Nuclear fears shut 25 embassies in Tokyo

March 23, 2011 8:47PM

THE nuclear emergency following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has led 25 embassies to temporarily shut their doors in Tokyo, Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said today.

As of yesterday; "eight of them had transferred their functions outside Tokyo or Japan", Matsumoto told AFP by email.

"The rest have had their staff stay home. They have been changing its working arrangement day by day," he said.

"At any rate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs keeps in touch with the embassies temporarily transferred or embassy staff staying home, providing accurate information to the entire diplomatic corps."

Nearly two weeks after the double disaster ravaged the country's Pacific coast on March 11, workers were battling to avert catastrophe at a crippled nuclear power plant, located 250 kilometres northeast of Tokyo.

The foreign ministry's press division said the following countries had closed their doors: Angola, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Kosovo, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama and Switzerland.

The US State Department last week authorised the "voluntary departure" of embassy family members in Tokyo, including relocation to other areas within Japan.

Australian cyclones hit Rio Tinto Q1 iron ore output

Tue, Mar22 13:49:04

SYDNEY, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd said on Tuesday its first-quarter iron ore production in Western Australia 's Pilbara region would highlight the impact of the tropical cyclones in February.

Speaking at a conference in Perth on Tuesday, Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Sam Walsh said, "We have only just regained momentum and our quarterly production report will highlight the impact."

Rio Tinto's current Pilbara capacity is 225 million tons a year and it is moving to expand output to 333 million tons a year by the end of 2015.

"We do not expect our expansion to stop at 333," Walsh said.

He told reporters that tight equipment supply from Japan after the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami has affected on the miners' expansion efforts in terms of cost.

He said the company's Canadian iron ore operations were also expanding quickly to meet demand which was already heightened before the Japanese crisis.

Walsh said the magnitude of reconstruction in Japan was only just being realized.

"It is true to say that recovering, developing and developed economies continue to drive demand for iron ore," he said.

The company's Simandou iron ore mine project in Guinea in West Africa would be developed before the official target date of 2015, Walsh said.

"We are keen to produce tons earlier if infrastructure constraints can be removed," he said.
Editor: Xiong Tong

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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)

Asia Steel-Spot prices steady, eyeing Japan quake

Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:29am GMT

* Steelmakers and traders eyeing Japan quake
* Steel demand likely to take longer time to recover
By Ruby Lian and David Stanway

SHANGHAI, March 17 (Reuters) - Spot steel prices in China remained steady this week, with traders still assessing the impact of the Japanese earthquake on the steel market, as well as a move by top steel mills to keep prices for April unchanged.

Rebar, mostly used in the construction sector, rebounded modestly to 4,580-4,590 yuan ($697-698) per tonne on Thursday, down 10 yuan from last Thursday after slipping nearly 2 percent at the beginning of the week, industry consultancy Mysteel said.

The catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan have further weighed on the global steel market, adding to concern about weak demand brought about by tighter credit and lower iron ore prices.

"Most market players are still assessing the aftermath of Japan's earthquake, while steel mills are watching the crisis closely and are hesitant to make offers, although prices have bounced back slightly," said Bill Chen, a senior trader with Hong Kong-based Smart Timing Steel Ltd.

Key Japanese steelmakers have halted operations at some of their facilities since Monday because of power outages brought about by the quake.

Luo Bingsheng, former vice-chairman of the China Iron & Steel Association and now an advisor, said at an industry conference on Thursday that Japan's post-quake reconstruction would eventually lift global steel prices and benefit Chinese steel exports.

His speech was made available on the organiser's website (Umetal.com).

The most active rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange recovered this week to 4,817 yuan per tonne, up 2.9 percent from last Thursday.

DEMAND RECOVERY STILL SLOW

Two of China's biggest steelmakers, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd and Wuhan Iron & Steel Co Ltd said this week that they would keep their main product prices stable for April, reflecting their concern about tepid demand and high stockpiles.

Demand is expected to pick up in the second quarter as end users normally return to the market to restock, but government moves to further tighten liquidity are likely to curb the recovery.

"We believe steel prices will stay at a low level for a month or two -- a rebound is unlikely because of strong supply and lukewarm demand," said Henry Liu, a commodities analyst with Mirae Asset in Hong Kong.

CISA's Luo also said the inventories of 78 medium-sized and large steel mills surged 20 percent over the first two months of the year, and some steel mills would likely suffer losses.

Inventory building by end users was unlikely to continue, and even if steel prices rebounded they were not expected to return to their February high, Liu said.

In its monthly market report published on Thursday, CISA said stockpiles remained high going into March, and that prices would be put under further pressure as a result of still excessive output levels and increases in raw material supplies. $1=6.571 yuan) (Editing by Chris Lewis, Reuters)

Satellite Photos: Japan before & after the Earthquake, Tsunami

Satellite Photos: Japan before & after the Earthquake, Tsunami

By Yahoo News

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.

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)

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)

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)

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)