RINL orders for 2 LD converters, ladle furnace and RH degasser

It reported that Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited has signed two major agreements with the SMS Group of Germany for two LD converters and ladle furnace & RH degasser as a part of the project to expand the capacity of the plant from 3 to 6.3 million tonnes per annum.

The agreements were signed on by Mr AK Banerjee director projects, in the presence of Mr PK Bishnoi CMD of RINL. Mr Matthias Bollman and Mr John Haas of SMS-Demag, Ms Jeannet of SMS-Mevac, Mr B.K Mittal of SMS-India and Mr Debasish Paul of Bridge & Roof were the other signatories.

The converters cost INR 753 crore, involving a FOREX component of EUR 33.3 million and are to be completed in 30 months. SMS Demag, along with SMS India, will execute the project with the Indian consortium partners of BHEL for the electrical components and Bridge & Roof for site erection.

The order for 2 ladle furnaces and 1 RH degasser has also been placed with SMS India. The cost is INR 165 crore, involving a FOREX component of GBP 3 million and the work is to be completed in 25 months. SMS-Mevac of the UK is the collaborator for supply of technological equipment and process design.

5 mineral rich state CM seek appointment with PM for mining policy

It is reported that chief ministers of five mineral rich states Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, have sought appointment with Dr Manmohan Singh prime minister of India to discuss the recommendations of the Hoda Committee based on which the national mineral policy would be formulated.

Mr Naveen Patniak chief minister of Orissa said “Since the chairman of the group of ministers did not respond to our demand, we have sought an appointment with the prime minister to discuss the issue.”

As per report, the chief ministers recently met Mr Shivraj Patil home minister in his capacity as the chairman of the group of ministers and placed their demands. Expressing concern over the fact that the states were not taken into confidence while drafting the mineral policy, the chief ministers demanded that the recommendations made by the group of ministers be discussed.

Visa Steel and BaoSteel for JV for ferrochrome plant in Orissa

Visa Steel Limited announced that it has signed a 51:35:14 JV agreement with Baosteel Trading Co Ltd of China and VISA Comtrade AG of Switzerland to set up a 100,000 tonnes per annum ferrochrome plant in Orissa. The JV will operate through a separate company VISA BAO Ltd.

The cost of setting up the 100,000 tonnes per annum capacity ferrochrome plant and related infrastructure is estimated to be around INR 260 crores, which will be financed through a debt to equity mix of 65:35.

Mr. Vishambhar Saran chairman of VISA Group said "This JV takes our relation with Baosteel another step forward and ensures a win win situation for both companies through a long term market for the JV company and a stable supply of ferrochrome for Baosteel's stainless steel plant in China."

Baosteel Trading is the designated company in Baosteel Group Corporation for overseas investment in resource development to support the raw material requirements of Baosteel's plants in China and has the sourcing rights for imports of ferrochrome into China for consumption by Baosteel and its affiliates.

Visa Comtrade is the international trading, shipping and logistics arm of VISA Group, providing global supply chain solutions for energy products, minerals and metals and is headquartered in Switzerland.

While the blast furnace and coke oven plant have already been commissioned, VISA Steel is in advanced stages of commissioning its 50,000 tonnes per annum ferrochrome plant. VISA Steel also plans to commission its 300,000 tonnes per annum sponge iron plant and 50 MW waste heat recovery based power plant by the end of 2007-08 and the 0.5 million tonnes per annum special & stainless steel plant including a bar and wire rod mill and an additional 25 MW Power Plant by end of 2008-09.

MP pollution control board issues notice to 30 steel mills

It is reported that the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board has issued notices to around 30 steel rerolling mills in Indore and Sanwer region on charges of causing pollution and operating defying the Air (Pollution Control and Prevention) Act of 1981 and has summoned its owners for further legal proceedings.

Mr Achyut Mishra regional officer of Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board said "Our officials have found severe violations of the Act during a spot inspection. Emissions of pollutants are found to be very high in some of these units. We have decided to move court against a few of the industries.”

According to MPPCB, there are about 40 re-rolling mills working around Indore and Sanwer. About 80% of rolling mill owners have now installed pulverizers and burn steel grade coal to heat the raw material and ingots. Though furnace oil is the approved fuel for the industry, most of the units are using coal to save money, which has caused rise in the pollution. Mr Mishra said that “With the increase in steel prices and competition from large scale units, many rerolling mills here are shifting from furnace oil to coal as industrial fuel to save input costs.”

The report said that some of the units, which have been issued the notices, are Rajasthan Steel Industries, National Steel and Iron works, Thermal Industries, Sanjay Machinery and Tools, Madhyanchal Steels, PR Enterprises, Khumai Steels, Mohammad Rafiq Rolling Mill and Forbos Industries.

Timken to expand Indian operations

BS reported that bearings manufacturer Timken India plans to expand its operations in the country by increasing its capacities at its plant in Jamshedpur and creating new capacity at a Greenfield facility in the Chennai special economic zone.

Mr Gordon Robinson MD of Timken India told reporters that it has invested USD 27 million in the Chennai plant, which will mainly support the demand for high end bearings from Timken’s global clients. He added that a part of the production at the Chennai SEZ would also be sold in India if there is a need.

Mr Robinson informed that the company had also planned to expand the capacity at its Jamshedpur plant by investing around USD 12 million. He said “The expansion at Jamshedpur is an ongoing process and more investments will come in the next few years.”

He added that the company is open to set up more plants in India if the market requires. He said that the company will move more products from its facilities in the US and Europe to China and India as the market in these regions are showing a strong growth. He said there are plans to introduce into India one product line every quarter.

Triveni Engineering and BZD ink agreement for power plant equipments

Triveni Engineering & Industries Limited announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with Beijing BEIZHONG Steam Turbine Generator Co Ltd. The agreement was signed by Mr Dhruv M Sawhney CMD of Triveni Engineering and Mr Qi Jianbo MD of BZD.

AS per release, initially Triveni Engineering will be distributing and marketing BZD products by offering power solutions up to 330 MW which will consist of steam turbines, alternators, condensing and cooling systems along with electrical and power evacuation systems. Triveni will also sell the balance of plant and provide after sales support. The agreement facilitates the Triveni Engineering to enter into Technology Transfers and the Triveni Engineering will work towards these in the future.

Mr Dhruv M Sawhney CMD of Triveni Engineering said "The signing of this agreement between Triveni Engineering and BZD is a momentous event for our turbine business division. It supplements Triveni's product range to encompass the entire industrial turbine market up to 60MW, while also enabling Triveni Engineering to enter into the medium sized utility power generating equipment market up to 330MW. The power solutions offered will be efficient and highly cost effective with desired deliveries backed by excellent product support.”

BZD, a subsidiary of the state owned Beijing Jingcheng Mechanical & Electrical Holding Co Ltd, is a technology leader and fourth largest steam turbine manufacturer in China with products offering power solutions up to 660 MW. It has sold more than 4000 MW of power generating equipment last year and has already made inroads into Indian market with orders exceeding 1300MW.

Shanghai based investment banking firm E J McKay & Co Inc advised the Triveni Engineering on the transaction

Kalyani Steels bids for iron ore & coal blocks

ET recently reported that Kalyani group’s engineering steel manufacturer unit Kalyani Steels has submitted bids for coal and iron ore blocks for which the government has invited offers from the private sector. Mr BN Kalyani chairman of Kalyani Steel told ET that “We have submitted bids for coal mines in the Bihar and Madhya Pradesh belt including Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and for iron ore mines in Karnataka.

Mr Kalyani said that “ The Karnataka government has changed its policy last month so that only those who have invested in downstream production will be allowed to bid for iron ore mines. The larger investment will be in the coal mine and we expect in principle approval to come in before that of the iron ore mine.” He added that the move is part of its initiatives to control raw material costs.

The bid is part of Kalyani Steel’s plan to double its capacity to 3 million tonnes per annum. It has also changed its growth strategy for the SJK Steel Plant, following the formation of a JV with the Brazilian steel maker Gerdau SA. Gerdau has invested USD 71 million for a 45% stake in the SJK Steel Plant at Tadipatri in Andhra Pradesh and Kalyani Steel will hold 45% while the original promoter Mr Jithin Kumar will hold the balance 10%.

BLA Power plans 140 MW power plant in Madhya Pradesh

It is reported that Mumbai based BLA Power a subsidiary of BLA Industries has signed a MoU with Madhya Pradesh government for setting up a 140 MW thermal power plant in Narsinghpur district.

BLA Power has acquired land for the project. The plant to be implemented in phases will have four units of 35 MW each and will entail an investment of INR 500 crore. Phase I of the project will have 70 MW and the first unit is scheduled for completion by early 2009.

JSPL Bolivian project doubtful – UNCTAD

PTI recently reported that United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has said that Jindal Steel & Power Limited's INR 8,000 crore steel and power projects in Bolivia will be a disaster as political and infrastructure climate in Bolivia is anything less than worst.

As per report, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in its latest report on global iron ore scenario, said that "The political, infrastructure and technical problems at Jindal Steel’s El Mutun project site in Bolivia are formidable. The mine straddles the border to Brazil while the distance to the Atlantic Ocean is almost 2,000 kilometer. Just to get to the Paraguay river it is necessary to build a railway through the swamps surrounding the Mutun area. The size of the ore resources has been questioned and the type of ore in the deposit is not easily processed with existing technologies."

Expressing its apprehensions on the project, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said that "Whether this huge and extremely complex project will ever materialize still remains to be seen."

Jindal Steel & Power Limited has clinched a historic agreement with the Bolivian government to a develop a 20 billion tonne iron ore mine and set a 2 million tonne steel plant there. In its agreement with the Bolivian government, Jindal Steel & Power Limited said that it would also set up a 450MW gas fired power plant in Bolivia to meet production needs and Bolivian government has assured to provide gas at a low rate.

JSW diversifying into BPO business

It is reported that after steel, aluminum, energy and cement, JSW Group is diversifying into information technology and has set up JSoft Solutions that is likely to be spun off as an independent vertical. It currently caters to in house needs.

The group has appointed Mr Madhukar Rajagopal VP of JSW Steel IT to head the initiative. Mr Rajagopal said “Any company starting from the small and medium enterprise market to big groups like the JSW Group, in the manufacturing domain is a potential customer of JSoft Solutions.”

Initially, JSoft Solutions will cater to the JSW group’s software requirement including giving technical assistance to JSW Steel’s BPO initiatives as part of its corporate social responsibility.

The 100 seat rural BPO based at the Vidyanagar in Karnataka facility has Lason India and ICICI Bank as its clients. A 300 seat BPO, with a capacity to employ 900 people, is slated to start operations by January 2008 near Toranagallu.

Chinese steel market unlikely to slump in H2 of 2007- Report

Steel market insiders, given macro control policies and market demand, said that China's steel market is unlikely to slump in the second half of 2007 and prices for some insufficient products may climb temporarily in some regions.

Insiders point out 5 factors that may influence steel market

1. According to forecasts by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China's GDP in 2007 will break CNY 23 trillion and investment in fixed assets will hit CNY 13.409 trillion. As every CNY 10,000 investment in fixed assets consumes 339 kilograms of steel and every CNY 10,000 GDP consumes 188 kilograms of steel, market demand will keep robust in the latter of 2007.

2. China has hammered out a series of curbing policies on exports of steel products. Export costs have risen over 10% inevitably decreasing steel exports in the rest of this year. This may negatively affect domestic market and lead to price fluctuations.

3. Release of fresh capacities co exists with elimination of obsolete capacities. China's HR coil supplies in the second half of 2007 are expected to hit some 43.6 million tonnes, supplies of commodity grade HR coil in whole 2007 to hit some 86.7 million tons. The release of new capacities will impact domestic market in the rest of 2007.

4. Composite costs for raw materials have gained over 20%. Ocean freight rate recovers again plus high prices for iron ore and pig iron as well as the implementation of differential power rate and water rate, pushes steel production costs upwards continuously.

5. World economy presents strong growth and global demand for steel products keeps robust. Against such a backdrop, steel prices in major markets will maintain firm amid increasing demand.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

US steel demand to remain flat until autumn

According to surveys by the Institute for Supply Management in July 2007 and Purchasingdata.com in August 2007, steel demand and buying will be flat until autumn and buyers will maintain reduced purchasing well into the fall.

Only 35% of Institute for Supply Management Steel Buyers Group expected orders to increase over the next three months while 32% of the buyers polled by Purchasingdata.com expected orders to increase.

About 25% of the Institute for Supply Management group believes incoming orders will decrease while 20% of the magazine’s steel buying readership says buying will decrease.

That means that 40% of the Institute for Supply Management steel buyers say purchasing will be flat through September while 48% of the Purchasing polled steel buyers say buying will be flat through October.

Commenting on the cautious views of buyers Mr Mike Willemse analyst at CIBC World Markets in Toronto in a note said that “He has seen no signs of a demand or pricing rebound at the current time. He noted that he continues to believe that we could see a rising price environment for hot rolled sheet over the next month or two as the manufacturing sector emerges from summer shutdowns and service centers end a destocking phase that has been taking place since October 2006.

Mr Mike added that it hasn’t happened this month though as early buyer surveys find hot rolled sheet selling in a wide range of USD 480 to USD 510 per tonnes this month. The July average price of North America was USD 516.

Chinese demand and port delays in Australia may further hike shipping rates

Bloomberg reported that the rate to hire ships that move dry bulk goods including coal and iron ore might extend its record run on increased Chinese demand for commodities and ongoing port delays in Australia. According to the London based Baltic Exchange, the Baltic dry index, the overall measure of commodity shipping costs on different routes and ship sizes has rose by 0.8% to a high of 7066.

Analysts at Australia’s Macquarie Bank Limited said that “The rise in freight rates since the beginning of the year also reflects strong demand for coal and iron ore from China. Although we expect further declines in shipping congestion at Australian ports, the underlying issue of a lack of rail and storage infrastructure at Newcastle port remains. We do not expect Chinese demand to slow anytime soon, meaning we expect freight prices to remain at historically high levels in the coming year.''

Newcastle Port Corporation said that “The number of ships waiting to load coal at Australia's Newcastle rose to 55 on August 13th 2007 from 51 a week earlier. Congestion is not clearing as fast as the market hoped keeping upward pressure on cape rates and the rest of the freight market.''

About a third of Australia's coal export capacity is at Newcastle, where the line of ships waiting to load cargoes stretched to a record 79 on July 2nd 2007. Xstrata Plc, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Group are losing sales as the bottlenecks hobble their ability to meet rising Asian demand. Almost 90% of coal shipped from the port last year was thermal coal produced in the Hunter Valley. If port and rail congestion are not resolved, Australia risks losing as much as AUD 7.9 billion in export revenue in the next decade.

172 still trapped in flooded coal mine in east China

Xinhua reported that a total of 172 are still trapped in a flooded coal mine in east China's Shandong Province despite a levee breach that was blamed for the flooding was closed up early Sunday morning.

Mr Hu Jintao president of China and Mr Wen Jiabao premier of china ordered all out efforts into the rescue work and asked rescuers to promptly mobilize equipment and personnel resources available and take all necessary measures to rescue the trapped miners".

More than 2,000 Chinese People's Liberation Army troops, armed police and miners managed to close up the levee breach on the swollen Wenhe River at 3:38 AM Sunday.

The flooding occurred at around 2:30 PM on Friday in the coalmine of Huayuan Mining Co Ltd in Xintai City, about 150 kilometers south of Jinan, the provincial capital. A total of 756 miners were working underground at the time of the flooding and 584 managed to escape. Torrential rain swept Xintai on Friday and early Saturday with a precipitation of 232 millimeters, triggering flash flood and a 50 meters breach in a levee on the Wenhe River. Floodwater from the river poured into the coal mine at 2:30 PM Friday via an obsolete shaft and caused the accident.

South Korean SS makers to cut production

YIEH reported that due to the demand stagnation and price falling, South Korean Hyundai Steel and BNG Steel have decided to cut their output again.

Hyundai Steel which used to obtain annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes stainless CRC announced to halt further producing till August 20th 2007. This is the third time for Hyundai to reduce the production in this year. In January to June 2007, the sales amount of Hyundai totaled around 89,000 tonnes and 60,000 tonnes of them were for the domestic market.

Similarly at BNG Steel the production cut has been made by 10% to 20% in June 2007 and is still undergone to expectedly September. BNG steel is a manufacturer of stainless steel 300 and 400 series with yearly capacity of 220,000 tonnes.

POSCO the largest stainless steel producer has earlier announced a moderation of its output volume for the third quarter and also lowered the domestic price for 300 series products.

Chinese ferroalloy export during H1 of 2007

As per the data from Chinese customs, China exported 1.594 million tonnes of ferroalloy during January to June 2007 period.

Although the export was made to 76 countries, the top 10 countries accounted for 82% of the export volumes during January to June 2007 period and top 5 countries accounted for 70% of the exports. The top importer, Japan alone accounted for 36% of the export volumes.

In tonnes

(Sourced fro MySteel.net)

Russian coalminers to increase exports to Germany

Kommersant reported that Russian coal companies would increase coal exports to Germany, which intends to wind up charcoal production by 2018 due to its high prime cost and that German RAG is already negotiating the surge in deliveries with some coal firms of Russia.

Mr Viktor Sobolev director of Deutsche Bergbaur said that one of the options is to use Russia’s coal as a substitute to the German one. He added that RAG’s energy division, Steag has launched negotiations with Siberian Coal Energy Co, SDS Ugol and Russky Ugol to hike coal supplies.

But the report however said that it would not be easy for the Russians to supply over 50 million tonnes of coal in addition these deliveries will enable them to step up export earnings by USD 1.3 billion. Mr Alexey Pavlov chief of the analytical department at VIKA Investment Group said that if the talks bear fruit, the Russians would be able to step up deliveries nearly two fold. He added that Russia currently exports roughly 50 million tonnes of coal. Of this amount 30% goes to Western Europe mostly to Germany and Britain where the prices are higher than in Russia.

Mr Igor Nuzhdin an analyst at Zenit Bank forecasted that replacing the German coal by Russia’s one, will annually generate USD 1.3 billion in addition for coal companies of Russia. But for Russia’s companies one of the difficulties en route to huge export revenues is high tariff rates for coal carriage. Moreover our coal will probably have to compete with the cheap coal of Australia and South Africa.

German government has recently approved the bill to close all coalmines and phase out the heavily subsidized coal mining industry by 2018.

Chinese import of scrap in H1 down by 51% YoY

It is reported that China’s import of scrap in January to June 2007 was 1.63 million tonnes down by 50.9% compared to January to June 2006.

According to related statistics the total import of scrap in 2007 is expected to reach 3.26 million tonnes. The import of scrap from Philippines was 292,000 tonnes increasing by 2.3 times compared with the same time of last year and it accounts for 17.9 %. But the import from Japan decreased by 53.1% to 275,000 tons which accounts for 16.9%. And that from Hong Kong declined by 30.1% to 176,000 tonnes which accounts for 10.8%.

What’s more, the import from America, the largest export county of scrap to China in the first half year of 2006 fell to 82,000 tonnes decreasing by 90.7%YoY.

Russian pipe majors output in 7 months surges

Rusmet recently reported that, according to the results of seven months of 2007 the largest pipe producer in Russia remains Viksunski Metallurgical mill. During this period the enterprise shipped more than 1 million tonnes of pipe products having exceeded indicators of sales of 2006 by 35%.

It is well worth noting that other large pipe producers in Russia demonstrated considerable growth rates of shipment volumes. In particular, CHT pipe mill having shipped more than 0.6 million tonnes of pipes during seven months of current year exceeded the results of sales of last year for the same period of time by 30%.

Volume growth of deliveries about 16% demonstrated such large pipe enterprises as Volgski pipe mill and PN pipe mill. Tagmet which is one of five largest pipe producers of Russia during this period exceeded last year’s volumes of sales insignificantly.

Banpu’s 2007 sales may drop as rain disrupts output

Thailand’s biggest coal miner Banpu Pcl said that its 2007 sales might fall from a year earlier as rain disrupts coal output at mines in Indonesia. It said that sales this year may be close to or lower than the THB 33 billion (USD 954 million) it booked in 2006.

Mr Chanin Vongkulsolkit CEO of Banpu at a press conference in Bangkok said that “The rain was unusually heavy. Water was pouring hard into our Jorong mine in Indonesia's Kalimantan region.”

A drop in coal output will force Banpu to rely on its power-generating business to boost profit growth this year. The company recently said that contributions from electricity sales helped it post its highest quarterly profit in almost nine years.

Morgan to provide coil processor to Trinecke in Czech

It is reported that Morgan Construction Company will provide a bar in coil outlet for wire rod and bar producer Trinecke Zelezarny AS at Trinec in Czech Republic incorporating a heat retention tunnel to achieve specific mechanical properties.

Mr Martyn Bowler technical sales engineer while announcing the contract said "Trinecke is upgrading its bar in coil outlet to increase the variety and range of their specialty steel products.”

It marks Morgan's re-entry into the Czech market after many years.

Norilsk to invests ZAR 4.4 billion in Southern Africa for nickel

It is reported that Russian Norilsk Nickel will spend over ZAR 4.4 billion (USD 588.6 million) on two projects in Botswana and South Africa. AS per report, Norilsk will develop the Tati nickel mine in Botswana, and the Nkomati nickel mine in South Africa.

Mr Tav Morgan deputy GD of Norilsk told a news conference in Johannesburg that these projects, along with recent acquisition of over 97.7% of LionOre Mining International Ltd portfolio of assets in attractive mining regions, "Consolidates our position in Australia, while gaining exposure in Southern Africa.”

Zinifex and Umicore may get less in IPO for smelters

Bloomberg citing Credit Suisse Group reported that Zinifex Ltd, and Umicore SA may raise as much as 13% less from the initial public offering of their smelters after a global rout in equity markets.

Mr Peter O’Connor and Pablo Kohen of Crdit Susisse in a report said that the planned IPO of Nyrstar, a joint venture between Melbourne based Zinifex and Brussels based Umicore, may raise between AUD 1.8 billion and AUD 2 billion. That compares with their July forecast of AUD 2 billion to AUD 2.1 billion.

Credit Suisse said that the latest date for an IPO lodgment for a share sale before Christmas is November 12th 2007. The report added that “Should that deadline pass, the deal will roll over to some time in second quarter of 2008.”

Global equity markets have fallen this week on deepening concern a global credit crunch will sap earnings and erode economic growth.

Shanxi coke capacity to be capped within 120 million tonnes

It is reported that China’s Shanxi Province's coke capacity will be limited within 120 million tonnes during 11th five year period as coke capacity grows up too quickly there with slim room expected for further export rise.

Slim room is expected for further export rise during the 11th five year period. Confronted with fiercer and fiercer competition, Shanxi Province secures that local coke consumption will remain basically steady and total coke capacity will not rise again.

Shanxi Province's local government will not approve new coke project either. At the same time they will strengthen clamp down campaigns and obsolete capacity elimination. Over 40 million tonnes of backward capacity will be closed down. By 2010, the province's coke industry will realize over CNY 10 million of sales revenue. There will be only 150 coke enterprises with average capacity of over 600,000 tons per year

Shanxi Province is the largest and the most important coke production base in China.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

Severstal to build second polymer metal coating line

FIS reported that Severstal has signed a contract with SMS Demag of Germany for supply of the second line of polymer metal coating worth of over RUB 1 billion.

The report added that “Decision on the expansion of the capacity of the polymer coating unit and construction of the second line was made by the company's management in response to rapidly growing demand for polymer coated roll in Russian construction industry.”

Firth Rixon to modernize radial axial ring rolling machine

Firth Rixon Inc’s Monroe Forgings at New York in US has placed an order with SMS Meer Germany to modernize its RAW 125(140)/100-1850/360 radial axial ring rolling machine.

The revamping in the Rochester Works will include a new hydraulic system and the modernization of the complete control system.

In addition to the radial-axial ring rolling machine supplied in 1986, Firth Rixon Monroe also operates a RICA 200-1000/460 E vertical ring rolling machine that was also supplied by SMS Meer’s Wagner Banning Ring Rolling product unit in 2002.

Firth Rixon Monroe primarily supplies the aircraft industry with highquality rings made from nickel based alloys, titanium and alloyed steels.

Jiangxi suspends all coalmines after fatal accidents

Xinhua reported that all coalmines in East China's Jiangxi Province have been ordered to halt operations following three deadly accidents that left eight dead and 14 trapped.

According to an emergency circular issued by the provincial work safety and mining authorities on Thursday afternoon, strict safety inspection must be carried out in all coal mines across the province, and operation could not be resumed until all safety problems are eliminated.

14 miners remained trapped underground after the Zhayi colliery in Fengcheng County was flooded early Thursday morning. A total of 15 people were working underground when water gushed in and one worker managed to escape. The township level mine has an annual output of 30,000 tonnes and employed 40 people. In another flooding accident on Tuesday in Gongnong mine of Yudu County, three workers were killed and 11 others survived. Another five miners were killed in a gas explosion that ripped through a coalmine shaft in Fengcheng on Monday.

Wheeling-Pitt secures additional funding

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp announced that it has an agreement with its banks to borrow an extra USD 125 million. Mr James Bouchard chairman & CEO of Wheeling Pittsburgh said that its USD 225 million revolving credit facility would expand to USD 350 million under the deal.

Wheeling-Pittsburgh, involved in a merger with Chicago Heights based Esmark Inc, also has an agreement to borrow another USD 135 million and replace an existing, government-guaranteed loan. As of June 30, however, the company owed USD 193.6 million on that loan.

Eliminating the government backed loan frees up Wheeling-Pitt's access to the revolving credit facility. Covenants of the government loan had limited Wheeling-Pitt to borrowing USD 225 million from the revolving line. During a conference call with Wall Street analysts on August 10th 2007, company officials said the situation had left the company with USD 39 million in available credit from the revolving loan.

Ukrainian GDP in January to July 2007 up by 7.7% YoY

According to Ukrainian statistics committee, Ukraine’s gross domestic product in July 2007 has recorded at USD 12.7 billion up by 7.2% YoY and USD 70 billion in the January to July 2007 up by 7.7%.

The Ukrainian cabinet has forecasted that GDP would grow by 6.5% in 2007 but later said that the forecast would likely be reviewed up to 8% and inflation is expected to total 7.5% to 8.5% in 2007. Ukraine has forecast 2008 GDP growth and inflation at 7.2% and 6.8% respectively.

In 2006, Ukraine's GDP hit a historical maximum of USD 114.6 million with 7.1% GDP growth and inflation stood at 11.6% in 2006.

Turkey hopes for more investments from Ukraine

Kyiv Post quoted Mr Alper S Tokozlu commercial counselor at the embassy of the Turkey in Ukraine as saying that investments from Turkey into Ukraine may total as much as USD 1 billion.

Mr Tokozlu said that “Since 2000, Turkey has been implementing a new trade policy which has given priority to further enhancement of trade relations with its neighbors. Moreover, in 2003 Turkey took a decision to give a priority to the development of relations with Ukraine.”

He added that in the first six months of 2007, total trade volume between Turkey and Ukraine has reached USD 2.7 billion as against USD 4.1 billion by the end of 2006.

He added that Turkey is ranked among the top 3 export destinations for Ukrainian goods and more than 60% of total Ukrainian exports to Turkey are iron and steel and scrap metals. The presence of Turkish companies and investments in Ukraine are growing however, Ukrainian investments to Turkish economy are still on unsubstantial levels.

Mr Tokozlu said that construction, telecommunications and food industry are most significant business. In April 2007, the total Turkish investment in Ukraine is around USD 91 million and more than 400 Turkish companies operate in Ukraine. The volume of bilateral trade was about USD 1 billion in 2001 and reached USD 4.1 billion by the end of 2006.

Ukrainian Railway secures funding for modernizations

Ukraine’s state railway monopoly Ukrzaliznytsya has received a record loan of more than USD 550 million from Barclays Capital Bank. Ukrzaliznytsya badly needed upgrades and infrastructure development for the Ukraine’s aging Soviet built railways.

The loan was obtained on favorable terms at an interest rate of LIBOR +2.5%. The funds will be used to finish construction of a bridge across the Dnipro River in Kyiv modernizing railways and purchasing new rolling stock. With this loan Ukrzaliznytsya will eventually be able to start updating its infrastructure, though a bigger part of the money will be spent on finishing the construction of the bridge over the Dnipro River.

The Ukrainian railway system’s dilapidated railroad tracks and cars have been blamed for a series of accidents and headaches for businesses reliant on Ukraine’s transport infrastructure to move imports and exports. Experts have estimated that Ukrzaliznytsya would need to tap into billions of dollars in financing to overhaul its infrastructure and bring it in line with Western standards.

During the last three months alone, seven railway accidents occurred in Ukraine. After the accident in western Ukraine, some government officials, as well as Mr Viktor Yushchenko president of Ukraine called for the resignation Mr Mykola Rudkovsky of transportation and communications minister.

Xinjiang Hami proves nickel ore reserve base

According to Chinese local administrative office Xinjiang Hami area has proved to have nickel reserves of over 900,000 metal tons next only to that in Jinchuan.

The local administrative said that the nickel ore reserves are scattered in 6 mine areas with total reserves forecast to reach 15.8 million metal tonnes. So far a batch of copper and nickel exploiting and dressing plants has shaped there. Zongxin mining corp under Xinjiang's non ferrous group has launched a 15,000 tonnes per year crude nickel smelting plant.

The Tulufan Hami basin sited in the eastern part of China is rich of high quality mineral resources in big quantity. Over 60 types of minerals have been proved so far, most importantly coal, iron, copper, nickel, gold etc.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Chengde Steel inks iron ore JV with Tianbao Mining

Interfax China reported that Tangshan Iron & Steel Group’s subsidiary Chengde Iron & Steel Group has officially established a JV with Chengde Tianbao Mining Group on August 1st 2007 with an aim to consolidate mineral resources in the city of Chengde and its surrounding areas.

Northern Energy & Mining announces April to June report

Northern Energy & Mining Inc has released its unaudited consolidated financial statements for April to June 2007 quarter. As at June 30th 2007, Northern Energy & Mining Inc is in strong financial position with working capital of USD 9.8 million and no long term debt and intends to investigate and evaluate other business opportunities including potential acquisitions of mineral assets.

Northern Energy & Mining Inc also owns a 20% partnership interest in the Peace River Coal Limited Partnership, which now owns the Trend mine as well as a number of other coal properties in northeast British Columbia. Northern Energy & Mining Inc has received a free carry to December 31st 2007 of up to USD 18 million in respect of this investment, USD 10.6 million of which was utilized in respect of a Peace River Coal cash call subsequent to June 30th 2007.

Peace River Coal is being managed and operated by Anglo American which, with its extensive experience in coal mining and marketing, will play a key role in further developing British Columbia's northeast coalfields and is ramping up its operations and expects to achieve commercial levels of production during the fourth quarter of 2007. It will also be carrying out field studies and making permitting applications for its other properties.

Aura Gold Inc changes name to Aura Minerals Inc

Canadian exploration company Aura Gold Inc announced that it has received all necessary approvals to change its name to Aura Minerals Inc and will continue to trade on the TSX under its existing stock symbol ORA. In conjunction with the name change the Company's website and email domain name have been changed to www.auraminerals.com and the Company has designed a new logo.

Aura Gold said that as previously announced the name change was approved by shareholders of the Company at a special shareholders' meeting held July 13th 2007, so as to more accurately reflect the business focus of the Company following the completion of the acquisition of the Arapiraca copper gold iron ore development project.

Aura Minerals Inc is a focused on the acquisition and development of mineral deposits in Brazil and South America. The acquisition and development of the Arapiraca copper gold iron ore project is part of an ongoing strategy to build Aura Minerals into a mid tier producer in the near term. Aura Minerals' other projects are the Cumaru, the Inaja Greenstone Belt and the North Carajas claims in the Carajas Metallogenic province of north central Brazil.