Masteel plans to reduce dependence on imported iron ore

Wednesday, 09 Mar 2011

According to Mr Gu Jianguo chairman of Maanshan, Anhui Province based Chinese steelmaker Maanshan Iron and Steel Company Ltd d that 75% of the iron ore Masteel uses in its production consists of imports with the result that the recent rising ore import prices have significantly increased the company's production costs.

M Gu said Masteel hopes to accelerate the exploration of its own mineral resources and increase the share of its own iron ore resources in its overall ore consumption to 30% by the end of the 12th five-year plan period (2011-2015). In addition, the company is also interested in acquiring overseas mineral resources.

Mr Gu also said that, with profitability in the Chinese steel industry currently at low levels, Masteel will seek to increase its production of high value added products such as steel products applied in high-speed railways. Masteel also hopes to increase the share of its non-steel business revenues in its overall revenues in the 12th five-year plan period.

Wed,Feb09,20111

The Bayur Block, sub-block Tani Bakti and South Purwajaya use core drilling method HQ-3 with grid pattern ranged 50 metres. The reserve calculation on the block is still in progress.
For the Loajanan block, the company will continue its geological mapping to decide the mine potential sub blocks. The company still conducts due diligence to drill block Separi.
“All blocks have been approved by Minister of Energy & Mineral Resource for the Exclusive Mining Rights (PKP2B) for production granted to PT Insani Baraperkasa," Corporate Secretary Lenny S.C. said.
Total exploration cost reaches US$1.12 million as of January.
KKGI is owned by Goodwin Investment Private Ltd (17.53%), PT Optima Investama (16.27%), OCBC Securities Pte Ltd (15.80%), UOB Khay Hian Ltd (11.29%), and Dunway Holdings Ltd (6%).
(sourced:theindonesiatoday)
Tag:Coal company,PT Resource Alam Indonesia Tbk(KKGI),RAIN Group,explored Bayur,Perangat,Loajanan blocks,January 2011,PT Insani Baraperkasa,blocks,East Kalimantan

Indonesian Mining Industry to Grow at a CAGR of 4.8% during 2010-15

Research and Markets highlighted on its latest research report that coal dominates the industry with 84% of the total market share in Indonesia, followed by nonmetallic minerals.
The nonmetallic mineral category is dominated primarily by cement, while the metallic mineral segment is dominated by bauxite and copper.

Fuelled by strong economic growth, the Indonesian mining industry mineral production, in volume terms, was estimated to have grown at a CAGR of 11% during 2004-09.
Expansion of key endmarkets such as construction, manufacturing and power will continue to drive demand for minerals. The Indonesian mining industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.8% during 2010-15.
(soucred:theindonesiatoday)

Zimbabwe diamond, coal exploration fees soar

Wed Feb 9, 2011
HARARE Feb 9 (Reuters)-Zimbabwe has drastically increased exploration fees for diamonds and coal, in an effort to discourage companies from speculating on mining claims, state media reported on Wednesday.
The state-owned Herald newspaper said the exploration fee for diamonds had increased twenty-fold, to $1 million, while the coal fee went up five-fold to $100,000 from $20,000.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu could not be reached for comment.

The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines said the increase was unexpected but would not say whether it would impact new investment in the resource-rich nation.
"We were not consulted about it and this is quite a hefty increase," Chris Hokonya, the chamber's chief executive, told Reuters.
The government has said many companies hold mining claims for speculation and the increase in exploration fees is seen as discouraging the practice.
Global miner Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote) (RIO.AX: Quote) is just one of the foreign companies mining diamonds in the southern African nation.
The government last year announced it would nationalise all alluvial diamond mining operations, mostly in the eastern Marange district, while handing management contracts to private companies.
(Reporting by Alfonce Mbizwo;editing by Keiron Henderson,sourced:reuters)
Tags:Zimbabwe, coal exploration fees, diamond exploration fees, Herald newspaper, mines minister, The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines,investment, Rio Tinto

Russia's MMK sees new mill capacity at 1.5 mln T/yr

Wed Feb 9, 2011 11:19am GMT
MOSCOW Feb 9 (Reuters) - Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MAGN.MM: Quote), Russia's third-largest steelmaker, said on Wednesday its 5,000 mm plate mill has a full order book and that its annual output is about 1.5 million tonnes.
The mill, commissioned in 2009, produced 127,000 tonnes of steel in January, up from 112,000 tonnes in December.

The new mill produces thick steel for industries such as pipe-making and shipbuilding and is part of the company's strategy to increase its value-added production.
The steelmaker, also known as MMK, is in the midst of an aggressive expansion that will see output reach 18.6 million tonnes annually by 2014.
It produced 11.4 million tonnes of crude steel last year and expects 2011 output to increase by 14 percent. (Reporting by Alfred Kueppers, sourced:reuters)

Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions

Wed Feb 9, 2011 10:30am GMT
Feb 9 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 1000 GMT on Wednesday.
(For Reuters columns on deals, click on
** The London Stock Exchange (LSE.L: Quote) is to buy the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange TMX Group (X.TO: Quote) in an all share deal that will create a mining-dominant exchange at a time of rising commodity prices.
** Millhouse LLC, the investment company of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, said on Wednesday it has sold a 25 percent stake in the country's main state-run television channel to the National Media Group. The price of the sale of the stake in Channel One was not disclosed, but business daily Kommersant reported the group paid Millhouse $150 million.
** CSN (CSNA3.SA: Quote), Brazil's largest diversified steelmaking group, has raised its stake in Australian miner Riversdale (RIV.AX: Quote) which is subject to a $3.9 billion takeover bid from global miner Rio Tinto (RIO.AX: Quote) (RIO.L: Quote). To read more, please double click on
** Australia's Centro Properties Group (CNP.AX: Quote) has narrowed down bidders for its $9.5 billion U.S. shopping mall assets to three consortiums, including private equity firm Blackstone Group (BX.N: Quote), a source said.
** Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross is considering joining in an effort to buy oil and gas company Exco Resources Inc (XCO.N: Quote), according to a regulatory filing.
** Footwear retailer DSW Inc (DSW.N: Quote) said it agreed to merge with its largest shareholder Retail Ventures Inc (RVI.N: Quote) in an all-stock deal, and raised its full-year outlook.(By Aditi Sharma,Bangalore & Tina Kwan, Singapore)

Ukraine maintains December steel production level in January

Wednesday, 09 Feb 2011
It is reported that in January 2011, Ukrainian steelmakers have decreased crude steel output by 1% MoM. Alchevsk Steelworks has boosted the production of crude steel and rolled products by 12% and 15% respectively, while the other producers have shown few changes.
According to Millennium Capital analyst “The news is NEUTRAL for the steel producers. The Ukrainian steel industry has had little change in output comparing to the previous month, apart from Alchevsk Steelworks. We have anticipated the latter’s output to grow, as the parent company has attracted USD 500 million loans in December, managing to stabilize raw material supplies, the cause of the company’s underperformance in 2010.”
Tags: Ukrainian steelmakers, decreased, crude steel output, Millennium Capital, raw materials
(sourced:Millennium Capital)

Xstrata’s profit increases by 86 percent in 2010

Tuesday, 08 February 2011
On February 8, Anglo-Swiss miner and coking coal producer Xstrata Plc issued its financial results for 2010, reporting that the restructuring activities undertaken during 2009 positioned it to benefit from a more favorable operating environment.
The attributable profit of Xstrata was $5.15 billion in 2010, recording an increase of 86 percent year on year thanks to stronger commodity prices. Its revenue saw an increase of 34 percent in 2010, increasing from $22.7 billion in the previous year to $30.5 billion.
Xstrata said it plans to pay a final dividend of 20 cents per share, reflecting a return to pre-crisis levels and confidence in the medium-term outlook.
"Looking ahead, leading indicators suggest that the US economy continues to find a reasonably solid track for recovery. In the eurozone, January data for the manufacturing and services industries reveal the fastest pace of expansion in nine months. Developing economies and China in particular appear set to continue to achieve wholly respectable high single-digit growth rates in 2011, albeit below 2010 levels due to the impacts of inflation and the proactive actions by governments to contain economic growth to within manageable levels," Xstrata CE Mick Davis said.
Tags: coking coal , raw mat , UK , Switzerland , Europe , Non-EU Countries , European Union , mining , fin. Reports , Xstrata(sourced:steel orbis)

US raw steel production up 0.4 percent week-over-week

Wednesday, 09 February 2011
US raw steel production rose last week (ended February 4) with output increasing 0.4 percent from the previous week. In the previous week, US raw steel production had increased 0.9 percent compared to the week before.
Total raw steel production in the United States amounted to 1,789,000 nt last week. This figure represents a 0.4 percent increase from the 1,782,000 nt produced in the prior week, and is up 10.3 percent from the 1,605,000 nt produced in the same week of last year.
The capacity utilization rate of US raw steelmaking facilities was 74 percent in the week ending February 4, compared to 73.7 percent in the prior week and 67.3 percent in the same week last year.
Tags: USA , North America , steelmaking , production

Rio Tinto approves $277 million expansion for Iron Ore Company of Canada

Wednesday, 09 February 2011
Anglo-Australian mining conglomerate Rio Tinto approved a US$277 million investment (Rio Tinto share US$163 million) in the second phase of Rio Tinto's three-phase project that will ultimately raise its 59 percent-owned Iron Ore Company of Canada's (IOC) concentrate production capacity by 40 percent to 26 million metric tons (mt) per year.

The US$277 million investment will increase IOC's spiral and magnetite concentrate production capacity by an average of 1.3 million mt annually to 23.3 million mt annually.

Rio Tinto's chief executive Sam Walsh commented that the new investment is an important development, especially considering growing global demand. "Global seaborne iron ore demand is projected to increase substantially over the next decade, and IOC's concentrate is well placed to complement the increasing use of lower-quality ore to meet that demand," added Walsh.
Tags: iron ore , raw mat , Australia , Canada , UK , Oceania , North America , Europe , mining , production , Rio Tinto
(sourced:steelorbis)

Macroeconomic indicators - Chinese manufacturing growth slows in January amid tightening measures

Wednesday, 09 Feb 2011
Xinhua reported that growth in China manufacturing sector slowed in January amid the government efforts to cool price pressures.
China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said China manufacturing sector purchasing manager index fell to a five month low of 52.9% in January compared with 53.9% in December. The January figure means the benchmark index for economic expansion has remained above the boom or bust line of 50% for 23 consecutive months.
Analysts said authorities' moves to cool prices prompted the PMI decline and the economic outlook remained unclear.

Mr Zhang Liqun a research fellow with China top government think tank the Development Research Center of the State Council said the continued slowdown in the January PMI data showed economic uncertainty remained and the data would likely drop further in months to come. He said that "This showed manufacturing enterprises are facing greater pressure and more difficulty with increasing costs and shrinking orders.”
Mr He Yifeng a senior researcher who had kept tracing PMI figures with Hongyuan Securities said the January PMI data was a good sign that the economy was slowing remarkably.

China consumer price index a main gauge of inflation rose 4.6%YoY in December and the full year CPI climbed 3.3% in 2010 exceeding the central government official target of 3%. Mounting inflation pressure prompted the People Bank of China the central bank to adopt more tightening measures, including a hike in the bank reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points on January 20.

The central government imposed tougher measures in cities where home prices are skyrocketing, such as restrictions on home purchases and an increase in the minimum down payment requirement for the purchase of a second home to 60% of the property's value.

Mr Cai Jin vice-president of CFLP said "The drop of PMI in January was remarkable, but the decline also had a positive meaning. Because the 10.3% of economic growth last year was a little too high a fall in PMI data in January was closely related to the government's macro control measures and it was helpful to tame inflation."
The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, another survey released recently however edged up to 54.5 last month from a three month low of 54.4 in December.(sourced:Xinhua)

Northwest Pipe expands Houston, Texas facility

Wednesday, 09 February 2011 02:49:18 (GMT+2)
Vancouver, Washington-based welded pipe manufacturer Northwest Pipe announced Tuesday plans to expand its Houston, Texas mill in response to growing customer demand for greater product offerings.

The Houston mill has traditionally produced only mechanical tubing products, but began producing green tube for OCTG in 2010. The mill upgrade will build upon the OCTG green tube line and other products being produced on site by adding production of 2 and 3/8" and 2 and 7/8" tubing.

Northwest Pipe's announcement comes less than a week after announcing a product expansion investment at its Atchison, Kansas pipe manufacturing plant.
Tags: pipe , tubing , longs , tubular , USA , North America , steelmaking , production , investments

Drill pipe and drill collars from China threatens US industry

Wednesday, 09 Feb 2011
The United States International Trade Commission determined that a US industry is threatened with material injury by reason of imports of drill pipe and drill collars from China that the US Department of Commerce has determined are subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value.
Vice Chairman Mr Irving A Williamson and Commissioners Mr Charlotte R Lane and Dean Mr A Pinkert made affirmative determinations on the basis of threat. Chairman Ms Deanna Tanner Okun and Commissioners Mr Daniel R Pearson and Ms Shara L Aranoff made negative determinations.
As a result of the USITC affirmative threat determinations, Commerce will issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders on imports of these products from China.
These investigations cover finished and unfinished steel drill pipe and drill collars, whether or not conforming to American Petroleum Institute or other specifications and without regard to length, outside diameter, or steel chemistry. Drill pipe and drill collars are hollow drill string components used in drilling rigs (particularly those intended to extract oil and gas) to transmit power and conduct lubricant during the drilling process. This description does not include unattached tool joints or unfinished tubes for casing and tubing. The 2011 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States provides for drill pipe (without tool joints) in subheadings 7304.22.00, 7304.23.30, and 7304.23.60, and for drill pipe (with tool joints) and drill collars in subheading 8431.43.80.
Status of Proceedings
1. Type of investigations: Final antidumping and countervailing duty.
2. Petitioners: Rotary Drilling Tools Beasley, Texas Steel Conversions Inc Houston, TMK IPSCO Downers Grove, VAM Drilling USA Inc Houston and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC, Pittsburgh
3. Investigations instituted by USITC: December 31, 2009.
4. USITC hearing: January 5, 2011.
5. USITC vote: February 7, 2011.
6. USITC notification of Department of Commerce: February 17, 2011.

New Elk Coal Company leases coke storage area at Texas port

Wednesday, 09 February 2011
The New Elk Coal Company, a subsidiary of Toronto, Ontario-based Cline Mining Corporation, entered into a long term agreement with the Port of Corpus Christi Authority of Texas Tuesday that will allow New Elk to lease 18 acres of land proximate to the bulk coal shiploader for five years that will serve as a coal storage area for its metallurgical coal from its Colorado coal mine. The land will provide the company with immediate access to the world seaborne coal markets.
Elk Coal also has the option to extend the lease for five additional periods of five year.
Tags: coking coal , raw mat , USA , Canada , North America , distribution , mining , freight
sourced:steelorbis

SHFE rebar reflects buoyant mood in China on opening

Wednesday, 09 Feb 2011
Shanghai steel rebar futures edged up to a record as Chinese markets reopened after a week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
The most active rebar contract for October delivery was up 0.3% at CNY 5,140 per tonne by 0106 GMT, after touching an all time top of CNY 5,150 earlier.(sourced from Reuters)

US Steel receives state funds for Ohio expansion project

Wednesday, 09 February 2011 02:59:55 (GMT+2)
Ohio's State Controlling Board announced a series of approved grants administered by the Ohio Department of Development to encourage economic growth and job creation.
United States Steel Corporation will receive a $200,000 Rapid Outreach Grant to help purchase new machinery and equipment for its expansion project in Lorain County, Ohio. The entire project will cost an estimated $93.6 million.
Tags: USA , North America , steelmaking , investments , US Steel(sourced:steelorbis)