Clean Coal and Jindal Steel to Set Up JV

Thursday, 26 January, 2012

NEW YORK, Indonesia Today - Clean Coal Technologies, Inc. (CCTI) established a joint venture with India-based Jindal Steel & Power Ltd to construct coal moisture pilot plant which will use Jindal’s Indonesian coal production.
CCTI will bag around 35% stake in the JV by contributing 25-year exclusive license to market and deploy Pristine-M™ Technology, covering the ASEAN countries including Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Jindal will own 65% ownership through US$6 million payment of which US$4 million of them will be paid to CCTI for an exclusive license of the technologies.

Without mentioning the plant location, the construction will take between 16-24 weeks to complete and will start by February 2012. The construction will be followed by an initial 1 million tons commercial plant at Jindal’s Indonesian mines. The JV will market and deploy Pristine-M™ Technology to third parties throughout ASEAN region.

Jindal will fund the working capital for the JV on terms to be negotiated in JV agreement until CCTI is able to fund their share or until joint venture revenues are adequate to cover operating costs.

Headquartered in New York, CCTI owns a patented Pristine-M™ process technology to convert coal into a cleaner burning fuel source. This technology is a “mild gasification” process that removes moisture and volatile matters without pulverizing the coal or pelletizing it.

(sourced:Theindonesiatoday.com)

Centennial Coal issues long term notes of USD 225 million

Thursday, 03 Nov 2011

Banpu PCL said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Centennial Coal Co has issued USD 225 million worth of long-term senior unsecured notes in the North American private placement debt market.

The notes, issued in different maturities of 10, 12 and 15 years, carry a weighted average coupon of 4.55%, the company said in a filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand, without providing specific details.

The Thai coal miner said the proceeds will be used to repay and restructure existing debt.

(Sourced from Dow Jones Newswires)

Japan Q3 hot coil steel exports up 3.6 pct but outlook dim

Wed Nov 2, 2011

TOKYO Nov 2 (Reuters) - Japanese exports of hot-rolled steel coil rose 3.6 percent in July-September from a year earlier, weathering a 38 percent plunge in sales to South Korea as Southeast Asian demand picked up, but a deterioration in Asia's steel market and floods in Thailand may hurt exports in the fourth quarter.

Exports of hot coil -- rolled from slabs and processed further into finished products by manufacturers -- increased to 2.14 million tonnes in the third quarter, helped by a recovery in manufacturing output in Thailand and other ASEAN nations as supply chains recovered from the disruption of Japan's March earthquake.

The export outlook is deteriorating fast, however, on the back of the stronger yen, as well as ebbing demand in China and falling prices as economic uncertainties increase.

Recent steep slides in iron ore IODBZ00-PLT and coal prices, the key steel-making ingredients, mean steel prices are likely to fall further in the January-March period. Iron ore prices were at $119 a tonne on Wednesday, down 34 percent since early September.

"Japanese steelmakers need to secure $700 or above a tonne for exports of hot coil," said Atsushi Yamaguchi, senior analyst at UBS. "They need to be selective in exports and that is already pressuring their output."

Yamaguchi expects the cost of key raw materials to fall $60-80 per tonne by the January-March period from April-June of this year, when costs peaked.

Chinese mills' offer prices for hot coil in late October had fallen below $650, from around $680 in early October, one trader said.

Japan's exports of hot coil to South Korea plunged to 472,000 tonnes in July-September, down 38 percent from a year earlier, Japan Iron and Steel Federation data showed on Wednesday. South Korean mills have boosted capacity by 15 million tonnes over the past few years.

Hot coil exports to Thailand increased 11.5 percent to 439,500 tonnes during the three months.

Japan's steel industry body expects the floods in Thailand, an Asian hub of car production, will curtail Japan's crude steel output by as much as 1 million tonnes for the rest of the financial year to next March.

(sourced Reuters)

Pisces Exim earmarks eying 20pct share of Indian iron ore export

Monday, 10 Oct 2011

PTI reported that iron ore exporter Pisces Exim India has drawn up a INR 1,000 crore expansion plan that envisages the acquisition of mines in the country as well as abroad with a view to increase its share of India’s export market.

Mr Mr Soumit Jena MD of Pisces Exim told PTI “We are looking at an investment of INR 1,000 crore over the next two years for our expansion. We will invest around INR 700 crore in buying domestic mines and INR 300 crore in joint ventures for mining in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.”

Mr Jena explained “We expect to capture 20% of the iron ore export market from the country, at 10 million tonnes, out of 50 million tonne annual exports by the turn of the next fiscal. To achieve our target of 10 million tonnes exports, we require our own mines and need to invest approximately INR 1,000 crore.”

At present, the Pisces Group operates a small mine in Goa, which holds reserves of around 20 million tonnes, besides another in Indonesia. Pisces Exim exports iron ore and ore fines t through state-run undertaking PEC and had exported 5.7 million tonnes iron ore last fiscal. The company hopes to export 6 million tonnes this fiscal.

(Sourced from PTI)

Nippon Steel buys another 5 pct in Thai steel firm

Tue Aug 16, 2011

BANGKOK Aug 16 (Reuters) - Thailand's top industrial conglomerate, Siam Cement Pcl , said on Tuesday it was selling its remaining 5 percent stake in Siam United Steel (1995) Co Ltd to Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. for 855 million baht ($29 million).

Nippon Steel, the world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, already owns 45 pct of Siam United, which makes cold-rolled sheet steel, with annual capacity of 1 million tonnes. In 2010 Siam United had sales of 19 billion baht.

Nippon Steel said in April it would invest $300 million to build a steel galvanising production line in Thailand to supply automotive sheet steel by 2013.

Siam Cement's divestment is part of its plan to focus on core businesses. It said in a statement it would book a gain of 690 million baht from the sale in the fourth quarter.

At the midsession break, Siam Cement shares were up 0.86 percent, while the broad market was 0.28 percent higher. ($1 = 29.80 Baht)

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.

Tata Steel Sells U.K. Plant to Sahaviriya

Friday, Feb25, 2011
By Andrea Hotter & Devon Maylie

Tata Steel Ltd. said Thursday its U.K. arm agreed to sell certain assets of Teesside Cast Products to a unit of Thailand's Sahaviriya Steel Industries PCL for $469 million as part of the Thai company's effort to ramp up production.

The plant was partially shut last February after four steel slab buyers pulled out of a joint 10-year contract. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of March and SSI said it plans to restart production by the end of the year.

SSI said it plans to spend $1 billion on the plant in the next two years, including the $469 million to buy the plant and $150 million to improve efficiency at the plant.

SSI, which has previously purchased slab from Teesside, intends to ship steel back to its own four million tons-a-year operation in Thailand and ramp output back up to 3.5 million metric tons of slab, which Teesside was producing before 2008.

"We buy from Brazil and Russia and the shipping distance is similar," said Win Viriyaprapaikit, president of SSI, adding many of the raw materials are also in the Atlantic basin so will be easy to ship to the plant.

"We are in discussions with several raw material suppliers to put in place a long-term supply agreement," he said.

SSI is also considering listing in the U.K., but Mr. Viriyaprapaikit said no decision had been made yet.

Thai lenders Siam Commercial Bank PCL, Krung Thai Bank PCL, and Tisco Bank PCL signed two credit facility agreements worth a combined $1.38 billion with SSI to support the purchase. Of the total, 23.9 billion Thai baht ($781 million) is a committed working capital and term loan facility for Sahaviriya and another $600 million is a facility for Sahaviriya Steel Industries U.K. Ltd., the bank said in a statement.
(sourced:online.wsj.com)

TATA Steel expects to complete TCP sale by March - Mr Muthuraman

Saturday, 19 Feb 2011

It is reported that TATA Steel Limited expects to complete the sale of its Teesside plant in the United Kingdom by the end of March 2011.

Mr B Muthuraman VC of TATA Steel said that "The process is on and we should be able to complete it by March 31st 2011."

It may be noted that TATA Steel recently agreed to sell the Teesside Cast Products plant to Thailand's largest steel group Sahaviriya Steel Industries PLC in a deal valued at USD 500 million.

The plant was partially shut in February 2010 after four steel slab buyers pulled out of a joint 10 year contract.

(Sourced:Dowjones)

Tata Steel margins under pressure, in talks with Rio

Tue Feb 15, 2011 3:44pm GMT

* Q3 profit 10.03 bln rupees vs estimate of 11.1 bln rupees

* Sees 2011 Europe steel demand up 3-5 pct, India's 10-12 pct

* Interested in coal supplies from Riversdale,talking to Rio

By Prashant Mehra

MUMBAI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Tata Steel (TISC.BO: Quote) said its margins would remain under pressure due to rising raw material prices, adding that it was in talks with Rio Tinto (RIO.AX: Quote) to ensure coal supplies from Africa-focused miner Riversdale (RIV.AX: Quote).
The world's No. 7 steelmaker on Tuesday said quarterly net profit more than doubled, driven by demand and pricing in Europe and robust growth at its Indian operations, but the company lagged estimates as higher raw material costs squeezed margins.
The $500 billion global steel sector has been caught in a margin squeeze since the middle of 2010, when raw material costs began increasing and steel prices dropped as activity slowed. While demand is improving from the auto sector, the other key market, construction, is struggling to pull clear of the crisis.

Tata Steel said it expected steel demand in Europe to rise 3 to 5 percent this year and demand in India to grow 10 to 12 percent, but managing raw material costs would be a key challenge.
"Margins are under pressure because we are consuming raw materials at inflated prices," Karl Kohler, head of Tata Steel's European operations, told reporters after the results announcement.
"Selling prices are recovering but the position needs to be maintained as impact of raw material costs is increasing."

Managing Director Hemant Nerurkar said Tata Steel was interested in securing coal supplies from Riversdale, in which it owns a 24 percent stake. Riversdale has received a $3.9 billion bid from Rio Tinto, which was backed by Tata Steel's representative on Riversdale's board.
"We are basically interested in securing coal supplies. We are discussing various options with Rio," Nerurkar said.

Tata Steel acquired Corus, Europe's second-largest steelmaker, for $13 billion in 2007, marking the largest overseas acquisition made by an Indian company so far.
European operations account for two-thirds of Tata Steel's global capacity of about 30 million tonnes, while the Indian operations contribute a quarter. It also has units in Thailand and Singapore.
Most global steelmakers have suffered sharp falls in December quarter profit. Last week, the world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS: Quote) reported profit lower than the previous quarter, but forecast a rebound in demand and prices at the start of 2011. POSCO (005490.KS: Quote), Nippon Steel (5401.T: Quote) and JFE (5411.T: Quote), some of the largest steelmakers, all suffered sharp falls in October-December earnings due to pricey raw materials and tepid demand.

Q3 PROFIT MORE THAN DOUBLES
Tata Steel reported a net profit after minority interest and share of profit of associates of 10.03 billion rupees ($220 million) for its fiscal third quarter ended December, compared with a consolidated net profit of 4.73 billion rupees a year ago.
Net sales were 286.06 billion rupees compared with 260.69 billion a year earlier.
A Reuters poll of brokerages had forecast a net profit of 11.1 billion rupees for the quarter, on net sales of 263.2 billion.
Last month, Tata Steel raised $770 million in a share sale in India to fund a 3-million-tonne capacity expansion at a plant in eastern India and repay a part of its $10 billion debt. [ID:nSGE70K06A]
Tata Steel said it had started preparatory work for a 6 million-tonne a year steel plant in the eastern state of Orissa.
Shares in Tata Steel, valued by the market at about $12.3 billion, are down about 9 percent so far in 2011, compared with about 11 percent fall in India's benchmark stock index .BSESN.
Ahead of the results, Tata Steel shares closed 0.4 percent lower at 616.55 rupees in a Mumbai market that rose 0.4 percent. ($1=45.5 rupees) (sourced:ThomsonReuters)

Tags:Tata steel, margins under pressure, Rio Tinto, Riversdale Mining Ltd., Europe, Q3, raw material, steelmakers, Corus, Thailand, Singapore, ArcelorMittal, POSCO, Nippon Steel Corp, JFE