| Price Index - India | | | | 23-Jan | 22-Jan | Change | | ILPPI | 6772 | 6810 | -38 | | IFPPI | 6666 | 6666 | 0 | | INDSPI | 6721 | 6742 | -21 | | What is it? | | Currency | | AUD | 1.5277 | | BRL | 2.3013 | | CAD | 1.2308 | | CNY | 6.8297 | | EUR | 0.7696 | | GBP | 0.7241 | | INR | 49.1850 | | JPY | 88.7293 | | RUB | 32.8553 | | USD | 1.0000 | | ZAR | 10.1860 | | View Current Currency | | Metal Rates Cash Seller & Settlement | | Zn | USD 1107 | | | Ni | USD 11040 | | | Sn | USD 11050 | | | Al | USD 1289 | | | Cu | USD 3050 | | | View Current Metal Rates | | Steel Futures | | NCDEX | 23900 (19-Dec) | INR | 0 |  | | DGCX | 480 (22-Jan) | USD | 0 | | | LME-M | 325 (22-Jan) | USD | 0 | | | LME-F | 300 (22-Jan) | USD | -10 |  | | NCDEX :
NCDEX Mild Steel Ingot Future Closing Price DGCX :
Dubai Steel Rebar Futures Closing Prices LME-M :
LME Steel Billet Future Buyer Prices (Mediterranean) LME-F :
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(Far East) | | | | Others
Indian steel ministry to seek 10% import duty yet again - 26 Jan 2009 PTI reported that the Indian steel ministry has decided to push for 10% import duty on steel items to protect the domestic industry against cheap shipments from overseas.
The report cited a senior official in the steel ministry as saying that the ministry is expected to recommend for enhancement of the duty to 10% from the present five in a couple of days.
An official of a steel company said that "If 10% duty is levied, imports would become costlier and the consuming industry would prefer procuring the commodity from us."
Endorsing the industry's concern over possible dumping of steel items from CIS countries amid the global economic slowdown, the Steel Ministry had in October 2008 recommended imposition of 10% import duty on steel items. The Indian government, however, had then levied 5% duty even as the domestic producers wanted the tariff to be as high as 15%.
According to industry watchers, what could prove a possible bottleneck in enhancement of the import duty is the fact that steel imports plunged by 14% to 4.8 million tonne during the April to December period of 2008-09 as against 5.6 million tonne in the corresponding period of 2007.
(Sourced from Press Trust of India)
SCI and SAIL shipping JV appoints Deloitte to scout for partners - 26 Jan 2009 PTI reported that proposed JV between Shipping Corporation of India and Steel Authority of India is going ahead full steam despite sharp decline in dry bulk freight rates, with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu being appointed to scout for foreign partners.
The report cited Mr S Hajara said CMD of SCI as saying that "The slump in dry bulk rates and the ongoing crisis has had no impact on the proposed joint venture with SAIL. We are moving ahead as both the partners are very keen."
He said that Deloitte has been appointed consultant for scouting for foreign partners for the JV. He said that the JV would be operational by next fiscal.
Mr Hajara added that "We are looking at acquisition opportunity to acquire assets for the JV company."
SCI and SAIL in last July decided for forming the JV for carrying out dry bulk shipping trade and importing coking coal. SAIL and SCI each intended to hold 25% of the paid up share capital of the proposed JV, while the remaining 50% share capital would be held by strategic foreign partners.
As per report, the JV firm would primarily provide shipping related services to SAIL for importing coking coal and may also participate in worldwide dry bulk shipping trade.
(Sourced from Press Trust of India)
India not facing recession - Mr Chidambaram - 26 Jan 2009 The Financial Express quoted Mr P Chidambaram Union Home Minister as saying that India is not facing recession but only a slowdown.
While delivering a lecture after launching the Bharatiya Yuva Shakthi Trust in Chennai, he said that manufacturing sector is facing a sharper slowdown.
Mr Chidambaram said that "We have to take counter measures and sometimes corrective measures to ensure high domestic demand. While the government is taking fiscal measures, the RBI is taking monetary measures."
He said that there was some monetary shock due to the drying up of overseas as well as non-banking lending, adding that the public sector banks handled the larger portion of loans.
Mr Chidambaram said that "We have to increase lending to stimulate domestic demand," adding that the India government and RBI can and will work together to work out more stimulus packages.
(Sourced from The Financial Express)
Bay Forge to invest INR 125 crore in plant - 26 Jan 2009 ET reported that Italian Fomas group's Indian subsidiary Bay Forge is bullish on scaling up its Indian business of open die forgings and seamless rolled rings for critical applications in sectors such as aerospace, thermal and nuclear power generation, oil and gas and defence.
Bay Forge, based in Chennai, clocked revenue of 140 crore in 2008 and it plans to invest INR 125 crore till 2012. As part of expansion, on Friday it inaugurated at its plant in Kanchipuram district a 2000 tonne forging press. It will augment capacity for open die forgings. The plant is also equipped with a 3500 tonne press used for making larger forgings and rings.
Mr Jascopo Guzzoni CEO of Fomas Group said that "We entered India in 1996 during difficult times. But, we continued to pour investments as we saw huge opportunities. Bay Forge has grown to become an undisputed leader in the realm of open die forgings and large seamless rings in India.”
Mr Guzzoni said that "We are in a niche forging segment and are a pioneer in large volume critical forgings and ring rolling in India. We focus on very high levels of quality, high integrity of products and on time delivery as critical parameters. We consider India and China as 2 big markets, where we want to expand through Bay Forge."
He said that Bay Forge serves clients like VSSC, BARC, BHEL and Siemens, Alstom power, Vatech,Triveni, Toshiba, DRDL, ASL, RCI and HAL. Its in house laboratory facilitates quality control tests on samples and test coupons, helping it to meet stringent international quality norms. A ring rolling mill is able to roll out rings of 5.5 meter in diameter and 20 tonne in weight, one among the most powerful in the world.
In 2008, globally, Fomas clocked revenue of EUR 650 million with almost equal share from open die forgings and rings, its two main divisions. Of this, Bay Forge generated EUR 22 million. As part of its strategy to focus on key markets such as India, Fomas has chalked out an investment an investment plan of EUR 250 million between 2008 and 2012.
(Sourced from Economic Times)
High interest rates delays infra projects by 6 months - CII - 26 Jan 2009 PTI reported that a majority of Indian corporates expects increased government spending on road and low cost housing projects as high interest rates and credit crunch have delayed infrastructure projects by over 6 months.
The survey said that most of the infrastructure and related companies surveyed expressed concerns over the delays in financial closures of their projects and said the cost of projects has gone up by 5% to 15%.
It said that 50% of them said that delays in financial closures was up to 6 months, while 35% said delays were more than 6 months. However, the chamber did not reveal the number of companies surveyed.
It said that "80% to 3% of the respondents expects the government to increase its spending on infrastructure by additional 15% or more to stimulate necessary demand in the economy."
The survey said that the government should direct the suggested increased spending into roads and highways sector, low cost housing, power and ports.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee director general of CII said that "This additional government spending on roads and low cost housing will provide the much needed boost to domestic demand for sectors such as steel, cement and other industry sectors. Further, such projects are also large employment generators."
The survey further added private companies in the sector should be allowed to float tax-free bonds and setting up of an agency to facilitate implementation of infrastructure projects to deal with impacts of global financial crisis.
(Sourced from Press Trust of India)
Nalco to start work on Orissa aluminium project - 26 Jan 2009 ET reported that National Aluminium Co is gearing up to start preliminary work on its second aluminium project, a INR 16,000 crore Greenfield venture for a smelter cum power plant, in Orissa. This comes close on the heels of Nalco receiving an in-principle approval from the Orissa government for the project, due to come up in the state’s Jharsuguda district.
A Nalco director said that “We have received necessary approvals from the state government for the Jharsuguda project. This will allow us to start an environment impact study for the project.” This will be followed by detailed studies on availability of water and land assessment in the area.
However, Nalco’s proposed 5 million, smelter in Jharsuguda will be its second aluminium project in the state. The state owned aluminium major already operates a smelter and a thermal power plant and alumina refinery at Angul and Damanjodi, respectively. The new project is part of the navratna PSU’s ambitious plans to invest INR 40,000 crore in a series of projects in the next few years.
The source said that “There is hardly any private land in the proposed location of the project. Most of it is forest land. The choice of the site is perhaps linked to the company’s plans to get coal linkage from Orissa’s prolific Ib Valley deposits to fuel its 1,250 MW thermal power unit. We expect to start delivery in the 12th Plan period.”
As per report, the proposed new project will use alumina from Nalco’s existing refinery at Damanjodi. With completion of Nalco’s expansion program, the latter unit is envisaged to see an increase in capacity from over 15 million to around 21 million.
(Sourced from Economic Times)
Slowdown signs - TATA Motors to halt production at Jamshedpur - 26 Jan 2009 TATA Motors has announced that it will stop production at its commercial vehicle plant at Jamshedpur for five days from January 27th to avoid inventory build up amid slumping demand, reports Economic Times.
TATA Motors said that the decision was taken to avoid unnecessary build up of inventories in the company or with the dealers in the absence of demand. It had earlier taken its way out to block closure in November and December last year.
(Sourced from myiris.com)
Indian Steelmakers Directory 2008 - 26 Jan 2009 The fast developing Indian steel industries are continuing beyond what most believed was possible. As one of the world's fastest growing economies, India has become the most happening place among world steel market over last few years and thus is in the radar of not only Indian but most of global players associated with steel industry. But due to fragmented nature of industry, a comprehensive list of smaller steel makers is not readily available.
"Indian Steelmakers Directory 2008” is one the top sources of information available on steel making companies in India! 'Indian Steelmakers Directory' is one of the most comprehensive and accurate directory of Indian steel companies that have ever been published. This powerful directory is your connection to the entire Indian steel industries sector.
Published in February 2008, “Indian Steelmakers Directory 2008” has been comprehensively researched and prepared, to bring you a fully up to date guide to India's rapidly growing steel makers. This Directory will be extremely useful to businesses that deal specifically with companies in the iron and steel industry, ferro alloys, consumable suppliers, raw material sellers, equipment makers and others.
Whether you are a product manager, in charge of marketing, raw material seller, in equipment business or simply interested to remain in touch with the latest developments in the Indian steel industries, this directory will save you time and effort in finding the information you need.
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This directory covers name and details of 720 of Indian steelmakers in Alphabetical as well as location wise order.
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• Company name -723 entries
• Address-723 entries
• Phone number-723 entries
• Fax number -590 entries
• Email -446 entries
Report Summary:
1. Published: Feb 2008
2. Format PDF File (Delivery by Email on receipt of payment)
3. Total no of pages – 396
Price: USD 1250 or equivalent in INR
(Additional Charges would be levied for delivery of file on a CD or in printed form)
You can order your copy to reports@steelguru.com
Slowdown signs - L&T refinery projects showing signs of slowdown - 26 Jan 2009 PTI quoted Larsen and Toubro as saying that some projects in refineries, petrochemicals and fertilizers are showing signs of slowdown and they can get delayed because of financing reasons.
Mr MV Kotwal board member of L&T's said that "There are some projects in refineries, petrochemicals and fertilizers, which are showing signs of a slowdown."
Mr Kotwal said that whether new exploration projects would get the nod or otherwise would depend on financing. He said that "It might affect some upstream projects and some of the projects could get delayed because of financing reasons."
He said that however, L&T would emerge unscathed because it was not dependent on one sector but instead, catered to the global market.
He said that "We are manufacturing core equipment such as ammonia converters, fertilizer and urea strippers. There is a huge requirement in the global market. Since we are not focused only on India but across the world, we find we have opportunities even now."
In heavy engineering, the company is focusing on high end technology to give it the edge in the marketplace because of less competition.
Mr Kotwal further said that "When you come to areas where there is a higher level of technology, designing and innovation, we definitely have an edge. That also gives us the benefit of competing with a restricted number of people worldwide."
(Sourced from Press Trust of India)
Mundra Port records 35% growth in cargo handling - 26 Jan 2009 BL reported that Mundra port in Gujarat has clocked over 35% growth in cargo handling during April to November 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.
Sources, however, said that the private port has also maintained its lead over major ports in container cargo. While the major ports posted 7.45% growth in container cargo to 4.65 million tonne, Mundra clocked 28% growth to 0.56 million tonne.
During April to November 2008, Mundra handled approximately 24 million tonne of cargo, which is 7% of a total of 346 million tonne of cargo handled by the major ports and is higher than the cargo handled by ports such as Ennore, Tuticorin, Cochin and Mormugao.
This is in contrast to less than 4% growth registered in cargo handling by the 12 major ports Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, JNPT and Kandla of the country during the period. At least 4 major ports, including Kolkata, Ennore, Chennai and Mumbai, registered a decline in cargo handling. Mumbai posted a sharp 10% fall in cargo handling during the period. Only 3 major ports, Kandla, JNPT and Tuticorin posted double digit growth in cargo handling.
Industry sources said that the Mundra port has maintained its growth rate in December too, thereby posting a volume growth of 35% to 40% for the October to December 2008 quarter.
According to sources, port charges remained the same for the fiscal. MPSEZ’s margins remained grossly unaffected during the last quarter. MPSEZ posted a net profit of INR 52 crore on a turnover of INR 205 crore during October to December 2007. It clocked a net profit of INR 213 crore on a turnover of INR 818 crore in 2007-08. The company is expecting to maintain the growth in the January to March 2009 quarter.
(Sourced from Business Line)
Punj Lloyd reports third quarter FY2009 results - 26 Jan 2009 Punj Lloyd Group, the diversified engineering, procurement & construction conglomerate announced its financial results for the third quarter of FY 2009 at its Board of Directors meeting/
9M FY2009 Financial highlights
1. Consolidated total income was INR 8,756 crore up by 59% compared to INR 5,503 crore in 9M FY2008.
2. EBITDA was at INR 447 crore in 9M FY2009 compared to INR 489 crore in 9M FY2008.
3. PAT for 9M FY2009 at INR 29 crore compared to INR 241 crore in 9M FY2008.
Third quarter financial highlights
1. Revenues up 43% to INR 3,143 crore as compared to INR 2,163 crore during the corresponding previous period.
2. EBIDTA at INR 73 crore in Q3 FY2009 as compared to INR 150 crore in Q3 FY2008
3. Loss After Tax at INR 227 crore compared to Profit After Tax of INR 92 crore in Q3 FY2008.
Punj Lloyd Group said that the performance and developments during the review period are a reflection of the significant business opportunity the company believes it enjoys going forward. The financial performance for the quarter under review was impacted due to the provision of INR 207 crore made towards a SABIC order executed by Simon Carves Limited, which is under litigation with client, foreign exchange losses of INR 78 crore on loans taken by Simon Carves Limited owing to volatility of sterling pounds.
Mr Atul Punj chairman of Punj Lloyd Group said that “Despite a difficult macro environment, I am happy to report encouraging growth in the volume of business and operating levels. The results were adversely impacted owing to provisions made in one of the long term contract and volatilities in currencies. We have won prestigious contracts from Cairn Energy India Limited and Housing and Infrastructure Board of Tripoli which demonstrates the reputation of the Group and its capabilities in executing unique and challenging projects both in India and also abroad. We also bagged orders from Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Airports Authority of India.”
He further added that “Our focus continues to be on expanding the order book with high profile credentials and ensuring that the order inflow is higher than the order burn out. Our global business presence and diversified business model gives us the confidence to maintain a robust outlook of our performance even when there is a slowdown in some geographies.”
Protest at Essar Steel project continues - 26 Jan 2009 SNS reported that tension prevailed at Essar steel project site even as the indefinite dharna by the project displaced families backed by four organizations entered its fourth day today.
As per report one platoon police force has been deployed at the plant site to avoid any untoward incident.
While the demands remain almost the same, the prime one has been that the company should pay INR 2.5 million for each acre of land acquired. The other demands included employment opportunities, rehabilitation colony, peripheral development and measures for environmental protection, ITI training to the youths from the displaced families, health services and work for local laborers in construction work.
The agitators alleged that people from other states are given preference in construction work, while the locals are deliberately neglected. Despite several pleas, neither the district administration nor the company pays any heed to the demands, they charged.
While the four organizations like Paradip Krushak Manch, Eastern Krushak Manch, Regional Development Council and Gramaya Surkhya Samiti have lent their support for the dharna, local MLA, Dr Damodar Rout is leading the agitation this time. Congress leader Mr Bibhu Tarai, CPI leader Mr Gaurihar Nayak and other Opposition leaders also sat on dharna with Dr Rout.
(Sourced from Statesman News Service)
Directory of Overseas Scrap Suppliers to India - 26 Jan 2009 India is large market for import of steel scrap and this is the directory which is going to help many interested group to know this industry.
Published in September 2008, 'Directory of Scrap Suppliers to India' has been comprehensively researched and prepared, to bring you a fully up to date guide to overseas scrap supplier.
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Content:
This report covers name and product details of 1191 overseas scrap suppliers to India in alphabetical as well as location wise order. Look at the information you'll get in the 'Directory of Scrap Suppliers to India'
• Company name -1191 entries
• Address-1191 entries
• Email-1074
• Phone number-1140
• Fax number -431 entries
Format:
PDF File
Total no of pages – 545
Delivery by Email on receipt of payment
Price:
USD 500 or equivalent in INR
Additional Charges would be levied for delivery of file on a CD or in printed form
How to order:
Ordering the report is simple. You can order your copy to reports@steelguru.com, who will send you an invoice of the report.
Ms Gandhi to lay foundation stone of Rae Bareli coach factory - 26 Jan 2009 It is reported that the foundation stone of the Railway coach factory at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh will be laid by Congress President Ms Sonia Gandhi on January 27th 2009.
The new INR 2,200 factory to be constructed under PPP mode will spread over 1000 acre. Work on the project is likely to be completed by 2010.
Work on the factory was stalled earlier, in October 2008, when the state government which had ownership of 189. 253 acre refused to transfer the land citing opposition by locals. However, the lease deed for the land in Lalganj tehsil of Rae Bareli was executed on January 17th 2009 paving way for the project to commence work.
(Sourced from Projects today)
DP World may review Kerala Port operations due to strikes - 26 Jan 2009 The Hindu reported that India Gateway Terminal Limited, part of Dubai Ports World, might reassess the business environment in Kochi, Kerala due to the frequent lorry strikes at the Kochi port.
It had lost 12 of the last 22 working days to trailer lorry strikes even as yet another flash strike by drivers and crew of trailer lorries entered the second day.
It is hardly 10 days since an eight day strike by trailer lorry owners plunged the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal, operated by IGTL for the Cochin Port Trust, into a severe crisis. The strike was prompted by the imposition of parking fees on trailer lorries that remained in the port premises six hours after they entered it.
According to an industry source, investments in Kochi appeared to be risky as of now. As the State fights the economic slowdown, frequent strikes will only help business wither away. The latest flash strike has prompted stakeholders in the ports business to call for a permanent fiat against strikes in port areas considering that ports are India’s strategic assets.
Mr Suresh Joseph GM of IGTL said that the economic downturn has severely eroded his business and that diversion of cargo had helped neighboring ports substantially. He said that there is apparently no mechanism in place to meet such a situation even as the state is trying to become investment friendly.
The shipping industry’s call for a permanent solution to the frequent strikes at the port comes at a time when shippers here are suggesting invoking Essential Services Maintenance Act to break the ongoing strike and prevent future ones.
(Sourced from the Hindu)
Mr Chidambaram calls for more stimulus packages - 26 Jan 2009 The Financial Express quoted Mr P Chidambaram Home minister as saying that Indian economy is not facing recession but a is experiencing a slowdown, which is more pronounced in the manufacturing sector and called for more stimulus packages to ensure that aggregate demand remains high.
Mr Chidambaram speaking at the launch of the IFC-VenturEast-BYST-sponsored fund to promote grass roots entrepreneurship in India that the country was not facing a recession and was only experiencing a slowdown. He said that the word recession was being used loosely in India.
He said that "India is facing a slowdown, with the manufacturing sector facing a sharper slowdown. It is important that we take counter and corrective measures to ensure that demand remains very high. While the government has taken a number of fiscal measures and the RBI monetary measures, perhaps more measures are necessary."
Mr Chidambaram said that the Indian economy suffered a monetary shock following which overseas and non banking credit had virtually dried up in the country. He said that "The entire burden of providing credit has fallen on the banks and within the banking system a large proportion has fallen on public sector banks."
He said that "Thanks to our policies, our public sector banks are strong, very sound and continue to lend," adding that lending must be increased to stimulate the domestic demand.
He said that "I hope that the Reserve Bank of India and the government can and will work together to ensure there is fiscal stimulus and a supported monetary policy to ensure aggregate demand does not fall too much."
He added that outlining his government's commitment to boost small and medium enterprises, various plans had been chalked out to help them in the last 4 to 5 years.
He said that "A very large proportion of jobs are in this sector, while 40% of India's exports are done by the SMEs. Therefore it is important to nurture this sector."
Mr Chidambaram further added that "Today banks are obliged to lend up to INR 5 million without any collateral while guarantee amount has been extended from INR 50 million to INR 1 crore some business may fail, but that should not deter us from providing loans and risk capital to small businesses."
(Sourced from The Financial Express)
NTPC approves investment in Rihand STPP - 26 Jan 2009 National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on January 24th 2009, inter alia have approved the investment proposal for Rihand Super Thermal Power Project, Stage - III in the state of Uttar Pradesh at an appraised current estimated cost of INR 62308.11 million.
INDSPI - SENSEX for steel prices in India - 26 Jan 2009 Amidst the currently prevailing volatile and speculative steel price scenario in India, SteelGuru.com has started the much needed barometer to track and measure the price movements on daily basis.
Steel prices being an issue at the forefront in the context of inflation, drawing significant government attention, making up for about 4 per cent in the Wholesale Price Index(WPI), has been media's most favorite and hot topic at the moment. Unfortunately, the facts are misrepresented very often due to complexity in the structure and the dynamics of the steel market, leaving the users of the information mostly in a state of confusion.
In order to provide an index for steel prices, we call it SENSEX for steel, SteelGuru.com decided to work on both long products and flat products for respective category indices as also a composite one for steel. We call them ILPPI, IFPPI and INDSPI and have started releasing these indices with effect from July 1st 2008, after taking June 30th 2008 as base.
ILPPI is based on daily market prices of three benchmark products rebars, wire rod and sections in 4 metros, whereas IFPPI is based on HRC, plates, CR and HDG. These indices have been built considering their respective weights in the composite categories as also in the shares of sales in the regional markets.
The pricing input is from www.steelprices-india.com, which publishes market transaction prices of benchmark products among select locations 5 days a week.
These price indices outline the way domestic steel market is moving day by day and will help producers, agents in the supply chain, steel buyers, bankers and analysts in their respective businesses.
To know more, please visit
http://steelprices-india.com/spi_services/spi.html
CSC posts TWD 18.26 billion loss in Q4 2008 - 26 Jan 2009 It is reported that China Steel Corporation has reported its first ever loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 on falling material prices and declining production. CSC lost TWD 18.26 billion in the past quarter as it began stopping or scaling back production at all locations amid a low point in falling raw material prices.
CSC officials said that "Looking ahead at this year, China Steel admits that it still faces the pressure of more losses in the first quarter. Q4 sales declined by 540,000 tonnes to 1.99 million tonnes from Q3."
In November 2008, CSC said that it would cut domestic steel production in the first quarter of 2009 as it slashes output due to weakening demand during the global economic downturn. The cuts would lower prices by an average of 22.56% from the previous 3 months, in line with global trends.
China Steel Corporation 2008 Q4 results | Operating Profits Q4 | 93,945
| | Accumulated Operating Profits '08 | 43,810,843
| | Pretax Profits Q4 | 18,264,456
| | Accumulated Pretax Profits '08 | 30,255,331
| | |
In TWD '000
The pre tax earnings of year 2008 is TWD 30.25 billion, after netting of the accumulative pre tax earnings of TWD 48.52 billion for the first three quarters and the pre tax loss of TWD 18.26 billion of Q4. The sales volume of Q4 is 1.99 million tonnes, down by 0.54 million tonnes from Q3. Sales revenue of Q4 is TWD 55.1 billion, decreased by TWD 21.7 billion from Q3. Abovementioned factors resulted in pre tax loss of TWD 18.26 billion for Q4, which significantly eroded the operating results for the first three quarters of 2008.
China Steel Corporation suddenly froze the expenditure which was not urgent and restarted the 1020 cost saving scheme at once when global financial crisis took place. CSC not only strengthens ourselves but also delivers what we save back to our customers to consolidate the relationship of supply chains. We have the confidence that production and sales volumes will recover quarter by quarter in this year and a bright prospect will come again.
Chinese CRC export price further increase - 26 Jan 2009 It is reported that Chinese domestic cold rolled steel coil prices are still on the rise, but there is quite few transaction due to coming Chinese spring festivals. This is also the case with export market
On Shanghai market, 1.0mm CR sheet by Anshan steel improved by CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 4700 per tonne from last Friday. That for 1.2mm to 2.0mm material goes at CNY 4580 per tonne. While that for 1.0 CR coil by Maanshan steel goes at CNY 4500 per tonne.
Export offer for DC01 1.0mm CRC goes at around USD 615 per tonne to USD 640 per tonne FOB, stable with last week. There is almost no export activity and most traders have been in holiday.
(Sourced from www.Mysteel.net)
Visit www.Mysteel.net for real time access to China steel news!
Morgan forecast molybdenum prices to remain low in 2009 - 26 Jan 2009 Platts cited Morgan Stanley as saying this week in its Global Metals Playbook for the first quarter of 2009 that molybdenum prices are set to remain low in 2009, but the market's supply surplus should shrink from 2008 levels.
The report from Morgan Stanley said that "We forecast prices to remain at a low of USD 12 per pound in 2009 as the industry remains in surplus for most of the year. Given that the end market for moly is steel and related sectors, with the steel market contracting, our demand forecast looks for a contraction in line with our steel demand forecast of 5% in 2009."
Morgan is forecasting global consumption in 2009 at 431.9 million pound, down 5.7% from 458.2 million pound in 2008. A bullish catalyst for molybdenum demand and pricing could be the initiation of a strategic reserve by the Chinese government and potentially other governments given the strategic importance of the metal. It added that "Such a reserve build could improve demand in 2009-10 and drive prices to our bull case of USD 30 per pound in 2010."
The report also noted that on the supply side, lack of demand from end markets has resulted in announced production cutbacks, with Freeport McMoRan cutting molybdenum output by 12.5% and delaying the reopening of its Climax mine, Thompson Creek delaying the expansion of its Endako mine and General Moly postponing its Mt. Hope project, and output from major mines at the end of 2008 was 5% lower YoY.
Morgan Stanley said that "We forecast global production to decline by 6.7% in 2009 and demand to closely track that of steel, declining 5.7% this year. We estimate a surplus of only 14.2 million pound in 2009 and 9.9 million pound in 2010, compared to 19.8 million pound in 2008."
(Sourced from www.platts.com)
Tokyo Steel revises rebar and plate prices for February sales - 26 Jan 2009 Tokyo Steel Mfg Co announced on January 19th 2009 that it has revised the list prices of deformed bars and heavy plates in its domestic supply contracts for February 2009, with a price increase of JPY 3,000 per tonne for deformed bars and a price reduction of JPY 6,000 per tonne for heavy plates. The list prices remain unchanged for the rest of the product mix.
The revision indicates a price increase of deformed bars for two consecutive months and a price reduction of heavy plates for the first time in two months since December 2008. As a result, the new list prices of base sizes are JPY 57,000 per tonne CIF for deformed bars and JPY 80,000 per tonne FOT for heavy plates. Also, two new extras of JPY 3,000 per tonne for SN400A and JPY 7,000 per tonne for SN400B apply to February supply contracts of heavy plates.
The present FOT prices of other main products in base sizes are JPY 78,000 per tonne for H beams, JPY 79,000 per tonne for I beams, JPY 87,000 per tonne for U piles, JPY 67,000 per tonne for HR coils, JPY 70,000 per tonne for pickled HR coils and JPY 75,000 per tonne for checkered plates.
Mr Naoto Ohori MD and GM market at Tokyo Steel said that "With a pronounced fall in domestic demand for steel products, Tokyo Steel is contemplating reacting accordingly with its production system toward supply-demand adjustments. In this connection, all the manufacturing industries are struggling to reduce inventories with production adjustments while putting capital investment on the back burner."
He added that "Tokyo Steel stays noncommittal to any new deals for exports of its products at a time when there are inquiries from abroad calling prices with no risk to users. The company is poised to enhance a cutback in its crude steel production that will total around 150,000 tons in January, nearly half the peak level of August last year. As a result, a 50% production cutback is expected to continue for the February to March 2009 period."
Mr Ohori said that "The company expects its December-January H-beam production to total 150,000 tons according to plan. Also, there are prospects that the company's production will stand at levels 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes per month for HR coils and 20,000 tonnes per month for heavy plates. As to intakes of locally available ferrous scrap, the company faces inadequate arrivals at its works. Behind rising prices of local ferrous scrap are several factors. Among them are results of the Jan 14 export tender by Japan's Kanto Tetsugen cooperative association of ferrous scrap dealers, China's increased imports of ferrous scrap from Japan, and decreased arisings of local ferrous scrap in Japan due to slack operations of manufacturing industries such as autos."
(Sourced from Tex Reports)
Production pruning - Price slump forces KIOCL to suspend sales - 26 Jan 2009 Hit by a record slump in prices of pellets and pig iron since September, the state run Kudremukh Iron and Ore Co has suspended production and sales.
Mr K Ranganath CMD of Kudremukh told IANS that "We have suspended production and sale of our products this quarter (January-March) of fiscal 2009, as the prevailing prices of pellets overseas and pig iron in the domestic market are unviable even for spot contracts.”
He said that China's demand for iron and steel declined sharply after the Beijing Olympics last August, while the global meltdown has had a cascading effect on international metal prices. In the case of iron oxide pellets, the rate plunged from a record high of USD 245 per tonne in the first week last September to USD 54 per tonne in the fourth week.
He added that "Since October, pellet price has been hovering between USD 55 to USD 90 per tonne. With our production cost at USD 74 to USD 80 per tonne, it is not viable for us to export.”
Mr Ranganath said that "We will wait for the pellet price to touch USD 105 per tonne to secure spot contracts. Till then we do not want to incur further expenditure and pile up inventory. We hope the economy will rebound in the next six months.”
He said that "The absence of captive mines has increased our production cost as the raw material has to be transported from Bellary in north Karnataka to our pelletization plant at Mangalore on the west coast.”
(Sourced from IANS)
Chinese iron ore import details for 2008 - 26 Jan 2009 It is reported that China iron ore import from different countries during January to December 2008 total 443,657,408.00 tonnes which Australian top at 183,361,332.70 tonnes
| Country | Dec'08 | 2008 | Share
| | Total | 34,526,877 | 443,657,408 |
| | Australia | 12,852,208 | 183,361,333 | 41.3%
| | Brazil | 6,375,283 | 100,621,394 | 22.7%
| | India | 10,194,148 | 90,996,092 | 20.5%
| | South Africa | 1,046,777 | 14,339,302 | 3.2%
| | Ukraine | 585,150 | 7,051,645 | 1.6%
| | Indonesia | 553,495 | 6,770,390 | 1.5%
| | Peru | 1,040,258 | 5,341,970 | 1.2%
| | Iran | 154,132 | 5,139,603 | 1.2%
| | Canada | 74,634 | 3,771,268 | 0.9%
| | Chile | 280,565 | 3,619,174 | 0.8%
| | Kazakhstan | 310,900 | 3,255,893 | 0.7%
| | Russian Federation | 237,181 | 3,214,647 | 0.7%
| | Venezuela | 103,164 | 3,185,268 | 0.7%
| | Mauritania | 209,138 | 2,492,187 | 0.6%
| | North Korea | 134,720 | 1,881,901 | 0.4%
| | Thailand | 18,204 | 1,810,989 | 0.4%
| | Mexico | 115,172 | 1,425,615 | 0.3%
| | Viet Nam | 57,263 | 1,171,710 | 0.3%
| | Mongolia | 56,919 | 1,011,736 | 0.2%
| | Others | 127,566 | 3,195,293 | 0.7%
| | | | |
(In tonnes)
(Sourced from www.Mysteel.net)
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US December flat products market prices on downward trend - 26 Jan 2009 According to a survey by Japan Iron & Steel Federation, domestic market prices of steel products in the USA trended downward for flat products in the Middle West as of December 31st 2008. As a result, there is a view that local market prices will take still more time to bottom out for sheet products.
Summing up the findings of its survey, the JISF gives the following report:
As of December 31st 2008, Midwest market prices of flat products fell by USD 120 from a month ago to USD 566 per tonne for HR sheets, by USD 115 to USD 667 per tonne for CR sheets, by USD 59 to USD 757 per tonne for hot dip galvanized sheets and by USD 52 to USD 972 per tonne for heavy plates. A continued decline in sheet prices ensued from slack domestic demand from consuming industries such as autos.
As of December 31st 2008, Midwest market prices of long products fell by USD 37 from a month ago to USD 875 per tonne for structural shapes and by USD 171 to USD 727 per tonne for wire rods. But they rose by USD 48 from a month ago to USD 620 per tonne for rebars, a rebound for the first time in four months.
Some items such as rebars came under a rebound in prices, albeit a small one, as production cutbacks and inventory adjustments had brought effects amid a continued slump in domestic demand.
(Sourced from Tex Reports)
CAPEX cuts - BSG delaying Guinean iron ore project - 26 Jan 2009 Bloomberg reported that BSG Resources, a mining company controlled by Israeli diamond investor Beny Steinmetz has been temporarily delayed from beginning work at the Simandou concession in Guinea, part of which it was awarded last month after the area was stripped from Rio Tinto Group.
Marc Struik CEO of BSG Resources said “There was some confusion about the boundary between blocks two and three, which is the line between us and Rio, so to end confusion we agreed to stop work until the exact geographical boundary is marked. It’s a bit of a tense situation, so it’s important to avoid ambiguity.”
He said that “There is no confusion about the license. We’ve been granted a three-year exploration permit by the Guinean government during which time we have to carry out a certain amount of work.”
Mr Struik said government engineers are at Simandou now and should take no longer than two weeks to mark the boundary. We’re ready to go at the site, and that’s going to happen in the next week or so. He said that BSG has since 2006 been conducting drilling and exploration at sites adjacent to the blocks it was awarded.”
According to the report, Guinea ordered a compulsory relinquishment of the northern half of Simandou by Rio, the world’s second- largest iron-ore producer. The country, run by a military junta since December 23rd awarded blocks one and two in the northern part to BSG, while confirming Rio’s right to the southern section.
Mr Nick Cobban Rio spokesman said “We stand by our view that we have the legal claim over the Simandou concession and would like to discuss the situation with the government at an appropriate time. While he said he is unaware of any discussions, Rio has invested USD 450 million in the project and continues to conduct essential exploration work.
(Sourced from Bloomberg)
Downsizing deals - Outokumpu to axe 50 jobs in UK smelting shop - 26 Jan 2009 The star reported that 50 jobs are being axed at Outokumpu's Sheffield melting shop, 4 months after it announced it was closing its thin strip business at Meadow hall with the loss of 230 jobs.
Outokumpu said that it wants to cut the number of shifts worked at the Tinsley melting shop from 18 to 15 a week, reducing the number of people working there from 290 to 240. The total workforce at the Shepcote Lane plant numbers around 60
A spokesman of Outokumpu said that "This proposal is necessary as a direct response to the current depressed market situation for stainless steel. It is anticipated approximately 50 job reductions would take place over the course of the coming months. The company will provide extensive support to attempt to avoid any personal hardship that may be caused to employees."
Mr Steve Stacey, regional director of the steelworkers' union Community, said he was saddened by the announcement. He said that "Union representatives are in consultation with Outokumpu to mitigate the need for compulsory redundancies. We will be supporting our members throughout the 30 day consultation period."
Last month Outokumpu announced a total of 450 jobs were to go in Sweden, along with a further 350 global head office jobs, and warned of more job cuts at plants worldwide.
(Sourced from www.star.co.uk)
Production pruning - Tokyo Steel to cut output - 26 Jan 2009 Bloomberg reported that after Nippon Steel Corporation announcement, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co is also planning to reduce output to try to counter deteriorating demand as the global recession deepens.
Mr Eiji Sakabe MD of Tokyo Steel said that it is in talks with its union about the monthly halts. He added that it plans to apply for wage subsidies under a government aid program.
(Sourced from www.bloomberg.net)
Details of MEA crude steel production in 2008 - 26 Jan 2009 According to worldsteel, Turkey tops the production of crude steel in December 2008 with 1.350 million tonne down by 36.6% YoY as compared to 2.128 million tonne in December 2007.
| | Dec '08 | Dec '07 | Change | 2008 | 2007 | Change
| | Turkey | 1,350 | 2,128 | -36.6 | 26,410 | 25447 | 3.8
| | Iran | 909 | 892 | 1.9 | 9,964 | 10050 | -0.9
| | Egypt | 380 | 534 | -28.8 | 6,198 | 6382 | -2.9
| | Saudi Arabia | 273 | 445 | -38.7 | 4,667 | 4642 | 0.5
| | Qatar | 39 | 100 | -61.0 | 1,406 | 1108 | 26.9
| | Libya | 89 | 103 | -13.6 | 1,137 | 1256 | -9.5
| | | | | | | |
(In ‘000 tonne)
(Source – worldsteel)
Recession reports - Mining boom turns bust in Australia - 26 Jan 2009 Bloomberg reported that Mr Michael Smith moved 2,500 miles across Australia in July to earn AUD 120,000 as a blaster. Now the 30 year old explosives expert is a motorcycle courier making half his former wage.
Mr Smith’s woes mirror those of Western Australia, his new home, where a mining boom that drove 17 years of economic growth in the southern continent has collapsed as commodity prices have slumped in the global credit crisis, forcing companies such as Rio Tinto Group to cut production and jobs.
For the past three years, Western Australia’s expansion rivaled China’s, its biggest export market, peaking at 14% in the Q2 of 2006. With growth forecast to drop to 1.5% by 2010, the state may not be able to prevent Australia’s first downturn since 1991.
Mr Mike Young MD of Western Australian iron ore explorer BC Iron Limited said that “I’ve never seen anything like this. The severity and speed of the crash was incredible. The market value of BC Iron, which is due to begin production, next year, fell by 88% in 2008.
Australia skirted the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the dot com bust in 2000. It may not be so lucky this time. The economy grew 1.9% in the Q3 of 2008, the weakest annual pace in more than five years. Western Australia contributed to half of that expansion.
(Sourced from Bloomberg)
Global crude steel production details for 2008 - 26 Jan 2009 World crude steel production reached 1,329.7 million tons for the year of 2008. This is a decrease of -1.2% compared to 2007. 2008 is the second consecutive year that world steel production has been over 1,300 million tons.
Region wise
| Region | Dec'07 | Dec'08 | Change | 2007 | 2008 | Change
| | EU | 17,051 | 9,875 | -42.1% | 210093 | 198,550 | -5.5%
| | CIS | 10,584 | 5,798 | -45.2% | 124002 | 113,986 | -8.1%
| | North America | 10,441 | 5,859 | -43.9% | 132184 | 125,365 | -5.2%
| | South America | 4,290 | 2,489 | -42.0% | 48187 | 47,586 | -1.2%
| | Asia | 62,177 | 56,106 | -9.8% | 729255 | 749,496 | 2.8%
| | Africa | 1,484 | 962 | -35.2% | 18588 | 17,009 | -8.5%
| | Middle East | 1,437 | 1,221 | -15.0% | 15800 | 16,036 | 1.5%
| | Oceania | 702 | 502 | -28.5% | 8745 | 8,424 | -3.7%
| | | | | | | |
(In ‘000 tonne)
Top 20 nations
| Rank | | Dec'08 | Ded'07 | Change | 2008 | 2007 | Change
| | 1 | China | 39,040 | 41,000 | -4.8% | 502,010 | 487314 | 3.0%
| | 2 | Japan | 7,483 | 10,382 | -27.9% | 118,738 | 120199 | -1.2%
| | 3 | India | 4,500 | 4,724 | -4.7% | 55,050 | 49873 | 10.4%
| | 4 | Unites State | 4,057 | 7,477 | -45.7% | 91,490 | 97213 | -5.9%
| | 5 | South Korea | 3,684 | 4,351 | -15.3% | 53,488 | 51312 | 4.2%
| | 6 | Russia | 3,310 | 6,133 | -46.0% | 68,510 | 72412 | -5.4%
| | 7 | Germany | 2,447 | 3,749 | -34.7% | 45,833 | 48550 | -5.6%
| | 8 | Ukraine | 2,031 | 3,716 | -45.3% | 37,107 | 42830 | -13.4%
| | 9 | Brazil | 1,646 | 3,011 | -45.3% | 33,713 | 33787 | -0.2%
| | 10 | Italy | 1,624 | 2,845 | -42.9% | 30,477 | 31939 | -4.6%
| | 11 | Taiwan | 1,400 | 1,720 | -18.6% | 20,210 | 20556 | -1.7%
| | 12 | Turkey | 1,350 | 2,128 | -36.6% | 26,410 | 25447 | 3.8%
| | 13 | Spain | 1,191 | 1,520 | -21.6% | 19,048 | 19010 | 0.2%
| | 14 | Mexico | 1,050 | 1,450 | -27.6% | 17,615 | 17215 | 2.3%
| | 15 | Iran | 909 | 892 | 1.9% | 9,964 | 10050 | -0.9%
| | 16 | Canada | 680 | 1,395 | -51.3% | 15,130 | 16081 | -5.9%
| | 17 | France | 638 | 1,325 | -51.8% | 17,874 | 19252 | -7.2%
| | 18 | UK | 583 | 1,204 | -51.6% | 13,538 | 14468 | -6.4%
| | 19 | South Africa | 470 | 691 | -32.0% | 8,550 | 9100 | -6.0%
| | 20 | Austria | 440 | 622 | -29.3% | 7,630 | 7578 | 0.7%
| | | | | | | | |
(In ‘000 tonne)
(Source – worldsteel)
Downsizing deals - Queensland steel foundry cut jobs - 26 Jan 2009 ABC.net reported that the downturn in the Australia’s mining industry is beginning to felt by companies which supply the sector that had been booming. A foundry in Queensland's Wide Bay region has cut 30 jobs.
The CQMS Castings foundry at Mary borough makes steel castings used to manufacture mining equipment. As per report, 30 of its 200 workers were made redundant.
Mr Max Voigt GM of CQMS said that the workers who have been laid off had been with the company for less than 2 years. He noted while the year ahead is uncertain, it believes the mining industry has a positive medium to long term future and there should eventually be jobs growth at the foundry.
Mr Voigt further said that the foundry's workforce is still four times larger than it was 6 years ago.
(Sourced from www.abc.net)
January RMDAS figures show stable ferrous scrap market - 26 Jan 2009 According to transaction pricing compiled by Management Science Associates Inc for its Raw Material Data Aggregation Service, a rare glimmer of stability arrived in the January 2009 buying period for ferrous scrap, with mills in the United States on average paying within a few dollars per ton of what they paid in December 2009.
Nationally, averages for mill spot prices for prompt industrial scrap, shredded scrap and number 1 HMS all moved narrowly in the USD 9 to USD 12 per ton range. The stable pricing scenario meant mills paid on average USD 260 per ton for prompt industrial grades, USD 250 for shredded scrap and USD 201 for number 1 Heavy Melting Steel. Shredded scrap took the closest thing to a jump, with spot buyers paying on average USD 12 more per ton for what RMDAS defines as number 2 Shredded Scrap.
Regionally, the North Central and East region witnessed the most price movement, with buyers paying from USD 11 to USD 15 per ton more, depending on the grade. The South region (which includes the Gulf Coast states, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, most of the Carolinas and western Virginia) saw less price movement. It also includes the only regional case of a grade losing value, with mills in the Southeast paying $6 less per ton on average for number 1 HMS.
That figure marks a low in recent memory, and represents weekly total steelmaking production of around 800,000 tons, down some 60 percent compared to the same week at the end of 2007. The New Year showed only a slight rebound, with AISI figures for the week ending January 3rd 2009 showing utilization rates at 36.3% and production at 866,000 tons.
Those weekly figures extrapolated over an entire year paint a gloomy picture of annual national production at below 50 million tons. Forecasters do not typically use the holiday season production figures as being typical for an entire year, however.
The Raw Material Data Aggregation Service Ferrous Scrap Price Index is based on data gathered from a statistically significant compilation of verified ferrous scrap purchase transactions.
(Sourced from Recycling Today)
KEF Holdings to expand in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and India - 26 Jan 2009 Emirate Business reported that KEF Holdings is gearing up to set up new manufacturing plants in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and India.
KEF Holdings is a successful venture in the UAE that makes specialized pressure control valve, steel castings and cathodic protection equipment for oil and gas pipelines and power industry. What started 10 years ago as a scrap dealing business, it now supplies specialized valves to the Dolphin project in the GCC, Oman and Qatar LNG projects and the Trans Canada oil pipeline linking Canada and Alaska and intends to become the largest valve producing company in the world.
Despite the recent doom and gloom predictions, a recent partnership between KEF Holdings and the Dubai International Capital, the emerging market investment arm of Dubai Holdings, seems to be the beginning of an initiative to capture a share of USD 4.1 billion market in the oil and gas industry.
Mr Faisal KE chairman of KEF Holdings said that the expansion plan was charted out after DIC acquired 45% stake in KEF Holdings. KEF Holdings owns two subsidiaries, JC Valves and Emirates Techno Casting UAE.
With the projected expansion of the oil and gas industry, especially the creation of a wide network of oil and gas pipelines crisscrossing the region, the demand for pressure valves is likely go up.
Mr Faisal added that "ETC supplies specialized castings for the oil, gas and power industries. For several decades, the demand for valves in the oil and gas industry in the entire GCC market had been met with imported valves from Europe and the US." He said the total market for such valves is USD 4.1 billion and our current market share is only less than 1%.
He further said that "We have come out with the final product only in 2008. New manufacturing plants are coming up in Abu Dhabi, Jumail, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. Our plan is to keep the mother plant in the Hamriya Free Zone and set up vale manufacturing facilities in these countries. The initial investment for the plants is USD 500 million.”
After getting an engineering degree from MIT Manipal, Karnataka, Mr Faisal did an MBA from TAPMI Manipal and acquired an MS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Chicago, US. After working for two years in Inductotherm New Jersey, he returned to India to run his family business in 1992. He came to the UAE in 1996 and set up his first venture in 1997.
(Sourced from www.emiratesbusiness.com)
Solid Energy faces disruptions in coking coal exports to Asia - 26 Jan 2009 Radionz reported that solid Energy is in talks over the problem which began when 4 shipments of high grade coking coal from the West Coast New Zealand bound for unnamed Asian destinations were halted in December 2008.
No reason was revealed for the move but it is understood that the world economic decline brought a huge reduction in steel making, meaning less coal is needed for Asian blast furnaces.
Solid Energy is saying little about the incident, except that it has been talking with its customers and hopes to be able to make a further comment in about a week.
(Sourced from www.radionz.co.nz)
Gas crisis affects Kremikovtzi negotiations - 26 Jan 2009 Focus News agency reported that the negotiations with the two candidates on the transaction for Kremikovtzi steel mill in Bulgaria are in advanced stage.
Mr Petar Dimitrov, minister of economy & energy of Bulgaria said that the companies were confused by the gas crisis due to the fact that Kremikovtzi steel mill is one of the biggest gas user. According to him, however, the negotiations continue and were hastened this week. Two interested companies had made almost final offers.
He expressed hope that there will be a clear answer for Kremikovtzi in 2 weeks at the latest.
Mr Dimitrov also said that they are working on the realization of Belene NPP’s project. He added that association with big German company was made. Negotiation with Siemens also is going on.
(Sourced from www.focus-fen.net)
Khartsyzsk large diameter pipes in 2008 dips by 76% - 26 Jan 2009 In December 2008 Khartsyzsk Pipe Plant, which operates under Metinvest Group, produced 52,663 tonnes of large diameter pipes.
In December the plant continued producing 10675.9 mm, 10679.1 mm and 10675.4mm 0 tubes with exterior and interior anticorrosion coating for the Kazakh Project “Central Asia to China”.
| Products | Dec'08 | Dec'07 | Change
| | Big diameter pipes | 52,663 | 50,914 | 103.4
| | Big dia pipes with coating | 58,543 | 46,751 | 125.2
| | | | |
(In tonnes)
| Products | 2008 | 2007 | Change
| | Big diameter pipes | 387,746 | 508,945 | 76.2
| | Big dia pipes with coating | 347,450 | 458,910 | 75.7
| | | | |
(In tonnes)
Directory of Mining Industry in India - 26 Jan 2009 Mining in India is over 6000 years old. Mining industry in India includes both metallurgical and mineral mining industries in India and together they form the backbone of the industrial development of India as they provide the basic raw materials like coal, petrol, mining minerals, steel, copper, Aluminium metals etc. to the India manufacturers.
It was only after independence that the mining sector in India experienced a phenomenal increase in growth rate. In total there are 84 minerals being produced in India including 4 fuels, 11 metallic, 49 non-metallic industrial and 20 minor minerals. The products of Indian mining sector consist of coal, lignite, limestone, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc and many more contributed by over 3100 mines located all over the country. Productions from open cast mines account for more than 80 percent of the total mineral production in the country. So the quantity of minerals being excavated annually from the Indian mines can be determined by summing up the quantity of overburden with the annual mineral production.
Published in January 2009, 'Directory of Mining Industry in India' has been comprehensively researched and prepared, to bring you a fully up to date guide to Indian mining industries.
Why spend hundreds of hours searching for new contacts? Invest in a copy TODAY!
Content:
This directory covers name and product details of 162 mining industries of India in alphabetical as well as location wise order. Look at the information you'll get in the 'Directory of Mining Industry in India'
• Company name -162 entries
• Address-71 entries
• Email-141 entries
• Phone number-162 entries
• Fax number -156 entries
• Mob -6 entries
Format:PDF File
Total no of pages – 96
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Price: SD 350 or equivalent in INR
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Annual Report on China's Steel Market in 2008 and the Outlook for 2009 - 26 Jan 2009 SteelHome publishes its 'Annual Report on China's Steel Market in 2008 and the Outlook for 2009’. The report includes 14 separate reports on World Steel Market, China Steel Market, China HRC/CRC Market, China Wire Rod/Rebar Market, China Plate Market, China Stainless Steel Market, China Seamless Steel Pipe Market, China Strip Market, China Plated/coated Coil Market, China Section Market, and China Iron Ore Market, China Coke Market, China Scrap Market, China Ferroalloy Market.
Table of Contents
I Analysis on sharp rise and sharp fall in 2008 China steel market
1 Massive hike in China steel market in H1, 2008
A. Snow storm affected steel supply
B. Power coal and coke supply shortage during Spring Festival
C. Massive rise in iron ore contracted price
D. Influences of Beijing Olympics
E. Prefab construction after Wenchuan earthquake drove up cold rolled products market
F. Continuous depreciation of US dollar, crazy hike in commodity price and spreading inflation all over the world
G. World steel price surged
In spite of the tightened money policy the government implemented, inflation pressure still mounted, which cushioned the contradiction of the glut.
2 China steel price plummeted from the 3rd quarter.
A. China economy grew slower in the 3rd quarter.
B. Continuously tightening money policy exerted great pressure on capital flow.
C. International commodity price dropped with the depreciation of USD
D. Financial crisis blew heavily on market psychology.
3 China crude steel supply forecast
A. According to current market situations and production cutbacks amid many steel mills, SteelHome revised its formal prediction of 520-530 million tons of 2008 crude steel production to about 510 million tons, up 4.2% or 20 million tons year on year.
B. SteelHome assumes China steel products exports of 2008 at 57.50 million tons, down 8.2% or 5.15 million tons year on year
II China steel market anticipation for 2009
1 SteelHome assumes 540 million tons of China crude steel output in 2009.
A. Market price will further curb the growth of steel production
B. Coke supply continue to curb steel production
C. The investment in China steel industry will maintain low.
D. Flats production will stay high, and glut will not change.
E. The utilization of steel capacity stay high.
2 Financial crisis hinder China steel exports
A. World economy grow slower and steel demand dims
B. China steel exports will be improved with the resolve of financial crisis.
3 Steel demand in China home markets will sustain stable rise, but the growth rate will drop from 2008.
A. Advantages—Comprehensive national power is strengthened
B. Disadvantages—Domestic demand takes up small proportion of GDP.
C. Expectation for 2009 China Economic Growth
D. Little headroom for FAI rise.
E. Export rise slows down further.
F. Consumption grow slower.
G. Analysis on Downstream Sectors. In 2008, some steel-consuming industries are also on downward slope.
H. Steel consumption rise forecast in China home market in 2009
4 China steel market forecast for 2009
List of Tables:
1 Average Price Change in China 28 Major Cities (in yuan per ton)
2 Backward Capacity Elimination in China Steel Industry
3 IMF Outlook on World Economic Growth
4 China Crude Steel Net Export Scenarios
5 Crude Steel Demand and GDP
6 Crude Steel Demand and FAI
7 Economic Gauges in 1997-2008
To know more about the report please gets in touch with reports@steelguru.com
Macroeconomic indicators - 1 million Russians lost jobs in December - 26 Jan 2009 Reuters cited the Mr Yuri Gertsiy head of the federal employment service as saying that the number of unemployed Russians rose to 6 million in December compared to 5 million in November as an economic downturn hit home.
Mr Gertsiy said data calculated according to World Labor Organization rules showed unemployment was much higher than the 1.5 million Russians who have officially registered as being out of work after six months of financial crisis. He said that “The data provided to us by Rosstat shows that a number of people who do not have a job or are searching is approximately 6 million people.”
Official unemployment data is due early next week.
(Sourced from Reuters)
Directory of Steel Pipe Makers in China - 26 Jan 2009 Welded pipe and seamless pipe are the two major categories of tubular products in China and are not only used domestically but are exported across the world.
China's seamless pipe enterprises began expansion from 2004. By end of 2006, the nation's capacity of this products reached 16.5 million tonnes. As the world's first producer, China has over 300 seamless steelmakers, a part of which possess first rate manufacturing technology and most advanced facilities, bringing domestic sufficiency close to 90%.
On welded pipe, the producers are distributed more scattered, bulk of which are privately owned and have a relatively big capacity. Yet, many productions are affected by seasonal factors and actual output can be less than the total capacity of 37 million tonnes. ERW accounts for around 80% of the total welded pipe production capacity.
Published in December 2008, 'Directory of Steel Pipe Makers in China ' has been comprehensively researched and prepared, to bring you a fully up to date guide to Chinese steel pipe industries.
Why spend hundreds of hours searching for new contacts? Invest in a copy TODAY!
Content:
This report covers name and product details of 1208 steel pipe manufacturers of China in alphabetical as well as location wise order. Look at the information you'll get in the 'Directory of Steel Pipe Makers in China'
• Company name -1208 entries
• Address-1208 entries
• Email-1193 entries
• Phone number-1207 entries
• Fax number -1203 entries
• Mob -487 entries
Format: PDF File
Total no of pages – 629
Delivery by Email on receipt of payment
Price: SD 500 or equivalent in INR
Additional Charges would be levied for delivery of file on a CD or in printed form
How to order:
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Vale manganese and ferroalloys output in 2008 - 26 Jan 2009 Vale announced that production of manganese ore totaled 2.4 million tonne in 2008, up 78.7% compared with 2007. The Azul mine produced 2.0 million tonne in 2008 versus 1.0 million tonne in 2007, when its operations were temporarily suspended.
Vale said that ferroalloy production in 2008 amounted to 475,000 tonne lower than the level achieved in 2007, of 542,000 tonne. In 2008, ferroalloy production was comprised of 213,400 tonne of ferrosilicon manganese alloys, 209,400 tonne of high carbon manganese alloys and 51,900 t of medium-carbon manganese alloys.
Our manganese ore mines and ferroalloy plants in Brazil were shut down in December 2008 and are expected to resume operations by February 2009. The ferroalloy plant in Mo I Rana, Norway, had its furnace maintenance extended until June 2009. Our ferroalloy operations in Dunkerque, France, stopped in August 2008 due to problems with the electric furnace and will be kept idle until April 2009.
Due to the announced cutbacks, manganese ore production in 4Q08 was 491,000 tonne compared with 694,000 tonne in 3Q08 and 118,000 tonne in 4Q07. The production of ferroalloys was reduced by 35.5% against 3Q08, reaching only 84,000 tonnes.
| | Q4 '07 | Q4 '08 | Change | 2007 | 2008 | Change
| | Manganese ore | 118 | 491 | 316.0% | 1,333 | 2,383 | 78.7%
| | Azul | 47 | 392 | 739.9% | 945 | 2,003 | 111.8%
| | Urucum | 71 | 57 | -19.8% | 277 | 246 | -11.3%
| | Other mines | 0 | 42 | n.m. | 111 | 135 | 21.2%
| | | | | | | |
(In ‘000 tonnes)
| | Q4 '07 | Q4 '08 | Change | 2007 | 2008 | Change
| | Ferro alloys | 137 | 84 | -38.6% | 542 | 475 | -12.4%
| | Brasil | 79 | 59 | -25.7% | 288 | 288 | 0.1%
| | Dunkerque | 16 | 0 | n.a. | 103 | 55 | -46.6%
| | Mo I Rana | 37 | 21 | -42.1% | 129 | 112 | -13.1%
| | Urucum | 5 | 4 | -28.5% | 22 | 20 | -11.3%
| | | | | | | |
(In ‘000 tonnes)
Weststar acquires Nunavut coal property - 26 Jan 2009 Weststar Resources Corporation is pleased to announce the acquisition, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, of a 100% interest in six Coal Exploration License applications, located on the Bache Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut Territory.
The Exploration Licenses cover an area of approximately 450 square kilometers with the final land package to be determined at the time of granting of the Exploration Licenses. A general location map of the Exploration Licenses is available on the Company's website.
The Company is in the process of creating a wholly owned subsidiary which will hold and manage this and any subsequent Arctic coal acquisitions.
In a report dated November 19th, 1992, revised January 14th 1993 by W.D. Kalkreuth, J.J. McIntyre and R.J.H. Richardson from the Alberta Geological Survey, titled "The geology, petrography and palynology of Tertiary coals from the Eureka Sound Group at Strathcona Fiord and Bache Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada," published by the Geological Survey of Canada, the authors reference several coal seams, visible and traceable for considerable lengths on surface.
As noted in the report:
"Coal seams of substantial thickness and lateral continuity are developed in the Expedition Formation at Bache Peninsula. The coals are lignite/sub bituminous in rank and have low to moderate sulphur and variable ash contents."
The authors said that "Although no resource estimates have been done, a substantial volume of low sulphur, medium to high ash coals suitable for thermal generation are present in the Bache Peninsula Graben. Their location near the northern end of the ‘North Water,’ a polynya or perpetual ice-free area located at the northern end of Baffin Bay, enhances the exploitability of the resource."
Mr Chris Verrico director of Weststar said that feasibility work released May 16th 2006, by Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation on their neighboring project studied ocean transportation for their project utilizing shipping lanes within Baffin Bay. This study determined that bulk shipping of ore would be feasible 9th months a year utilizing cape sized bulk carriers. Westar envisions the scope of tidewater coal exports to supply the European thermal coal markets to be logistically comparable to Baffinland's ocean transportation study.
The Company cautions that Baffinland's estimation of the months per year during which bulk shipping of ore is feasible may not be the same as the Company may experience if the Company moves the project forward. The Bache Peninsula coal license area is located 70 kilometers from mainland Greenland, 160 kilometers from the village of Siorapaluk or 200 kilometers from Qaanaaq, Greenland, which has scheduled air service; therefore, the anticipated project logistics should be comparable to most other arctic industrial initiatives.
Slowdown signs - Toyota may cut 20% of its output - 26 Jan 2009 Toyota Motor Corporation said that it will cut production by 20% in 2009 as it tries to cope with falling worldwide demand.
It added that it plans to build 6.5 million vehicles in 2009 as compared with an estimated 8.21 million units built during 2008. The figure excludes output from Toyota units Daihatsu and Hino.
The report came a few days after sales figures showed that Toyota has overtaken Detroit rival General Motors as the world's biggest car maker, but the ongoing global economic crisis is weighing heavily on demand.
Meanwhile, Toyota's global sales for 2008 are expected to show a drop for the first time in a decade and the group could also post its first ever annual operating loss for the year to March 2009.
(Sourced from www.todayonline.com)
Recession reports - Global mining industry continue to faces woes - 26 Jan 2009 AP reported that withering cost cuts across the mining industry have left tens of thousands of people without jobs from the Arizona desert to the Andes and there is a litany of evidence that the situation is growing worse. International mining companies also have postponed or canceled projects and padlocked the gates to mines as consumers have cut spending on cars, jewelry and housing.
Rio Tinto announced last week that iron ore production, used to make steel, tumbled 18% in the fourth quarter and said that its aluminum subsidiary would double previously announced production cuts.
BHP Billiton also would slash its global work force by 6%, about 6,000 jobs as it rushes to cope with plummeting demand. BHP fourth quarter production of aluminum, copper, lead, silver and uranium oxide concentrate fell on a year over year basis.
However, zinc tonnage rose 35%, in part because of better grades, and iron ore production was up 5%, in part due to expansion projects, the company said. Unwanted copper, gold, bauxite and iron ore is piling up or being left underground as the worst recession in at least a generation saps demand.
Mr Andrew Martyn, a portfolio manager who specializes in mining for Davis Rea Limited suggested that "Expect inventories to get bigger and expect this continuing process of cutbacks. It's going to go for quite some time here."
The effect on many communities worldwide that rely on mining has been immediate. Workers are protesting job cuts and others are expected to begin migrating in large numbers in search of work, some across international borders.
The bulk of the layoffs in the US are in base metals such as copper and zinc, although major companies also are scaling back production of metallurgical coal for use in steel manufacturing. Coal companies have slowed production from Wyoming to Australia.
(Sourced from AP)
MEASPI - Barometer for steel prices in Middle East Asia - 26 Jan 2009 Amidst the currently prevailing volatile and speculative global steel price scenario, SteelGuru.com has started the much needed barometer to track and measure the price movements on daily basis in Middle East.
In order to provide a index for steel prices, we call it SENSEX for steel, SteelGuru.com decided to work on both long products and flat products for respective category indices as also a composite one for steel. We call them LPPI, FPPI and MEASPI and have started releasing these indices with effect from July 1st 2008, after taking June 30th 2008 as base.
LPPI is based on daily market prices of three benchmark products rebars, wire rod and sections in 5 countries, whereas FPPI is based on HRC, plates, CR and HDG. These indices have been built considering their respective weights in the composite categories as also in the shares of sales in these countries.
The pricing input is from www.steelprices-middleeast.com, which publishes market transaction prices of benchmark products among select locations 5 days a week.
These price indices outline the way domestic steel market is moving day by day and will help producers, agents in the supply chain, steel buyers, bankers and analysts in their respective businesses.
To know more, please visit
http://steelprices-middleeast.com/spi_services/spi.html
Allegheny Technologies 2008 results - 26 Jan 2009 Allegheny Technologies Incorporated has reported net income for the fourth quarter 2008 of USD 110.9 million. In the fourth quarter 2007, ATI reported net income of USD 148.9 million, or USD 1.45 per share on sales of USD 1.27 billion. For the full year 2008, net income was USD 565.9 million or USD 5.67 per share, on sales of USD 5.31 billion. For the full year 2007, net income was USD 747.1 million or USD 7.26 per share on sales of USD 5.45 billion.
Mr L Patrick Hassey chairman, president & CEO of ATI said that "2008 was the second best year for sales and earnings per share in the history of ATI. This was accomplished even with supply chain disruptions and schedule push outs in the aerospace market and an unprecedented fall in demand from many of our other markets during the fourth quarter."
He added that "Our 2008 results reflect ATI's transformation into a globally focused, diversified high value specialty metals company with strong cash flow and liquidity, and a solid balance sheet. Shipments of ATI's total titanium products reached over 47 million pounds, an increase of approximately 15% over 2007. Shipments of our grain oriented electrical steel increased 9% and shipments of our exotic alloys increased 6%, both compared to 2007 shipments. Direct international sales were 28% of sales. Through our ATI Business System, we maintained our world class safety performance and achieved over USD 134 million of gross cost reductions.
He also noted that "Key financial metrics were strong during the year. Return on capital employed was 21.8% and return on stockholders' equity was 27%. ATI's financial position remains strong. At the end of 2008, we had USD 470 million of cash, no borrowings under our USD 400 million domestic credit facility; no significant near term debt maturities, and net debt to total capitalization of 2%. This strong financial position is after self-funded capital investments in 2008 of USD 516 million and over USD 278 million in share repurchases. We also made a USD 65 million voluntary contribution to our US. defined benefit pension plan during the fourth quarter 2008, which consisted of USD 30 million of cash and 1.5 million shares of ATI common stock.”
He continued that "The combination of the continuing credit crisis and the global recession has resulted in challenging conditions in many of our markets. We currently have limited short term visibility. We have taken actions to adjust our production schedules, preserve cash and maintain our liquidity, ratchet up our cost reductions, and continue the transformation of ATI. To help ensure that ATI remains solidly profitable in 2009, we have contingency plans ready to be implemented should our markets not stabilize and business conditions deteriorate further.”
Mr Hassey further said that "We currently expect 2009 capital expenditures of approximately USD 450 million. We are committed to continuing to self fund these projects and can further adjust the timing of any project if necessary. We have targeted a minimum of USD 150 million in new gross cost reductions in 2009. We are focused on improving inventory turns in order to limit the amount of cash used in managed working capital, as well as to limit our exposure to volatile raw material costs.”
He pointed out that “Primarily as a result of the historic negative returns in equity and fixed income markets in 2008, we expect 2009 pretax retirement benefit expense, which includes pension and other post retirement benefits, of approximately USD 140 million, or nearly USD 35 million per quarter. This represents an increase of nearly USD 132 million compared to 2008.”
Jamaican scrap metal industry crashes - 26 Jan 2009 It is reported that, with the government reporting up to a 75% fall off in the export of scrap metals, Jamaican local export industry, with the potential to earn some USD 100 million in foreign exchange, has all but collapsed.
Mr Karl Samuda industry & commerce minister of Jamaica said that "There is nothing happening because there has been a dramatic reduction in demand for scrap metal. The two main sources for scrap metal are China and India, and they are both practically dried up."
Local foundry operators manhole covers and cast iron building columns are viewing the drying up of the scrap metal export markets as a blessing, reopening their supply sources, which dried up following the rise of exports a few years ago.
Mr Samuda said that "It is very slow in that industry now, so you find that the legitimate players in the business are stuck with materials piled up in their yards and there is no movement. We are very concerned about it because that industry had a potential to earn over US$100 million in foreign exchange and now that has fallen off. We continue to monitor it, but the prospects under the present world conditions are not particularly good."
According to Trade Board data, 31 scrap metal licenses, reflecting business value of USD 225,088, were granted in November 2008, tumbling from 65 licenses with business value of US$7.4 million in November 2007, when a new, stricter regime for the regulation of the industry was introduced by the state.
(Sourced form www.jamaica-gleaner.com)
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