South African steam coal prices rise

Tuesday, 21 Feb 2012

Reuters reported that prompt South African physical coal prices rose by around 50 cents on Monday as market participants tried to cover short positions taken at the end of last year amid tight supply for March in particular.

A March South African cargo was bid at USD 108.00 and offered at USD 110.00, up 50 cents on the bid.

An April South African cargo was bid at USD 105.35 and offered earlier at USD 105.90, up 40 cents.

A March DES ARA multi-origin cargo was bid at USD 96.00 and offered at USD 99.00, unchanged.

An April multi-origin cargo was bid at USD 99.00 and offered at USD 100.05, down USD 1.00 on the offer but unchanged on the bid.

Front month South African coal prices FOB Richards Bay have held a premium over subsequent months since January for the same reason and despite weak demand in Europe and Asia.

Players among banks, traders and utilities late last year sold coal swaps and physical in anticipation of being able to buy back at cheaper prices.

Although coal values have been dropping while China has remained out of the spot market, there is still some short-covering, which needs to be done and sellers are reluctant to offer while there's a chance Richards Bay prices will keep ticking higher.

(Sourced from Reuters)

Dollar fall boosts Euro coal prompt prices

Saturday, 28 Jan 2012

Reuters reported that US dollar fell to its lowest for almost two months on Thursday, giving a sharp boost to coal prices which have sagged this month due to weak fundamentals globally.

Two March loading South African cargoes traded early in the day at USD 108.50 and USD 108.75, up over USD 3.00 from Wednesday, bought by banks and traders, sold by a large, international trading house.

Coal swaps rallied on Thursday, bolstered by European utilities hedging dark spreads (the profit margin from using coal to generate power) and oil's rise, despite the lack of physical buying and high stockpile levels.

End users in Europe and Asia remained noticeable for the absence from the market.

Traders said that whether China resumes large scale spot buying after the New Year holidays is absolutely critical for coal price direction, regardless of the gyrations of the swaps market.

China overtook Japan as the world's largest coal importer last year after a surge in imports in the last quarter to a total of 182.4 million tonnes, nearly 11 percent up from the previous year, much of it bought on a spot basis.

One European trader said that "The dollar got hammered overnight and that's pulled commodities up including coal, but the swaps, particularly the Calendar years, have risen even more.”

(Sourced from Thomson Reuters)

Falling European steel production affecting iron ore volumes from Brazil

Thursday, 17 November 2011

Europe’s current economic woes are weighing heavily on the steel industry. Tata Steel is closing a facility in Wales, while ArcelorMittal has idled and closed a number of European mills and furnaces. ArcelorMittal’s chief financial officer says that it is aiming for a global production capacity of around 71% in Q4, and that they are seeing “more drops in shipments in Europe than in North America.” The impact of lower steel output in Europe is already being felt in the seaborne market. Brazil exported 4.7 MT of iron ore to Europe last month, a 12.2% year-on-year decline. In the years before the 2008 recession, around 30% of Brazil’s iron ore exports went to Europe. After plummeting in 2009, demand recovered enough last year to bring Europe’s share back up to around 20%. Based on the current slowdown in European import demand, however, it is possible that both the volume and share of Europe’s iron ore imports from Brazil will be lower than in 2010.
Source: ICAP Shipping

Euro Coal-Prices dip, trade remains thin

Wed Oct 12, 2011

* Nov S.African trades at $112.50/T
* Oil rises but coal fails to follow

LONDON Oct 12 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal prices fell slightly by around 25 U.S. cents a tonne on Wednesday after a day of quiet trade.

Few bids, offers or trades were reported in Europe, although South Korea and China have continued to quietly buy prompt cargoes, traders said.

"It's hard to see the market's direction clearly," said Emmanuel Fages, analyst with Societe Generale in Paris.

Coal has largely been immune to the sharp movements seen in other markets although prices have drifted lower by around $15 a tonne during the past two months.

Brent crude oil rose on Wednesday, lifted by news Slovakian lawmakers will approve a plan to expand powers in the euro zone rescue fund.

European demand has been minimal aside from the regular spot buying by one major utility which is always short physical coal but the pace of buying has picked up in Asia.

TRADES

A November loading South African cargo traded at $112.50 a tonne, up around 25 cents.

A December delivery DES ARA cargo traded at $119.50.

(sourced Reuters)

S.Africa coal exports rise m/m in Aug to 6.987 mln T

Sep7, 2011

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 6 (Reuters) - South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) exported 6.987 million tonnes of coal in August compared with 4.36 million tonnes the previous month, RBCT data showed on Tuesday.

South Africa -- a major exporter of coal to power stations in Europe and Asia -- had 3.996 million tonnes of stock at the terminal at the end of August, RBCT said.

(sourced Reuters)

Iron Ore-Spot prices up; global miners seen keeping Q4 prices steady

Thu Sep 1, 2011

* Global miners likely to keep prices steady for Q4
* Spot iron ore prices up $1
* Mills show growing buying interest
* Concerns over U.S. and Europe economy may weigh
By Ruby Lian and David Stanway

SHANGHAI, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Spot iron ore prices gained more ground on Thursday ahead of an anticipated rise in demand during the upcoming peak season, while indexes suggest global miners like Rio Tinto and Vale will keep prices almost steady in the fourth quarter.

Steel mills in China, the world's largest steel producer and consumer, expect seasonal steel demand to pick up in September and October, with spot prices gaining $1 on Thursday.

"They seem now to be restocking, there is interest and buying, and the industry is on the up again," said a Hong Kong-based commodities broker.

Australian 62 percent Newman fines rose $1 to $183-$185 a tonne, including freight, and Indian 63.5/63 fines climbed to $187-$190, from $187-189, according to Chinese consultancy Umetal

China's biggest listed steelmaker Baoshan Iron & Steel , also known as Baosteel, expected iron ore prices to remain at relatively high levels in the fourth quarter and next year, but said it also anticipated significant growth in net profits next year as demand strengthens.

Rio Tinto also said on Wednesday that the world will need at least 100 million tonnes of additional iron ore supply each year over the next eight years. It said its Simandou iron ore joint venture with China's Chinalco in Guinea was on track to make its first shipment by mid-2015.

However, steel mills and traders remain cautious about buying, amid worries about the U.S. and European economies.

"There are still concerns about double-dip recessions in Europe and the United States," said the broker.

"Right now there is buying sentiment in China, but with recent changes (in banks' required reserve ratio base) it may lead to cash restrictions and may limit iron ore buying."

The most active January rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed the morning session 0.08 percent lower at 4,827 yuan ($757) per tonne on Thursday. It hit a one-week high at 4,842 yuan per tonne earlier.

Q4 PRICING ALMOST FLAT

Global miners will likely keep iron ore contract prices mostly steady in the fourth quarter, with spot prices stabilising on firm Chinese demand and tight supplies, Reuters calculations showed.

Based on Platts index prices IODBZ00-PLT for June to August, which top iron ore miners such as Vale and Rio Tinto use to set fourth-quarter contract prices, the 62-percent grade averaged $175.63 a tonne, cost and freight, down marginally from $176.96 in March-May, on which third-quarter pricing was based.

Platts competes with the other two major global indexes the Steel Index .IO62-CNI=SI and Metal Bulletin Iron Ore Index .IO62-CNO=MB.

Prices for quarterly contracts are largely based on the average index prices over a three-month period ending a month before the start of each quarter.

Vale, the world's largest iron ore miner, would set 66-percent-Fe Carajas fines prices at $200.16 per dry metric tonne, delivered to Qingdao, one of China's major ports, for the December quarter, given that its customers have agreed not to adjust prices if quarterly changes are below 5 percent, Platts' said in its daily note.

"Those that do not have such a clause in contracts will see prices fall for the second straight quarter in Q4," Platts said.

Rio Tinto, the world's second-biggest iron ore miner, could lower prices by 1.2 percent for the October-December period, with iron ore fines likely to fall to $2.6896 per dry metric tonne unit FOB, from $2.7234 for the September quarter, also marking the second straight quarterly decline, the Platts' report said.

Metal Bulletin index rose 21 cents to $179.49 a tonne on Wednesday, and the Steel Index also gained $1 to $179.9 a tonne, the highest level since May 6. ($1 = 6.378 yuan)

U.S. may increase coal exports to Europe - Macquarie

Sunday, 14 Aug 2011

Macquarie Group Limited said that the U.S. may increase coal exports, further boosting supply of the commodity in Europe.

Mr Hayden Atkins, an analyst in London at Macquarie's commodities unit, said that "A big push to encourage natural gas burning in the U.S. may drive up coal exports to Europe, China and India."

According to a report on the website of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the closing of Germany’s nuclear plants will increase demand in that nation. U.S. steam coal exports to Europe in the first quarter more than tripled from a year earlier to 4.9 million tonnes from 1.5 million tonnes.

U.S. coal exports are at their highest level since 1992. Exports to the Netherlands jumped to 1.1 million tonnes from 334,628 tonnes. Shipments to Germany went to 899,009 tonnes from 166,314 tonnes. Trade to the UK rose to 852,159 tonnes from 159,280 tonnes.

Merrill analysts including Mr Sabine Schels in London said that switching to natural gas from coal in U.S. power generation will accelerate in 2012 because of new Environ mental Protection Agency rules to cut emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said July 19th 2011. The Cross State Air Pollution Rule requires 27 states in the eastern U.S. to cut sulfur dioxide emissions by 73% and nitrous oxides by 54% by 2014 compared with 2005 levels.

(sourced Bloomberg)

Tata Steel Q1 net more than triples

Fri Aug 12, 2011

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Steel on Friday said first-quarter net profit more than tripled, beating estimates, helped by stronger volumes at its Indian operations, better prices in Europe and a one-time gain from a stake sale.

Excluding a one-time gain of 28.8 billion rupees ($634 million) from the company's sale of its stake in Australian coal miner Riversdale to Rio Tinto, Tata Steel reported a profit of 24.7 billion rupees.

Shares in Tata Steel, valued at about $10 billion, have fallen nearly 29 percent so far in 2011, compared with a nearly 17-percent fall in the BSE Sensex.

US coal exports on pace to hit 107mn st this year

Aug11, 2011,

Washington, 11 August — June's US coal exports reached their second-highest level of the year despite coking coal volumes falling slightly from May.

Total exports increased 23pc to 9.1mn short tons (8.3mn metric tonnes) from 7.39mn st in June 2010 and marked a slight gain from 9.04mn st in May, according to US Census Bureau data released today. US exports for the first half of the year rose to 53.6mn st, up 35pc from 39.7mn st in the year-ago period to set an annualized pace of 107mn st.

In 2010, US exports totaled 81.7mn st, the Census reports.

While coking coal again accounted for the majority of total coal exports, the segment fell month to month to 5.79mn st in June from 6.43mn st in May. In contrast, shipments of all steam coal types, including anthracite, bituminous, lignite, non-bituminous steam coals and sub-bituminous coals, rose to 3.31mn st in June from 2.61mn st in May.

Among the six major US ports where coal is shipped, the Norfolk Census district saw the largest amount of shipments at 3.25mn st, although coal exports from Norfolk actually declined for the third consecutive month.

June exports from New Orleans, the second-highest exporting port, were at their second-highest level for 2011 at 1.85mn st, jumping from a flood-slowed May when its volumes totaled 1.39mn st.

Europe and Asia again were the two continents importing the most US coal. But while exports to Europe were at their highest monthly level this year, at 4.33mn st, exports to Asia were at their lowest level for 2011, at 2.21mn st.

While US coal exports were at their second-highest level for the year in June, US coal imports were at their second-lowest level as generators relied on ample inventories and as low natural gas prices encouraged fuel-switching.

The US imported 970,196st of coal in June, compared with 1.31mn st in May and 1.77mn st a year ago. Imports of Colombian coal totaled 518,351st, off 58pc from 1.23mn st a year ago and off 41pc from 876,399st in May.

(sourced Argus)

China July exports hit record high, surplus swells

By Koh Gui Qing and Zhou Xin
Aug10, 2011

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's exports hit a record high in July as shipments to Europe and the United States proved surprisingly buoyant, allaying concerns that debt problems abroad may hold back the world's No. 2 economy.

But analysts warned it was too soon to declare that Chinese exports can hold up in coming months as debt worries, sluggish consumer spending and now wildly volatile financial markets plague its two biggest customers.

"Both imports and exports are likely to grow at a slower pace in coming months," said Li Xunlei, an economist at Guotai Junan Securities in Shanghai. "The global financial market turbulence may lead to a contraction in external demand."

July exports rose 20.4 percent from a year ago, the strongest gain since April and surpassing economists' median forecast for a 17.4 percent rise, data on Wednesday showed.

Imports were roughly in line with expectations, rising 22.9 percent in July from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs said. Economists had forecast growth of 22.3 percent.

"China's trade sector is still facing great uncertainties," said Nie Wen, an analyst at Hwabao Trust in Shanghai. "Developed countries are forced to take austerity measures, and emerging markets may tighten (policy) as well to tame inflation."

Indeed, just hours earlier, the U.S. Federal Reserve took the unprecedented step of promising to leave interest rates near zero for at least two more years, painting a gloomy picture for the world's largest economy.

Noting that monetary policy risks are shifting to supporting growth from fighting inflation, China has signaled it may pause its 10-month policy tightening campaign for now.

Wednesday's data suggested sluggishness in the U.S. and European economies has yet to put a big dent in Chinese export growth, as many investors had feared. Instead, robust U.S. and European shipments helped pushed the value of China's monthly exports to a record high of $175.1 billion.

Although annual growth in Chinese exports to the United States in July was marginally weaker than June at 9.5 percent, the total value hit the year's high of $30 billion.

Annual growth of exports to Europe nearly doubled to 22.3 percent, lifting the value of sales to $35.1 billion. Export growth to Japan also picked up sharply.

BHP Billiton (BHP.AX)(BLT.L), the world's biggest miner, said on Wednesday it expected weak growth in Europe and the United States to persist for many years as they deal with their debt crises, heightening the reliance on China's fast-growing economy.

PRESSURE ON YUAN TO RISE

Other data this week showed that China's inflation hit three-year highs of 6.5 percent in July, and some officials have said that it has likely peaked.

But underlining the fine balance that Beijing has to tread between managing growth and inflation, July's brisk exports caused China's trade surplus to balloon to $31.5 billion, its widest since January 2009.

That could fuel price pressures at home and more criticism from its trade partners abroad that Beijing is keeping its yuan currency suppressed to sell more exports at their expense, allegations China has always denied.

As part of Beijing's policy to prevent the yuan from rising too quickly, it buys dollars earned from trade revenues. But Beijing injects more than 6 yuan into China's banking system for every dollar it buys, adding to a surfeit of cash that fans inflation.

So even if Beijing is reluctant to tighten policy now, it may need to step aside nonetheless to let the yuan climb more briskly if it wants to keep a lid on prices, analysts said.

"China's monetary policy has been kidnapped by foreign capital inflows," said Zhang Lei, an analyst at Minsheng Securities in Shanghai, referring to the widening trade surplus.

"Yuan appreciation is still one important option."

"CHINA IS OK"

To be sure, all signs suggest that China's economy has taken the steady policy tightening in the past year well in its stride, with its red-hot growth moderating only slightly so far.

Most market watchers continue to predict a soft economic landing, with growth easing to 8-9 percent, rather than a sharp decline.

Many economists agreed that the latest trade data showed China's growth engine is whirring along, with domestic demand solid.

Retail sales climbed 17.2 percent in July from a year earlier, albeit not quite as much as analysts had expected, while car sales rose 6.7 percent, picking up momentum from the previous month.

Imports of raw materials such as copper and iron ore saw strong gains from June, and the recent plunge in global commodity prices is likely to stoke more Chinese buying.

That should comfort investors looking to China to pick up some slack in global demand as other major economies sputter.

And China's relatively low -- albeit rising -- production costs could keep its exports competitive when times are rough, analysts said.

"In the past couple of months, the U.S. economy has been turning down, but China's export growth has held out," said Bank of America-Merrill Lynch's Lu.

"This shows China's economy is okay."

Beijing, which has repeatedly voiced confidence in China's growth in the past year, reiterated the line this week, though it has been clearly rattled by heavy selling in financial markets after the United States lost its top-rated credit rating on Friday.

Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday that China's economy continues to show good growth momentum. But in a sign Beijing would rather err on the side of caution, he signaled China may soften its strike against inflation.

An official Chinese newspaper also said as much on Wednesday by declaring in a front-page editorial that Beijing would refrain from raising interest rates for now due to the rout in global markets.

However, China top economic planner stressed that inflation dangers remained, including the possibility of a new round of monetary easing in the United States which could fuel fresh price pressures.

S.Africa coal exports fall m/m in July to 4.36 mln T

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) exported 4.36 million tonnes of coal in July compared with 4.78 million tonnes the previous month, RBCT data showed on Thursday.

This compares with 5.94 million shipped during the same month last year.

South Africa -- a major exporter of coal to power stations in Europe and Asia -- had 4.23 million tonnes of stock at the terminal at the end of July, RBCT said.

Demand for physical coal in Europe is still low

Thursday, 02 Jun 2011

Demand for physical coal in Europe is still low, with prices falling and liquidity thin. But there are signs of a recovery as the contango in the API 2 curve steepens. The calendar was trading at over a USD 6.50 per tonne premium to the prompt today, as traders sold at the front of the curve, where demand is low, and bought further out.

Traders said that European utilities need to restock, with the latest UK figures showing inventories at a three-year low. Restocking by German utilities could be restricted in the short term because of low Rhine water levels, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said, although it expects higher imports later this year. Power demand in UK, Spain and Italy has been “shockingly low” so far this year because of above-average temperatures, but this is expected to change.

Participants at the McCloskey Coal Outlook conference said that Germany will have to increase coal-fired production by about 20pc, or 21.6TWh, this summer, economic research institute DIW forecasts. There has been no indication so far of a significant increase in coal or gas-fired production.

(sourced from Argus Media)

S.Africa's RBCT shelves expansion plans-paper

Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:43am GMT
* Says increase in exports dependent to rail expansion
* RBCT's current capacity at 91 mln tonnes

JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Reuters) - South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) has shelved plans to increase export volumes until 2015 due to the slow pace of rail infrastructure expansion, the Business Report newspaper said on Wednesday.

South Africa is a major exporter of coal to power stations in Europe and Asia, but bottlenecks on the rail line leading to the Indian Ocean terminal are hampering shipments.

RBCT chief executive Raymond Chirwa said efforts to increase exports were frustrated because of limited infrastructure provided by state rail and logistics group Transnet [TRAN.UL].

"It would be irresponsible for RBCT to expand when the other items of the value chain have not expanded," Chirwa was quoted as saying.

"We can extend beyond 100 million tonnes a year but that depends on the performance of Transnet Freight Rail, which has not expanded its infrastructure to our 91 million tonnes capacity. At the moment there is a deficit in the rail."

An RBCT spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for a comment.

Transnet has been investing heavily in new and improved infrastructure, but is still far from meeting annual RBCT capacity of 91 million tonnes.

In 2010, South African coal exports rose to 63.43 million tonnes, boosted by demand from China and India.

Companies in the coal sector include Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote), Xstrata.(sourced:Reuters)

Singapore SMX eyes May launch of iron ore futures

Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:16am EDT
By Rujun Shen

SINGAPORE : McMahon said Asia could benefit as more and more regulatory framework is expected to be put in place in Europe and the United States.

"The opportunity is that the framework here is robust, and people are doing business in Asia. Their clients are in Asia, their operations in Asia, their banks are in Asia, so the logical conclusion is that they clear and trade in Asia."

But the lack of regulatory collaboration across the border is a barrier.

"You're seeing the rise of China's commodities exchange and India's commodity exchanges, but you still can't get there from here," he said, noting that foreign commodity traders face restrictions in both countries.

(Sourced Reuters)

Nuclear Power versus coal

Friday | March 18, 2011

Suppose that a giant hydro dam had crumbled under the impact of the biggest earthquake in a century and sent a wave of water racing down some valley in northern Japan. Imagine that whole villages and towns had been swept away, and that 10 people were killed - an even worse death toll than that caused by the tsunami that hit the coastal towns.

Would there be a great outcry worldwide, demanding that reservoirs be drained and hydro dams shut down? Of course not. Do you think we are superstitious savages? We are educated, civilised people, and we understand the way that risk works.

Okay, another thought experiment. Suppose that three big nuclear-power reactors were damaged in that same monster earthquake, leading to concerns about a meltdown and a massive release of radiation - a new Chernobyl. Everybody within a 20km (14-mile) radius of the plant was evacuated, but in the end there were only minor leakages of radiation, and nobody was killed.

Well, that was a pretty convincing demonstration of the safety of nuclear power, wasn't it? Well, wasn't it? You there in the loincloth, with the bone through your nose. Why are you looking so frightened? Is something wrong?

U.S., Germany reconsider

In Germany, tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated against nuclear power last Saturday, and Chancellor Angela Merkel suspended her policy of extending the life of the country's nuclear power stations until 2036. She conceded that, following events in Japan, it was not possible to "go back to business as usual", meaning that she may return to the original plan to close down all 17 of Germany's nuclear power plants by 2020.

And in the United States, Congressmen Henry Waxman and Ed Markey (Democratic), who co-sponsored the 2009 climate bill, called for hearings into the safety and preparedness of America's nuclear plants, 23 of which have similar designs to the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan.

The objections to a wider use of nuclear power in the US are mostly rational. Safety worries are a much smaller obstacle than concerns about cost and time: nuclear plants are enormously expensive, and they take the better part of a decade to license and build. Huge cost overruns are normal, and government aid, in the form of loan guarantees and insurance coverage for catastrophic accidents, is almost always necessary.

The cost of wind and solar power is steadily dropping, and the price of natural gas, the least noxious fossil-fuel alternative to nuclear power, has been in free fall. There is no need for a public debate in the United States on the desirability of more nuclear power: just let the market decide. In Europe, however, there is a real debate, and the wrong side is winning it.

Nuclear phase-out

The European debate has focused on shutting down existing nuclear-generating capacity, not installing more of it. The German and Swedish governments may be forced by public opinion to revive the former policy of phasing out all their nuclear-power plants in the near future, even though that means postponing the shutdown of highly polluting coal-fired power plants. Other European governments face similar pressures.

It's a bad bargain. Hundreds of miners die every year digging the coal out of the ground, and hundreds of thousands of other people die annually from respiratory diseases caused by the pollution created by burning it. In the long run, hundreds of millions may die from the global warming that is driven in large part by greenhouse emissions from coal-fired power plants. Yet people worry more about nuclear power.

It's the same sort of mistaken assessment of risk that caused millions of Americans to drive long distances instead of flying in the months just after 9/11. There were several thousand excess road deaths, while nobody died in the airplanes that the late lamented had avoided as too dangerous. Risks should be assessed rationally, not emotionally.

And here's the funny thing. So long as the problems at Fukushima Daiichi do not kill large numbers of people, the Japanese will not turn against nuclear power, which currently provides more than 30 per cent of their electricity and is scheduled to expand to 40 per cent. Their islands get hit by more big earthquakes than anywhere else on earth, and the typhoons roar in regularly off the Pacific. They understand about risk. (sourced The Gleaner)

Chernobyl disaster

The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine). It is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and it is the only one classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

The disaster began during a systems test on 26 April 1986 at reactor number four of the Chernobyl plant, which is near the town of Pripyat. There was a sudden power output surge, and when an emergency shutdown was attempted, a more extreme spike in power output occurred, which led to a reactor vessel rupture and a series of explosions. This event exposed the graphite moderator components of the reactor to air, causing them to ignite. The resulting fire sent a plume of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area, including Pripyat. The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Northern Europe. Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were evacuated, and over 336,000 people were resettled. According to official post-Soviet data, about 60% of the fallout landed in Belarus.

The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry, as well as nuclear power in general, slowing its expansion for a number of years and forcing the Soviet government to become less secretive about its procedures.

Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have been burdened with the continuing and substantial decontamination and health care costs of the Chernobyl accident. More than fifty deaths are directly attributed to the accident, all among the reactor staff and emergency workers. Estimates of the total number of deaths attributable to the accident vary enormously, from possibly 4,000 to close to a million.[4][5] Despite the accident, Ukraine continued to operate the remaining reactors at Chernobyl until 2000, when the last reactor at the site was closed down.

For more information visit Wikipedia

Brilliant Greenpeace video on Chernobyl

Italy’s ARINOX installs new stainless production and finishing lines

Friday, 04 March 2011

Genoa-based steelmaker ARINOX S.p.A., a company of Italy's Arvedi Group, has recently concluded its important production development and expansion plan consisting in the installation of new production and finishing lines for precision rolled stainless thin strips in width of 1,270 mm.

ARINOX stainless steel strip is aimed mainly at sectors of application with high technological content such as the car, chemical, petrochemical, electronics, precision mechanics and biomedical industries.

SteelOrbis learns from a company release that the plan has included the installation of a new 20-hi Sundwig rolling mill, an Ebner bright annealing line with in-line tension leveller, a new Ungerer tension levelling line and new automatic packaging lines serving the new cutting lines.

ARINOX now has an annual production capacity of over 50,000 mt of precision strip and has increased its competitive edge with the widening of its size range.(By steelorbis)

EUROFER: EU low carbon roadmap 2050 is unacceptable

Friday, 25 February 2011

On February 25, the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) said it is against the EU's draft document ‘Low carbon economy roadmap 2050', which will be put forward for adoption by the European Commission on March 8.

In a statement entitled ‘EU low carbon roadmap 2050 unacceptable/ Japan buries emissions trading', EUROFER said that the adoption of the intended 80-95 reduction in EU emissions by 2050 "will lead to the deindustrialization of Europe."

"The confiscation of allowances from the emissions trading system, as proposed by the roadmap, will have exactly the same effect as a unilateral move to [a reduction of] 30 percent, this is unacceptable," EUROFER said, adding that "the models used by the Commission rely on biased assumptions which systematically underestimate the negative effects on industry and employment," and "for steel where they are technically unachievable."

EUROFER has cited Japan, which following the US and Australia, abandoned the idea of a national emissions trading system recognizing that this would discourage investment, hamper growth, jeopardize the competitive position of its industry and be environmentally counter-productive. "However, as even Japan now has buried its ambitions for an emissions trading system, the EU is completely isolated and should reconsider this concept," reads EUROFER's statement.

Tags: Europe, production, steelmaking, European Union

Magang Group reports strong color coated plate sales to Europe

Friday, 25 Feb 2011

It is reported that Anhui Province based Chinese steelmaker Magang Group has stated that in early February received an order for 3,425 tonnes of color coated plate from Europe while in mid February it received another order for 2,000 tonnes of color coated plate also from Europe.

Magang Group reports strong sales of color coated plate after China Spring Festival holiday.

After Poland became Magang Group first European customer for color coated plate in 2010, bookings for color coated plate have been received from Sweden, Belgium and other European countries.

(sourced:steel orbis)

World's 'biggest' ships on order

Take a virtual look around "the largest vessel of any type known to be in operation" that is being built by Daewoo.


By Alex Johnston 3:00PM GMT 22 Feb 2011
Danish container ship company Maersk, the world’s biggest container line, said it had signed a contract to buy 10 Triple-E vessels, the biggest ships ever built, with an option for 20 more.

The vessels will be "the largest vessel of any type known to be in operation" at 400 metres long, 59 metres wide and 73 metres high.

They will be able to carry 18,000 containers, 2,500 more than the next largest operational ship.

Due to their size the Triple-Es will solely be used for the Asia to Europe trade route, as only a handful of ports in the world are large enough to accommodate them.

The company said that Triple-E designation stood for the three purposes behind the creation of the ships — economy of scale, energy efficiency and environmental improvements.

It claims the ships will emit half as much carbon dioxide as the average ship travelling the Asia to Europe trade route.

Have virtual tour of World's 'biggest' ship