Jharkhand rehabilitation policy to come by month end

It is reported that the Jharkhand government is likely to announce much awaited rehabilitation and resettlement policy by the end of this month.

Mr Madhu Koda chief minister of Jharkhand told reporters that “The draft of the rehabilitation and resettlement policy is almost ready. It will be presented at a meeting of the UPA before being taken up at an all party meet. The policy will then be placed before the state cabinet for approval. The government wants to announce the policy by the end of this month.”

AS per reports the policy is likely to include following options
1. Introduction of a pension scheme for people whose land is acquired for industrial projects
2. Help for constructing houses for landowners
3. A share in industries to be set up on their land

Indian Railway facing pressure under wagon investment scheme

BL reported that the rush among private firms to acquire rakes under Indian Railways’ wagon investment scheme, particularly for transportation of iron ore, is going to pose a serious challenge to South Eastern Railway. A firm acquiring a rake under the wagon investment scheme and placing it with Indian Railways is entitled to an allotment of 8 rakes a month including 2 bonus rakes.

Right now, 15 rakes under wagon investment scheme are in operation under South Eastern Railway, 10 supplied by iron ore exporters and 5 by those engaged in domestic transportation of the ore. This means that South Eastern Railway is committed to make available to these firms 120 rakes a month or 4 rakes a day on an average. These rakes are in addition to the committed allotments for the central board of traffic customers.

There are 67 central board of traffic customers, 9 old central board of traffic customers, comprising mostly integrated steel plants and 58 who were allowed to join the central board of traffic list in the past year or so. Together, they have a total demand for 46 rakes a day. Then there are non central board of traffic customers, known as priority D customers, who may be exporters or domestic consumers getting their rakes through indents. On an average, 4 to 5 rakes are made available a day to this category of customers, though their requirement is many times more. An estimated 20,000 requisitions for rakes from this category of firms is believed to be pending with South Eastern Railway.

As per report, the number of wagon investment scheme customers is to go up by another 40 or so shortly, bringing the total to 56, with an additional 11 applications reportedly being in the pipeline. If 40 more rakes under wagon investment scheme are added to the fleet, then SER will be required to place an additional 320 rakes every month or 11 rakes every day, to these firms. In other words, the total number of rakes to be made available by South Eastern Railway under the WIS will go up to 15 a day.

TATA Power eying nuclear power sector

It is reported that TATA Power Company Limited could enter the nuclear power arena if union government gives it approvals. Mr Ratan Tata chairman of TATA group while addressing shareholders at the annual general meeting of TATA Power said that “TATA Power has alignment with some major nuclear equipment suppliers and is ready to go.”

He added that TATA Consulting Engineers Limited would also be associated with the nuclear sector and that TATA Power may partner with Areva SA, which is one of the largest companies in the world involved in construction of nuclear plants, for projects.

TATA Power has a capital expenditure plan of INR 2,600 crore for the current year and INR 10,000 crore over the next 3 years for producing 10,000MW of power. In the wind sector too, TATA Power plans to add another 40MW and expand its footprint to states such as Karnataka and Gujarat. Currently TATA Power has 2 wind farms in Maharashtra with a combined capacity of 45.1MW.

Mr Ratan Tata said that TATA Power along with TATA Chemicals and TATA Steel is also keen to invest in Bangladesh but the projects are currently in limbo although some interest has been shown by the caretaker government.

TATA group continues to have keen interest in Bangladesh as it offers tremendous opportunity. TATA group has plans to invest USD 2 billion in Bangladesh for building a power plant, steel mill and fertilizer factory.

Mr RS Pandey to review RINL expansion progress

It is reported that Mr RS Pandey secretary steel will visit Visakhapatnam Steel plant on August 11th to August 12th 2007 to review the progress of the ongoing 6.3 million ton capacity expansion works of the plant.

As per report, Mr Pandey will visit the expansion area site on August 11th 2007 and hold discussions with top management of the plant on issues relating to expansion and corporate social responsibility etc.

Mr AK Rath Special Secretary and Financial Advisor, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel will also be accompanying Mr Pandey during his visit.

Godawari Power gets environmental OK for Dongri iron ore mines

Godawari Power & Ispat Limited recently announced that union ministry of environment & forests vide its letter dated June 25th 2007 has accorded it the environmental clearance for operation of its Ari Dongri iron ore mines in Kanker District of Chhattisgarh.

The release added that Godawari Power & Ispat Limited is awaiting forest clearance so that it can start mining.

Update on India’s power sector plans

It is reported that the consultative committee of the members of parliament on power recently met in New Delhi to discuss the capacity addition for the 11th Plan. Mr Sushilkumar Shinde union power minister & chairman of the committee while addressing the members, said that though electricity is a concurrent subject, the decline in the financial and operational health of state electricity boards and utilities has made the centre play an important role not only in the generation segment but also in areas such as rural electrification which were hitherto in the exclusive domain of the states.

Mr Shinde informed the members that the Central Electricity Authority has assessed that a capacity addition of about 100,000MW is required during the 10th and 11th Plan periods. Based on the 10th Plan actual capacity addition of 21,180MW, a capacity addition of 78,000MW comprising of 40,000MW in central sector, 28,000MW in State sector and 10,000MW in private sector has been proposed during the 11th Plan.

He said that out of 78,000MW, project of 1,800MW have been commissioned and projects of 51,000 MW are already under construction and for the remaining projects it is expected that the ordering process would be completed by December 2007.

Mr Shinde also pointed out that while many leading countries have several indigenous suppliers who individually have more than three and a half times capacity in comparison to the equipment manufacturer in India so therefore there is need to strengthen the domestic base of manufacturer to augment indigenous capability to deliver more power project equipment.

Silambimangalam shipbuilding yard gets minor port status

It is reported that Tamil Nadu government has notified the private ship building yard to be developed at Silambimangalam in Cuddalore district as a minor port following a recommendation made by the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board.

Mr K Allaudin secretary of highways, in a state government order issued by the highways department, said that “Tamil Nadu government has accepted the proposal of the CEO of Tamil Nadu Maritime Board to declare the shipbuilding yard to be developed by Goodearth Shipbuilding Private Limited at Silambimangalam between Reddiarpettai and Pudukuppam in Cuddalore district as a minor port with the name of Silambimangalam Shipyard Port.”

PFC to award Krishnapatnam UMPP by September

It is reported that Power Finance Corporation is likely to award the 4,000 MW Krishnapatnam Ultra mega Power Project in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh by September 2007.

The last date for submitting the bids for Krishnapatnam UMPP is 25 August 2007 after which the evaluation committee will scrutinize the bids and the project will be awarded. The date has been earlier postponed thrice from March 9th 2007 to April 11th 2007 and than to Ma5 25th 2007.

As per earlier reports 11 bidders have been qualified for the project. They include TATA Power Company, Reliance Energy Ltd, NTPC, Essar, Sterlite, Larsen and Toubro, Torrent, AES, DS Construction and Sumitomo. These bidders were given RFP document in November 2006 with a timeline of March 9th 2007 for its submission.

CIL to help explosion victims in Mozambique

It is reported that Coal India Limited has sponsored INR 1 million for the supply of artificial limbs to 510 people who were affected in an ammunition dump explosion in Mozambique in March 2007.

As per report, the artificial limbs will be distributed at a rehabilitation camp to be organized in Mozambique shortly when a high level team of the Indo Mozambique Joint Working Group, comprising Coal India Limited officials and the ministry of coal, will be visiting Mozambique.

It is noted that Coal India is pursuing the prospect of establishing a coalmine in Mozambique.

NALCO plans to enter into wind power generation

It is reported that India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of aluminum National Aluminum Company is all set to enter into wind power generation and is in talks with the Orissa Renewable Energy Development and Suzlon Energy to set up a wind power plant near its alumina refinery at Damanjodi in Koraput district of Orissa.

Mr BL Bagra director finance of National Aluminum Company said that “It has proposed to set up the wind mills on the Panchpatmali Hills near Damanjodi, where it currently mines bauxite. The location, situated at a high altitude, enhances the chances of getting better volume and velocity of wind.” He added that the generation capacity of the environment friendly power plant would depend on the availability and velocity of wind at the location.

Orissa Renewable Energy Development has started collecting data on the volume and velocity of wind on the Panchpatmali Hills during different seasons to assessed viability and generation capacity. The work started 3 months back and will continue for another 4 to 5 months.

Suzlon Energy could set up the project on a turnkey basis or accept a stake for better management as National Aluminum Company lacks the expertise in operating windmills.

National Aluminum Company has currently requires about 60MW of power daily, which is being met through in house generation using coal and waste heat and the proposed wind power project can meet the electricity requirement of the refinery in part or full. At present, it has 8x120MW captive power plant at Angul, which feeds power to its aluminum smelter however, it is facing a crisis due to short supply of coal from the Mahanadi Coal fields. Hence, the proposed wind power project may cut down its dependence on thermal power to an extent while giving it access to a clean source of energy.

CCEA approves 6 lane expansion of 838 kilometer of highways

It is reported that bids for widening 838.1 kilometer of national highway projects are likely to be invited soon as the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its final nod to the proposals of National Highways Authority of India.

Mr P Chidambaram finance minister said “The CCEA today gave its approval for six laning of four sections of the existing four lane National Highways under National Highways Development Project, Phase-V.”

The project cost, excluding land acquisition, is valued at INR 5,610 crore. The projects would be taken up on a design, build, finance and operate pattern.

The projects include six laning of
1. 225.6 kilometer of Gurgaon-Kotputli-Jaipur section in Haryana and Rajasthan for INR 1,517 crore
2. 239 kilometer of Surat-Dahisar section in Gujarat and Maharashtra for INR 1,355.47 crore
3. 82.5 kilometer of Chilkaluripet-Vijaywada section in Andhra Pradesh for INR 540.3 crore
4. 291 kilometer of Panipat-Jalandhar section in Haryana and Punjab for INR 2,198 crore

Indian Railway to invite bids for legal and financial consultants for station modernization

It is reported that after technical bids, Indian Railways now plans to invite bids from consultants soon to provide legal and financial advisory services for its station modernization plans. However it has not yet decided as to whether a common legal and financial consultancy bid should be invited for all stations or whether bids should be invited for each station independently. Earlier, India Railways had planned to invite a common tender for legal and technical advice for all station modernization projects.

The report cited a railway official as saying that “However, the size of New Delhi station modernization project itself is so large that we are now contemplating de linking the financial and legal consultancy studies for New Delhi.” He added that the technical bid for New Delhi railway station modernization has been awarded to Hong Kong based consulting firm Terry Farrell and Partners and the bids for Patna station modernization have been invited by union railway ministry.

The Prime Minister’s committee on infrastructure has appointed an inter ministerial group under the railway board chairman to evolve a model concession agreement for the Railway station modernization by October 31st 2007. The group would have secretaries of the planning commission, department of economic affairs, department of urban development and department of legal affairs as members.

The draft agreement would be prepared by the planning commission and the railway ministry and would then be submitted to the inter ministerial group for further deliberations. The agreement would be the standard document for inviting bids from developers to redevelop the identified railway stations on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer mode.

Central government hopes to award the New Delhi Railway station modernization project by December 2007 so that the project is ready by 2010 Commonwealth Games. The investment of the project would be roughly in the range of INR 5,000 crore.

Indian Railways has identified about 22 stations to convert them into world class ones. The list includes
1. New Delhi
2. Chhatrapati Shivaji Station in Mumbai
3. Howrah
4. Chennai Central
5. Amritsar
6. Ahmedabad
7. Bangalore
8. Bhopal
9. Bhubaneswar
10. Chandigarh
11. Lucknow
12. Mathura
13. Pune
15. Patna
16. Secunderabad
17. Thiruvananthapuram

Fosun Group aiming for 20 million tonnes by 20007 end

It is reported that Fosun’s combined annual crude steel output will hit over 20 million tonnes by the end of this year close to that of the China's largest steelmaker Baosteel.

Mr Chen Guoping assistant GM of Fosun Group said that "The combined crude steel production of all our holding companies is likely to approach that of Baosteel. He added that we're trying to quicken the pace of the Hainan Steel restructure which is likely to happen soon."

After buying a 30% stake in Jianlong Steel Group and becoming the majority shareholder of Nangjing Steel United Co Ltd and Hainan Steel, Fosun is now in merger talks with Hangzhou Steel, Qingdao Steel and Nanchang Steel. Fosun and Hainan Steel are in the process of setting up a new Hainan mining company. Fosun will pay CNY 900 million for a 60% stake in the new firm. The two parties signed a framework to restructure Hainan Steel in June. Fosun will invest around CNY 2 billion in Hainan's mining business.

Mr Liu Baoyang an analyst at Guangfa Securities said "As an increasing number of State-owned steel companies consolidate, private steel magnates are also on the look-out for mergers and acquisitions."

Mr Liu Yanqi an analyst at Haitong Securities said that "Private steel producers like Fosun have flexible management systems and sound profit growth unlike State-owned companies. He added that private steel producers are strong in terms of capital, but lack techniques and resources compared with State-owned firms, which can easily get government capital and technical support."

Fosun Group and Shagang Group, the two private steel producers in China, have already signed a strategic cooperation agreement to tackle the increasingly competitive global steel market by forming alliances and restructuring.

CISA suggest building fleet for import of iron ore

It is reported that China Iron and Steel Association feels that the demands of imported iron ore in China has resulted in soaring freight directly and if Chinese government develops shipping business with the price differences of freight, China can set up a powerful shipping fleet. Mr Zhang of CISA said that “If the shipping industry in China can not be developed, the freight would still hike following the rising imported iron ore.”

Mr Zhang from CISA said that China need own shipping fleets above all the large tonnage ocean ships. He calculated the freight of iron ore from Brazil to China once dropped to USD 17 per tonnes after May in 2005 but the freight fee from Brazil Tubarao to Beilun and Baoshan averaged over USD 55 per tonne up by USD 38 per tonnes. Provided compute on the 350 million tons of total importing amounts for iron ore, China can save USD 13.3 billion. He still deemed that although Baosteel, Wusteel and Shasteel etc big enterprises all signed the long term contract to avoid increasing freight cost, it is not a long term strategy. After all the time limitation of contract is restricted, so only to build shipping fleet can gain speech right in the international negotiation.

Mr Tang Fuping GM of Ansteel Share said that the decreased profits taking by mounting freight cost had threatened the whole steel industry. He said “Being a large scale steel enterprise, Ansteel input amazing fee in ocean transportation, which require Chinese steel enterprises to combine and to develop own shipping troops as well.”

Mr Liu Chenggang from Wuhan Institute of Technology and College of Ocean Engineering pointed out that most shipping market had been held by Japan, UK and other developed countries and it is really deplorable for China shipping industry that China is the big country for shipbuilding but lack of shipping fleet. He believes that most Chinese shipbuilding enterprises can’t fabricate ships with high tech content.

According to a report from International Investment Bank, China’s relies on importing iron ore heavily due to the large quantities of steel being exported and limited domestic iron ore resources. China had imported over 326 million tons of iron ore until 2006 up by 18.6% accounting for about 50% of global trading amounts and over 90% of import amounts for iron ore in 2006. Such huge demand for iron ore is the root cause for heating freight market of iron ore undoubtedly. However, foreign ships have carried 90% of Chinese iron ore resources and Chinese steel enterprises have lost greatly.

According to the news from China ministry of commerce, the steel enterprises have partaken in ocean shipping industry successively. For instance, Baosteel invested CNY 2 billion to build the largest general ship equipment factory Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company. Jianlong Steel, the largest domestic private steel enterprise, purchased the largest shipbuilding enterprise Zhengjiang Yangfan Ship Group Company Limited formally by 2006. Shougang Group has also concluded the agreement with CVRD to construct iron ore shipping fleets.

Norilsk Nickel shareholders to re elect board

It is reported that Norilsk Nickel shareholders will elect a new board of directors October 12th 2007 at the request of key shareholder Mr Mikhail Prokhorov. The statement gave no further details. It is not clear how many candidates Mr Prokhorov's Onexim plans to propose. Mr Dmitry Razumov president if Onexim had earlier told Kommersant that "We are returning to the board as we are a major shareholder of Norilsk Nickel."

As per experts, Mr Prokhorov, Norilsk Nickel's former president and director general who owns 10% of voting stock in the company, plans to return to the board to oversee the division of assets with the other core shareholder, Mr Vladimir Potanin, under a deal reached between the billionaires in early 2007. As per a report in Kommersant earlier that the asset division process was to be completed by the end of 2007 but sources close to both Onexim and Interros have not ruled out that it could end up in a law court. It is not clear who was the first to violate the deal.

Mr Prokhorov, who resigned in March was to sell a 26% stake in Norilsk Nickel he controls via Onexim investment fund and managing company Interros, to Mr Potanin and receive energy assets owned by the metals giant and Interros, which include US based hydrogen producer Plug Power.

The market capitalization of Norilsk Nickel, which accounts for more than 20% of global nickel output, over 10% of cobalt and 3% of copper, and 96% of Russia's nickel production, has risen 40% since the start of the year, to about USD 40 billion.

China to realize full industrialization by 2021

According to China's first Blue Paper for Industrialization unveiled by the Chinese Academy of Social Science, the composite index of China's industrialization level would reach 100 by 2021, at which point the nation will have realized complete industrialization, Based on a couple years of research on China's industrialization processes, the national social science academy concluded that the country has entered the later half of the intermediate industrialization phase.

According to the academy's assessment, the comprehensive index of China's industrialization level was 18 in 1995 and 26 in 2000, indicating that the nation was sitting at the latter half of the initial phase of industrialization during its ninth “Five-Year Plan.” The index saw an annual rise of four to five percent during the next five years and topped 50 by the end of 2005, meaning China's industrialization had entered into an intermediate stage. If such a momentum remains, the blue paper predicted, with another decade of development, the comprehensive index will reach 100, or complete industrialization, by 2010.

The composite index includes five main indicators, including the gross domestic product per capita, the gross product ratio among the agriculture, industry & service industries, the proportion of manufactured goods of all total consumer goods, the population urbanization rate and the employment rate in the agriculture, industrial & service industries.

FMG optimistic on iron ore prices in future

Mr Andrew Forrest CEO of Fortescue Metals Group during a presentation at the Diggers and Dealers mining forum in Kalgoorlie Boulder said that global prices for the metal will stabilize but not plummet when production begins at its Pilbara operations in North West Western Australia.

Mr Forrest says prices will continue to rise until FMG comes online, but will then stabilize rather than going into freefall. He added that "Once Fortescue gets rolling up quickly towards 55 million tonnes. It has got clear, lucid, believable financed plans to go to 200 million tonnes. What you will see there is the slackening of pressure on the steel industry side to keep producing their own expensive iron ore."

Fortescue is building an AUD 4 billion port, rail and mining operation and hopes to begin ore production and export by May 2008.

Massey acquires Peachtree Ridge and Belle Coal in WV

Massey Energy Company recently announced that it has acquired certain assets from Peachtree Ridge Mining Company Inc and substantially all of the assets of Belle Coal Company Inc including approximately 15 million tonnes of leased coal reserves and a deep mine permit in Clay and Nicholas Counties in West Virginia in US. Terms of the transaction include current and deferred cash consideration of USD 2.75 million and the assumption of minimal reclamation liabilities associated with the deep mine permit.

Massey said that the reserves are located near Massey's existing Nicholas Energy and Mammoth resource groups, which would allow coal mined in the acquired reserves to be processed and transported primarily through existing infrastructure. It added that Massey does not plan to initiate production at this operation in the short term but could activate the mine quickly if attractive market opportunities become available.

Mr Don L Blankenship president & CEO of Massey said that "This acquisition is representative of our strategy for opportunistic acquisitions in Central Appalachia. We are well positioned to make additional strategic and synergistic acquisitions and anticipate additional opportunities to do so going forward."

Massey Energy Company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, is the fourth largest coal company in the United States based on produced coal revenue.

Tangshan Steel's H1 profit up by 64% YoY

It is reported that Tangshan Iron & Steel Company January to June 2007 profit rose by 64% as it made higher grade products while prices gained. Tangshan Iron & Steel in a statement said that its income rose to CNY 1.16 billion (USD 132 million) from 2006 revised CNY 702.7 million. Its sales rose to CNY 19.5 billion from a revised CNY 14 billion based on accounting rules applied this quarter.

Tangshan Steel and rivals are shifting output to higher value products, including cold rolled sheets used in car bodies as China has overcapacity in lower grades. Steel prices in the country, the world's top maker of the metal, recovered this year on higher exports and a state drive to rein in industry loans. Mr Li Bin a Shanghai based steel analyst at CSC International Holdings Ltd said “Tangshan and bigger mills are expanding capacity for sheets and plates which enjoy steady profit margins. The steel industry is just at the beginning of a rising cycle.''

Tangshan Steel based in Hebei province near the Chinese capital, joins rivals including Wuhan Iron & Steel Company in posting increases in profit. Wuhan Steel, China's third biggest producer of the metal by market value said Aug 9th 2007 its first-half profit almost tripled to CNY 3.4 billion. Baoshan Iron & Steel Company and Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Company will report later this month.

Tangshan Steel, which controls 63% of the output at its parent, Tangshan Iron & Steel Group, boosted crude steel production by 14.2% to 5.42 million tonnes in the first half from a year earlier. It opened a plant in September 2006 to make 1.5 million tons of steel plates used in ships and factory buildings a year. The plant reached full capacity in the first half of this year.

Valin Steel to acquire tube maker Jiangsu Xigang Group

It is reported that China’s Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group has agreed to pay about CNY 400 million (USD 53 million) for a 55% stake in Jiangsu Xigang Group a steel tube maker. As per report Valin Steel will pay cash for the stake by participating in a capital expansion.

Mr Li Mingzhi a board official at Hunan Valin Steel Tube and Wire said that "The parent company will pay about CNY 400 million for the stake." He added that Jiangsu Xigang had annual production capacity of 800,000 tonnes of steel products, mainly tubes.

ArcelorMittal owns about one third of Hunan Valin Steel Tube and Wire.

Mr LN Mittal recalls battle of nerves for Arcelor

PTI reported that Mr LN Mittal president & CEO of Arcelor Mittal while recalling his battle to acquire Arcelor said that it was his nerves of steel and perseverance that helped him clinch the deal despite hostility.

Mr LN Mittal during the 45th Convocation of Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai said "We really had to dig deep in our resolve to effect a successful conclusion of transaction with Arcelor. It was a challenging six month period following our acquisition offer as it had decided to fight us tooth and nail to remain independent.’

Mr Mittal said that Arcelor had used all power and contacts within its reach to prevent the merger from going ahead. He said that “Initial reaction was so hostile that we expected every possible form of defense from Arcelor.”

NYK to ink iron ore transport contracts with Baosteel and Wuhan

It is reported that Japan's Nippon Yusen Kaisha will sign iron ore transport contracts with Baosteel Group Corp and Wuhan Iron and Steel in late August 2007. Valued at JPY 40 billion, this is Nippon Yusen Kaisha first long term contract in its business with Australia and China.

Under the contract in 2010 Nippon Yusen Kaisha will launch 250,000-tonne vessels to transport 5 million tonnes of iron ore for the two steelmakers every year. During 2008-2009, the steel makers' imports from BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto will be shipped by intermediate vessels.

Nippon Yusen Kaisha signed a 20 year agreement in this May and promised to transport 1.3 million tonnes of iron ore annually from Brazil's Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce for Chinese steelmakers including Baosteel.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Industries Qatar unveils steel investment plans

It is reported that Industries Qatar, a group with interests in petrochemicals, basic metals, fertilizers, steel and fuel additives, has earmarked QAR 26.68 billion for expansion and new projects.

In QAR billion

Its steel related investments include

Under Major projects - Qatar Steel expansion Phase 1 at a cost of QAR 2.09 billion, 100% borne by Industries Qatar. The Qatar Steel Phase I expansion is expected to hike the production capacity of DRI by 1.5 million tonnes per annum, billets by 0.6 million tonnes per annum and bars by 0.7 million tonnes per annum. Partial operation of the Phase 1 of this project has actually started, while the completion of remaining is expected in phased manner and the last phase is slated for November 2007.

Under minor projects - Bahrain’s United Stainless Steel Company, in which Qatar Steel has 25% equity stake at a cost of QAR 300 million with Industries Qatar share of QAR 75 million.

Under future projects - Qatar Steel’s SMS (billets) I furnace project at a cost of QAR 1.28 billion; phase 2 at QAR3.10 billion; PC strands at QAR 110 million; iron ore mining and pelletisation at QAR 8.58 billion with Industry Qatar’s share at QAR 643 million.

Mohamed Shareef al-Shirrawi chief coordinator of Industry Qatar told media that Industries Qatar has worked for execution, development and improvement of existing projects and strengthening their competitive edge, while seeking new and promising investment opportunities. Mr al Shirrawi said that “These investments will ensure attaining high rates of sales growth and future profitability.”

Illich to reinvest UAH 914.4 million 2006 revenue

Ukrainian Journal reported that Illich Mariupol metallurgical plant shareholders voted not to pay dividends for 2006 but to allocate all net profit to the company's development.

It said "The stockholders decided to allocate the revenues for 2006, worth UAH 914.4 million, to the company's reserve fund."

Illich, one of Ukraine's three biggest steel mills, aims to increase steel production 1.8% to 7.1 million tons this year.

Mariupol based Illich Steel holds a 90.41% stake in the enterprise.

Baotou Steel to buy assets from parent for overall listing

China's Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union Co announced that it would issue 3.032 billion new A shares to buy steel manufacturing assets from its parent in a deal worth CNY 698 million (USD 92 million). All the new shares will be sold to the parent, Baotou Iron and Steel Group.

According to a statement published on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, after the deal Baotou Iron and Steel Group will increase its stake in its listed arm to 61.2% up from 26.51% at present.

It said that "The deal will allow Baotou Steel Group to reach the goal to list all its major steel manufacturing assets. The deal has been approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, but before it is finally implemented, the companies still need to go through some registration formalities.”

Baotou Steel's move comes amid a consolidation in China's fragmented steel industry, with producers facing increasing pressure from foreign competitors.

China coal industry unlikely to open up to foreign owners

It is reported that Asia American Coal, the first foreign company to produce coal from a majority owned underground mine in China, is not expecting the Chinese coal sector to open up completely to foreign investors.

Mr Michael Cosgrove CEO Asia American Coal during a press conference to mark the launch of the company's joint venture mine at Daning in northern Shanxi Province told that “Foreign controlled investment has had its day. There are still many opportunities in the Chinese coal industry, but foreign investors need more than just capital.

Mr Cosgrove said that foreign companies wanting to enter the industry need to concentrate on value added aspects of China's technologically backward coal sector, including gas handling, overall safety management and efficiency. He said “They need to be contributing something to the industry."

Mr Cosgrove noted the resource recovery rate at China's mines is notoriously low. Some researchers estimate that as much as 70 pct of the coal in western mines is wasted as a result of inadequate technology and badly planned construction. He said that foreign companies can help redress the situation.

Asia American Coal owns 56% of the 4 million tonnes per year Daning project, with its local partner, Shanghai listed Lanhua Scitech, owning 36 pct. The controlling stake remains a rarity for foreign companies, and AACI has been granted a more regular share of 45% in its next joint venture project, a mine at Gaohe, also in Shanxi. Gaohe is expected to be completed in three years, and AACI is in negotiations on a third mine.

China has been reluctant to allow foreign companies to invest in its upstream energy resources, permitting them only to provide technology and other assistance to local firms. Crucially, the government hopes to consolidate its domestic energy companies before they are confronted with the full force of international competition. It has provided substantial policy support enabling state coal giants such as Shenhua to swallow up smaller mining enterprises and extend their business towards downstream chemicals, power generation and coal to liquids.

Ukrainian Poltava GOK pallet production in H1 up by 14.4% YoY

Journal Staff reported that Ukraine's biggest iron ore pellet producer Ferro Poltava GOK raised commercial pellet production in January to July 2007 tentatively increased by 14.4% YoY to 5.39 million tonnes. Its iron ore concentrate production grew by 15.5% to 6.182 million tonnes.

China discovers new coal deposit in Inner Mongolia

It is reported that a coalfield with estimated reserves of 5 billion tonnes has been discovered at Xin Barag Left Banner in Hulunbuir League of east Inner Mongolia in China. The discovery of this coalfield will help ease the demand for energy in Northeast China."

Mr Liang Dunshi an analyst with China Coal Transport and Distribution Association said that similar to other coalfields in Hunlunbuir, the new discovery would mainly produce brown coal used in thermal power stations and in coal to chemical products. He added that east Inner Mongolia is rich in brown coal, and west Inner Mongolia is rich in bituminite and anthracite coal.

Mongolia ministry of land and resources said the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has replaced its neighbor Shanxi Province as the country's largest coal reserve. It said in June 2007 the region had a reserve of 658.3 billion tonnes of coal. More geological surveys are being conducted in the region. Earlier in June 2007, a coalfield with reserves of 20.5 billion tonnes was also discovered in Hunlunbuir. In 2006, Inner Mongolia discovered five 10 billion tonnes coalfields in Xilin Gol and one in Baiyanhua of 6.4 billion tonnes.

Saudi Trans plans 1.5 million tonne steel project in Egypt

Al Alam Al Yom reported that Saudi Trans Kingdom Investment Co is proceeding with formalities for a sponge iron & steel billets project at North Suez Gulf Zone in Egypt with 1.5 million tonnes per annum design capacity. It is not stated when the project will be completed and how much it costs.

The report cited Mr Mohamed Sayyed Hanafi director of the metallic industry chamber at the Egyptian Industries Federation as saying that almost 50 % of the output is planned for export to Saudi Arabia.

Anhui Huainan & Huaibei coal base reaches 100 million tonnes

It is reported that Guqiao Coal Mine of Anhui Huainan Coal Mining Group Company Limited, Liuzhuang Coal Mine of SDIC and Xinji Energy Company Limited & Wobei Coal Mine of Huaibei Coal Mining Group Company Limited have passed the acceptance organized by the China’s National Development and Reform Commission and were placed into official operation recently.

This is a new milestone in the history of the coal industry in China, with which the mining capacity in Anhui's Huainan & Huaibei coal base will reach 100 million tonnes per year.

Russia export of pipe in H1 up by 20% YoY

Rusmet reported that Russia’s shipment of pipe product during January to June 2007 reached the level of 3.8 million tonnes up by 20% YoY. It added that the shipments in H1 of 2007 are up by 40% over H1 2005 levels.

The shipment details by various Russian pipe majors is as under

In million tonnes
Pervouralsk Novotrubni mill is included in CHTPZ group

Sinarsk mill and Tagmet did not change the level of shipment and Severstal accelerated pipe sales by 46% YoY to 0.18 million tonnes.

Death toll reaches 12 in Longhua coalmine flooding

It is reported that the death toll from a colliery flood in southwest China's Guizhou Province of China rose to 12 when rescuers recovered four more bodies. The dead miners include the director and deputy manager of the mine.

The water poured into Longhua colliery in Qianxi County at 6:10 PM on Tuesday, when 20 miners were working. Six escaped and 14 were trapped. Rescuers managed to pull two miners out alive.

Mr Jiang Congyue chief of Qianxi County said that the initial investigations show the flood was caused by recent rainfall, which caused water to build up in a neighboring deserted coal mine. The water poured in and caught the miners off guard.

Longhua, a township owned coal mine with an annual designed production capability of 60,000 tonnes, is undergoing technological upgrading to reach the goal of producing 300,000 tonnes of coal a year.

EXMAR Shipping sues Mittal Steel Trinidad over corrosive DRI dust

Trinidad Express recently reported that several shipping lines have filed lawsuits against Mittal Steel Trinidad, previously know as Caribbean Ispat. As per report Plipdeco the port operator and the National Energy Corporation are named as co defendants in legal actions filed over the past few years.

In the most recent such matter filed by EXMAR Shipping NV the company is seeking damages amounting to USD 824,000 costs and further or other relief. The recent EXMAR court action, details of which were filed in April 2007 is expected to trigger many more lawsuits against Mittal Steel.

In their joint court action against Mittal Steel, EXMAR Shipping registered in Belgium and DOMENIKO Shipping registered in Cyprus, stated in their claim that their vessels Libramont and Brussles call in regular rotation at the Point Lisas port for the purpose of loading cargoes of anhydrous ammonia for discharge at US Gulf ports.

EXMAR said that "At all material times Mittal Steel were engaged at their facility in the manufacture of DRI pellets and in the loading of these pellets at regular intervals on to ships. The process of manufacturing and loading DRI pellets generates large quantities of highly corrosive DRI dust. In spite of the claimants' repeated protests to the Defendants, the contamination of the vessels with DRI dust has continued on a regular basis. Repeated calls and protests were made, and court proceedings commenced calling on the defendants to cease the contamination of vessels calling at Point Lisas port with DRI dust. In spite of those calls and court proceedings, contamination of the vessels has taken place on numerous occasions."

EXMAR added that “In 2006, the vessels Libramont and Brussels entered service regularly calling at Point Lisas port and during such calls the said DRI dust has escaped and settled on the vessels. The dust has penetrated the paintwork of the vessels and rapidly corroded and damaged their steel and other metals and equipment and accommodation." It added that the claimants suffered significant loss and damage and incurred mitigation expenses.

Labrador Iron Ore Q2 income down by 19% YoY

Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Fund has announced its results for April to June 2007 quarter. Its income for the April to June 2007 quarter amounted to USD 15.30 million down by 19% YoY as compared to USD 18.78 million in April to June 2006 quarter. Its net income was USD 15.16 million in April to June 2007 quarter as compared to USD 33.45 million in April to June 2006 quarter.

Labrador said that both production and sales at the Iron Ore Company of Canada were negatively affected by the labor strike, which closed down its production facilities from March 9th 2007 to April 27th 2007. Sales for the period were restricted by the availability of product. The rise in the value of the Canadian dollar against its US counterpart also negatively affected earnings and tended to offset the price increases of 5.8% for pellets and 10.4% for concentrates.

Equity earnings from IOC, which were affected by the work stoppage, amounted to USD 5.7 million as compared to USD 10.6 million in 2006. For the same reasons revenue for the six months was USD 28.8 million or 14%YoY lower than the first six months of 2006. During the quarter the Federal Government enacted legislation, which will result in a 0.5% reduction in the corporate income tax rate in 2011. This change resulted in a reduction of USD 1.7 million to the provision for future income taxes in the quarter. The 2006 quarter included a USD 10.6 million reduction relating to the reduction in future income taxes enacted during that quarter.

However as a new 5 years collective agreement is now in place, a ramp up to full production was achieved in early May 2007. Labrador Iron Ore said that it is making every effort to maximize production for the remainder of the year and several new production records for pellets have been achieved since the strike.

Mindoro Resources nickel laterite projects in Philippine on schedule

Mindoro Resources Limited has provided an update on activities from its projects in the Philippines.

The release said that “At the Agata Northern Nickel Laterite Project, preliminary design of the road and starter pit has been completed and the Environmental Compliance Certificate process is well advanced. Scoping studies are also in progress.”

It added that “ The Northern Nickel Laterite project is being fast tracked towards production. Preliminary designs have been completed for the starter pit, the mine haul road and waste dumps. A suitable site for the ore stockpile at tidewater and wharf facility have been located. A scoping study is in progress.”

Mindoro management believes that Agata remains a very attractive project and has a target production date of the first half of 2008, with the objective of increasing annual production to one million wet metric tonnes by 2010. Agata has competitive advantages in that it is close to the coast and just two days shipping to China. Mindoro will also be evaluating the option of raising cut off grades and selectively mining and shipping higher grade material. However, Mindoro believes that even the lower grades, at around 1% nickel, justify moving the project towards production.

An area of nickel laterite mineralization has been identified in the south of the Agata Project (the Southern Nickel Laterite), located 1.5 kilometer from the SR Metals Mine which is in operation and shipping nickel laterite ore to China.

James River Coal Q2 loss widens

James River Coal Company, a producer of steam and industrial grade coal, announced that its April to June 2007 quarter had a net loss of USD 18.6 million as compared to a net loss of USD 3.4 million in April to June 2006 quarter. For January to June 2007 period it reported a net loss of USD 25.9 million compared to net loss of USD 2 million in January to June 2006 period.

James River in a statement said that under a senior secured credit facility, the company was not in compliance with the minimum requirement for leverage ratios and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. It amended the facility with waivers of the covenant requirements for the second quarter. It also modified the minimum consolidated EBITDA, leverage ratio and capital expenditure covenants and added a minimum liquidity threshold for the third quarter and beyond.

Mr Peter T Socha chairman & CEO of James River Coal Company said that "This was a challenging quarter for our company. As previously disclosed, we adjusted production down in April in response to soft market conditions and higher than normal coal inventories. By the end of April, our inventories had returned to normal. The quarter was impacted by the implementation of new safety regulations by state and federal governmental agencies. We had an unusually high number of production shifts impacted by the implementation of new safety regulations during the quarter. Thus far in the third quarter, we have returned to historic levels of production shifts impacted by these issues."

James River Coal Company mines, processes and sells bituminous steam and industrial grade coal primarily to electric utility companies and industrial customers. Its mining operations are managed through six operating subsidiaries located throughout eastern Kentucky and in southern Indiana.

AK Steel bags Supplier Excellence Award from Moen

AK Steel announced that it has received a supplier excellence award from Moen(R) Incorporated, part of Fortune Brands Inc. The "Scorecard Award" recognizes AK Steel for exceeding Moen's expectations to consistently ship and meet delivery requirements during 2006.

Mr Jerry Bajbus senior sourcing manager for Moen said "Our supplier excellence awards recognize our partners that truly go above and beyond the call of duty to service our customers. AK Steel was given this award because they delivered superior results across the board. We strive to align ourselves with partners that achieve this type of excellence. We are proud of our relationship with AK Steel."

Mr James L Wainscott chairman, president & CEO of AK Steel said "AK Steel is honored to receive this award from Moen Incorporated, one of North America's premier manufacturers of high quality and stylish stainless sinks. My congratulations go to AK Steel's employees for meeting and exceeding the requirements of this valued customer."

Headquartered at North Olmstead in Ohio, Moen offers residential and commercial sinks and tub and showering packages, and Moen(R) Incorporated is the number one faucet brand in North America. Fortune Brands Inc is a consumer brands company that includes a variety of leading home product brands. AK Steel supplies 300 series stainless steels to Moen for use in the manufacture of sinks for residential and commercial use.

Xstrata Nickel to double Raglan nickel output in 5 years

It is reported that Xstrata Nickel of Toronto plans to double the output from its Raglan nickel copper mine in Nunavik. As per report the target output is 2 million tonnes of ore annually, which will make Raglan one of the world's largest nickel mines with output of nearly 50,000 tonnes per year of contained nickel in concentrate.

Ms Dominique Dionne vice president of corporate affairs of Xstrata Nickel said that "When you look at what we are investing in ramping up to 2 million tonnes in 2011 and we want to have passed 2 million tonnes in 2013 it is very important. We already have a big, big infrastructure and we have the exploration results behind our expansion."

The Raglan site, which Ms Dionne describes as a huge belt of nickel, consists of one open pit three underground mines and a concentrator. The expansion will include a couple of new open pit mines. The current production rate of 1.1 million tonnes will grow to 1.3 million tones per year by the end of 2008; further increases will begin in 2011.

Jabiru begins shipping zinc concentrates from Jaguar mine

Metals Insider reported that Australian junior Jabiru has started shipping zinc concentrates from its new Jaguar mine in Western Australia. The concentrator was commissioned in early July and was operating consistently by the middle of the month.2007.

Jabiru said that saleable zinc concentrates have been produced two or three months ahead of schedule. Once fully ramped up, Jaguar will produce around 30,000 tonnes per year of zinc and 8,000 tonnes per year of copper in concentrates.

STX Shipbuilding bags USD 1.43 order for 9 container vessels

World's seventh largest shipbuilder South Korean STX Shipbuilding Co has won a KWR 1.33 trillion (USD 1.43 billion) order to build nine container ships.

The deal from a European shipping company calls on the shipbuilder to deliver the vessels by November 2011.