European debt crisis to end in three years: central bank advisor

Sun, Oct16, 2011 | By xinhua

BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The European Union debt crisis will end in three years at the latest, meanwhile the euro will not fall apart and EU countries will be strengthened via reforms, said Li Daokui, a central bank advisor, on Saturday.

Greece and Portugal are sure to default on their debt repayments, and they will have to tackle long-term structural problems imbedded in their economies, Li, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee with the People's Bank of China, said in a forum held by Tsinghua University.

Germany and France are capable of bailing themselves out by pumping liquidity into banks and other financial institutions through fiscal measures, Li said.

The advisor said he is more concerned about the economic crisis in the United States, which he referred to as "long-term" and "political."

The government's deficit was relatively easy to cope with, but social problems, which have stoked the current spate of unrest in the United States, are a thornier issue and more difficult to solve, Li said.

Amid the faltering global economy, Chinese policymakers should deepen economic restructuring and should not do a complete turnaround in macro-economic policies, the advisor said.

UK coal purchase from US in Q1 increases

Saturday, 20 Aug 2011

Bloomberg reported that UK purchases of thermal coal from the US jumped in the first quarter as demand for the dirtier- burning fuel advanced and exporters took advantage of Britain’s ability to scrub sulfur dioxide from emissions.

According to Mr Nigel Yaxley, head of the Association of UK Coal Importers a lobby group whose members include the British units of EDF SA and EON AG, coal imports from the US advanced by more than four times partly because the fuel was discounted compared with better quality shipments from traditional markets such as Russia and Colombia.

Mr Yaxley said that “The import increase is price driven, because UK power stations are buying high-sulfur coal at discounted prices.”

According to analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London, lower European Union carbon-permit prices and a shift away from nuclear power in Germany will probably boost EU demand for coal.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)

Russia supplies 1.268 million mt of steel products to EU countries in January-July

Aug04,2011

In January-July this year, Russian metallurgical companies supplied European Union (EU) countries with around 1.268 million mt of steel products, using 38.9 percent of the quotas established by the European Commission for the year.

For 2011, the EU has extended its agreement with Russia for the trade of certain steel products and has increased the volume quota for Russian steelmakers by 2.5 percent compared to 2010

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,

Greek PM seeks consensus on economy in meetings with opposition party leaders

Wed, Mar08, 2011 23:55:28

ATHENS, March 8 (Xinhua)-- Prime Minister George Papandreou said Tuesday he will seek national consensus on dealing with the Greek debt crisis in a series of meetings with opposition parties and through a "comprehensive package solution" in the European Union.

"We need responsibility from all political forces. We are determined to support in Brussels that the only solution on the current crisis in Greece and Europe is a comprehensive package solution. Otherwise, there is no solution. On this basis I will fight," Papandreou said during talks with main opposition New Democracy (ND) Party leader Antonis Samaras.

Stressing that his government respects different views, the prime minister asked that parties on the right and left support his stance ahead of a crucial extraordinary summit of eurozone-member states Friday in Brussels and the March 24-25 EU summit.

Samaras on his part, noted that the ND always stood for national consensus in difficult times. He repeated his party's stance that Greece should change policies and re-negotiate terms of the memorandum signed last May with the EU and International Monetary Fund in order to secure a multi-billion euro rescue package to avoid default.

Local analysts expect similar responses in separate meetings later Tuesday from the leaders of other parties represented in parliament, such as the Greek Communist Party (KKE) and the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS).

Papandreou was also scheduled to hold talks with non-parliamentary Democratic Alliance and Democratic Left parties' leaders later Tuesday, before flying to Paris to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ahead of the EU summits.

Experts in Athens said that during talks with Sarkozy, Papandreou likely would try to secure support to convince German Chancellor Angela Merkel to accept an extension of the repayment period of the EU-IMF aid by Greece and lower interest rates.

During a cabinet meeting Monday, Papandreou stated his intention to seek a "comprehensive package solution" for the crisis in Brussels, leaving open the prospect of using veto power to block any other solution, clashing with Germany. Editor: yan

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)

ArcelorMittal Bosnia ups 2010 output to 590,000 T

Wed Mar 2, 2011 3:14pm GMT

* Steel output nears pre-crisis levels
* Iron ore mine opens new $41.5 mln pit

SARAJEVO, March 2 (Reuters) - Bosnian steelmaker ArcelorMittal Zenica, a unit of world steel major ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS: Quote), said it produced 590,000 tonnes of metal last year, near its pre-crisis levels.

Spokeswoman Dijana Bozic-Srdanovic said on Wednesday the total amount of steel products slated for sale was 580,000 tonnes, of which 55 percent was exported to the Western Balkans, the European Union and North Africa. The rest went to the local market.

ArcelorMittal Zenica had earlier said it did not expect to return to pre-crisis output levels before 2012, despite some signs of recovery in the global market.

Its Luxembourg-based owner, which makes 6-7 percent of the world's steel, has said global steel consumption is set to grow by 6.5-7 percent in 2011, about half the rate of last year.

ArcelorMittal Zenica had reached output of 633,670 tonnes of metal in 2008, but lower demand in 2009 forced it to halve both output and sales.

The company produces steel mainly for the construction and infrastructure sectors, which were hit hard by the global economic crisis following several boom years after the end of the country's 1992-95 war.

Its partner, iron ore miner ArcelorMittal Prijedor, said it produced 1.4 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate and was planning to increase output by a quarter this year.

It said it had opened a new iron ore pit after investments of around 30 million euros ($41.5 million), which would extend the exploitation of ore for another 20 to 25 years.

Steel demand in the Balkan country in the medium-to-long term could get a boost from expected investment in infrastructure projects such as the building of a north-south highway, energy and reconstruction of a railway network.

The metal sector is key in the impoverished Balkan country, with exports accounting for about 80 percent of total output. (Reporting by Maja Zuvela; Editing by Adam Tanner and Jane Baird)
Thomson Reuters

Tags: Bosnian iron ore miner, investment in iron ore pit,

EU investigates Brazilian steel imports measures

Saturday, 05 Feb 2011
Bloomberg reported that the European Union is investigating Brazilian measures to limit steel imports because they may break World Trade Organization's rules.

Steelmaker trade association EUROFER said that the EU is Brussels didn't open a formal investigation yet and is talking to the Brazilian government before taking such a decision.

It may be recalled that Brazil's tax agency said in October 2010 that it would seek to combat irregularities in steel imports, applying taxes based on pre determined prices whenever the declared value is lower.(sourced:www.bloomberg.net)

Indonesian Export Jumps 35.38% in 2010

Tuesday, 01 February 2011 18:08
Indonesian export totaled US$157.73 billion in 2010, jumped 35.38% from US$116.51 billion in 2009. The export made its record during the history in December 2010 which totaled US$16.8 billion.
"Export continues rising and to record new high," BPS Chairman Rusman Heriawan told in press briefing today.

Oil and gas export totaled US$129.68 billion, mainly supported by mineral fuel mainly coal which accounted for US$18.73 billion and fat and vegetable oil which totaled US$16.29 billion.
The main contributors for export by countries are Japan (US$16.5 billion), China (US$14.07 billion) and United States (US$13.3 billion) which accounted for 33.85% of total export. Export to European union reached US$17.07 billion.

Meanwhile, import surged 40.05% to reach US$135.61 billion in 2010, compared to US$96.83 billion in 2009. Import of non oil and gas totaled US$108.24 billion.
The main contributors for import by countries are China (18.19%), Japan (15.62%), Singapore (9.29%) and European Union (9.02%).
For 2010, Indonesia recorded surplus of US$22.13 billion. (sourced:Theindonesiatoday.com)

Poland could float coal miner JSW as early as May

Sunday, 30 Jan. 2011By Geoffrey T. Smith and Marynia Kruk
DAVOS, Switzerland (Dow Jones)--Poland could float state-owned Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa SA, the European Union's largest coking coal miner, as early as May this year, though the structure of the stake sale is still to be determined, the undersecretary of the treasury, said Friday.

"We're testing various scenarios aiming to float sometime around May or June," Krzysztof Walenczak told Dow Jones Newswires during an interview at the annual World Economic Forum. The initial public offering of JSW could be the largest on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2011, though analysts' valuations of the company vary widely, from six billion zlotys ($2.1 billion) to nearly PLN16 billion.

Coking coal has become a hot commodity lately, especially after floods in Australia's Queensland state hit output of the commodity which is mixed with iron ore in blast furnaces to produce steel. Australia provides about two-thirds of all seaborn coking coal.
Poland is in the midst of a privatization drive which is aiming to raise at least PLN15 billion from asset sales this year, after having raised PLN22 billion last year, according to the Treasury Ministry's website.

JSW's valuation could be buoyed by interest from a potential "natural" acquirer from across the border, Czech-based coking coal producer New World Resources (NWR.LN), Pawel Puchalski, an analyst at BZWBK in Warsaw, said Friday.
NWR, which already has two existing projects in Poland, launched a failed takeover bid for Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka SA (LWB.WA), Poland's only listed coal miner, last year. The company has been able to seek acquisitions because of improved cash flow on soaring demand for coking coal by central European steel makers.

However, JSW's trade unions would likely oppose a bid by NWR. Analysts say JSW could cut about a third of its headcount if it upgraded the equipment it uses the way NWR has.
JSW's Chief Executive Jaroslaw Zagorowski was quoted as saying in state news agency PAP in early January that the listing could be worth between PLN3 billion and PLN5 billion, with the Treasury retaining a 51% stake and employees receiving shares.(sourced:Dow Jones Newswires)