 million tonnes of coal to China per year.

CSN appoints Credit Suisse to sell stake in mining projects

BNamericas reported that Brazilian steelmaker CSN has hired investment bank Credit Suisse to evaluate structure and carry out the sale of a minority stake in its mining projects.

The sale, subject to the successful completion of Credit Suisse's studies, would occur through a public offering of securities and/or sale to a strategic investor.

CSN said that "CSN will inform the market as soon as it has finished the abovementioned studies and obtained the necessary approvals to begin implementing the project, pursuant to the current legislation."

CSN has announced plans in the past to sell a minority stake of its Casa de Pedra iron ore mine, located in Minas Gerais state, which has current capacity of 16 million tonnes per year and is due to reach a rate of 53 million tonnes per year by 2010.

Spains Acerinox lifts stainless production by 11% in Q1

Spanish stainless steel producer Acerinox said it lifted meltshop stainless production by 11% YoY to 659,828 tonnes in the Q1 of 2007.

Acerinox core production comprises its Campo de Gibraltar plant in Spain the Columbus Stainless operations in South Africa and the North American Stainless operations in the US.

It noted that strong and sustained demand in all the stainless markets during the Q1 of 2007. It gave few clues as to what the outlook is for demand going into Q2 but conceded that rocketing nickel prices had translated into high alloy surcharges and therefore a certain pressure in base stainless prices.

Allegheny Technologies looking outside Pennsylvania to build hot mill

Pittsburgh based specialty metal company Allegheny Technologies Inc recently announced that it is looking outside Pennsylvania State for a site to build a hot mill.

Mr L Patrick Hassey CEO of Allegheny Technologies said that the company is looking out of state because Pennsylvania's electric utilities are deregulated. Mr Hassey said that We have deregulated vs regulated states and it's difficult to deal with deregulated."

Allegheny Technologies has a hot mill in Brackenridge, about 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, but wants to increase its capacity to melt steel, which can then be cast into slabs. There is no timeline for building the new hot mill.

Hadeed signs contract with Outokumpu Technology for pelletization project

Saudi Iron and Steel Company Hadeed announced that it has signed a contract with Outokumpu Technology OYJ for the provision of basic engineering services for palletizing Hadeed Iron Bearing By products in Al Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia. The contract is worth EUR 45 million.

The study works and all the related activities will be completed by the end of the 3rd quarter of 2007. The palletizing project will provide Hadeed with 600,000 tonnes per year of pellets.

European SS makers to raise surcharges for June

YIEH reported that main European steelworks have raised stainless steel surcharges for June deliveries.

Outokumpu increased its alloy surcharge by USD 46.32 per tonne to USD 4278.95 per tonne and ThyssenKrupp raised that by USD 334.145 per tonne to USD 4308.71 per tonne. Ugine & ALZ did not announce any raise for its surcharge, but its surcharge for May delivery was already the highest at USD 3985.39 per tonne in Europe.

Considering the high alloy surcharge, European stainless producers had mildly reduced the base prices for grade 304, cold rolled materials to offset the surcharge cost.

Kuzbassrazrezugols January to March output up by 4.8% YoY

Russia's leading coal producer Kuzbassrazrezugol has recorded its output in January to March 2007 period at 14.534 million tonnes up by 4.8% as against 13.873 million tonnes during the same period last year. Its coking coal production during this period also increased by 26.8% YoY to 1.522 million tonnes.

KRU shipped 13.22 million tonnes of coal to consumers in the January to March 2007 up by 3.1% YoY including 1.604 million tonnes of coking coal up by 32.8%. KRU exported 6.724 million tonnes of coal up by 19.8%.

The highest increase in production is reported at Taldinsky coal pit with 2.984 million tonnes and Bachatsky coal pit with 2.742 million tonnes respectively.

KRU is one of Russia's biggest coal producers and operates 13 strip mines with licenses to 17 commercial coal fields in the Kuzbass. KRU is run by UMMC Holding.

ATI increases SS surcharge

US Allegheny Technologies Inc announced that it has increased alloy surcharges on stainless steel flat rolled steel.

As per report it raised its alloy surcharge on 304 series by 19.7 cents to USD 2.2098 per pound. And 316 flat rolled will be up to USD 3.2930 per pound for June delivery, increased by 23.87 cents from that in May.

AK Steel Corp has raised stainless steel surcharge for 304 materials by USD 19.69 cents per pound to USD 2.2072 per pound for June compared with that in May 2007.

Almetievsk Pipe Plants April production up by 25% YoY

Russian FIS reported that Almetievsk Pipe Plant has produced 11900 tonnes of pipes and 3500 tonnes of pipes with outside insulation in April 2007 up by 25% & 73% YoY respectively as compared with April 2006.

Almetievs said that shipping of pipes of different kinds totaled 15470 tonnes including 3640 tonnes of pipes with outside insulation in April 2007 up by 34% & 76% YoY respectively as compared with April 2006.