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)

CISA lobbies with Chinese premier to help tackle high ore prices

Friday, 18 Mar 2011

Bloomberg reported that the China Iron and Steel Association has asked Premier Mr Wen Jiabao to take measures to help steelmakers tackle iron ore prices as many of them will likely incur losses this month due to high costs.

Mr Luo Bingsheng special adviser and former executive vice chairman to the association, without specifying what measures the government would take, said that “Mr Wen and Vice Premier Mr Zhang Dejiang ordered the Ministry of Commerce to find solutions.”

Mr Luo said “The ultimate reason for the low profits is high iron ore prices. China should streamline its qualified importers to curb speculative purchases and control the inventory of imports at reasonable levels.”

He said that the government is actively studying the establishment of standards for imported iron ore.

Mr Luo said China iron ore production will rise 8.8% to 660 million tonnes this year, pacing estimates by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China iron ore imports fell 1.4% to 618.6 million tonnes last year, the first drop since 1998, after the government took measures to curb electricity use, rein in property speculations and as domestic mines increased output. (sourced:bloomberg)

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Fall in Indonesian Coal Exports in February'2011

Friday, 18 March 11

Indonesian coal exports seen a fall of 10.76% during Feb 2011. The world’s largest coal exporter shipped 22.029 MMts of coal against its exports of 24.687 million tons in January 2011, according to the industry sources.

The Indonesian coal exports to the largest importers viz., India and China have shrunk to the extent of 9.27% and 11.71% respectively in the month of Feb'2011. India has imported a total tonnage of around 4.631 MMts (5.105MMts in Jan) as against Chinese imports of 4.234 MMts (4.796 MMts in Jan).

India remained the largest importer of Indonesian coal in February 2011.

The combined affect of slow down in the imports of Indonesian coal had a combined affect of 4.19% of total Indonesian coal exports in February. However, India pushed China to second place in this year.

Last two years Chinese's utilities have imported more Indonesian coal than Indian Utilities. However, in 2011 India has inched above the Chinese utilities usage of Indonesian coal. In to 40.24 percent of total Indonesian coal exports in February goes to India and China.

Top five Indonesian coal importers in February were India, China, Japan South Korea and Taiwan.

According to market players, since 2009 Indonesian coal witnessed higher exports due to the increased demand from India and China. Chinese and Indian end-user are always keep an eye on Indonesia for their coal needs, due to the fact that Indonesia is closer to their ports. this results in lesser voyage time resulting in lesser sea freights.

Increase in Indonesian exports of Low rank coal picked up in recent months. This is one of the main reason for India emerging as the topper for Indonesian exports. due to domestic coal shortage Indian consumers have devised a primitive method of blending of Low rank high moisture coal with the available linkage domestic coal. Indian domestic coal characterized by high ash (30% to 40%) and low moisture (9%) which can advantageously blend with Indonesian Low rank coal of high Moisture (<50%) and low ash (<8%).

Also the increase of Bio Mass and Co-generation capacities Low rank coals have become the order of the day. Also the higher discount prevailing for Low rank coals have encouraged their usage.

Due to the spate of demand for Low ranking coal (<3200 GAR coals with Moisture of up to 50%) Sumatra based LRC suppliers were also targeting Indian market for their exports. In view of this encouraging business Industry is worried and closely watching the proposed Indonesian Govt. policy of banning exports of Low ranking coals.

One of the Indian traders commented that due to good rain resulting in continuous Hydro power, drop in cement and steel demand in India resulted in accumulation of stocks in Indian ports and with the plants. This is the main reason for lower imports in Indonesian coal. However, he also added that, the next 4 months being summer months in India the demand for power, steel and cement increases thereby the movement in coal may be witnessed resulting in higher consumption.

Indonesia already successfully implemented monthly coal reference price for its coal. Coal producers were asked to comply with the government declared index prior to conclude any short term and long terms coal sales agreement with its buyers.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has set the March 2011 Indonesian Coal Reference Price for thermal coal at US$ 122.43 per ton, which is 3.63 percent lesser than February 2011 price of US$ 127.05.

Instead of dropped in HBA, Indonesian coal prices were still stand at steady to firm position. small scale mines from Kalimantan were offering 6300 GAD coal between US$ 82 - 87 per MT and premium coal supplier's prices were already in three digits, an international trader said.

According to market stakeholders, the prices may stand stable due to Japan's earth quake, tsunami and nuclear power plants blast, but the prices and demand will move more stronger in coming months.

However, there is sort of confusion prevailing over the price movements as Japanese industries might declare FORCE Majure. The ongoing disturbance in major oil producing countries like Egypt, Libya and Bahrain needs to be taken into account before arriving at the conclusion.

Any time the industry may be attacked by wide fluctuations both sides.

(sourced:coalspot)

Above exportt information within this article is provided by coalspot on an "as is" and "as available” basis. All details about, given in good faith and has been collected from various press reports, organization and individuals considered reliable but without guarantee. While every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information furnished in this article. COALspot shall be obliged if errors / omissions are brought to its notice for carrying out corrections in this article.(cs)

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Japan battles nuclear crisis, power effort crucial

Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:20pm GM

By Shinichi Saoshiro and Yoko Nishikawa

TOKYO, March 19 (Reuters) - Exhausted Japanese engineers scrambled to fix a power cable to two reactors at a tsunami-crippled nuclear power station on Saturday as they fought to prevent a deadly radiation release in the world's worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster.

The dangerous and complex challenge for about 300 workers at the Fukushima plant in northeastern Japan, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, has unsettled the world's financial markets and prompted an international reassessment of nuclear safety.

At the plant, from where people within 20 km (12 miles) have been evacuated to avoid radiation, engineers were hoping to attach power lines to two of the six reactors in order to
restart water pumps and cool overheated nuclear fuel rods.

Workers also sprayed water on the No.3 reactor, considered the most critical after steam was seen blowing off, a sign the rods could be becoming exposed.

If those tactics fail, the option of last resort may be to bury the sprawling 40-year-old plant in sand and concrete to prevent a catastrophic radiation release, the method used to seal huge leakages from Chernobyl after a huge blast there.

Japan has raised the severity rating of the nuclear crisis from Level 4 to Level 5 on the seven-level INES international scale, putting it on a par with America's Three Mile Island
accident in 1979, although some experts say it is more serious.

Chernobyl was a 7 on that scale.

The operation to avert a large-scale radiation leak has overshadowed the humanitarian aspect of Japan's toughest moment since World War Two, after it was struck last Friday by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a 10-metre (33-foot) tsunami.

Around 6,500 have been confirmed killed in the double natural disaster, which turned whole towns into waterlogged wastelands, and 10,300 remain missing with many feared dead.

Some 390,000 people, including many among Japan's ageing population, are homeless and battling near-freezing temperatures in makeshift shelters in northeastern coastal areas.

Food, water, medicine and heating fuel are in short supply.

"Everything is gone, including money," said Tsukasa Sato, a 74-year-old barber with a heart condition, as he warmed his hands in front of a stove at a shelter for the homeless in Yamada, northern Japan.

Under enormous pressure over its handling of the combination of crises, Japan's government conceded it could have moved faster at the outset.

"An unprecedented huge earthquake and huge tsunami hit Japan. As a result, things that had not been anticipated in terms of the general disaster response took place," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters late on Friday.

Health officials and the U.N. atomic watchdog have said radiation levels in the capital Tokyo were not harmful, but the city has seen an exodus of tourists, expatriates and many
Japanese, who fear a blast of radioactive material.

"I'm leaving because my parents are terrified. I personally think this will turn out to be the biggest paper tiger the world has ever seen," said Luke Ridley, 23, from London as he sat at
Narita international airport using his laptop.

"I'll probably come back in about a month."

Amid their distress, Japanese were proud of the 300 or so nuclear plant workers toiling in the wreckage, wearing masks, goggles and protective suits sealed by duct tape.

"My eyes well with tears at the thought of the work they are doing," Kazuya Aoki, a safety official at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told Reuters.

Even if engineers restore power at the plant, the pumps may be too damaged to work.

The first step will be to restore power to pumps for reactors No. 1 and 2, and possibly 4, by Saturday, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, Japan's nuclear safety agency spokesman.

By Sunday, the government expects to connect electricity to pumps for its badly damaged reactor No.3 -- a focal point in the crisis because of its use of mixed oxides, or mox, containing
both uranium and highly toxic plutonium.

That could be a turning point.

"If they can get those electric pumps on and they can start pushing that water successfully up the core, quite slowly so you don't cause any brittle failure, they should be able to get it
under control in the next couple of days," said Laurence Williams, of Britain's University of Central Lancashire.

The last-resort option of burying the reactors could leave part of Japan off-limits for decades.

FINANCIAL INTERVENTION

The Group of Seven rich nations, attempting to calm global financial markets after a tumultuous week, agreed on Friday to join in a rare concerted intervention to restrain a soaring yen.

The U.S. dollar surged more than two yen to 81.80 after the G7's pledge to intervene, leaving behind a record low of 76.25 hit on Thursday.

Japan's Nikkei share index ended up 2.7 percent, recouping some of the week's stinging losses. It has lost 10.2 percent this week, wiping $350 billion off market capitalisation.

Expectations that Japanese insurers and companies would repatriate billions of dollars in overseas funds to pay for a reconstruction bill that is expected to be much costlier than the one that followed the Kobe earthquake in 1995 also have helped boost the yen.

The plight of those left homeless by the earthquake and tsunami worsened following a cold snap that brought heavy snow to worst-affected areas.

Nearly 320,000 households in the north were still without electricity, officials said, and the government said at least 1.6 million households lacked running water.

Aid groups say most victims are receiving attention, but there are pockets of acute suffering.

"We've seen children suffering with the cold, and lacking really basic items like food and clean water," said Stephen McDonald of Save the Children, in a statement on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Nathan Layne, Elaine Lies, Leika Kihara, Joseph Radford and Chris Gallagher in Japan; Fiona Ortiz in Madrid; Writing by Jason Szep and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Daniel Magnowski, sourced :Reuters)


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Japanese earthquake - Indian insurance companies turn away

Friday, 18 Mar 2011

It is reported that almost all the majors in Indian insurance sectors have stopped insuring steel cargos under shipment from Japanese ports.

Steel imports are normally done at CFR terms, where the insurance is undertaken by the buyers. (sourced:steelguru)

"Chernobyl solution" may be last resort for Japan reactors

Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:01pm IST
By Elaine Lies

Tokyo(Reuters) - A "Chernobyl solution" may be the last resort for dealing with Japan's stricken nuclear plant, but burying it in sand and concrete is a messy fix that might leave part of the country as an off-limits radioactive sore for decades.

Japanese authorities say it is still too early to talk about long-term measures while cooling the plant's six reactors and associated fuel-storage pools, comes first.

"It's just not that easy," Murray Jennex, a professor at San Diego State University in California, said when asked about the so-called Chernobyl option for dealing with damaged reactors, named after the Ukrainian nuclear plant that exploded in 1986.

"They (reactors) are kind of like a coffee maker. If you leave it on the heat, they boil dry and then they crack," he said.

"Putting concrete on that wouldn't help keep your coffee maker safe. But eventually, yes, you could build a concrete shield and be done with it."

Experts say the cores at the six battered reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, are likely to be safely contained, but worry about the cooling pools for spent fuel, one of which contains plutonium.

So far, authorities have failed to cool the pools, where normally water circulates continuously, keeping racks of spent nuclear fuel rods at a benign temperature.

Helicopters and water cannon trucks have dumped tonnes of water on the reactors, but still the water in the pools is evaporating and the rods are heating up. It is also feared that the quake has smashed the rods into each other, which could cause a nuclear reaction.

"It is not impossible to encase the reactors in concrete, but our priority right now is to try and cool them down first," a Tokyo Electric Power official told a briefing on Friday.

OPEN NUCLEAR WOUND FOR MONTHS

At Chernobyl, an army of workers conscripted by the then Soviet government buried the reactor in tonnes of sand, then threw together a concrete container known as the "sarcophagus" within months of the fire and explosion there.

It failed to set properly and it cracked, leaking radiation into the atmosphere and water. Partly supported by the damaged walls of the reactor building, it has had to be reinforced.

Under a new plan for Chernobyl, a massive structure will be assembled away from the reactor at a cost of billions of dollars, then slid into place over the existing sarcophagus.

Chernobyl-style methods would be even more difficult at Fukushima Daiichi, given the number of reactors involved.

As Japanese officials have said, cooling is still the top priority. Pouring sand onto hot fuel could theoretically produce glass, and that same heat would prevent working on a durable concrete shell.

That means the stricken complex is likely to become an open sore, leaking radioactive particles into the atmosphere, for weeks and possibly months before the Chernobyl solution could even be implemented.

Authorities say radiation outside the Japanese plant is not high enough to cause harm. Still, the 20 km (12 mile) exclusion zone around the plant may end up as a permanent no-man's land, a major problem for small, populous country.

A 30 km (19 mile) exclusion zone remains around Chernobyl.

Tokyo, though, is likely to remain largely unscathed no matter what happens because of its distance from the reactors, no matter how nervous its citizens may be.

It is not accidental that the nuclear plant was built so far away from Japan's biggest city, said Yuki Karakawa, international coordinator at the International Association of Emergency Managers, an extension of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"Those reactors in Fukushima are there for Tokyo's power and Tokyo's benefit, not for Fukushima's," he added. "After all, Tokyo is more than 200 kilometres away."

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Daniel Magnowski, Reuters)

Tata Steel raises Rs1,500 crore in perpetual bonds news

18 March 2011 |By domain-b

Tata Steel has successfully completed India's first-ever offering of corporate hybrid securities with an issue of Rs1,500 crore ($332 million). The issue of perpetual bonds was arranged by JP Morgan Securities India Private Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd.

The bonds are perpetual in nature with no maturity or redemption and are callable only at the option of the company. The interest rate on the securities (which may be deferred at the company's option) is 11.8 per cent per annum.

The bonds have a step up provision for interest rate if the securities aren't called after 10 years.

These securities rank senior only to the share capital of the company. This provides equity characteristics to the bonds and makes them "hybrid" securities.

"The issuance of these perpetual hybrid securities is an important step in the overall financing strategy and capital structure management of the Tata Steel Group.

As Tata Steel continues to develop and execute its significant and earnings-accretive growth plans, this innovative long-term funding with equity features but without the associated economic dilution helps to diversify our financing option," said Kaushik Chatterjee, chief financial officer of the Tata Steel Group.

Tata Steel had, in November, announced a Rs7,000-crore fundraising plan, besides the $5.6 billion of loans it obtained on 29 September 2010. Tata Steel also raised Rs3,480 crore through share sale in January to partly repay a debt used to buy the Corus Group for $12.9 billion in 2007.

The bond sale will help Tata Steel refinance its existing debt, besides financing its expansion plans.

Tata Steel is expanding the capacity of its Jamshedpur plant to 10 million tonnes a year from 6.8 tonnes. The company also plans to build two more factories in India.

Besides its India facilities, Tata Steel has plants in Singapore, Thailand, the UK, South Africa and the Netherlands.

Spain public debt at 11-year high: central bank

Fri, Mar18 2011

Spain's public sector debt hit an 11-year high in the fourth quarter of 60.1 percent of gross domestic product, central bank figures showed Friday.

The public debt rose to 638.77 billion euros during the period, up from 611.89 billion euros or 57.9 percent of GDP in the third quarter.

The figure was slightly better than the government's forecast of 62.8 percent of GDP but it was still the highest level since 1999, when it reached 62.3 percent.

The public debt includes debt from the central government, the social security system and regional and local administrations, and is a key measure of the financial health of a country.

As an European Union member, Spain is required to keep its public debt below 60 percent of GDP.

Thousands of foreigners flee from Tokyo

Fri Mar18 2011 14:25:25

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Airlines in Tokyo are scrambling to fly thousands of passengers out of the Japanese capital as fears about the country's nuclear crisis mount and several countries urge their citizens to leave.

Thousands of foreigners flock to Tokyo's Narita international airport as fears over Japan's nuclear crisis are mounting.

An increasing number of governments are urging their citizens to leave the earthquake and tsunami-devastated country.

Japan is taking desperate measures to contain the nuclear leak at the Fukushima power plant, but many travelers are worried about radiation levels.

Barbara Turoff, retired American, said, "I was going to go back anyway, just for a vacation, but I'm leaving earlier because I'm concerned because I really don't know the situation about the radiation. It keeps changing."

Other evacuees say the threat of radiation is scarier than the earthquake itself.

Thibault Brex, French evacuee, said, "If there was a radioactive cloud we just wouldn't know if it would come into our town. And with that you don't feel or hear anything, so you can't do anything and that's something we absolutely can't control no matter what people say. I was more worried about the radiation than about the earthquake. "

Scores of flights to Japan were halted or rerouted this week on fears of radiation leaks from the stricken nuclear plant -- and private jet companies say they've been inundated with requests to help evacuate people.

Some countries have begun testing their citizens returning from Japan for signs of radiation exposure. (source: CNTV.cn)

RPT-Sundance: Big finds in Cameroon iron ore project

Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:16pm GMT

YAOUNDE, March 17, (Reuters) - Australian mining firm Sundance Resources (SDL.AX: Quote) said on Thursday recent finds at its Mbalam iron ore project in Cameroon had more than doubled the amount of indicated resources in the area.

Indicated resources give the West Africa-focused miner, confidence in the potential of iron ore to be mined in the area.

Sundance said indicated high-grade hematite had more than doubled to 417.7 metric tonnes, following a large drilling programme in the past 12 months, compared with 169 MT previously reported.

News of the find pushed Sundance shares up 9.3 percent on the day.

"This resource estimate further strengthens our confidence of the viability of this project. We are now approaching half a billion tonnes of high quality iron resources and 85 per cent of that is now indicated," Sundance Chief Executive Giulio Casello said in a statement.

"We have a globally significant project capable of producing 35 million tonnes per annum of high-quality iron ore for at least 25 years," he said.

Casello said the first phase of the project consists of a planned railway and deep water port. The company last year delayed the start-up of production to 2013.

The company said in February the estimated $3.4 billion cost of the project was increasing.
(Reporting by Tansa Musa, Writing by Bate Felix, editing by Jane Baird, Reuters)

Rio Tinto ups holding in $3.9 billion takeover target Riversdale

Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:19pm GMT

SYDNEY, March 18 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto has received acceptances for 33.04 percent of shares in its $3.9 billion takeover target Riversdale , the global miner said on Friday, after raising its offer for the Mozambique-focused coal miner last week.

The offer is conditional on Rio Tinto reaching 50.1 percent control by March 23.
(Created by Ed Davies, Reuters)

Iron Ore-Prices rise for first time in a month as buyers return

Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:34am GMT

* Falling ore stockpiles spur Chinese buying
* Forward swaps extend gains
By Manolo Serapio Jr

SINGAPORE, March 18 (Reuters) - Spot iron ore prices rose for the first time in a month and offers remained firm on Friday as Chinese steel mills returned to the market to replenish
dwindling stockpiles.

Prices for the steelmaking raw material had fallen 15 percent since hitting record highs near $200 a tonne in mid-February as rising raw material cost and slow steel demand turned off top buyer China.

But some Chinese mills are looking at increasing steel exports to the region as production at quake-hit Japan could slow and domestic demand may spike when reconstruction starts.
Japan was Asia's biggest steel exporter last year.


"We had always thought that the dearth of Chinese buying in recent weeks would not last - steel production rates continue to record new highs and iron ore stocks can only sustain production
for perhaps a month or two," Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a note.

China's daily crude steel output rose 0.5 percent from January to a record high of 1.94 million tonnes in February.

Inventories of imported iron ore at major Chinese ports fell to 80.4 million tonnes last week after climbing above 81 million tonnes towards the end of February.

Iron ore indexes, based on spot transactions in China and which global miners use in determining quarterly contract prices, rose on Thursday, the first uptick since they touched record peaks in mid-February.

The Steel Index's 62 percent benchmark .IO62-CNI=SI rose 30 cents to $163.90 a tonne, including freight, and Platts' 62 percent index IODBZ00-PLT jumped $1.50 to $166.50.

Metal Bulletin's 62 percent gauge.IO62-CNO=MB edged up 60 cents to $163.49.

Those gains may be sustained on Friday as offers from sellers remained firm, with Indian 63.5 percent iron ore quoted at $170-$172 a tonne, according to Chinese consultancy Mysteel.

"Sentiment is improving and there are more inquiries," Mysteel said.

"Iron ore buyers have come back because a lot of Chinese steel mills are very, very low on iron ore inventory and they now need to buy to sustain themselves," said an iron ore trader
in Shanghai.

"But will they come buy and disappear again which would make the price slide further or will they stay for sometime which will help prices rebound? That is still an unanswered question."

Further gains in iron ore forward swap prices on Thursday suggested confidence is slowly returning to the market.

The Singapore Exchange-cleared April contract climbed 3 percent to $157.80 a tonne, May rose 2 percent to $154.80 and June gained 1.8 percent to $152.40.

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Manash Goswami,sourced:Reuters)

Japan Feb crude steel output +5.7 pct yr/yr,March fall seen

Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:42am GMT

* February output up 5.7 pct yr/yr
* Output down 7.5 pct from Jan, when Sumitomo came back
* Analysts expect further output fall in March

TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - Japan's crude steel output rose 5.7 percent in February from a year earlier to 8.93 million tonnes, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said on Friday.

Output, which is not seasonally-adjusted, declined 7.5 percent from January.

January's strong month-to-month output increase was due to a production boost by Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd, Japan's No.3 steel mill, whose production was affected by troubles at its blast furnace in November and December.

Analysts expect Japan's crude steel output for March to drop further following the disruption to operations after the disastrous earthquake that hit eastern Japan on March 11.

Japan's big two Nippon Steel Corp and JFE Holdings Inc have resumed operations of blast furnaces idled after the quake since Sunday, but government-imposed power cuts are expected to sharply reduce their production in March.(Reporting by Yuko Inoue; Editing by Ed Lane,sourced Reuters)