Japan Quake's Effects To Hit Iron-Ore Market - Steel Index

MAR11,2011,10:26 A.M. ET

By Diana Kinch, Dow Jones Newswires

RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)--Friday's earthquake in Japan will affect the global seaborne iron-ore market as at least five major steel mills are halting production and may be out of action for as long as six months, London-based price provider Steel Index said.

The five mills--Nippon Steel Corp.'s (5401.TO) Muroran and Kimitsu works, JFE Holdings Inc.'s (5411.TO) Chiba and Keihin plants and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd.'s (5405.TO) Kashima works in Tokyo Bay--have sustained structural damage and their port facilities are inoperable, Tim Hard, Steel Index director, told Dow Jones Newswires, citing sources in Shanghai.

Assuming the mills are closed for six months, 22.2 million metric tons of iron-ore demand could be removed from the seaborne iron-ore market, Hard said. The mills are supplied by Brazilian miner Vale SA (VALE, VALE5.BR) on contract and they also buy ore from Australian suppliers on the spot market, he said.

The steel mills have been affected by the tsunami which hit Tokyo Bay following the magnitude 8.9 earthquake which hit northern Japan earlier Friday, according to Steel Index. Kobe Steel Ltd.'s (5406.TO) Kakogawa steel mill in western Japan may also have been affected, Hard said.

"Tokyo Bay is a steelmaking center. There are various integrated steel mills there," Hard said. "There are also a host of mini-mills and dock-side scrap-storage facilities nearby which will have been affected, not to mention the port and sea-bordering infrastructure."

The problems shouldn't have any major direct impact on iron-ore prices, as lost shipments of the steelmaking raw material to the mills affected will represent only a small tonnage compared with global seaborne iron-ore which amounts to some one billion tons annually, the Steel Index director said.

"However, this will affect sentiment" in the iron-ore market, Hard said.

Tags :Sumitomo Metal Indutries Ltd., Vale, Tokyo Bay,

Australia's 2010 iron ore export earnings jump 57% to $47 bil: ABARES

Mar11,2011 /303am EST/803GMT

Melbourne (Platts): Australia's export earnings from iron ore increased 57% year on year to A$47 billion ($47 billion) in 2010 due to an 11% year-on-year increase in volume to 402 million mt and higher realized prices, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences said Thursday. Production of iron ore in the country increased 10% to 432 million mt over the same period, ABARES said in a December quarter production report.

Output in the December quarter increased 5% to 115 million mt from the September quarter and 7% year on year, due mainly to increased production by the country's three biggest miners Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, ABARES said.

But a 10% quarter-on-quarter increase in export volumes to 108 million mt in October-December was more than offset by a decline in contract prices over the same period, resulting in a 3% quarter-on-quarter fall in December quarter export earnings to A$13 billion. But the total was still 90% higher than in the December quarter of 2009.

Metallurgical coal exports were up 18% year on year at 159 million mt in 2010, with year-on-year increases in the first three quarters of the year partially offset by heavy rain in the December quarter that impacted production at some mines and operations at some port and rail infrastructure. December quarter output totaled 40 million mt, in line with the September quarter and up 3% year on year.

Earnings from metallurgical coal exports in full-year 2010 rose 19% year on year to A$30 billion.

Australia's copper mine production totaled 849,000 mt in 2010, in line with 2009, with an output decline at BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam mine in the state of South Australia due to a shaft failure offset by higher production at Xstrata's Ernest Henry operation in Queensland and Rio Tinto's Northparkes mine in New South Wales.

Refined copper production fell 6% year on year to 417,000 mt in 2010, reflecting lower production at Olympic Dam, but copper export volumes rose 7% to 845,000 mt over the same period, with an increase in imports of copper for further refining more than offsetting the decline in local production.

Supported by higher export volumes and prices, the value of Australia's copper exports increased 29% year on year to A$7.5 billion in 2010. In the December quarter, copper mine production totaled 222,000 mt, up 5% year on year but down 6% from the September quarter, while refined production at 120,000 mt was up 17% year on year and up 3% quarter on quarter.

In other sectors, Australia produced 261 mt of gold in 2010, up 17% year on year; 170,000 mt of nickel, up 3% year on year; 1.5 million mt of zinc, up 15% year on year; 1.928 million mt of aluminum, down 1% year on year; and 19.956 million mt of alumina, unchanged from 2009. Australia's overall export earnings from energy and mineral commodities totaled A$165 billion, up 25% year on year and a record for the country, ABARES said.

The total reflected continuing strong growth in demand from Australia's major trading partners such as China, Japan and South Korea, ABARES deputy executive director Paul Morris said in a statement.

The average index of export prices of energy and mineral resources increased by 13% year on year in 2010, supported by a 24% rise in the export price index for metals and other minerals.

Over the medium term, Australia's mineral and energy export earnings are projected to remain at historically high levels as expansions to production and infrastructure capacity support growth in the nation's exports, Morris said. By-Wendy Wells, Platts

Money, minerals make for Africa-China marriage

Mar11,2011 2:06pm GMT By Jon Herskovitz

JOHANNESBURG :(Reuters) - China has been Africa's No. 1 investor for years and its newly affluent could soon follow by sending large flows of cash into the quickly emerging continent looking for better returns than in Asia.

But any money that comes from private investors in China and other parts of Asia will pale in comparison to the billions of dollars Beijing has sent as it looks to secure the mineral resources it needs to power its hard-charging economy.

Zambia President Rupiah Banda said China understands Africa better than most of the world and has proved itself a trusted ally. His country, with a World Bank-estimated $12.7 billion GDP in 2009, is expected to see about $2.4 billion in Chinese investment this year.

"They have big, big industries with great appetites for what Africa has to offer," Banda told the Reuters Africa Investment Summit this week.

"In the process, they are making it easier for us to achieve what we want. What we want is to rebuild our countries."

China forged partnerships with many African states decades ago in their liberation struggles to end colonial rule and later invested in roads, schools, power plants and infrastructure to help the countries grow -- helping it import more minerals from countries such as Zambia, Africa's biggest cooper producer.

As Africa has grown, so has trade with China, which leaped to $126.9 billion in 2010 from about $10 billion in 2000, China's state news agency Xinhua reported.

"The Chinese have selfish interests, naturally," Banda said. "We are prepared to do this with anybody else. It is not that this is reserved for China. It is that they are the only ones who seem to see it the way that we see it."

China, whose biggest African trade partners are its most prominent suppliers of natural resources, has reaped rewards from its largess, but its success has not been as broad as some planners in Beijing would perhaps have liked.

RISK FACTORS

The Eurasia Group said the resources-for-infrastructure deals have helped Chinese construction, telecom and hydro companies, but its oil and mining companies have often failed to overtake Western firms, which dominate those sectors.

"Chinese companies will begin more systematically to incorporate sovereign risk factors and Western best business practices, but their budgetary constraints will remain looser than those of their Western counterparts for some time to come," it said in a report.

Chinese aid has also helped prop up African leaders scorned and sanctioned by the West for suspected human rights abuses, such as Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, whose government plans to take majority stakes in all foreign mining firms except those from China.

But China has also stood by major democracy South Africa and helped it ascend to the BRIC grouping of fast-emerging economies that also includes Brazil, Russia and India.

The move was seen as a signal by Beijing that it viewed South Africa, the continent's largest economy, as a politically important state and entryway into Africa even though its economy is less than a quarter the size of the smallest BRIC, Russia.

"It signals that South Africa has something to offer," Standard Bank (SBKJ.J) head Jacko Maree told the summit.

And Africa may offer Chinese and other Asians a place to park their cash.

The Hong Kong bourse has unique space for investors looking for exposure to Angola's massive oil industry with a listing of national oil company Sonangol under China Sonangol (1229.HK).

Moscow-based RenCap has annual road shows in Hong Kong where it tries to marry private-wealth investors with capital-hungry African corporates.

Japanese, who park the bulk of about $15 trillion in private savings in domestic bank accounts at just a hair above zero-percent interest, could also be in line to take a look at Africa, home to some of the world's fastest-growing economies.

"It is infinite. It is massive. The high-nets in Asia, some of them are institutional in size," Clifford Sacks, Africa head of RenCap, told the summit.

(Editing by David Holmes, sourced:Reuters)

Mozambique Ncondezi Coal plans to invest $400 mln

Sat Mar 12, 2011 2:51pm GM

MOATIZE, Mozambique, March 12 (Reuters) - Mozambique coal company Ncondezi (NCCL.L: Quote) plans to invest up to $400 million in the Zambezi coal basin and is expected to start producing coal by 2015, Chief Executive Graham Mascall said on Saturday.

"We will invest between $380 and $400 million by (2019)," he said.

Ncondezi is planning to produce coal in the Zambezi coal basin of Mozambique in the same area where mines are being developed by Brazilian mining giant Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote) (VALE.N: Quote) and Riversdale Mining (RIV.AX: Quote).

It also hopes to export 10 million tonnes a year of thermal coal -- used to fuel power stations -- to the Indian market by 2015.

"We start by producing 2.5 million tones on coal by the first quarter of 2015 then expand our output," Mascall said, adding that the group may export coal to India, Brazil and China. (Reporting by Charles Mangwiro; editing by Gugulakhe Lourie, sourced :Thomson Reuters)

Japan considers emergency quake budget, BOJ meets

Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:44pm GM

* Fresh blow to struggling economy; ports, airports shut
* PM Kan calls on political leaders to "save the country"
* Leaders urge government to compile extra budget
* BOJ holds policy meeting Monday, promises to ensure stability
* Stocks fall, bonds jump on economic fallout concerns
By Osamu Tsukimori and Stanley White

TOKYO, March 12 (Reuters) - Japanese leaders pushed for an emergency budget to counter economic damage from a powerful earthquake and tsunami that killed hundreds and caused widespread destruction.

The Bank of Japan, which has struggled to return the country to growth, said it will cut short a two-day policy review scheduled for next week to one day Monday and promised to do its utmost to ensure financial market stability.

Auto plants, electronics factories and refineries shut, roads buckled and power to millions of homes and businesses was knocked out. Several airports, including Tokyo's Narita, were closed and rail services halted. All ports were shut.

Japan's biggest quake on record occurred as the world's third-largest economy had been showing signs of reviving from an economic contraction in the final quarter of last year.

The disaster raised the prospect of major disruptions for business and a repair bill of billions of dollars.

Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties agreed on the need for an extra budget after Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked them to "save the country," Kyodo news agency reported.

"The government would have to sell more bonds, but this is an emergency, so this can't be avoided," Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo.

"Given where the Bank of Japan's benchmark interest rate is now, they can't really lower rates. The BOJ will focus on providing liquidity, possibly by expanding market operations."

New Zealand's central bank slashed interest rates on Thursday after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that wrecked Christchurch's central business district.

The Bank of Japan's options are more limited. It policy rate is already 0.1 percent following cuts during the global financial crisis.

The government's fiscal hands are also tied as it wrestles with the biggest public debt among industrialised countries at two times the $5 trillion economy.

"The government must act quickly to announce support packages and the central bank should pump more money into the economy," said Tsutomu Yamada, a market analysts at Kabu.com Securities.

Japan's economy looked set to return to growth in the first quarter of 2011, according to a Reuters poll this week.

After the disaster, it will probably fall again before growing more strongly as a result of rebuilding work, said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York.

The 8.9 magnitude quake sent shares skidding in Japan. Global stocks sank to their lowest level in nearly six weeks before recovering.

Electronics giant Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote), one of the country's biggest exporters, shut six factories, just one of scores of major companies affected by the disaster.

"There are car and semiconductor factories in northern Japan, so there will be some economic impact due to damage to factories," said Yamamoto said.

A tsunami 10 metres high hit Sendai port in northern Miyagi prefecture, about 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

The Miyagi area includes major manufacturing and industrial zones with many chemical and electronics plants.

Miyagi accounts for 1.7 percent of Japan's gross domestic product (GDP), Macquarie Research said.

Manufacturing and utilities shut down including Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote) and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T: Quote) plants, officials said and media reported. Refineries also closed.

"There are two basic economics-related concerns. The first is that the fragile economic cycle is not in a position to withstand significant disruption," Macquarie said in a note.

"The second is that the combination of a softer economy and the additional strain on public finances will put upward pressure on bond yields."

QUAKE ADDS TO MARKET WORRIES

The yen initially fell but then recovered strongly, helped by Japanese investors bringing home investments held abroad as they lost their appetite for risk.

"Japanese investors that have been heavily invested overseas bring it back home in periods of risk aversion," said Michael Woolfolk, strategist at BNY Mellon.

The quake hit just before the Tokyo stock market closed, so prices didn't fully factor in the scale of the disaster. Nikkei stock futures SSIM1 plunged nearly 5 percent at one point.

"Stocks will probably fall Monday, especially of those companies that have factories in the affected areas, but on the whole the selloff will likely be short-lived," said Mitsuhsige Akino, a fund manager at IchiyoshiInvestment Management.

Bond futures 2JGBv1 surged on worries the damage would hurt the economy. The most active gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, February 2012 JAUc6, inched higher.

"We still don't know the full scale of the damage, but considering what happened after the earthquake in Kobe, this will certainly lead the government to compile an emergency budget. We can expect consumption to fall. This could temporarily pull down gross domestic product," Yamamoto said.

The 1995 quake that devastated Kobe caused $100 billion in damage, though industrial production and financial markets bounced back fairly quickly.

(Writing by Kim Coghill and William Schomberg; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Neil Fullick,sourced:Thomson Reuters)

Japan's Chernobyl? Radiation pressure fears at Fukushima plant

Japan Earthquake: Helicopter aerial view video of giant tsunami waves

Developments after major Japan earthquake

Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:31am GMT

TOKYO, March 12 (Reuters) - Following are main developments in the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck northeast Japan on Friday.

* Death toll expected to exceed 1,300, domestic media say, with most people appeared to have drowned.

* Authorities move tens of thousands of residents from area near two nuclear plants in Fukushima prefecture, some 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, as they try to reduce pressure in the reactors.

* Prime Minister Naoto Kan says small amount of radiation released from one Fukushima nuclear plant.

* Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), which operates the plants, quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying fuel may have been damaged by falling water levels at Daiichi nuclear plant.

* Tepco warns of severe power outages over the weekend and says there will be power outages by rotation for at least a few weeks.

* Thousands flee coastal areas in North and South America for fear of a tsunami on their side of the Pacific Ocean, but no serious waves appear to have materialised.

- Northeastern city of Kesennuma, with population of 74,000, hit by widespread fires, with one-third of the city submerged, media say.

- Strong quakes also hit northwestern Japan.

- Quake triggers tsunami up to 10 metres (30 feet), with waves sweeping away homes, crops, vehicles and submerging farmland. Scores of locations on fire, including a large waterfront area in northern Sendai city.

- Leaders of Japan's ruling and opposition parties agree on need to compile an extra budget.

- Bank of Japan will hold policy meeting on Monday and announce decision on same day. The central bank vows to do utmost to ensure financial market stability.

- Total insured loss could be up to $15 billion, equity analysts covering the industry say.

- Disaster sends oil, metals, and grain prices sliding on fears over its impact on demand, deepening their biggest decline in months; yen rises broadly on risk aversion by Japanese investors and expectations of repatriations by Japan's insurance companies; oil prices slides more than $3 a barrel.

- Japanese shares traded in New York fall sharply. Earlier, Japanese equity futures fell 3.3 percent.

- Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to open for trading as normal on Monday.

- All Japanese ports closed and discharging operations halted, shippers report.

(Tokyo bureau; World Desk Asia, Singapore +65 6870 3815)

Japan Earthquake: Helicopter aerial view video of giant tsunami waves

Japanese PM declares atomic power emergency

2011-03-11 19:38:40

TOKYO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday declared a state of atomic power emergency after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Japan's northeastern Honshu island, but denied any radiation leaks.

The move aims to enable emergency measures in case of any atomic disasters.

Local authorities have called on a total of 3,000 residents living in the neighborhood of a nuclear power plant in Fukushima to evacuate, local media reported.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said some cooling functions were not working at the plant and one reactor cannot be cooled down.

He added the evacuation call is precautionary as no radiation leaks have so far been detected.

And the central government has sent senior officials to the plant to help cope with any emergency.

At a press conference earlier in the day, Edano said that residents near nuclear power plants do not need to take any special actions as no nuclear radiation leaks have been detected so far.


Separately, a fire broke out at a nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture following the massive quake which has so far sent the death toll to 90.

Tohoku Electric Power Co. said that the fire started detected at a building housing the turbine at its Onagawa plant but denied any radiation leaks.

The industry ministry said that there were no immediate reports from monitoring posts of fires or other abnormalities near the nuclear plants.


According to the ministry, 11 nuclear reactors were automatically shut down at the Onagawa plant, Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 plants and Tokai No. 2 plant.

Baotou Steel to raise up to $913 mln in private offering

Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:48am GMT

SHANGHAI, March 12 (Reuters) - China's Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union plans to raise up to 6 billion yuan, or $913 million, in a private placement of shares, the firm said in a statement to the stock exchange on Saturday.

Baotou Steel Union will issue 1.63 billion shares at 3.68 yuan each to a select pool of 10 investors. The acquisition will be used to buy two mining operations from parent Baotou Steel. ($1=6.574 Yuan) (Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez,sourced:Thomson Reuters)

Tags : buy mining operations, China's mining news, Chinese steel mills, raw material,

Eurozone leaders to begin crucial bail-out fund talks

Friday, 11 March 2011 15:03

he 17 leaders of eurozone nations will finally sit down together later to forge their long-touted plans to secure the future of their currency zone.They do so as government borrowing costs again hit the roof.Europe's lenders don't

like what they are hearing on the Brussels grapevine. The driving factor is the worry that the summit set up expressly to forge a firm and permanent agreement between the 17 will end with a fudge. That worry has send the interest rate on the Portuguese government's 10-year bonds back to record highs.

Italy, Spain and Greece's governments are also being hit hard by high borrowing rates.
This emergency summit has been long awaited, but the fear is that all the tricky stuff setting out the terms that will underpin any future bail-outs from 2013 will probably be put back once again to be discussed further at the next full EU summit on 24 and 25 March.
Squeezed session
The agenda arrangements themselves don't bode well.
The emergency euro summit has now been squeezed into a late afternoon session because of the Libyan emergency.

But it's not just a case of there being too little time to thrash out an agreement. Diplomats and other sources have been carefully managing down commentators' expectations.
What has been agreed in principle by finance ministers is that the new permanent bail-out fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - which is designed to replace the current European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) - will hold a total of 500bn euros ($690bn; £430bn).
This will be topped up by the IMF, but the markets are concerned that it won't be enough should Portugal and Spain both need to be bailed out in the near future.
It is if, or when, the permanent bail-out fund starts to prove inadequate that the question of the future oversight of national economies becomes crucial.

Large members such as Germany and France may not be prepared to cough up further if they have little influence on the peripheral countries' spending habits.
So what is the mechanism for sorting all this out and how is it going down?
In two words: Not well.
Bankroller
Germany, the eurozone's biggest single rescue bankroller, got the ball rolling and managed to win French support for a pact to tighten rules on state spending all round the eurozone.
This plan was big on reforms to boost competitiveness with the best performer to be used as a benchmark for others to emulate.
Germany also wanted things like wages indexed to inflation, higher retirement ages and borrowing limits, something that would prove very hard to sell to voters.
The pact idea was taken up with enthusiasm by the European Commission - but watered down - especially when it came to the provisions relating to competition.
Now, the word is that even this version is causing disagreement.

In particular, there appears to be less emphasis on the degree of oversight member countries would allow each other. The problem here is that the more the plan moves away from Germany's original concept, the less likely Germany may be willing to sign off a deal.
Many other related issues are pressing in on the 17 eurozone members.
The Greek and Irish premiers will continue to press the rest to agree for easier terms on their bailout loans.

Fundamental flaw
The ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will also be at the summit. He's been desperately trying to ease up on the central bank's expensive daily support buying of weak eurozone countries' debt - notably that of Portugal.
One partial solution could be to allow the future rescue fund to be more flexible, so it too could buy the likes of Portuguese bonds.
But Germany is implacably opposed to that idea.
The eurozone countries are, essentially, grappling here with the fundamental flaws in the Euro project itself.
Ultimately, only more economic discipline enforced from the centre can probably ease those troubled debt markets.
But Friday's summit may once again see the divergent interests of Germany, France and the poorer peripheral countries getting in the way of a breakthrough.

Source: BBC

List of Australian coal loading ports - The Australian Coal industry

The export coal industry in Australia is serviced by nine coal loading terminals located in Queensland and New South Wales

As a result of expansion work in recent years, the terminals currently have a total handling capacity in excess of 330 million tonnes of coal a year with further expansion planned or in progress.

State / Port

Queensland

Abbot Point, Queensland
Brisbane, Queensland
Dalrymple Bay, Queensland
Gladstone, Queensland
Hay Point, Queensland

New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales
Port Kembla, New South Wales



New South Wales

Port Waratah Coal Services Limited (PWCS)
Located in the Port of Newcastle, NSW, Australia, PWCS operates the world's largest and most efficient coal handling operations through its two terminals; Carrington and Kooragang. These receive, assemble and load Hunter Valley coal for export to customers around the world.

Port Kembla Coal Terminal Limited
Situated in the Inner Harbour, the Port Kembla Coal Terminal services mines from the Southern and Western coalfields of New South Wales.

Data Sources:
(a) Annual capacity from 'Energy in Australia 2009' - ABARE.
(b) State data from web-based port information.
(c) Metallurgical/thermal data from ABARE.
NB: The latter totals differ slightly from the port totals, due to the different data sources.
sourced:www.australiancoal.com

UniCredit freezes Libyan shareholder rights

Fri Mar 11, 2011 12:46pm GMT

MILAN (Reuters) - UniCredit SpA will freeze the rights of Libyan shareholders, the largest combined stockholder bloc, in light of European Union (EU) sanctions, the Italian bank said on Friday.

The Central Bank of Libya owns almost 5 percent of UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank, and its chief is a vice chairman. The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) holds 2.6 percent.

The EU added five financial institutions, including the central bank and the LIA, to its sanctions list on Thursday in a move to force out Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"In light of the resolutions by the EU published today, UniCredit announces that -- with regard to is Libyan shareholders -- the exercise of the rights attached to the relevant shares will be frozen in compliance with such resolutions," UniCredit said in an e-mailed statement.

Italy has extensive business and investment ties with Libya, with oil company Eni the biggest foreign operator in the North African country.

Among other holdings, LIA has a 2.01 percent stake in defence and aerospace company Finmeccanica SpA. The Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Co holds less than 2 percent of automaker Fiat SpA and 7.5 percent of the Juventus soccer club.

Shares in UniCredit were down 0.56 percent at 1.781 euros at 1105 GMT, in line with the STOXX Europe 600 banking index.(sourced:Thomson Reuters)

Tags : The Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Co, The Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Co,

Coal Min turns down RINL request to swap coal blocks

Friday 11 March 2011, 1:01 PM

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) The Coal Ministry has turned down the request of state-run Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) for swapping two of its coking coal blocks in Jharkhand with other reserves.

"As regards allocation of alternative coal block(s), there is no policy/guidelines for allocation of alternative coal block in lieu of surrendered coal block," the ministry said on its website.

RINL, whose two coking coal blocks in Jharkhand -- Mahal allocated in 2005 and Tenughat-Jhirki allocated in 2008 -- were de-allocated by the Coal Ministry at the beginning of this month, had earlier requested permission to surrender these blocks in lieu of two alternative blocks in the region.

Instead, the Coal Ministry has asked the steel firm to apply afresh for coal blocks.

"RINL is at liberty to apply for blocks as and when applications for a fresh list of coal blocks (are invited)... The request will be considered along with other applications, as received then, as per the... guidelines for allocation of coal blocks," the ministry said.

The Coal Ministry had cancelled the allocation of two coking coal blocks having reserves of about 500 million tonnes in Jharkhand to RINL as the steel firm had difficulties in developing the block.

As per the Steel Ministry, not only were the coal seams deep-seated and intermeshed with gaseous deposits, obstructions in the form of railway lines and nearby rivers also existed, the ministry had said.

The Mahal block has deposits of 258 million tonnes of coking coal, while the Tenughat-Jhirki block holds an estimated 215 million tonnes of coal.

It added that both blocks involved a high investment and production cost. Moreover, RINL has not met the milestones for developing the blocks.

Japan issues state of emergency at nuke plant after cooling system failure; no radiation leak

Fri, Mar11, 2011

AP – 1 hour 17 minutes ago

Japan issues state of emergency at nuke plant after cooling system failure; no radiation leak.

UPDATE - Japan quake sparks economy fear, budget plan mooted, BOJ offers help

Fri Mar 11, 2011 11:54am GMT

* Auto and electronics plants, refineries shut after massive quake
* Disaster fresh blow to struggling economy; ports, airports shut
* Leaders urge government to compile extra budget,
BOJ pledges support
* Yen, stocks fall, bonds jump on economic fallout concerns
(Recasts with push for emergency budget, analyst quotes)

By Osamu Tsukimori and Stanley White

TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - Auto plants, electronics factories and refineries shut across large parts of Japan on Friday after a powerful earthquake rocked the country, triggering a tsunami, buckling roads and knocking out power to millions of homes and businesses.

Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties pushed for an emergency budget to help fund relief efforts after Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked them to "save the country", Kyodo news agency.

The Bank of Japan, which has been struggling to boost the anaemic economy, said it would do its utmost to ensure financial market stability as air force jets roared toward the northeast coast to assess the damage from the biggest quake to hit the country in 140 years.

The 8.9 magnitude quake sent shares skidding in Japan and elsewhere, adding to a slide in global stocks to their lowest level in nearly six weeks.

Several airports, including Tokyo's Narita, were closed and rail services halted. All of the country's ports were closed.

Electronics giant Sony Corp , one of the country's biggest exporters, shut six factories, Kyodo news agency reported.

"There are car and semiconductor factories in northern Japan, so there will be some economic impact due to damage to factories," said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo.

At least 44 people were killed, Kyodo said, and many were injured in the quake, with fires breaking out from Sendai city in northern Japan to Tokyo. A tsunami 10 metres high hit Sendai port in Miyagi Prefecture, about 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

Miyagi and its surrounding areas include major manufacturing and industrial zones, with many chemical and electronics plants. But early reports from the area were sketchy and it was not clear if some plants were shut simply due to a lack of power or because of quake damage.

Miyagi, the area most affected by the quake, accounts for 1.7 percent of Japan's gross domestic product (GDP), Macquarie Research said.

"There are two basic economics-related concerns. The first is that the fragile economic cycle is not in a position to withstand significant disruption," Macquarie said in a note.

"The second is that the combination of a softer economy and the additional strain on public finances will put upward pressure on bond yields."

Toyota Motor Corp said it had halted production at a parts factory and two assembly plants in the area, while Nissan Motor Co , the country's second-largest automaker, stopped operations at four factories, media reported.

Two people were reported killed by a collapsing ceiling at a Honda Motor Co factory in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, but no other details were immediately available.

QUAKE ADDS TO MARKET WORRIES

The quake occurred as the world's third-largest economy was showing signs of reviving after shrinking in the final quarter of last year. The disaster raised the prospect of major disruptions for many key businesses, at least in the short term.

The yen fell as much as 0.3 percent against the dollar before recouping its losses, while Nikkei stock futures plunged nearly 5 percent at one point.

The disaster also weighed on markets elsewhere, pushing shares in European insurance companies down. Large reinsurers -- Swiss Re , Hannover Re and Munich Re -- were all down more than 4 percent.

World stocks measured by the MSCI dropped 0.4 percent to their lowest level since the end of January.

The quake hit just before the Tokyo stock market closed, so prices didn't fully factor in the scale of the disaster.

"Stocks will probably fall on Monday, especially of those companies that have factories in the affected areas, but on the whole the selloff will likely be short-lived," said Mitsuhsige Akino, a fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

Bond futures surged on worries the widespread damage would put further pressure on the economy, while the most active gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, February 2012 , inched higher.

"We still don't know the full scale of the damage, but considering what happened after the earthquake in Kobe, this will certainly lead the government to compile an emergency budget. We can expect consumption to fall. This could temporarily pull down gross domestic product," Yamamoto said.

With Japanese interest rates already near zero, analysts said the central bank and the government had few options but to inject more money into the economy, even if it risked swelling the already bloated deficit.

"The extent of the damage is hard to tell but it seems devastating for the northern Japan economy. The government must act quickly to announce support packages and the central bank should pump more money into the economy," said Tsutomu Yamada, a market analysts at Kabu.com Securities.

The 1995 quake that devastated Kobe caused $100 billion in damage, though industrial production and financial markets bounced back fairly quickly.

"The government would have to sell more bonds, but this is an emergency, so this can't be avoided," Yamamoto said.

"Given where the Bank of Japan's benchmark interest rate is now, they can't really lower rates. The BOJ will focus on providing liquidity, possibly by expanding market operations."

POWER PLANTS, REFINERIES SHUT

Hokuriku Electric Co said all of three reactors at its Onagawa nuclear plant Japan shut down automatically after the quake, but no radioactive leaks were reported.

Electric Power Development (J-Power) also halted operations of its Isogo thermal power plant in Yokohama, Jiji reported.

Television reported a major fire at Cosmo Oil Co's Chiba refinery, east of Tokyo. JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, Japan's top refiner, halted operations at three refineries in Sendai, Kashima and Negishi, while Tonengeneral shut the main units at its Kawasaki refinery, media said.

Japanese media also reported a fire at JFE Holdings Inc's steel plant in Chiba. JFE, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker, said there was no major impact.

Primearth EV Energy Co Ltd, a joint venture between Panasonic Corp and Toyota making batteries for environmentally friendly vehicles, said its Miyagi battery factory had halted production because of power cuts. The extent of any damage was not clear, but a spokesman said it did not appear to be major.

Mitsui Mining and Mitsubishi Material halted operations at zinc and copper smelters in the region. (Additional reporting by TOKYO bureau; Writing by Kim Coghill; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Neil Fullick,sourced:Thomson Reuters)

S.Africa orders freeze on Gaddafi's assets

Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:49am GMT

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has ordered the Treasury to freeze assets linked to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his associates, a government official said on Friday.

"The process is underway and we are writing letters informing them that no money will be allowed to leave South Africa," foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela, said without offering further details.

Local daily Business Day said the money is invested through the $5 billion Libya Arab Africa Investment Co (Laaico), through Libya Oil Holdings, Libya African Investment Portfolio and Libyan Foreign Investment Company (Lafico).

In South Africa, it owns Ensemble Hotel holdings, including the luxury Michelangelo Hotel in Johannesburg.

Libya holds billions of dollars in assets in Africa through subsidiaries of its $70 billion sovereign wealth fund.

The South African presidency said on Wednesday that Gaddafi called Zuma "to explain his side of the story".

The statement said: "South Africa has openly condemned the loss of life and attacks on civilians and reported violations of human rights in Libya."
(sourced:Thomson Reuters)

Tags :Libya African Investment Portfolio, Libyan Foreign Investment Co, sovereign wealth fund,

Macroeconomic indicators - China posts a surprise trade deficit

Friday, 11 Mar 2011

China has reported a surprise trade deficit for the first time since March last year, after exports slowed.

While shipments grew at 2.4% YoY in February, imports increased by 19.4% YoY resulting in a trade deficit of USD 7.3 billion, the largest in seven years.

Shagang reduces EXW prices for mid March deliveries

Friday, 11 Mar 2011

It is reported that the leading China steelmaker Shagang unveiled its price change details for the middle ten days of Mar 2011 deliveries as follows, with prices of most carbon steel declined by CNY 200 per tonne to CNY 400 per tonne.

1. High speed wire rod
The middle ten days of Mar prices down CNY 300 per tonne from the first ten days of Mar level,

HPB235 high speed wire rod with diameter 6.5mm was priced at CNY 4,850 per tonne

2. Rebar
The middle ten days of Mar prices down CNY 300 per tonne from the first ten days of Mar level
HRB335 high speed wire rod with diameter 16m to 25mm was offered at CNY 4,850 per tonne
HRB400 high speed wire rod with diameter 16mm to 25mm was listed at CNY 4,970 per tonne.

3. Spiral steel
The middle ten days of Mar prices down CNY 400 per tonne from the first ten days of March level
HRB400 spiral steel with diameter 8mm is posted at CNY 4,950 per tonne

4. Round steel
The middle ten days of March prices down CNY 200 per tonne from the first ten days of Mar level,

Q235 round steel with diameter 16 to 25 is priced at CNY 5000 per tonne

All price changes listed above are inclusive of 17% VAT except stated otherwise and will come into force as of the date of issuance.

(sourced :mysteel)

German Power Unchanged Near One-Week Low as Coal Prices Stable

Mar 11, 2011 3:10 PM GMT+0530
By Lars Paulsson

German electricity for delivery next year was unchanged from its lowest close in more than a week as coal prices were stable.

Baseload power for 2012 was unchanged at 53.15 euros ($73.44) a megawatt-hour, its lowest close since March 3, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg at 10:20 a.m. Berlin time. Baseload is generated and sold around the clock.

The contract, Europe’s benchmark electricity price, is headed for its first weekly drop in four weeks. It has traded between 50.75 euros and 54.60 euros this year.

Coal for 2011 delivery to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp gained 0.4 percent to $122.25 a metric ton. Germany generates about a fifth of its power from hard coal. The country also gets electricity from nuclear, natural gas, wind and solar sources.

Baseload is delivered around the clock. Bloomberg tracks prices from brokers including ICAP Plc, GFI Group Inc., Spectron Group Ltd., Tullett Prebon Plc and Tradition Financial Services.(By bloomberg)

Tags : GFI Group Inc, Spectron Group Ltd, Tullett Prebon Plc, Tradition Financial services, raw material, power plants

Unconfirmed reports of USD 110 hike for coking coal for April quarter

Friday, 11 Mar 2011

Nikkei business daily yesterday reported that Japan’s No 4 steelmaker Nippon Steel and British mining giant Anglo American Plc have agreed to increase coking coal prices for the second quarter by around 50% from the current quarter,

The Nikkei, without citing sources, said the coking coal price would be raised to a record USD 330 for the April to June period. Nikkei said that the steelmakers are worried that monthly price revisions would lead to cost volatility and this has led to the agreement with Anglo American which offered to set prices quarterly.

Steel makers across all parts of globe, citing surge in costs of iron ore and coking coal, have hiked steel prices in last 3 months. Now the big question is that weather the hikes are sustainable ie to what extant steel makers would be able to post the higher costs to buyers and what would be the steel price scenario in April to June quarter.

While the miners remain upbeat on prices of iron ore and coking coal in April to June quarter, several factors are weighing heavily on steel prices. Chinese premier has recently emphasized that the government will take all measures to cool down economy. This is being reflected in Chinese domestic prices, which have been sliding every day since February 22nd 2011. Political unrest in Middle East and North Africa has compounded the problem as many of the captive export markets for Black Sea based and Turkish mills have suddenly vanished creating a vacuum, forcing them to find alternate destinations.

Widespread tsunami warning issued after Japan quake

SINGAPORE | Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:57pm IST

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A tsunami warning has been issued for areas across East Asia and the western coast of South America following a huge earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Among the countries for which a tsunami warning is in effect are: Russia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.

The biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years struck the northeast coast on Friday, triggering a 10-metre tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses and cars.

By 0800 GMT there had been no reports of a serious tsunami hitting anywhere beyond Japan.

"A tsunami is a series of waves and the first wave may not be the largest," the center said. "The threat can continue for many hours as multiple waves arrive."

(Reporting by Andrew Marshall; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

Tags : Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru

Quake shuts Japan plants, seen setting back economy, BOJ offers help

Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:41am GMT

* Nuclear power plants, refineries shut after massive quake
* Disaster fresh blow to struggling economy; BOJ pledges support
* Power outages shut factories; all ports, some airports shut
* Yen, stocks fall, bonds jump on economic fallout concerns
(Adds more details on damage, death toll, Toyota plants)

By Osamu Tsukimori and Stanley White

TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - Auto plants, electronics factories and oil refineries shut across large parts of Japan on Friday after a powerful earthquake rocked the country, triggering a tsunami, buckling roads and knocking out power to millions of homes and businesses.

Several airports, including Tokyo's Narita, were closed and rail services halted. All of the country's ports were closed.

Electronics giant Sony Corp , one of the country's biggest exporters, shut six factories, Kyodo news agency reported, as air force jets roared toward the most heavily affected northeast coast to assess the damage from the 8.9 magnitude quake, the biggest to hit Japan in 140 years.

The Bank of Japan, which has been struggling to boost the anaemic economy, said it would do its utmost to ensure financial market stability as the yen and Japanese shares fell.

"There are car and semiconductor factories in northern Japan, so there will be some economic impact due to damage to factories," said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo.

Japanese media reported at least six deaths and many injuries, with fires breaking out from Sendai city in northern Japan to Tokyo. A tsunami 10 metres high hit Sendai port but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The Miyagi prefecture and surrounding areas include major manufacturing and industrial zones, with many chemical and electronics plants. Television showed black smoke pouring out of an industrial area in Yokohama's Isogo area.

Toyota Motor Corp said it had halted production at a parts factory and two assembly plants in the area, while Nissan Motor Co , the country's second-largest automaker, stopped operations at four factories, media reported.

Two people were reported killed by a collapsing ceiling at a Honda Motor Co factory in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, but no other details were immediately available.

The quake occurred as the economy was showing signs of reviving from a contraction in the final quarter of last year. The disaster raised the prospect of major disruptions for many key businesses, at least in the short term.

The yen fell as much as 0.3 percent against the dollar before recouping its losses, while Nikkei stock futures plunged nearly 5 percent at one point.

The disaster also weighed on markets elsewhere, pushing shares in European insurance companies down. Large reinsurers -- Swiss Re , Hannover Re and Munich Re -- were all down more than 4 percent.

The earthquake happened just before the Tokyo stock market closed.

"Stocks will probably fall on Monday, especially of those companies, that have factories in the affected areas, but on the whole the selloff will likely be short-lived," said Mitsuhsige Akino, a fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

Bond futures surged on worries the widespread damage would put further pressure on the already sputtering economy, while the most active gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, February 2012 , inched higher.

"We still don't know the full scale of the damage, but considering what happened after the earthquake in Kobe, this will certainly lead the government to compile an emergency budget. We can expect consumption to fall. This could temporarily pull down gross domestic product," Yamamoto said.

With Japanese interest rates already near zero, analysts said the central bank and the government had few options but to inject more money into the economy, even if it risked swelling the already bloated deficit.

"The extent of the damage is hard to tell but it seems devastating for the northern Japan economy. The government must act quickly to announce support packages and the central bank should pump more money into the economy," said Tsutomu Yamada, a market analysts at Kabu.com Securities.

The 1995 quake that devastated Kobe caused $100 billion in damage.

"The government would have to sell more bonds, but this is an emergency, so this can't be avoided," Yamamoto said.

"Given where the Bank of Japan's benchmark interest rate is now, they can't really lower rates. The BOJ will focus on providing liquidity, possibly by expanding market operations."

POWER PLANTS, REFINERIES SHUT

Hokuriku Electric Co said on Friday all of three reactors at its Onagawa nuclear plant in northern Japan shut down automatically after the quake, but no nuclear leaks were reported.

Electric Power Development (J-Power) also halted operations of its Isogo thermal power plant in Yokohama, Jiji reported.

Television reported a major fire at Cosmo Oil Co's Chiba refinery, east of Tokyo. JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, Japan's top refiner, halted operations at three refineries in Sendai, Kashima and Negishi, Jiji News said.

Japanese media reported a fire at JFE Holdings Inc's steel plant in Chiba. JFE, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker, said there was no major impact.

Primearth EV Energy Co Ltd, a joint venture between Panasonic Corp and Toyota making batteries for environmentally friendly vehicles, said its Miyagi battery factory had halted production because of power cuts. The extent of any damage was not clear, but a spokesman said it did not appear to be major. (Additional reporting by TOKYO bureau; Writing by Kim Coghill; Editing by Tomasz Janowski,sourced:Thomson Reuters)

Japan’s domestic steel product orders up slightly in January over December

Friday, 11 March 2011 12:03:52 (GMT+2)

According to the data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Association, steel product orders, including specialty steels, booked by domestic steel consuming sectors in Japan in January this year amounted to 8.06 million metric tons, increasing slightly by 0.49 percent compared to December 2010 and up 8.7 percent year on year.

In January this year, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector decreased by five percent month on month to 587,559 metric tons - up 8.99 percent year on year, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector, including specialty steel, reached 1.13 million metric tons, rising by 4.93 percent as compared to December last year and down 5.72 percent year on year. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 427,559 metric tons of ordinary steel products in January, declining by 8.77 percent month on month and up 1.4 percent as compared to the same month of 2010.

Factories located near Japan quake-hit region

Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:49am GMT

March 11 (Reuters) - Following is a partial list of companies with factories and offices located in northeast Japan in the areas worst hit by Japan's earthquake and tsunamis, as well as affected operations in other regions.

Cosmo Oil Co
- Major fire at oil refinery in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo. All operations halted. Work to put out fire going on since 0658 GMT.

Toyota Motor Corp
- Subsidiary Central Motor Co: Miyagi prefecture, near Sendai. Started production in January 2011, builds Yaris subcompact sedan. Capacity: 120,000 units a year.

- Subsidiary Kanto Auto Works: Iwate prefecture. Builds smaller cars such as Belta sedan, Auris, Blade, ist.

- Joint venture with Panasonic Corp , Prime Earth EV Energy, in Miyagi prefecture. Makes batteries for hybrid cars. Production suspended.

- Toyota Motor Tohoku car parts factory. Operations started in Oct 1998. Production stopped, no injuries.

Nissan Motor Co
- Production halted at all four car assembly factories in Japan, including those in severely hit Tochigi and Fukushima prefectures. Small fires confirmed at those two factories. Two suffered minor injuries at Tochigi factory.

Honda Motor Co
- Tochigi factory, makes engine parts, transmissions. Established in December 1970. National broadcaster NHK reports one woman dead after damage to building.

- Also has major R&D centres in Tochigi. 42-year-old male employee dies at Honda R&D Centre.

- Company yet to confirm the situation.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd
- Maker of Subaru cars and aircraft. Has aircraft factory and industrial vehicles factory in Tochigi prefecture. Company could not be immediately reached for comments.

Sony Corp
- Two factories in Fukushima, four in Miyagi. All are closed and employees evacuated. Extent of damage not yet known. One Miyagi factory makes semiconductors, the other three make optical film and various other parts. The two Fukushima factories make batteries.

JFE Steel
- Broadcaster TBS reports fire at its Chiba prefecture steel plant. Company says no big damage to the plant.

Panasonic Corp
- Two factories in Fukushima, producing audio products and digital cameras, one in Miyagi prefecture (Sendai) producing camera lenses.

Tokyo Gas Co
- Stopped gas supply to more than 35,000 households and facilities in Kanto area in eastern Japan.

Tohoku Electric Power Co
- Facilities operating as usual.

Tokyo Electric Power Co
- Power plant operating as usual.

JSR (synthetic rubber maker)
- Kashima factory, in Ibaraki prefecture, stopped production but no damage to facilities.

Citigroup Holdings Japan
- No damage to trading facilities, operating normally after quake. All staff in central Tokyo safe. Company will send staff home early. No confirmation of safety of all staff in retail branch offices outside Tokyo. Has no office in Sendai. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Isabel Reynolds and Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Anshuman Daga,sourced:Thomson REuters)

ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih stabilizes steel output in February

Thursday, 10 March 2011 16:55:49 (GMT+2)

ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih, Ukraine-based subsidiary of the world's largest integrated metals and mining company ArcelorMittal, has announced that in February this year it managed to halt the decline seen in its production in January caused by the stoppage of two sintering units for repair, as it completed the major overhaul of one of the units.

"According to the results of February, we were able to stabilize production and reach the same indicators as a year ago. We are going to complete the repair of the second sintering unit in March, and then we expect a gradual production increase in the coming months," ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih's acting COO Aleksandr Ioskov said.

Product	February			January-February
	2011 (mt)	2010 (mt)	y-o-y change (%)	2011(mt)	2010(mt)	y-o-y change (%)
Pig iron	377,900	375,000	+0.8	767,800	840,200	-8.6
Crude steel	443,100	416,500	+6.4	890,400	948,500	-6.1
Rolled steel products	374,700	378,200	-0.9	796,900	833,200	-4.3

All Japanese ports shut after huge quake - shippers

Fri Mar 11, 2011 8:52am GMT

SINGAPORE, March 11 (Reuters) - All Japanese ports have closed, with discharging operations halted, after the country was hit on Friday by an 8.9 magnitude quake and tsunami, shippers said.

The biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years struck the northeast coast, triggering a 10-metre tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses, cars and farm buildings on fires.

"It's a big mess. All discharge operations are suspended in the area," said a shipbroker.

TV footage showed at least one large panamax vessel, which typically carries 80,000 tonnes of coal, iron ore and grains, grounded in northern Japan due to the tsunami, a second Tokyo-based shipbroker said.

"Most or all coal stocks will be washed out at many of the coal fired power plants," he said.

"Ports will be closed at least for a short time period until damage assessments can take place."

Shipbrokers expected freight rates to rise in the short-term as Japanese power plants restock their coal inventories and steel companies import more iron ore as part of the rebuilding process.

A tsunami warning has been extended to the whole of the Pacific basin, except for mainland United States and Canada, following the earthquake in Japan, NOAA's National Weather Service said on Friday.

The warning includes Mexico and Central and South American countries on the Pacific, NOAA's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. (Reporting by Randy Fabi and Luke Pachymuthu Editing by Ed Lane,Thomson Reuters)

Vale says Brazil gov't overcharging for royalties

Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:08pm GMT

* Vale seeking legal review of royalty payments
* Gov't source sees Vale owing up to $2.4 bln

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 10 (Reuters) - Brazilian mining giant Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote) said on Thursday the government is overcharging it for mineral royalties and will seek a legal review of some the requested payments amid a dispute over debts to the government that could reach $2.4 billion.

Vale, the world's largest iron ore miner, insisted it had made payments according to the law and said it disagreed with the government over criteria for calculating what it owed.

Analysts say the dispute, which comes as Brazil mulls an increase in mineral royalties that would boost government revenues from the booming mining business, is unlikely to financially harm the company or hinder its operations.

"Vale believes that the values being charged ... are excessive and should be submitted to (review of) judicial experts," the company said in a statement. "Discussions of the correct interpretation of laws are perfectly legitimate."

The firm said the government agency that collects royalties had in some cases considerably lowered requested payments when the company challenged them.

A source at the Mines and Energy Ministry told Reuters on Thursday that the disputed amount could reach 4 billion reais ($2.4 billion). A second source said that figure was the accumulation of a number of royalty disputes dating back years.

The sources said Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao had requested a review of pending mining royalty debts and had met with President Dilma Rousseff about the Vale dispute.

Authorities in the northern state of Para had sought to suspend Vale's license to operate the giant Carajas iron mine over the unpaid royalties, though that decision was quickly overturned by the same agency, Vale said.

Operations at Carajas were not affected, according to a company spokeswoman. Analysts for brokerage Ativa said in a research note on Thursday the dispute was unlikely to affect future operations at Carajas or to be resolved quickly.

The royalties in question relate to minerals extracted in Para, where Carajas is located, and in the state of Minas Gerais in the south east.

(Reporting by Leo Goy in Brasilia and Brian Ellsworth in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

NZ's Lyttelton Port lifts force majeure on coal experts

Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:00am GMT

WELLINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - New Zealand's Lyttelton Port lifted force majeure on coal shipments from state coal miner Solid Energy, the company said on Friday.

Force majeure was imposed after the port's facilities were damaged in the Feb 22 earthquake, which struck the country's second biggest city, Christchurch.

The port company, which exports around 2 million tonnes of coal annually, said the lifting of the notice was conditional.

"LPC is not able to currently meet the minimum loading rates and the minimum depth alongside the berth that are set out in the coal handling agreement," it said in a statement.

State-owned Solid Energy had also declared a force majeure notice to its export customers.

Force majeure is a contractual clause that allows companies to miss deliveries because of circumstances beyond their control.(Reporting by Gyles Beckford, sourced:Reuters)

China has no timetable for yuan's full convertibility: central bank official

Fri, Mar11, 2011 11:15:05 |Xinhua

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's currency, or yuan, will see major progress in its full convertibility in the next five years, but no timetable has been set to achieve this goal, said Hu Xiaolian, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, on Friday.

Yuan's full convertibility is decided by many conditions. The pilot program of allowing yuan in settling cross-border trade will promote its convertibility under the capital account, Hu told a news conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the nation's top legislature.

Although China has not loosened its control of the capital account, the demand for yuan is on the rise, as the currency is getting more and more popular in the cross-border transactions, Hu noted.

According to the government work report delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao at NPC's annual session, China will continue to increase the use of its currency renminbi in cross-border trade and investment this year.

The country will "press ahead with making the RMB convertible under capital accounts" this year, says the report.

The central bank said earlier this month that it will expand the yuan settlement trial program to the entire country this year from the current 20 provincial regions as there is growing market demand for the business.

Rio lifts force majeure at Australia's Clermont coal mine

Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:24am GMT

PERTH, March 11 (Reuters) - Global miner Rio Tinto has lifted its force majeure on its Clermont coal mines in Australia's northeast Queensland state, the company said Friday.

"Three of Rio Tinto Coal Australia's mines in central Queensland have now lifted the force majeure from sales contracts declared in late December 2010 as a result of severe weather events," a spokesperson from Rio Tinto Coal Australia said, but added that a force majeure remains in effect at Rio's other operation in central Queensland, Hail Creek mine.

A force majeure is a legal let-out suspending sales obligations due to factors beyond a supplier's control.
(Reporting by Rebekah Kebede; Editing by Balazs Koranyi,Thomson Reuters)

BlueScope Steel Restructure

Fri,March11, 2011

The Chief Executive of Bluescope's Port Kembla steelworks says they'll know more about the impact of the companies restructure in the coming months.

Noel Cornish announced his retirement as the company revealed its plans to merge its Australian and New Zealand businesses.

Mr Cornish will step down in August and he'll be replaced by Mark Vasella who has been the President of Bluescope North America.

Mr Cornish says he'll remain involved as a member of Bluescopes board of Directors, and he admits there could be redundancies.

"Over the course of the next few months we will get more information about that and of course we will be very open and transparent about it ..let's wait and see what the detail shows and just reflect again that the way bluescope steel goes about these things that we try to have the utmost respect for people as we go through these processes." He said.

Noel Cornish says Labor's proposed carbon price will spell the end of steel manufacturing in Australia.

He says if its adopted in Australia and international competitors don't bear the same cost then Australian manufactured steel will become uncompetitive and imports will outweigh exports.

He says Labor's Carbon policy is fundamentally flawed because there will always be demand for steel.

"Australia will continue to use steel so whether its manufacutured here in australia or manufactured overseas we will still continue to use it so what we'll find is having hollowed out manufacturing in australia we will have no improvement in global greehouse gas emissions" He said.

The AWU's Port Kembla Branch Secretary, Andy Gillespie says Bluescope Steel has already cut jobs too far and production levels will be affected if more jobs go.

"I don't see there's any room for redundancies on the shop floor if the current production remains the same with the current production methods the merger of bluescope's 3 divisions i don't see affecting people on the shop floor it may however affect people higher up." He said.

China February daily steel output hits record high

Fri Mar 11, 2011 6:14am GMT

* Jan, Feb total output hits 114.18 mln tonnes
* Strong production attributed to small mills

BEIJING, March 11 (Reuters) - China's daily crude steel output rose 0.5 percent from January to a record high of 1.94 million tonnes in the holiday-shortened month of February, with private mills producing with abandon despite demand uncertainty.

China produced a total of 54.31 million tonnes of crude steel in February, up 9.7 percent from the same month last year, according to official data from China's National Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

Many Chinese businesses were shut for a week in February to mark the Lunar New Year holiday. According to Reuters calculations, average daily output in the first two months of 2011 was 16.6 percent higher than in December, when hundreds of small mills were forced to shut down to comply with a state energy saving campaign. "The ramp-up happened pre-Chinese new year and continued until late in the month when prices began to fall," said John Guise, China editor with Steel Business Briefing. "If you look at everybody's attitude and at steel prices just before the Chinese new year holiday, everybody was thinking it's going to get better and it was hard to find a dissenting opinion in the crowd."

Prices on the domestic market have been on the decline after hitting a peak in early February, with the industry blaming long-standing overcapacity problems as well as uncertainties about demand. While the industry is concerned about its prospects in 2011, producers are unlikely to cut output as long as they are still making profits -- however meagre. "You are not seeing large mills making production cuts -- we've heard billet producers who service smaller mills starting to make production cuts but the major steel makers are not and probably will not do so until they stop making a profit," said Guise. Traders are waiting to see whether or not industry leader Baoshan Iron and Steel will reduce its prices for April delivery, with an announcement due soon. The statistics bureau said China produced 63.54 million tonnes of steel products in February, down from 97.84 million tonnes in December. Iron ore output in February reached 72.45 million tonnes, down from 73.79 million tonnes in January and 98.21 million tonnes in December. (Reporting by David Stanway and Ruby Lian, Editing by Tom Miles and Ed Lane, sourced:Thomson Reuters)

Nine Chinese producers rank among world’s top 20 steelmakers in 2010

Thu, 10 March 2011 11:56:05 (GMT+2)

In 2010, as the world economy recovered, global crude steel output reached 1.414 billion mt, up 15 percent year on year. The capacity utilization rates of major steelmakers recovered, but their output levels were still lower than the levels recorded before the start of the financial crisis. In 2010, the aggregate crude steel output of the world's top 20 steelmakers amounted to 612 million mt, accounting for 43 percent of the total global crude steel output.

The list of the world's top 20 steelmakers in terms of crude steel output for 2010 includes nine Chinese steelmakers, of which six rank in the top 10 while four rank in the top five.

ArcelorMittal remained the largest steelmaker in the world in terms of crude steel output. In 2010, its crude steel production reached 90.6 million mt, up 17.4 million mt compared to its 2009 volume, but still down on the 103 million mt recorded for 2008. Chinese steelmakers Hebei Iron and Steel Group, Baosteel, Anshan-Benxi Iron and Steel Group, Wuhan Iron and Steel Group (WISCO) ranked second, third, fourth and fifth respectively. South Korea's POSCO and Japanese steelmakers Nippon Steel Corp. and JFE were respectively ranked sixth, seventh and eighth. Meanwhile, Chinese steelmakers Shagang Group and Shougang Group were ninth and tenth in the list of top global steelmakers.

Tags: China , India , Japan , Korea S. , Far East , Indian Subcon , Baosteel , WISCO , ArcelorMittal , Shagang , production , steelmaking , POSCO , JFE Steel , Nippon Steel , East Asia and Pacific , South Asia

Container imports into the US fall 9.94 percent in February

Thursday, 10 March 2011 03:10:59 (GMT+2)

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based trade intelligence company Zepol announced Wednesday that import shipment volume into the US for February, measured in TEU's, fell 9.94 percent from January, but increased 9.03 percent over February 2010. The total number of shipments last month also decreased 11.09 percent from January but rose 7.27 percent over February of last year.

Asian origin volumes fell 11.42 percent from January to February, while imports from Central America, measured in TEU's, rose 4.88 percent from January to February. Ports on the Atlantic Coast showed the greatest increases in volumes for February 2011 over January 2011. The most noteworthy increases were West Palm Beach, FL and Chester, PA with increases of 37.86 percent and 18.73 percent respectively.

Tags: Far East , North America , South America , imp/exp statistics , South Asia

Steam coal prices expected to drop in China as winter ends

Thu, 10 March 2011 11:58:22 (GMT+2)

According to the data issued by the China National Coal Association (CNCA), as of March 10 the spot price of steam coal at China's Qinhuangdao Port is standing at RMB 820-830/mt ($125-126/mt), including 17 percent VAT. At the same time, Australian steam coal offers for the Chinese market are now priced at RMB 930/mt ($142/mt) CFR southern ports, while ex-Russia steam coal offers are at RMB 938/mt ($143/mt) CFR southern ports. Both are much higher than domestic sales prices.

With the peak winter season for coal consumption coming to an end, inventories of steam coal have recently surged up at Qinhuangdao port. In this context, steam coal prices in China are expected to slip down in the coming period.

Tags: raw mat , Australia , China , Russia , Oceania , CIS , Far East , trading , mining , East Asia and Pacific

Japan’s January stainless steel exports fall 17.3 percent from December

Thu, 10 March 2011 14:20:09 (GMT+2)

According to the data issued by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF), in January this year Japan's stainless steel exports amounted to 93,842 mt, registering a decrease of 17.3 percent compared to December 2010, but a 9.2 percent increase compared to January 2010.

Regarding Japan's major stainless steel export markets, in January of the current year the country's stainless steel exports to China totaled 13,268 mt, down 40.2 percent; exports to South Korea rose 17 percent and reached 20,412 mt; the export volume to Taiwan reached 10,803, down 28.2 percent; exports to the US totaled 5,559 mt, decreasing by 18.6 percent; while exports to Thailand came to 10,450 mt, falling by 40.9 percent - all on month-on-month basis.

Meanwhile, Japan's stainless steel imports in January amounted to 13,228 mt - down 12.4 percent month on month and 1.5 percent year on year.

Tags: stainless , stainless , Korea S. , Far East , North America , Southeast Asia , imp/exp statistics , steelmaking , East Asia and Pacific, USA , China , Japan , Thailand , Taiwan

Essar in pact to revive Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company

March 10, 2011 By NetIndian News Network

Mumbai: Essar Africa Holdings Limited (EAHL), a part of the Essar Group, today said it had signed an agreement with the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) for the revival of the operational assets of Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO).

A press release from the company said the agreement marked an important milestone in the process which started with the public tender for a majority of the Zimbabwean government's shareholding in ZISCO and begins a new chapter for the economic growth of that country.

The release said EAHL and GoZ would set up two joint venture (JV) companies that shall acquire all the steel and mining related assets and liabilities of ZISCO and its subsidiaries.

Further, EAHL will release GoZ from its guaranteed obligations under the ZISCO debt, the release said.

It said the steel JV would be owned 60/40 and the minerals JV owned 80/20 by Essar and GoZ, respectively.

The transaction will close in due course upon facilitation of various approvals, including approvals from the enabling ministries and an acceptable settlement of the GoZ guaranteed debt obligations of ZISCO.

Upon closing, EAHL and GoZ will also finalize and settle liabilities such as unpaid wages and salaries and amounts due to various local creditors and so on, the release said.

"We believe that this transaction will serve as a catalyst for significant future foreign direct investment into Zimbabwe," he said.

ZISCO is an integrated steel company with a rated capacity of one million tonnes for the manufacture of long products. It has been non-operational for the last few years due to shortage of funds for working capital and maintenance of plant and equipment, irregular supply of power and other critical raw materials and infrastructure. ZISCO also owns iron ore and limestone mining rights and other claims, which require significant investment in exploration and development.

Firdhose Coovadia, Resident Director, Essar (Middle East & Africa) and Director, EAHL said: "We believe that the new ventures will be well positioned to be a low-cost steel producer that can meet the growing demands of the regional steel market and capitalize on the forecasted growth in sub Saharan Africa. We also recognize ZISCO as a vital and strategic asset for the Zimbabwean economy and Essar looks forward to making a meaningful contribution to the future development of Zimbabwe and its people.The revival of ZISCO represents a challenging task that will require the co-operation of various parties, and entail significant capital expenditure."

He said the Essar Group had a track record of successfully commissioning and operating greenfield and brownfield steel plants in different parts of the world including India, Canada, UK and Indonesia.

Mr Coovadia said the Group would bring in investments and expertise in steelmaking, beneficiation, project management, construction, power generation and logistics.

"We believe that the Essar Group is a good partner for the revival of ZISCO’s assets. With the entry of EAHL as a partner, the various stakeholders of ZISCO, especially the employees will stand to benefit significantly," Mr Nyasha Makuvise, Chairman of the Board of ZISCO, said.

Mr V. Ashok, Indian Ambassador in Zimbabwe commented: "This is an important milestone in the long-standing and fruitful relationship between India and Zimbabwe which dates back to the independence movement in Zimbabwe, and we believe that this partnership will further bring the people of India and Zimbabwe closer."

Essar Group’s current operations in Africa include oil and gas assets in Nigeria, Kenya and Madagascar, telecom assets in East Africa, BPO operations in South Africa and coal concessions in Mozambique.

Tags : iron ore and limestone mining rights, exploration and development, steel mills, raw material, coal, Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company, ZISCO, steel joint venture, FDI

Tunisian asset freeze in Ottawa's sights

By Laura Payton, CBC News
Mar3, 2011 12:00 PM ET

Canada will soon be able to freeze the assets of the former Tunisian regime.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon announced Thursday the government has introduced legislation to make sure it has the power to freeze the assets of foreign heads of state.

The government says it was able to stop Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and his close associates from accessing their assets in Canada because of a UN resolution passed last week. But Tunisia was a different case.

With the brother-in-law and sister of former Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Montreal, opposition MPs have been demanding the government take the same action against that regime.

"This would allow the government of Canada to order the freezing of assets or the restraint of property of foreign, politically exposed persons ... so that assets of foreign nationals can be rapidly frozen under certain circumstances," Nicholson said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked about the legislation Thursday in Toronto.

"As I said in the House of Commons several times, the government is trying in every way possible to freeze the assets of former dictators," Harper said in French.

"If we're going to freeze someone's assets, we have to have a legal process in place in order to do that. And unfortunately, the previous legislation or the legislation now in place does not actually give us the powers to do that," Harper said.

"This new legislation, and I do hope that we will have the support of the parties to get it through quickly, gives us more powers to take action in those cases and in future cases as well. Because I think it’s quite clear that these cases will continue to come forward."

The proposed legislation imposes three conditions: that the subject of the freeze has held important positions in the state, that the state is in internal turmoil and that it's in the interest of international relations to freeze the assets.

It recognizes that it could be hard to get evidence from another country during a period of conflict.

Under the bill, a freeze would expire automatically after five years unless it's extended.
How much Gadhafi money in Canada?

Speaking on CBC's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon, Nicholson wouldn't say how much money Gadhafi had in Canada. He said that is a policing matter and his job is to give law enforcement agencies what they need to do their jobs.

"It's something that we have to have in Canada, and in my opinion, there are gaps in the law," Nicholson said.

The bill was introduced in the House of Commons Thursday morning and has to pass through the House and the Senate before it becomes law.

Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc said his party needs to look at the legislation, but in principle doesn't have a problem with it. He said the party is speaking with the government about getting it through the House with half a day of committee hearings.

"We certainly recognize the urgency and the legitimacy of passing this legislation," LeBlanc said.

NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar questioned why it took problems with Gadhafi and Ben Ali for Canada to act.

"We knew there were dictators stuffing money into our banks," Dewar said.

"We don't know (who else has money here), and that's something we need a full accounting on."