Villagers oppose land acquisition for ArcelorMittal plant in Jharkhand

SNS reported ArcelorMittal has met with resistance from residents at the proposed site of the plant in Jharkhand who fear displacement.

As per report, residents of Rania, Karra, Torpa and Kamdara blocks in Jharkhand's Khunti and Gumla districts have pledged resistance against acquisition of tribal land by ArcelorMittal. Over 1000 people under the banner of Adivasi Moolvasi Rakhya Manch took out a march from Sanik Theatre to Raj Bhavan here demanding protection of tribal land from multi-national companies.

Mr Dayamani Barla convener of Adivasi Moolvasi Rakhya Manch said that ''We will not give an inch of land to ArcelorMittal which is set to acquire our land as it would displace about 100,000 people in the 4 blocks.'' He added that they submitted a memorandum to the staff at the Raj Bhavan gate as Governor Mr Syed Sibtey Razi was out of the state.

Citing the example of displacement of people during the setting up of Heavy Engineering Corporation, Bokaro Steel Plant and other public sectors over 40 years, the memorandum said that they were allegedly still to get the compensation. It also warned against flouting the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act which protects tribal land.

ArcelorMittal is scheduled to complete its detailed project report for its proposed 12 million tonnes steel plant by December 2008 and has already finished its survey at Kamdra and Torpa for its proposed plant.

Jharkhand should give up Chiria dreams

It is reported that Steel Authority of India Limited’s INR 54,000 crore capacity expansion and modernization program is likely to be hit if the Chiria mines’ leases are not renewed immediately. The Jharkhand government is undecided on the issue despite intervention by the centre.

Official source said that "If the leases are not renewed immediately, SAIL will have serious problems in proceeding with modernization and expansion plans which have already commenced in full swing."

It may be noted that SAIL had applied for renewal of the Chiria mining leases from the Jharkhand government. Three of six leases were rejected during 2004-05, resulting in SAIL submitting a revision petition to the Mining Tribunal. The Tribunal quashed the Jharkhand government’s rejection orders and asked it to renew the leases. The state then approached High Court, which reserved judgment after two hearings in August 2007.

Thereafter, SAIL filed an interlocutory application seeking the constitution of a committee to resolve the mining lease dispute but the High Court quashed it. SAIL then filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court and, following a hearing in January 2008, the apex court granted a stay on proceedings in the High Court and asked the state to reply to the SLP.

The delays in renewing mining leases affected SAIL’s expansion plans. As a result, the development of mines in Chiria, Rowghat, Taldih and Thakurani cannot be effected by 2010-11. Even the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings has endorsed SAIL’s contention that it has a legitimate right on Chiria and asked the government to grant the Chiria iron ore mine lease to SAIL.

SAIL has embarked on an ambitious capacity expansion plan to ramp up production to 26 million tonnes by 2010. It further aims to increase production to 60 million tonnes by 2020.

India must end tax on steel exports – Mr Sajjan Jindal

Bloomberg quoted Mr Sajjan Jindal vice CMD of JSW Steel Limited as saying that "These are difficult and challenging times for governments because of rise in prices of oil, coal and other commodities. The Indian government is trying to do its own bit to see prices are kept artificially low.”

He said that “In that line the government imposed tax on steel to increase availability of steel for mass consumption. But in the bargain they have miscalculated and taxed even those products that are used to make goods like automobiles. This type of steel is used by the rich and not by the poor or the lower middle class families.”

He added that “We are having a dialogue with the government to correct the anomaly. We hope that over the next 2 weeks there will be a correction in the rates.''

Linde to invest EUR 1 billion in BOC India

Reuters reported that Germany’s Linde Group is ready to invest around EUR 1 billion in BOC India Limited over a 7 to 10 year period.

Mr Sanjiv Lamba MD of Linde Gas Asia Private Limited South & East Asia region said that "Major part of the investments will go to gas plants in steel units. We feel good growth coming from oil, pharma and renewable energy sectors."

Linde had previously announced in December 2007 that it would infuse INR 598 crore into its subsidiary to meet the bulk of the latter’s fund requirement for ongoing projects by 2008. In the process, it would also consolidate its shareholding in BOC India to about 74% from the present 54.80%.

It may be recalled that BOC India won an order to supply gases to JSW Steel for its expansion program at Bellary and another deal from SAIL amounting to INR 318 crore for the set up of two air separation units at Rourkela Steel Plant and IISCO Steel Plant among others.

JSW to cut down HRC export to improve domestic availability

FE reported that JSW Steel has decided to reduce export of HR coils in this year.

The report cited Mr Sheshagiri Rao director finance of JSW Steel as saying that "Our major focus this year would be to bridge the current domestic demand supply mismatch. In order to increase domestic availability, we have decided to stop HRC exports. Moreover, since we have not signed any long term contracts with overseas buyers, it is easier for us to call off exports."

JSW Steel’s total HRC production stood at 2.15 million tonnes during 2006-07, of which exports accounted for close to 5%. In 2007, its total HRC production was 2.7 million tonnes, of which 6% was exported.

Mr Bagrodia inaugurates “Clean Coal for Green Power”

Mr Santosh Bagrodia union minister for coal has inaugurated a conference on 'Clean Coal for Green Power' recently. At the conference he announced that the government has made it mandatory that there should be 100% washing of all Indian coal.

Mr Bagrodia said that “Indian economy is sustained at 8% necessitating energy security as well as more power for sustaining the industrial and economic growth. The energy requirement by the end of 11th Plan is over 200,000 MW an addition of over 78,000 MW a growth of about 40%.”

He added that “Thermal power contributes 79% of power generated in India. By the end of 11th Plan in order to achieve 2 million MW, the demand for coal would be around 732 million tonnes from present level of 466 million tonnes per annum. Presently, the annual incremental growth of production of coal is around 6% to 7% which needs to be increased to 10% to 12% to meet the immediate coal demand.”

Government of India has sanctioned 26 coal blocks for production of coal bed methane. Commercial production has started in the Raniganj Coalfields. Indian coal has more ash content that sometimes goes beyond 40%. Ministry of environment stipulates more than 34% ash content coal for transportation beyond 1000 kilometers.

Simple technology like coal washing reduces ash content by 10% gives the following benefits
1. Increase in boiler efficiency by 1%
2. Saving of auxiliary energy consumption to the extent of 0.5% of the total output
3. Saving in maintenance cost of the coal handling and steam generation system to the extent of 20% annually
4. Reduction in freight charges
5. Reduced consumption of support oil
6. Increased availability of boiler and auxiliaries from anything between 400 hours and 1100 hours in a year
7. In addition to the above, the pressure on the fly ash disposal ponds would be reduced as the material to be disposed off would be considerably less

Government is committed to go for more washeries in India whose capacity as on date is 100 million tonnes per annum and aiming at 250 million tonnes per annum in the next 5 years time.

AD duty on Chinese tyre imports not effective – Report

Exim News Service reported that the anti dumping duty on the imports of Chinese trucks and bus tyres imposed in 2007 does not seem to have had much impact due to the price differential of the product in both countries.

Mr Rajeev Buddhiraja director general of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association said that "The rising imports of commercial vehicle tyres clearly demonstrate that the anti dumping duty has been ineffectual."

He added that though the anti dumping duty was hiked to USD 135 from USD 75, the price difference in the domestic and Chinese replacement market remains in the range of 10% to 30%.

According to the data from the directorate general of commercial intelligence & statistics till September 2007 and the projected data by ATMA till March 2008, imports of commercial vehicles tyres had risen steeply in the last 5 years with the Chinese tyres making up 91% of the total number of tyres imported. ATMA disclosed that the competition in the replacement market was between domestic companies like Apollo, JK, MRF and imported tyres. It revealed that the share of Chinese tyres in the domestic replacement market had risen from 0.3% in 2002-03 to 14% as on March 31st 2008.

ATMA also pointed out that the inverted duty structure under which the imports attracted 10% customs duty as against 20% on natural rubber, had also boosted the number of tyres imported.

Secondary rebar prices surge this week

It is reported that India’s secondary rebar market in India has witness a surge this week. As per report, prices have gone up by INR 3000 per tonne to INR 4000 per tonne and are now prevailing in the range of INR 42,000 per tonne to INR 44,000 per tonne.

Mr Ramachandran VP marketing of RKKR Steels said that "We increased it by INR 1,000 a tonne, followed it with another INR 1,000 and another INR 2,000. Today, our price is INR 44,000 a tonne."

He said that the reason for this hike is depreciating US dollar. He added that "The dollar has depreciated from INR 39 to INR 43. Our imports, which are largely steel scrap, are becoming costlier. Also, importing coal is become expensive for the same reason. How can we maintain a price line if input costs are on the rise."

Mr Dinesh Surana MD of Surana Steel said that it has affected a hike in the past few days. He added that "Our price is around INR 42,000 plus tonne plus 4% VAT. We are increasing the prices to bridge the gap between our prices and that of leaders like TATA Steel, SAIL and Jindal."

Indian Railways to focus on steel sector

BL reported that, in an attempt to promote bulk freight movement on its network, Indian Railways is introducing a new freight load preference policy for steel players fighting inflationary pressures due to spurt in iron ore prices.

According to the policy, companies providing round the year business to Indian Railways would be given preference in grant of increased quantity of rakes and offered discounts on freight. Large steel makers such as TATA Steel, Jindal, RINL and SAIL would soon get favored customer treatment from Indian Railways.

The policy is aimed at addressing the issue of shortage of rakes by rationalizing the allocation process. While the move will benefit large steel firms with higher loading requirements, it may face criticism from smaller players having irregular loading needs.

Under the policy, Indian Railways would enter into long term strategic tie ups exclusively for on time movement of iron ore. Failure on the part of Indian Railways to deliver rakes to the companies on time would attract penalties. Failure by the companies in using a specified number of wagons would attract similar penalties that could even result in Indian Railways disregarding their demand for higher rakes in other cargo.

Such agreement would also require companies to provide some business to railways on return journeys on a continuous basis to get preference in rake allotment. Indian Railways would have to compensate customers for a delay in providing freight services while users would have to pay a fine if they are not able to provide the promised load. Companies would be able to save quite a bit through the new policy as they would get discounts irrespective of peak or lean season.

Indian Railways has taken many steps to help steel makers in recent days. It brought down iron ore from class 180 to class 170, thus affecting a freight cut by 5%. It also removed the port congestion surcharge of 30% levied on domestic movement of iron ore.

Sujana Metal acquires Saritha Steels, Glade Steels and Sree Ganga Steel

BS reported that Sujana Metal Products Limited has announced the acquisition of 3 steel units namely Saritha Steels, Glade Steels and Sree Ganga Steels.

Mr YS Chowdary chairman of Sujana Group of companies said that "These acquisitions will enable Sujana Metals to cater the fastest growing realty and infrastructure markets in southern part of India."

The latest acquisitions by Sujana Metals are in line with the company's strategy to enhance the capacity to 1 million tonnes per annum by 2010 through acquisitions and expansion plans. It had earlier acquired Kamini Steels and Handum Industries.

Sujana Metals has targeted to reach a sales level of INR 3100 crore by 2010. In the current financial year, its sales turnover is expected to be in the range of INR 1,400 crore. It also plans to enhance its profit from an estimated INR 50 crore in the current financial year to INR 300 crore by 2010.

Indian Railways may deploy aluminum wagons

BL reported that, in order to increase its payload capacity and save fuel, Indian Railways is considering a proposal to procure aluminum wagons by 2012-13, when the dedicated freight corridor is scheduled to become operational. The final decision would be taken after a cost benefit study.

A senior railway ministry official said that "Aluminum wagons, considering their light weight, will help the railways save fuel and generate more revenue due to their higher loading capacity. However, a study will have to be undertaken to find if additional revenue and fuel savings can make up for the additional cost of buying aluminum wagons."

Industry experts said that an aluminum wagon will cost about INR 2.5 million, more than double the price of a steel wagon. A stainless steel wagon costs INR 1.8 to 2 INR million. However, aluminum wagons are expected to carry 8T to 10% more weight and help the railways earn more per wagon and make huge savings on fuel as they have less weight.

However, the railways could use aluminum wagons to carry specific commodities like coal, which accounted for 42.4% of the total freight loading of 794 million tonnes during 2007-08. The railways aim to carry 1,100 million tonnes freight traffic by 2012. It has also decided to add 1 more wagon to every train to meet the demand, which is growing at 10% per annum.

Surana to buy Chinese equipments for Karnataka plant

Dow Jones reported that Surana Industries Limited has placed an order with China's Beijing Shougang Machinery & Electric Company Limited to buy equipment worth USD 14.6 million for its steel plant in Karnataka.

TATA Steel sees Indian steel imports at 25 million tonne level

Indian steel giant TATA Steel sees that India may have to import 25 million tonnes of steel within the next five years if the present demand supply mismatch continues

Mr B Muthuraman MD of TATA Steel while speaking at the commissioning ceremony of BF No H said "Consumption of steel is going up by 8 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes per annum. This will continue for several years. If this continues, we may have to import 25 million tonnes of steel in the next five years.”

Steel demand supply gap in India on the rise

It is reported that Indian government is concerned over the increasing gap between demand and supply of steel in India, and sees that the situation is going to become worse in next few years.

Mr RS Pandey India’s steel secretary on the sidelines of the blow in ceremony of TATA Steel’s BF H at Jamshedpur expressed concern over lagging steel production in India against rising consumption.

Mr Pandey told reporters that India had emerged as a net importer of steel for the first time in 2007-08 and the situation is going to worsen in the next two to three years.

Mr Pandey said that all estimates regarding consumption and production had gone haywire, pointing out that while consumption was estimated to grow at 3% and production at 7%, it had been seen that consumption growth had outstripped demand. He expressed concern that capacity creation had been stuck in many places.

He said that the government would take steps to facilitate expeditious addition to steel capacity, which was estimated to touch 124 million tons by 2011-12. He said “All roadblocks would have to be removed. By 2015-16, India will emerge as the number two steel producer in the world."

TATA Steel new BF blown in

It is reported that TATA Steel has commissioned its new 3800 cubic meter blast furnace No H at its Jamshedpur works in Jharkhand on May 31st 2008. Mr RS Pandey India’s steel secretary performed the formal Blow In Ceremony. Mr B Muthuraman MD of TATA Steel, Mr HM Nerurkar COO of TATA Steel, Mr RP Singh VP engineering & projects of TATA Steel, Mr Basevi MD of Paul Wurth Italia and Mr KG Hariharan senior executive VP of L&T were present in the Blow In Ceremony.

TATA Steel has embarked on growth plan to increase its Jamshedpur Works Capacity to 7 million tonnes per annum in Phase 1 and to 10 million tonnes per annum in Phase 2. And H BF marks the completion of the most important milestone in that journey. It has been designed, supplied, erected and commissioned by a consortium consisting of PW Italia, L&T, PW India, and PW Luxembourg.

The foundation stone for this 2.5 million tonne BF was laid in June, 2006. The project broadly involved a total of 80,000 cubic meter of civil work, 28,000 tonnes of structural work, 20,000 tonnes of equipment erection, 22,000 tonnes of refractory work and 1.5 kilometers of rail track and 1500 kilometers of electrical cabling involved. All the shells and major pipe line were fabricated in house by Growth Shop of Tata Steel and most of the equipments have been procured from reputed OEMs Overseas. The whole plant has been designed within an area of 63 acre due to space constraints and this is an engineering marvel. Also the project has been completed in 25 months from the groundbreaking which is the shortest possible time ever taken for construction of such a large furnace anywhere in the world.

H BF will produce over 7200 tonnes of hot metal per day with a coke rate of 380 kilogram per tonne of hot metal and coal injection rate of 160 kilogram per tonne of hot metal. The furnace is equipped with all modern features. It has two flat cast houses with four tap holes. Cold blast will be made available by electrically driven blowers. Energy in terms of electrical power will be recovered from the BF gas through an expansion turbine. The waste heat from the stoves’ exhaust will be recovered to save on the fuel rate of the furnace. The Slag generated will be supplied for Cement Manufacturing in granulated form.

Mr B Muthuraman said that “It is a historical day not only for TATA Steel but also for the nation. I would like to thank Mr RS Pandey, who came to Jamshedpur to be a part of this momentous day. The blow in of H Blast Furnace is a major milestone and another giant step in making India prosperous. It is India’s largest blast furnace and it is an effort by TATA Steel to add tremendously to the nation building process. Steel is the back bone of the country and we want to ensure that India does not miss the bus. I would like to thank the entire team for completing the project in record time.”

Mr RS Pandey said “It is the largest blast furnace that has been completed in 25 months. It will work efficiently and pave the path for the construction of more blast furnaces. I would like to extend my congratulations to the entire team for achieving this remarkable feat. I get the reassurance that Tata Steel will continue to play a pioneering role in the process of steel making”

Sterlite to acquire operating assets of Asarco for USD 2.6 billion

Sterlite Industries India Limited announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase all the operating assets of Asarco, a Tucson based mining, smelting and refining company, for USD 2.6 billion in cash.

Asarco, formerly known as American Smelting and Refining Company, is currently the third largest copper producer in the United States of America. Asarco produced 235,000 tonnes of refined copper in 2007 and its mines have an estimated reserve of 5 million tonnes of contained copper. It had total revenues of about USD 1.9 billion, during the year ended December 31st 2007. It filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005 after it was sued for USD 1 billion over environmental and asbestos claim.

The assets to be acquired include three open pit copper mines and a copper smelter in Arizona, US and a copper refinery, rod and cake plant and precious metals plant at Texas in US.

The agreement, which is subject to the approval of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division, will conclude Asarco's Chapter 11 case. The company noted that this deal would achieve the overall best value for Asarco, its employees, creditors and the local communities in which it operate.

Sterlite said that this acquisition is on a cash free and debt free basis. The company will finance the asset acquisition through a mix of debt and existing cash resources. Sterlite also stated that it would assume operating liabilities but not legacy liabilities for asbestos and environmental claims for ceased operations.

Mr Anil Agarwal chairman of Sterlite said "We are delighted to have reached agreement on this important acquisition, which is a significant milestone for our Group. This is in line with our stated strategy of leveraging our established skills."

ABN AMRO Corporate Finance acted as financial advisor and Shearman & Sterling acted as legal advisor to Sterlite in this transaction, while Lehman Brothers and Baker Botts acted as financial advisor and legal advisor to Asarco.

MEPS sees global steel prices surge to extend into Q

UK based MEPS said that “US transaction prices continue to shoot up as the substantial hikes, planned by the mills for June deliveries are implemented. Further sharp increases have been announced by a number of producers for third quarter business. This is despite a generally weak economic environment. Companies are only purchasing for their immediate requirements, with service centres keeping inventories at minimum levels. The pricing situation is being driven by escalating raw material costs and vastly reduced supply due to a considerable drop in the availability of foreign steel.”

MEPS said that “In Canada, the domestic mills are busy. There is a lack of imported material, although some offers are now appearing, albeit at the same price as local ones or slightly higher. The auto and manufacturing markets are sluggish. Transaction values continue to rise and July figures are expected to advance by another CAD 80/110 per tonne as scrap costs keep on growing. Service centre inventories are still declining because of a reluctance to restock at such high prices.”

MEPS added that “Solid levels of demand and rocketing raw material expenditure, continue to propel steel values upwards in China. Expanding exports have helped to mitigate any supply pressure in the domestic market but customers remain cautious. Japanese mills have announced further upward price adjustments for third trimester deliveries to distributors. Sales to the automotive sector are strong and export business is expanding, causing the producers to reduce shipments to dealers. Inventories of strip mill products held by the mills and service centers went down by 1.8% in March compared to the previous month. Stocks of imported steel also dropped by 7.9% in the same time frame. South Korea's mini mills are compensating for huge input cost rises by ramping up steel prices well above those imposed by Posco last month. Maintenance outages have recently curtailed output in Taiwan. CSC is expected to lift domestic sale prices by as much as 20 percent for period three sales.”

MEPS said that “Polish customers have been warned of a further round of price escalation when third quarter deliveries are finalized. In the Czech/Slovak markets, local demand is booming from a number of end-user segments. Auto, construction and machinery production are performing particularly well. Export business to other EU countries, especially Germany, Italy and Poland is strong. Domestic customers complain that their volume requirements are not being fully met. We have noted some marked price increases this month as customer resistance has finally been broken down. Some buyers had been postponing purchases in the hope that the upward price trend would be halted.”

MEPS added that “Western European values continue to strengthen. The mills are insisting they must go up again in period three to reflect the rising costs of production. The initiatives are likely to be accepted due to a lack of any competitively priced alternatives. The soaring values are clearly not driven by demand, which is relatively modest. Inventories, generally are not growing because the cost of finance is too high.”

PT Krakatau Steel may raise prices by 10% in August

Reuters reported that Indonesia's biggest steel firm PT Krakatau Steel may raise prices of its steel products by more than 10% in August 2008.

Steelmakers around the world have steadily been raising prices to benefit from a strong market after years of decline in the industry and also to pass on spiraling costs of raw material, including iron ore.

Mr Irvan Kamal MD of Krakatau Steel said that "The planned increase aims at adjusting increasing costs of raw material and production costs, including energy and transport.” But he did not elaborate on current prices for Krakatau Steel products, but the price of hot rolled coil used in construction, ship building and oil and gas in the local market now stands at IDR 10,500 rupiah (USD 1.13) a kg.

Nippon Steel Nittai Corp ships 120,000 pipes without tests

Jiji Press reported that Nippon Steel Corp consolidated subsidiary Nittai Corp shipped over 120,000 steel pipes without conducting required hydraulic pressure tests.

Nippon Steel said that a Nittai plant at Noda in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo failed to carry out the mandatory test for the welded stainless steel pipes under the Japanese Industrial Standards and fabricated their test data. The pipes are mainly used at chemical plants.

Nittai Corp said it has confirmed the completion of the test for less than 500 of 126,000 steel pipes that were manufactured at the plant in the past five years and subject to the test.

The data fabrication was found by in house investigations Nippon Steel carried out after the revelation earlier this month of steel pipe testing data fabrication by JFE Steel Corp a JFE Holdings Inc.

Nippon Steel reported the findings to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Monday. Reprimanded by the ministry, Nittai suspended shipments Tuesday.

Steel prices weaken in Vietnam

Vietnam’s domestic steel price has dropped to its lowest level under the effect of inflation and the depreciation of the Dong.

As per report Vietnam domestic HR price is only quoted around USD 810 per tonne much lower than the international price. HR export price is quoted around USD 900 per tonne FOB.

It is predicted by Vietnam’s traders that the domestic steel market will continue to weaken for some time and a rebound is anticipated to come in the fourth quarter.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Vam USA to build new pipe threading unit in Houston

Houston Business Journal reported that Vam USA is building a new pipe threading facility in order to expand operations in the Houston area.

As per report Vam which provides services for the oil and gas industry is building an 84,000 square foot facility at 16031 Miller Road No 1. The site is on the east side of Houston along US 90. The building will be next to a pipe yard belonging to V&M Star, which is affiliated with Vam.

Kingham Dalton Wilson Ltd is building the USD 6.6 million facility, which will be complete in less than two months.

European CR and GI prices rise on good demand

European import cold rolled and galvanized steel prices have risen by EUR 20 per tonne than two weeks ago.

Current import prices for cold rolled coil and galvanized coil are at EUR 800 to EUR 810 per tonne and EUR 800 to EUR 850 per tonne respectively.

A trader in UK said that “It is expected that prices will be firm in the next several weeks. Demand is good and there are supply problems, so this is good for price."

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Sidenal to double capacity by 2010

BNamericas reported that Colombian steel producer Sidenal plans to increase its capacity to 500,000 tonne per year from the current 190,000 tonne per year by 2010.

An industry executive without providing investment figures told BNamericas that "To do this, the company has acquired a new electric arc furnace, which together with the present one will produce close to 350,000 tonne in 2008.”

The executive added that the company will look at buying a third furnace to achieve the 500,000 tonne per year adding that the aim is to supply the local market.

The plant is in Sogamoso city in Boyacá department, where steelmakers Hornasa, Acerías Paz del Río and Aceros Boyacá are also located, which between them produce more than 750,000 tonnes per year steel or over 50% of Colombia's production.

Sidenal makes earthquake resistant steel products for construction and the metal mechanic industry and has a steel services plant with capacity of 50,000 tonne per year.

Rautaruukki Raahe work strike to reduce profit by EUR 5 million

The strike by members of the local trade union branch at Rautaruukki's Raahe Works in Finland between May 12 and May 16th 2008 is expected to weaken operating profit for the second quarter by around EUR 5 million.

The Labor Court on May 21st 2008 ruled the strike unlawful.

Salzgitter Flachstahl orders fourth continuous caster

Germany Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH has placed an order with SMS Demag for the supply of an slab caster X Cast in Salzgitter. Commissioning of the plant is scheduled for the beginning of 2010.

The single strand caster designed as a bow type caster will produce slabs of widths ranging from 1,100 to 2,600 mm in thicknesses of 250 and 350 mm. The new continuous caster with slab thicknesses of 250 and 350 mm, SZFG will be enhancing its steelworks capacity. The thickness option of 350 in particular makes it possible to provide slabs for heavy plate production in promising, completely new dimensional ranges. Salzgitter Flachstahl will be using the machine to cast highly demanding micro alloyed steels, heavy plate grades and sour gas resistant tube and pipe grades according to the API 5L and HIC standards.

SMS Demag's order scope comprises the basic and detail engineering, the supply of all mechanical components and the complete X Pact® electrical and automation systems, including control systems and process models. In addition, the supply spectrum includes solid structures and structural steelwork, a new water supply and treatment system as well as the erection, commissioning and supervision. The order will be handled on a turnkey basis.

The equipment of the caster includes several Intelligent Slab Casting modules which determine quality and production. Among these are the hydraulically driven resonance oscillation system, remote controlled mold narrow faces for width change during casting and the position-controlled CYBERLINK segments for performing Dynamic Soft Reduction.

The production of slabs of a high internal quality is thus guaranteed through the above in combination with the width-dependent air mist secondary cooling and the Dynamic Solidification Calculation process model. Also, in order to cast steel grades with critical crack susceptibility on the continuous caster in a reliable and productive manner, the machine has been designed as a bow-type caster with a constant radius of 11.5 meters. This design minimizes the stresses in the strand shell and enables excellent surface quality.

Nippon Steel HRC to South Korea reaches USD 1000 FOB

Nippon Steel concluded the hot rolled coil price negotiation with South Korean rerollers including Hyundai Hysco by to increase the price to FOB USD 1,000 per tonne for July to September shipment.

The price increased by more than USD 250 from April to June 2008 under higher cost for iron ore, coking coal and energy and higher worldwide steel market.

Peiner Träger orders meltshop and slab blank caster

Germany Peiner Träger GmbH a company of the Salzgitter Group has awarded SMS Demag a contract for the supply of an X Melt electric arc furnace meltshop and for the revamp of a continuous beam blank caster to an X Cast combined slab and beam blank caster. Facing the job of meeting stricter steel quality requirements, the new facilities will almost double the current annual production of around 1 million tonnes of steel.

SMS Demag's supply includes a 125 tonne ARCCESS® electric arc furnace with additives supply system plus two 125 tonne ladle furnaces. Concast AG, Switzerland another company of the SMS group, has won the contract for the supply of a 125 tonne twin tank vacuum degassing station.

The use of the secondary metallurgy facilities makes it possible to produce advanced steel grades. The electric arc furnace therefore covers a wide range of products from high-quality steels to structural steels.

Electric arc furnaces of the ARCCESS® series are optimized for the highly efficient use of electric power and include future-oriented burner and oxygen injector technique. The metallurgical process model FEOS® (Furnace Energy Optimization System) controls the furnace process to ensure high productivity at low production cost. Also included in the supply is the revamp of the two strand beam blank caster to form a combined unit for casting steel slabs and alternately beam blanks. To this end, a revamping concept featuring short change times and high production speeds was developed.

The two strand combined continuous caster X Cast is rated for producing 250 mm thick slabs ranging in width between 800 and 1,100 mm as well as for beam blanks with dimensions of 1,150 x 490 x 130 mm.

Continuous caster no. 2 of Peiner Träger GmbH will thus become Germany's first combined caster for the production of beam blanks and slabs. SMS Demag will supply the complete X-Pact® electrical equipment and automation system including process models (level 2). Commissioning of the new equipment is scheduled for early 2010.

Peine is the home of the world-famous Peine beams and produces a variety of other sectional steel types such as the European beam, piling sections and special sections. As part of its ambitious investment program, Peiner Träger GmbH had already in November 2007 ordered a new reversing tandem mill from SMS Meer, which will start operating in the summer of 2009.

UK scrap export down in 2007

UK scrap export totaled 6.012 million tonnes in 2007 down by 18.9% YoY than 7.416 million tonnes in 2006.

Spain the leading offshore destination for UK scrap decreased its purchases by 3% YoY to 1.589 million tonnes from the tonnage acquired the same month of last year. Turkey took 1.54 million tonnes down by 37.5% YoY from a year earlier.

Shipments to France totaled 492,000 tonnes up by 32.2% YoY as against the same time of last year. Moreover, Portugal took 485,000 tonnes, Pakistan took 331,000 tonnes and Egypt took 308,000 tonnes.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Technip wins Norwegian wind turbine work

Technip has been awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract by StatoilHydro for the Hywind project substructure, which will be located offshore at Karmøy in Norway at a water depth of 200meter to 220 meter.

The Hywind project will be the world's first full scale offshore floating wind turbine.

The wind turbine demonstrator will have a tower height of around 65 meter and a blade diameter of around 82 meter that is a total unit height of around 106 meter above sea level. The substructure will be shaped like a vertical floating cylinder, with a draft of around 100 meter below sea level. The unit will have a peak production capacity of 2.3MW.

Technip's operating centre at Oslo in Norway will be responsible for project management and installation engineering. Detailed design and fabrication of the steel substructure will be carried out at Technip's yard at Pori in Finland one of the group's construction sites. The substructure will then be towed to the west coast of Norway, where it will be assembled with the topside. Installation of the wind turbine is scheduled for mid 2009.

Tung Ho Steel increases H beam prices

Taiwan’s Tung Ho Steel announces to raise its H beam prices by TWD 3,000 per tonne due to soaring raw material, oil and electricity costs.

The company’s benchmark prices have been raised from TWD 32,500 to TWD 32,800 per tonne to TWD 35,500 to TWD 35,800 per tonne. The price rise is much higher than customer's expectation. H beam export prices are now prevailing at USD 1,300 to USD 1,350 per tonne.

Some market participants even predicted that H beam prices will smash through TWD 40,000 per tonne soon.

(Sourced from YIEH.com)

Nucor closes common stock offering

Nucor Corporation announced the closing of its public offering of 27,667,580 shares of its common stock, including 2,667,580 shares issued after the underwriters exercised their over allotment option. The offering was priced at USD 74.00 per share.

Nucor’s gross proceeds of the offering were approximately USD 2.047 billion. Its intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes including acquisitions, capital expenditures, working capital needs and repayment of debt.

Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc and JP Morgan Securities Inc acted as Joint Book Running Managers for the offering.

STX wins USD 247 million ship order from Europe

South Korea's STX Shipbuilding Co said that it had secured a KRW 258.6 billion (USD 247.3 million) order from Europe to build two very large ore carriers.

STX in a filing to the Korea Exchange said that the ships would be delivered by May 31st 2012

Teck Cominco smelter spills lead and acid into Columbia River

AP is reported that Department of Ecology is monitoring potential human and environmental health effects after the Teck Cominco Ltd lead and zinc refinery in Trail BC released an estimated 100 gallons of hydrofluoric acid into the Columbia River May 28.

According to DOE officials, the acid contained about 2,100 pounds of lead. It said that they are working with British Columbia and other Washington state and local agencies to help

1. Identify the possible extent of contamination and potential human health issues.
2. Observe and respond to potential effects on water quality, sediment and wildlife.
3. Identify and protect important fish and wildlife habitat areas.
4. British Columbia investigators are awaiting results of water sampling near Wenata.

Teck Cominco said that a spill of nearly a tonne of acid lead solution into the Columbia River in southern British Columbia likely did not pose a threat to wildlife or communities along the waterway. Mr Greg Waller a Teck Cominco spokesman said that "We certainty don't think so. It's just so small a volume relative to the volume of water in the river.”

Teck Cominco said that it shut down the smelter for about an hour on Wednesday following the spill. Mr Waller said that the spill happened at a failed heat exchanger, which is used to cool down acidic solution that leaches lead from ore.

Ann Joo Plans to boost steel exports to Middle East

Bloomberg reported that Malaysia’s Ann Joo Resources Bhd plans to increase exports to the Middle East due to prevailing high prices.

Mr Lim Hong ED of Ann Joo Resources in an interview said that Ann Joo's MYR 600 million blast furnace and a slab caster will increase the proportion of the metal going to Abu Dhabi and Dubai to about 80% of total exports.

Mr Lim said that “The Middle East should be the hottest market. They are a big net importer of steel because there's acute shortage. Their order is huge and they pay a higher price than our local contractors.''

He added that steel prices in the Middle East, which is spending USD 700 billion in the next five years on infrastructure developments, are about 5 percent higher than Asian prices, Lim said. Malaysia scrapped export curbs on steel bars and billets and allowed local manufacturers to set their own prices on May 12.

Mr Ng Sem Guan an analyst at OSK Research Sdn said that “Malaysia's recent liberalization move is very positive for local steel manufacturers as there is no curb on exports and they should be able to capitalize on the current regional shortage.”

Turkish export offers of rebar crosses USD 1300 mark

Due to rising global oil price and strong demand, the Turkish export price of rebar has continued to rise.

Current rebar export to Dubai has risen to USD 1,330 to USD 1,350 per tonne CFR. But, some Middle East buyers said that they are not a hurry to purchase at this moment because they still have stock and the rebar price is really too high.

At the same time, regarding the soaring billet price, some of Turkey’s rebar rolling mills are not able to pay such high prices in buying billet; therefore, some mills have reduced or halted their output.

Ezz Dekheila reiterated steel price this week

Daily Star Egypt reported that Al Ezz Dekheila Steel has reiterated its ex factory price for a tonne of steel this week and set formal limits for the prices dealers and retailers can charge, in keeping with a new set of rules advanced by the ministry of trade & industry this week.

Al Ezz reported its ex factory price at EGP 5,700 per tonne, in keeping with figures released earlier this month, and set price caps at EGP 5,890 for distributors and EGP 5,990 per tonne for retailers.

While Al Ezz’s move was largely a formality, it will be a first trial as to whether the trade ministry’s new rules will substantially dampen steel speculation and lower the towering prices faced by end consumers here.

Mr George Matta marketing director at Al Ezz Steel said that "The regulations are very clear. Those who do not comply will be reported to the ministry."

Al Ezz deals with about 90 wholesalers who in turn sell to between 1,000 and 1,100 retailers. It recently set up a hotline for consumers to report disobedient re sellers and will launch an advertising campaign to keep people aware of new price limits in June 2008.

Oman Holding to sell Oman Steel shares to UAE buyer

Bloomberg reported that Oman Holding International Company has agreed to sell its shares in Oman Steel Company to a United Arab Emirates investor.

As per report, Oman Holding will sell the shares for OMR 1.65 million.

Turkish scrap market reported to be quite

It is reported that Turkish steel mills have bought a lot scrap earlier and therefore the scrap market is very quiet now.

According to the latest two deals of deep sea scrap, the price of HMS1&2 80:20 scrap was at CIF USD 728 per tonne and P&S scrap was at CIR USD 738 per tonne.

One of Egypt’s mills has purchased shredded scrap at CIR USD 750 per tonne. The price for A3 scrap of black sea to Turkey is between CIR USD 710 to USD 715 per tonne.

The scrap price in Turkey remains steady due to weak demand. The freight for USA eastern to Turkey has risen by USD 100 per tonne. But with shipment and iron ore prices skyrocketing, scrap price in the future will be decided by supply and demand.

US sets steep final duties on steel pipe from China

The US Commerce Department said that it has set final duties of around 700% on certain steel pipe from China to offset unfair pricing practices, although many companies will face lower rates.

Mr David Spooner commerce assistant secretary for import administration in a statement said that "Chinese subsidies and undervalued exports dumped in the United States by Chinese standard pipe producers put American producers at a disadvantage in the global marketplace and distort global trade flows.”

The department said that it leveled a 615.92% duty on steel pipe exported by the Shuangjie Group to offset Chinese government subsidies. It also imposed an additional anti dumping duty of 85.55% on Shuangjie Group exports to offset prices that Commerce said were below normal value.

Chinese HDG export prices on upward trend

It is reported that hot dipped galvanized coil price are still going up in China. On Shanghai market, 1.0mm HDG by Anshan steel is being quoted at CNY 7300 per tonne, 0.5mm material by private steel mills is quoted at CNY 7700 per tonne up by CNY 150 per tonne and CNY 300 per tonne respectively from last week.

Export offers are still mixed. The range is from USD 1020 per tonne to USD 1150 per tonne FOB for 1.0mm HDG. A tier two steel maker in north China has concluded a deal at about USD 1060 per tonne to USD 1070 per tonne FOB for DX51D/SGCC 1.0mm HDG, June production and July shipment. There is an extra of USD 60 per tonne and USD 100 per tonne for 0.55mm to 0.59mm and 0.5mm to 0.54mm material respectively. But some traders also mentioned that average contract price is still lower than that of CRC despite good transaction.

In general, Chinese HDG price is expected to remain strong in May and export tonnage for May and June shipment would see further rise.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

SHFE poised to launch steel futures in China

According to Mr Wang Lihua director of Shanghai Futures Exchange while speaking at the 4th Shanghai Derivatives Market Forum held in Shanghai this week that Chinese steel product futures is ready to come out in the near future.

Mr Luo Binsheng deputy chairman of China Iron and Steel Association said "Rebar and wire rod are expected to be first futures varieties and it is going to exert great impact on world steel market. “

He said that China should first launch rebar and wire futures as the two products are relatively simple to introduce into futures contracts, and then later expand into futures trading on other steel products. It is also help SHFE to get the international pricing power in the future.”

He added that China status both as a large steel product producer and consumer is a solid basis for the proposed steel product futures trade.

Steel product futures will help stabilize China’s domestic steel market and aid China’s transformation into a more powerful player in the global iron and steel market.

Shandong government to intervene in steel pricing

It is reported that in order to support quake relief and the followed reconstruction, Shandong Province issued an urgent notice asking the local authorities to ensure supply of products needed in quake rescue and relief and keep their prices stable.

As per report in order to support the relief it requires enforced coordination between the local development and reform committees and other related departments to link up production and supply of the needed products. The enterprises are hoped to expand output and meet demand for tent support and temporary housing construction.

On pricing of the products supplied to quake hit areas, like tube, HR sheet and coil, color coated steel etc as long as the products are produced and sold in Shandong province, the prices should stand in line with the level posted on May 11th 2008 but not exceed that and the higher posted prices should be chopped in tune as of the day of the notice issuance.

Moreover, the local authorities are required to closely track the implementation of the pricing policy and undergird monitoring of the prices and supply conditions while timely reporting violations.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Tangshan Steel to build steel plant in Luan

It is reported that recently, Tanggang Group and Luan County held the signing ceremony of Sijiaying recycling Economy Park, Tangsteel will build a 5 million tonnes steel project in Sijiaying, to build the largest production base for high quality section steel in north of China.

According to the agreement, Luan County will support Tangsteel to acquire Sijiaying iron ore mining south area and Yinyu iron ore mining rights. Tanggang will invest CNY 15.93 billion to build the world’s most advanced, domestic first class steel joint venture according to the principle of shortest supply chain, longest industrial chain, and the most excellent value chain.

Sijiaying iron ore owns the oversize iron ore deposit which is needed to be developed and utilized, the total resource reserves is about 2.348 billion tonnes.

Ningbo Steel orders electric drive and automation for plate mill

It is reported that on May 16th 2008, Ningbo Iron and Steel Company and Siemens Group signed a 4300mm width and heavy plate electric drive and automation system supply contract. Mr Zhou Shengqi general manager of Ningbo Steel and Mr Theinert CFO of Siemens Group, Mr Kolzarek vice president attended the signing ceremony.

The signing of the contract is a good beginning between the two sides cooperation. The leaders of the two sides expressed that they will have further cooperation in the future.

Chinese CRC export prices remain high

It is reported that export offer for cold rolled steel coil remain at high level and the strength is expected to continue.

On Shanghai market, 1.0mm CR sheet by Anshan Steel is being quoted at CNY 7200 per tonne, 1.2mm to 2.0mm material at CNY 7150 per tonne an increase of CNY 50 per tonne from April 14th 2008. While that for1.0mm CR coil by Maanshan Steel is at CNY 7050 per tonne to CNY 7100 per tonne.

Export quotations for 1.0mm CRC by tier two steel makers are at USD 1060 per tonne to USD 1070 per tonne FOB and the contract price is about USD 1030 per tonne FOB to USD 1040 per tonne FOB. Transactions are said to be not bad and the volume is expected to increase further for May and June shipment.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Investment fund planned for Caofeidian

According to Mr Zhao Yong Tangshan city government's secretary, an industrial investment fund will be established before the year's end to finance Caofeidian industrial area.

He said that "We are making great efforts to establish a financial platform to power the development of companies and industries in Caofeidian. The fund is expected to make financial access easier for projects and businesses in the area."

In October 2005, the central government selected the Caofeidian industrial zone as a pilot area for developing the recyclable economy. Since then, great efforts were made to construct facilities and infrastructure for water and power supplies, and transportation and telecommunications.

Chengde Steel sales revenue in Q1 reaches CNY 5.3 billion

It is reported that Chengde Steel in North China's Hebei province has sold 1.06 million tonnes of steel products in the first quarter of 2008 up by 274,300 tonnes from 2007 with sales revenue of CNY 5.325 billion.

As per report Chengde Steel achieved the good performance against the backdrop of soaring raw materials prices, difficulties in reclaiming capital and volatile market climate.

Chengde Steel reclaimed cash of CNY 1.5 billion in Q1 enabling the company to maintain its normal production and it also registered best performance in terms of monthly sales volume and revenues.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Domestic market scenario of CR in China

Shanghai
CRC prices edge up too with Angang made 1.0mm sheet quoted at CNY 7200 per tonne
1.2mm to 2.0mm sheet is quoted about CNY 7150 per tonne and 3.0mm sheet above CNY 7900 per tonne
Handan Steel-made 1.0mm coil is offered at CNY 7050 per tonne up by CNY 20 per tonne to CNY 50 per tonne in general.

Beijing
CRC prices hold firm
1.0mm sheet remains at CNY 7100 per tonne.

Guangzhou
CRC also stands steady with 1.0mm sheet made by Angang quoted at CNY 7150 per tonne.
Magang and Baogang made 1.0mm coil in the space of CNY 7020 per tonne to CNY 7050 per tonne.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Baotou Rare Earth stops production to stabilize prices

Baotou Steel Rare Earth announced that it decided to stop to supply rare earth concentrates to the rare earth enterprises for one month as well as stopping production in order to stabilize the rare earth products’ market prices.

Through the company’s forecast, the output will be reduced by 1,400 tonnes because of the stop production. The company will make up for parts of the debt in the second half of the year and make efforts to ensure the full-year output not be affected. During the shutdown period, the company will continue to sell the inventory.

At the same time, the company also expressed that the products of rare earth mill run, rare earth metal products in the company headquarters and the subsidiary’s rare earth metal products, hydrogen alloy powder, nickel hydrogen batteries, cerium carbonate, cerium hydroxide, rare-earth polishing powder, europium oxide, and other products are remained normal production.

WISCO to increase by products volumes

According to WISCO Group the production capacity of the crude benzol refining system, which mainly produces asphalt and naphthalene and the tar, will reach 300,000 tonne per year and 1 million tonnes respectively. At present, the production capacity is 45,000 tonnes per year and 150,000 tonnes per year respectively.

With the continuous expansion of WISCO’s coke production scale, the deep processing capacity of coal chemical products is deficiency and is easy to make waste.

Experts from China Coking Industry Association, and other units gathered in Wuhan Iron and Steel Company to demonstrate the coal chemical products deep processing plan of WISCO.

The experts suggested that during the implementation of the project, it will try best to improve the environmental protection measures, make the colligation yield of the project be higher, and lower power consumption.

Bengang Steel Plates Co Ltd appoints Mr Kang Wei as GM

Bengang Steel Plates Co Ltd announced that Mr Kang Wei will replace Mr Li Mohua as General Manager in the Company.

Jigang and Volvo ink strategic cooperation agreement

It is reported that recently, Jina Iron and Steel Group Company and Volvo Construction Equipment Company signed strategic cooperation agreement. Mr Wang Jun Jigang Group’s board chairmen, Mr Zhang Jiaxin deputy GM and the president attended the signing ceremony.

Mr Wang said that “Volvo is a world famous enterprise group and has formed world’s leading core competitiveness. In recent years, Jigang Group and Volvo Group especially the Volvo Construction Equipment Company continued to deepen the communication, the similar corporate culture and the common value pursuit make Jigang and Volvo Construction Equipment Company have close relation.”

He added that in recent years, Jigang Group developed rapidly, the sales revenue in 2007 broke through CNY 50 billion, and the products quality and product structure have profound changes. The boiler and pressure vessel plate and high strength construction medium and heavy plates have gotten China's name-brand title. At present, Jigang is intensively to deepen the restructuring to build the China’s first-class, world renowned modern plate’s base.

Interpipe secures major loan for funding steel expansion

Ukrainian Journal reported that steel pipe and railway wheel producer Interpipe has closed a USD 531 million ECA supported debt financing package to develop and construct a 1.32 million tonne steel electric arc furnace.

The new steel mill will be built in Dnepropetrovsk in Eastern Ukraine. The debt package comprises a USD 344 million Sace backed export credit facility and a USD 187 million pre export financing arranged by Barclays and Citi.

Mechel report mining segment results for 2007

Mechel has announced its mining segment results for 2007

Highlight
1. Mining segment revenue for 2007 totaled USD 1.8 billion up by 41.3% YoY over segment revenue of USD 1.3 billion or 30% of consolidated net revenue in the 2006.
2. Operating income in the mining segment in 2007 increased by 177.9% YoY to USD 886.7 million.
3. EBITDA in the mining segment in 2007 increased by 146.0% YoY to USD 995.7 million compared to EBITDA of USD 404.7 million in 2006.

(In USD billion)

Mr Igor Zyuzin CEO Mechel said “Mechel’s mining segment experienced a breakthrough year in 2007. As demand and the pricing environment continued to improve significantly, Mechel increased production, successfully raising coal production by 25% and nickel production by 19%. With the acquisition of strategic assets, such as Yakutugol and Elgaugol, we have strengthened Mechel as global company with significant growth potential. As a result of favorable pricing and increased production, net income for 2007 increased 3 times compared to 2006. Profitability in the mining segment was also positively affected by cost control efforts and successful execution of the technical upgrade program for segment’s mining plants technical upgrade program. As a part of the program, new highly productive extractive equipment is being commissioned at our facilities on a regular basis. Looking forward, favorable pricing at the end of last year has continued to improve in 2008. We intend to capitalize on the current market environment by increasing sales, controlling expenses and operating in the most attractive and promising markets.”

Nabucco pipeline construction to cost more

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International stated some 1.5 fold increase in the cost of the Nabucco gas pipeline to EUR 7.9 billion due to hike in oil prices and rising steel demand.

Consortium of the project reviewed capital expenditures on the basis of assessment of material procurement and supplies for implementation of the gas pipeline construction project.

According to new assessment, the project will require 2 million tonnes of steel, 200,000 pipes and over 30 compressor aggregates.

Nabucco gas pipeline will pump gas from Azerbaijan and Central Asia to EU countries. From Central Asia gas may be delivered to Nabucco via planned Trans Caspian gas pipeline to be constructed along the bed of the Caspian Sea. The pipeline with initial carrying capacity of 8 billion cubic meters per year will be constructed by 2012.

First supplies will be pumped in 2013.

Mechel confirms accident at Lenin coal mine in Kuzbass

Mechel OAO confirmed that an accident has occurred at its Southern Kuzbass OAO coal subsidiary’s Lenin Mine while installing the UKP-5 complex.

As part of installing the UKP-5 complex, construction of powered roof support sections was being performed at Southern Kuzbass OAO’s Lenin Mine. To date, 26 sections were erected and while the 27th section was being installed, the inter seam formation of coal and rock in the excavation roof unpredictably collapsed. Eight workers fell under the coal and rock at the time of the accident. Two workers were injured and have been safely rescued while six other workers remain trapped at this time.

Mr Vladimir Polin CEO of Mechel Management OOO said “Operations are currently being carried out to eliminate the accident's after-effects and rescue the six miners.”

Norilsk stock surges on proposed tie up with Metalloinvest

Reuters reported that Norilsk Nickel's stock rose more than 3% after its largest single shareholder, billionaire Mr Vladimir Potanin agreed a tie up with metals tycoon Mr Alisher Usmanov to create a world mining giant.

The potential creation of a USD 100 billion plus Russian miner to rival BHP Billiton would support Norilsk's stock as its three heavyweight owners including Russia's richest man Mr Oleg Deripaska, battle for greater control.

Mr James Fenkner MD of Red Star Asset Management which owns shares in Norilsk said "If there are three very rich owners, they may try to vie for control by buying shares. That's where the minorities think they may do relatively better."

Mr Olga Okuneva Deutsche Bank metals analyst said "By signing this memorandum with Mr Usmanov, Mr Potanin has once again seized the initiative away from UC RUSAL."

As part of the agreement, Mr Usmanov will buy up to 10% of Norilsk through his Gallagher Holdings company. Potanin's Interros firm which owns around 30% of Norilsk may in turn buy up to 25% plus one share in Metalloinvest.

Kazakhstan joins Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan oil pipeline

Interfax reported that Mr Nursultan Nazarbayev president of Kazakhstan has signed into law a bill ratifying a treaty to enable Kazakhstan to export oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

The report added that the treaty, whose signatories are Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, prescribes technical support for oil transportation from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea in order to be poured into the BTC pipeline and forwarded through Tbilisi to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan to be taken on to international markets.

Gazprom and SUEK JV behind schedule - Report

Interfax quoted a source with knowledge of the deal reported that Gazprom and the shareholders of Siberian Coal and Energy Company SUEK did not sign a shareholders agreement on the formation of a joint venture by the April 30 deadline.

The source said the deadline was set down in the main terms of the deal signed in February. Now, even that document will have to be renegotiated.

The source said the companies were still far from resolving the main problem, which was the principles of running the joint venture's electricity business but SUEK does not like Gazprom's proposed terms, which are either control over that business or direct management of the OGK-2 and OGK-6 wholesale generating companies.

Highly placed SUEK representative told Interfax that the companies still intended to come to terms and described all the difficulties as formalities.

Russia to complete fuel oil supply to North Korea

Interfax cited Mr Alexei Borodavkin Russian Deputy Foreign Minister as saying that Russia is planning to complete the second supply of fuel oil to North Korea before the end of May or in early June.

He said that "Russia has already carried out two fuel supplies to North Korea.

Mr Borodavkin said “The first supply took place in January, and the second is nearing its end now. We are hoping that it will be technically completed before the end of May or in early June."

Transafghan pipeline project discussed in Ashgabat

Interfax reported that the first session of the technical groups of the countries taking part in the Transafghan pipeline project is being held in Ashgabat.

The Turkmen media have reported among the meeting participants are the deputy oil and gas ministers of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, the heads of the Indian company GAIL and also representatives of the Asian Development Bank which is the main sponsor of this project.

The media said that "During the negotiations at the level of experts, the parties continued to discuss a whole range of issues, primarily those connected to the gas price. The meeting participants agreed that the price on fuel should be formed with regard to the situation on the world energy market."

The reports said "Following its position to sell gas solely on its border, Turkmenistan made appropriate amendments to the draft framework agreement, which will be submitted to the governments of the participating countries."

The decision to build a pipeline connecting Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan was made by the project participants in 2002.

Baosteel and TISCO to cut stainless production by 30% in June

Baosteel and TISCO have announced that they plan to cut the production in June 2008 by 30% in order to stabilize the market and avoid the price from falling.

Before this, the production had been cut down by 50% in May 2008 for the four main steelmakers.

Currently, the stainless steel plate price of 300 series in Wuxi market has decreased by CNY 2,000 per tonne. The plate price of 400 series has decreased by CNY 500 per tonne.

Columbus Stainless has production capacity of 1 million tonne

South Africa’s sole producer of stainless steel Columbus Stainless recently announced that it has the capacity to produce 1 million tonne a year of stainless steel however this is dependent on a number of variables.

Mr Dave Martin CEO of Columbus Stainless said that the 1 million tonne a year is a definite goal of the company however, the biggest challenge facing this figure is the availability of power from Eskom. He added that "Columbus will try to increase its melting throughput within the constraints of the imposed 90% power limit that has been put onto the company by Eskom. This may result in 1 million tonne a year only being achieved once Eskom has sufficient capacity."

Columbus Stainless has also come to an agreement with Eskom that prevents load shedding at Columbus’s Middelburg production plant provided Columbus reduces its energy consumption by the required 10%, which has already been achieved. The second variable that will determine when Columbus will achieve its 1 million tonne a year target is the demand of the market.

Mr Martin said that only 20% of the company’s capacity is taken up by the local market. He added that "Because the South African market currently only accounts for 20% of the company’s capacity demand, Columbus is well placed to increase its supply into the local market."

SASSDA announces 3 new categories in SS awards

Southern Africa Stainless Steel Development Association recently announced that three new categories have been added to the biannual stainless steel awards which are to be announced on October 16th 2008. The new categories that have been added to the awards ceremony include an innovation award, an achievement award and a student award.

Mr Michael Campbell outgoing MD of SASSDA said that the aim of the extended awards is to recognize achievements in sectors other than products, projects and services. He added that "Students make a significant contribution towards the stainless steel industry and it is time we give them recognition. At the 2006 awards, students from the University of Stellenbosch were runners up in the overall stainless steel award category."

Mr Campbell said that "Another area where SASSDA needs to give significant acknowledgement is to the achievement award. Here, the association wishes to publicly recognize industry stalwarts who make a significant contribution to the industry. We would like to give them recognition at the awards as opposed to posthumously."

Mr Campbell said that SASSDA has also extended the diversity of its judges’ panel to include participants from a range of industries that promote stainless steel. He added that "This year, the judges' panel includes a number of new faces covering a range of industry participants that frequently promote stainless steel."

Expansion to increase service offering of Macsteel VRN

It is reported that the value added capacity expansion program at Macsteel VRN Stainless, part of the Macsteel VRN Group of Companies, will increase the company's service offering.

Mr Kit Williamson MD of Macsteel VRN said that it recently embarked on the expansion program in order to offer industry value added services across the entire stainless steel and aluminum supply chain. He added that to compete in the global market, one must offer services that add value or reduce costs in the supply chain. This was a major factor in motivating the capital expenditure program.

The expansion is taking place at Macsteel VRN's major service centre in Roodekop just outside Johannesburg. Most of the new equipment has been delivered to the plant and is in the process of being commissioned and brought on line. One of the most significant additions as a result of the expansion is the new hot rolled cut to length line.

This line will cut to length and edge trim stainless steel up to 6mm in thickness, aluminum up to 8 mm, at a width up to 2 meters. The line will handle mother coil up to 30 t and will process lengths in excess of 8 meters.

Macsteel VRN Stainless also recently purchased a Trumph 6 kW laser cutter, incorporating a 6000 mm x 2000 mm bed, further strengthening the company's laser capabilities. It has also upgraded its bending facility with the addition of a 6 meter press brake which is in the process of being commissioned.

A new CNC plate rolling machine, delivered in March 2008, has just been commissioned and is able to roll stainless steel plates up to width of three meters with a thickness of 25mm.

BHPB bid for Rio – BHPB files Form CO

BHP Billiton announced that it is making its official competition filing to the European Commission in relation to its proposed acquisition of Rio Tinto.

BHPB bid for Rio – EUROFER urges EC for stopping the deal

As BHP Billiton has notified to the European Commission its intention to merge with competitor Rio Tinto, European steel industry has asked European Commission to stop merger.

Mr Gordan Moffat director general of EUROFER called upon the European Commission to dismiss the application for approval.

He said that “We can not believe that the Commission will authorize the merger of two of three mining companies which dominate almost 75% of the world market for seaborne iron ore. Such market dominance increases disproportionately the pricing power of companies concerned in iron ore and coking coal on top of the huge price increases seen over the last years. This is not in the interest of the European steel industry which has already had to pass on huge increases in raw material costs.”

Mr Moffat said that “Raw material supply is a key factor in the competitiveness of the European industry and has an enormous impact on the European economy as a whole in times where industry faces additional challenges in terms of credit availability and the rising Euro in the context of the global credit crunch and the slowing economy.”

Iron ore prices already increased massively this year by 65% and coking coal prices even by 200%, representing a huge rise in raw material costs for the steel industry. As Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are the number two and three in the world’s iron ore business after Vale. The proposed merger would give the combined company a market share of almost 40 % of the seaborne iron ore market. Vale already has more than 33 %.

6 workers trapped in Kemerovo coal mine cave in

Russian news agencies reported that 6 Russian miners remained trapped underground after a cave in at their pit in the Siberian region of Kemerovo.

Regional administration officials said that when the incident occurred, 17 people were working underground in the Lenin mine but 11 of them escaped to safety. A rescue operation was under way.

Accidents frequently occur in Russian coal mines, many of them caused by outdated equipment or neglect of safety rules.

AES sells Kazakhstan plant and coal mine to Kazakhmy

AP reported that power producer AES Corp has completed the sale of its stake in a coal mine and power plant in Kazakhstan to London based copper producer Kazakhmys PLC.

As per report AES will receive USD 1.1 billion in proceeds and up to USD 381 million over three years to manage and operate the facilities for Kazakhmys.

The coal fired power plant, with current available capacity of about 2,250 MW and the coal mine are both in northern Kazakhstan.

AES will maintain ownership of its other facilities in eastern Kazakhstan, which include thermal and hydro generation capacity of roughly 2,688 MW and a distribution business with more than 400,000 customers.

Sumitomo to build new coke oven battery in Japan

Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd and Paul Wurth Italia SpA officially signed a contract for the delivery of the new coke oven plant N1E at Kashima Works in Ibaraki of Japan. This will be the first coke oven battery ever supplied by Paul Wurth in Japan.

The new battery will be realized in line with the existing ones and will be operated by the same machines. Therefore the same geometrical dimensions will be adopted. However, the design of the combustion system and of the overall features of the battery will be completely new to fully attain the performance values in a long lasting operating campaign.

Engineering, supervision and key equipment supply are included in the scope of Paul Wurth Italia S.p.A.

The first coke is expected to be pushed in April 2011 and the expected production is 494.000 tonne per annum.

Mongolia may overtake China as main moly supplier to Japan

Japanese customs data showed that Mongolia could soon overtake China as Asia's largest molybdenum oxide supplier to Japan. According to the data Mongolia exported 216 tonne of moly oxide to Japan over January to April 2008, almost matching China's exports of 220 million tonne. In comparison, while China exported 520 tones to Japan over January to April 2007, Mongolia exported only 50 tonne over the same period.

Japan, however only started importing moly oxide from Mongolia in January 2007 and Mongolia only stepped up exports to Japan in late 2007, shipping 54 tonnes in November, 36 tonnes in December, 54 tonnes in January 2008, 72 tonnes in February, 54 tonnes in March and 36 tonnes in April.

Increased Mongolian presence in the Japanese market follows the launch of commercial moly oxide production by Mongolia's mining giant Erdenet Mining in January 2007.

A Japanese consumer, who purchased moly oxide from Erdenet said that the company had a major competitive advantage over other Asian producers as it had its own supply of moly concentrate feedstock needed to produce moly oxide.

As many Chinese and South Korean moly oxide producers import moly concentrate to produce moly oxide, their output depends on concentrate availability, which has tightened this year. Meanwhile, Japanese market sources said that if Erdenet bagged an annual supply contract with steelmakers or trading houses in Japan, Mongolia could easily overtake China as Japan's main Asian moly oxide supplier.

Joy Global Q2 sales up by 34% YoY

Joy Global Inc, a worldwide leader in high productivity mining solutions, reported results for the 2008 fiscal second quarter ended May 2nd 2008. Orders were USD 1.2 billion up by 69% YoY from USD 728 million in the prior year period on strengthened conditions in the US coal market and continued growing demand from the international markets. Net sales for the 2008 second quarter were USD 843 million as compared to USD 629 million in the prior year period an increase of 34% YoY.

Joy Global’s bookings in the 2008 second quarter totaled USD 1.2 billion up by 69% YoY reflecting order strength in both the original equipment and aftermarket segments. Original equipment orders more than doubled, up 119% and aftermarket orders were up 30% from last year.

Mr Mike Sutherlin president & CEO of Joy Global Inc said that "I am very pleased with our results for the second quarter. The quarter's orders were again at record levels for both surface and underground segments, and overall orders exceeded USD 1 billion for the first time in the company's history. These order rates have been driven by exceptionally strong fundamentals in all of the markets we serve and by our customers' preference for our equipment and services. We are benefiting from previous capacity and process investments, which has allowed us to increase revenues by 34% from last year. Excluding the contract termination and amortization charges that do not affect the fundamental earnings power of our business, our earnings performance was solid and in line with our internal expectations. Our cash generating capability even as we grow this business continues to be impressive and cash from operations exceeded USD 100 million this quarter. Our ongoing focus on growing capacity and improving efficiency should enable us to meet the expectations of our customers and shareholders as our markets continue to improve."

Joy Global Inc is a worldwide leader in manufacturing, distributing and servicing equipment for surface mining, through its P&H Mining Equipment division; underground mining, through its Joy Mining Machinery division; and bulk material conveyor systems, through its Continental Crushing & Conveying division.

Chinese iron ore import from different countries in 4 months

China has imported 153.491 million tonnes of iron ore during January to April 2008. Its imports during April amounted to 42.846 million tonnes.

Chinese iron ore import during April 2008

In million tonnes

Quebec Cartier changes name to ArcelorMittal Mines Canada

Mr Francois E Pelletier president & CEO of Quebec Cartier announced that Quebec Cartier Mining Company is changing its name to ArcelorMittal Mines Canada. The announcement was made at a press conference in Port Cartier's Café theatre Graffiti, attended by employees, partners and dignitaries. The new corporate name becomes effective immediately, highlighting the official incorporation of Quebec Cartier into the ArcelorMittal Group.

Mr Pelletier said that "Today marks the beginning of a new era for our Company, its employees, its partners and the communities in which it operates. For the first time since Quebec Cartier was founded in 1957, we have a shareholder that wants to do much more than just secure a reliable source of quality ore."

ArcelorMittal currently meets some 46% of its iron ore needs from its own mines and recently indicated its plans to reach 75 to 85% self sufficiency by 2015. ArcelorMittal's commitment to become more self sufficient in iron ore is echoed here.

Mr Pelletier explained that "We are now looking at different ways to boost our current iron ore concentrate and pellet production. We are looking at opportunities to produce more at Mont Wright and Fire Lake, and even to develop other deposits. There's also the possibility of maximizing our current facilities and perhaps adding new ones.”

Russia coal miner Belon plans London IPO - paper

Reuters reported that Russian coal miner Belon Group is planning to float at least 15% of its shares on the London Stock Exchange in the second half of 2009.

Vedomosti newspaper quoted Mr Andrei Dobrov Belon's general director and Mr Vasily Bastrygin co owner and board member as saying that Belon had yet to decide on the exact size of the share offer which could comprise only additionally issued shares.

Vedomosti quoted industry analysts as saying that the company could raise more than USD 300 million through the offering, based on the assumed price range of USD 180 per share to USD 220 per share.

Belon based in Siberia's largest city, Novosibirsk is 41.3% owned by Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works.

CIL MCL to outsource over burden removal works

SNS reported that Coal India Limited’s Mahanadi Coalfield Limited plans to award contract to a private party to remove over burden works in Lingaraj coal mine.

Lingaraj is the first running coal mine in MCL going for over burden privatization while a similar move to hand over the over burden works to a private party at Laxmanpur open cast mine at IB valley last was aborted due to all out protests.

As per report, coal workers spreading across Talcher and IB valley coalfield are deeply worried over the move, as they fear it is a back door step to privatize the profit making coal company, which comprises coal mines located in the state of Orissa. They argue there is no point in privatizing the work when workers excel in works leading the company to achieve its record production each year. They say about 600 employees mostly land oustees engaged in this job would be out of work paving their outside transfer. The over burden work is the only work in coal mines which are done by departmental workers.

MCL official source however maintained that this is for a temporary period keeping in view of growing demand of coal and condition of the mine.

L&L to acquire coke and coal washing company Hong Shan

L&L International Holding Inc a leading US company in the Chinese coal industry announced that on May 20th 2008 it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Hong Shan Coal Company.

Hong Shan Coal Company is in the business of coke and coal washing and is located in Yunnan Province. It has annual manufacturing capacity of 90,000 tonnes of coke and 150,000 tonnes of coal washing, with revenue of approx USD 37 million per year.

L&L plans to leverage its highly experienced management team, which has a good understanding of the US GAAP and is fluent in both Mandarin and English, to help Hong Shan expand its existing coke and coal washing facilities.

Mr Paul Lee chairman of L&L said that "We are glad to announce the MOU with Hong Shan. We plan to integrate Hong Shan's coke and coal washing operations with L&L's existing coal wholesale operations, which are conducted through our subsidiary, KMC Coal, in Yunnan Province. We expect to achieve a competitive advantage through this expansion along the coal value chain as well as higher gross margin. We plan to make additional acquisitions in the future."

L&L founded in 1995 its primary operations are focused on the coal sector in China. The Company also operates an energy compressor business.

Court reinstates USD 100,000 fine against Massey

AP reported that a circuit court judge has reinstated a USD 100,000 fine levied against a Massey Energy subsidiary that failed to report a serious coal mine accident within 15 minutes.

As per report Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Duke Bloom ruled the state Coal Mine Safety Board of Appeals' decision to slash the fine to USD 10,000 was arbitrary and capricious.

The state Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training had appealed the reduction, arguing the board lacked the authority to lower the fine.

The case was the first legal test of a key mine safety provision adopted after the deaths of 14 West Virginia miners in two 2006 accidents.

The fine stems from a March 2007 flood at Massey's River Fork Powellton No 1 mine, which Massey abandoned less than a month later.

Xstrata Mount Isa Mines rejects allegations of cover up

Xstrata release said that “According to some media reports, an email from Dr Niels Munksgaard from Charles Darwin University refers to a study conducted by himself and his research team in 1997-98 as part of the Mount Isa Mines Limited Panel Assessment Study. The study was reportedly conducted in collaboration with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. Dr Munksgaard is allegedly claiming that the report published on the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency website does not contain full scientific data and conclusions.”

Mr Steve de Kruijff COO of Xstrata Copper North Queensland said that "We understand this is the report being referred to in Dr Munksgaard’s email. We will Endeavour to speak to Dr Munksgaard to find out if the data he is referring to is not included in this report. However, it is likely that the final report would have been approved and endorsed by the CSIRO who were the scientific authority on the Panel.

He said that “We understand that the isotopic studies conducted by Dr Munksgaard and his team were predominantly focused on the area north west of the Mount Isa Mines smelters, away from the town. The results of these studies are not an assessment of issues relating to the community of Mount Isa or the health of its residents. The PAS was conducted in an open and transparent manner and the final report was delivered in February 2001. The main objective of the PAS was to report on the environmental impact of sulphur dioxide emissions from smelters and the likely reductions from when the acid plant was operating.”

Mr Steve de Kruijff COO of Xstrata Copper North Queensland said that "Xstrata Mount Isa Mines is committed to continuous environmental improvement and we have strong support from our local community. All we ask for is some balance in the reporting of this issue and we are proud of our environmental performance and our commitment to the health and safety of our employees and the community.”

He added that “We have an extensive network of monitoring systems in the community and consistently report well below the EPA limit of 1.5 micrograms per cubic metre for lead levels. We have reduced sulphur dioxide emissions from the copper smelter by 77% since 2000, and further initiatives to improve emissions capture are being identified through the Smelter Emissions Project with a target of 95% capture and treatment of sulphur dioxide emissions from the copper smelter.”

Panzhihua starts Yibin Pyrites mine project

It is reported that Panzhihua Mining's Yibin Company Ltd celebrated its opening ceremony at Xingwen Vounty in Yibin Sichuan.

Xingwen County is abundant in pyrites resource and Panzhihua Steel has signed strategic cooperation agreement with the local government and Jinwei Group in December 2007 and established the joint venture six months later.

With registered capital of CNY 200 million, Panzhihua Steel contributed CNY 160 million to the JV with the remaining CNY 40 million provided by Jinwei Group. The JV can produce 200,000 tonnes of pyrites ore and 80,000 tonnes of vitriol ore per annum.

The JV would start expansion project for the local Chuannan pyrites mine soon. And the mine would boast 1m-tpy of pyrites ore production capacity after the completion of first-stage construction in 2010 and the capacity would reach 6 million tonnes after the second-stage completes.

(Sourced from MySteel.net)

Illegally transport iron ore seized in Bellary

BS reported that an attempt to illegally transport seized iron ore in Gadiganur police station limits of Bellary district has come to light. Timely action by officials, including those from the revenue and mines & geology departments prevented the illegal transportation of iron ore.

As per report, around 25,000 tonnes of ore was illegally stocked in a plot and there were attempts to bring down the quantum of seized material to 10,000 tonnes and lift the remaining material.

Based on information, Mr Arvind Srivastav deputy commissioner of Bellary has directed the Hospet Tahsildar, Pragna Ammembal and deputy director of mines & geology to look into the matter. Officials found around 31 Lorries engaged in transportation of the material. A case has been registered.

Strike ends at Namibia's Skorpion Zinc mine - Report

Reuters reported that a 19 day strike at Africa's biggest zinc mine, Skorpion Zinc in Namibia has ended after unions and management reached a wage deal.

Mr Usi Hoebeb a mine spokesman said that the strike ended on Thursday after intervention from Namibia's labor ministry. Workers accepted a 12% wage increase, overtime and travel costs. Output was marginally affected and less than a day's production was lost.

The report added that mineworkers Union of Namibia also supported an application to the labor ministry for continuous operations to be put in place at the mine.

Skorpion owned by mining giant Anglo American produces 12,500 tonnes of zinc per month.

CIL to recruit 2,500 executives in next 5 years

ET reported that Coal India will recruit about 2,500 entry level executives in next five years to strengthen workforce in view of its plans to expand production capacity.

Mr PS Bhattacharyya chairman of CIL on the sidelines of a conference by the Indian Coal Forum in New Delhi said that "We will annually recruit 500 executives at entry level for the next four five years for which campus selection has already started at leading institutes like IIT, ISM, NIIT and others.”

As per information, nearly 500 executives of the PSU have left the organization in over a year's time, while double the number is gearing up for the same to grab lucrative offers from the private sector.

Mr Bhattacharyya however said the resignation numbers were not so much. He said that "Even if 500 executives out of the total 17,000 left the organization, this actually means that only over 3% people left CIL, which is not a big deal.”

Mr Bhattacharyya said that CIL is not facing any staff crunch, but admitted that recruitment of executives at E 2 level has not taken place in the company during the last one decade.

Mr Bhattacharyya added that CIL has envisaged the scheme to give promotion to its potential employees through an examination, for which preparation of the syllabus is on.

Atlanta receives order worth INR 89.42 crore from CIL

Mumbai based Atlanta Ltd has announced that it has received work orders worth INR 89.42 crore from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd and South Eastern Coalfields Ltd for extraction / cutting / transfer of coal / coal measure strata.

Dwyka Resources raises GBP 10.3 million to fund coal projects

Dwyka Resources said that it has completed a capital raising of GBP 10.3 million to finance its interests in the Daguma and Bonanza coal projects in the Philippines island of Mindanao.

The announcement came after the company announced earlier this month that it had entered into an option giving it the ability to buy a stake in the deposits and funding requirements to finance acquisitions and other costs.

Dwyka's broker, Ambrian Partners, has placed 39 745 500 fully paid ordinary shares at a price of 26p a share with selected institutional investors. The proceeds of the placing would primarily be used to fund project costs including initial option exercise expenses to give Dwyka a 30% interest in the project, costs related to further exploration and drilling, equipment purchases and staffing.

Dwyka reported that it had received commitments in respect of all of the placing shares. The placing was conditional the approval of its shareholders in general meeting and the admission of the placing shares to trading on the London Stock Exchange.

Mr Melissa Sturgess CEO of Dwyka Resources said that "We are absolutely delighted with the level of interest shown in the Daguma and Bonanza coal projects. The financing has closed ahead of the scheduled time and we look forward to bringing shareholders early news of our progress on this project.”

Mitsui Mining to buy back preferred shares from bank - Report

Reuters reported that Japanese coke and coal producer Mitsui Mining would spend up to about USD 217 million to buy back preferred shares held by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp to prevent their conversion to common stock.

Mitsui Mining was revived a few years ago under the auspices of a state backed turnaround agency and has since strengthened ties with Nippon Steel Corp and trading house Sumitomo Corp to keep it on a recovery track.

Mitsui Mining said that it would buy the 68 million preferred shares held by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and cancel them, avoiding the risk of them being converted and boosting the number of its outstanding common shares by about 40%.

Mitsui Mining said that it would pay up to JPY 22.95 billion (USD 217 million) for the shares, a premium of 35% over the JPY 17 billion originally paid by the bank.

Mitsui Mining also announced that it would bring forward the date from which Nippon Steel and Sumitomo can convert their preferred shares by 6 months to October 1, pending approval at a general shareholders' meeting on June 27.

Indian government examining curbing of iron ore exports

It is reported that Indian government is considering the issue of ban on iron ore exports as demanded by the steel makers.

Mr RS Pandey India’s steel secretary on the sidelines of the blow in ceremony of TATA Steel’s BF H at Jamshedpur told reporters that several steel makers have been seeking a ban on iron ore exports and the issue is being looked into by the government.