Nippon Steel, Sumitomo Metal Inds say plan to merge

Thu Feb 3, 2011 2:39am EST

(Repeats to attach story to separate alert)

TOKYO Feb 3 (Reuters)
Japanese steelmakers Nippon Steel Corp (5401.T) and Sumitomo Metal Industries (5405.T) said on Thursday that they were in talks to merge their operations in October 2012.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

Strike looms at Teck Resources coal mine in western Canada

Strike looms at Teck coal mine in western Canada
* United Steelworkers union sets Jan 30 deadline
* Union says dispute centers on retirement benefits
* Mine produces steel-making coal
(Updates with union statement)

VANCOUVER, Jan 27, 2011 (Reuters) - Unionized workers at Teck Resources Ltd's Elkview coal mine in western Canada will walk off the Sunday evening if a contract deal is not reached, the company and union said on Thursday.

More than 700 workers at the facility, the second largest of Teck's six operating coal mines, have worked without a contract since the end of October.
The company said it will not disclose sticking points in the dispute, but the United Steelworkers union has said unresolved issues include company contributions to the workers retirement plan and retiree benefits.
"Our members are preparing to bring about an orderly shutdown and strike action will commence on Sunday," said Dan Will, a staff representative of Steelworkers Local 9346.
Teck said it remains committed to resolving the contract through the negotiations, which are underway in the ski resort town of Fernie, British Columbia.

The Jan. 30, strike notice by the United Steelworkers union comes just over a week after Teck said that adverse weather and rail traffic disruptions would hit its coal sales in the first quarter.
Teck, one of the world's top exporters of metallurgical coal, used to make steel, said it expects sales of between 5 million to 5.5 million in the quarter. That compared with sales of 5.25 million in the same quarter 2010.
Nippon Steel Corp and South Korean steelmaker Posco each own a 2.5 percent stake in the open pit mine near Sparwood, British Columbia. It has an annual production capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per year.(sourced:af.reuters)

Tokyo Steel to hike H Beam prices

Monday, 24 Jan 2011
Tokyo Steel announced that it will raise prices of its all products in February to cover rising input costs.
Tokyo Steel said it will raise H beam steel prices by JPY 3,000 per tonne (USD 36) to JPY 28,000 per tonne in February.
Nippon Steel Corp has recently notified its distributors of a price rise of JPY 10,000 per tonne for H beams, citing higher raw materials costs and a decline of inventories to a record low level.
(Sourced from Reuters)

Nippon, Toyota may OK 1 pct steel price hike - Nikkei

Jan 22, 2011 (Reuters) - The world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, Nippon Steel Corp (5401.T: Quote), and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote) are likely to agree on an around 1 percent increase in steel prices for the second half of fiscal 2010, the Nikkei reported, citing sources close to the negotiations.
The figure is much smaller than the roughly 25 percent jump for the first half of the year, the business daily said.
After falling earlier in the October-March period, iron ore and coking coal prices are on the rise again and steelmakers have thus sought to pass the higher costs to carmakers and other major customers, the paper said.
Faced with deteriorating margins on vehicle exports, Toyota demanded a price cut, arguing that steelmakers costs for importing raw materials are declining due to a stronger yen, the Nikkei said. (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore)

Tata Steel, Nippon Steel sign deal for automotive cold-rolled flat products

Mumbai: Tata Steel Limited (TSL) and Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) have signed a Joint Venture Agreement today to setup India’s first Continuous Annealing and Processing Line (CAPL) for the production of 600,000 tonnes per annum of automotive cold-rolled steel at Jamshedpur, India. TSL will hold 51% and NSC will hold 49% of equity capital of the Joint Venture Company. The project will be set up at a capital cost of approximately Rs 2,300 crore and is expected to come on stream in 2013.
The Joint Venture will source the steel from Tata Steel's plant in Jamshedpur and is part of Tata Steel's strategy of producing value added steel. The Joint Venture Company is expected to be incorporated within one month. The Chairman of the Joint Venture Company will be nominated by NSC and the Managing Director will be nominated by TSL.
The Joint Venture will address the localisation needs of Indian automotive customers for high-grade cold-rolled steel sheet and meet the needs of the growing Indian automotive industry.
NSC and TSL have a long history of cooperation in areas of mutual interest and this partnership is further strengthened through the formation of the Joint Venture. The Joint Venture will benefit from NSC’s world class technology for production of high-grade cold-rolled steel sheet and Tata Steel’s leadership position in the Indian automotive industry to serve its customers with innovative products & services
Source: orissadiary.com Friday, January 07, 2011