April 27, 2012: Sul Steel Private, a leading manufacturer of steel products like, TMT bars, rounds, flats, channels and other structural items under the 'Sul' brand name, has established four labs across the state offering free testing of TMT bars.

These labs, perhaps a first of its kind facility in the sector, are located at Paharpur factory of Sul Steel in Kolkata, at Berhampore in Murshidabad, in a Krishnanagar, Nadia and Malda town in Maldah district. The company's initiative comes in the wake of the earthquake that took place causing wanton death and destruction last September, 18, 2011. The company is planning to set up two more labs and test houses, one in North 24 Parganas at Barasat and the other one in South 24 Parganas district.

Sul Steel, which demerged from SRMB Srijan Ltd in 2010, has decided to provide pre-purchase, free testing facilities for TMT bars of any brand to the consumers, buyers, dealers and corporates. After the test, the defects and fluctuations in three key ingredients of TMT bars -- carbon, phosphorus and sulphur -- will be determined within a few minutes using an automatic computerized spectrometer.

The company believes that by providing these free testing facilities within a few years it would be able to raise popular awareness about TMT bars. Sul Steel Private Limited, which is a conversion agent for SAIL, is registered with Bureau of Indian Standards and has major certifications from government institutions.
Source: The Economic Times

April 27, 2012: Vedanta group firm Sesa Goa will begin exploration later this week at its Liberian iron ore project that is estimated to hold reserves of over 1 billion tons, a top company official said.
Last year, the company had acquired 51% stake in Western Clusters Ltd, that is developing the project for about $90 million (Rs 411 crore). This was the first overseas acquisition of the Vedanta group miner.
"We have got the licences for all the three blocks. First rig arrived last week and exploration will begin later this week," Sesa Goa managing director P.K. Mukherjee said. He added the company has completed the aeromagnetic survey of the Liberian iron ore reserves and Sesa Goa's capital expenditure plan for the project will be known in next 2-3 months.
Two days back, the Goa-based miner had said the resource base at the mines is much more than the earlier estimated 1 billion tons. Stating that the company is maintaining its guidance of first shipment from the project by March, 2014, Mukherjee said that investments in Liberia will be spread over 2-3 years.
Excluding Liberia, the company has kept a capex of Rs 600 crore for its existing and expansion activities in the current fiscal. Besides, the iron ore miner has kept a production and sales guidance of 15 million tons from Goa in the current fiscal, Mukherjee said.
Source: The Economic Times

April 27, 2012: S. Sekhar on April 25 took over as executive director of Bokaro Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) in place of Y.K. Degen, who has been transferred to Bhilai Steel Plant in the same post.
Sekhar had started his career with Bhilai Steel Plant in 1977 after completing Mechanical Engineering and was promoted as general manager in 2007. In April 2011, he was promoted as executive director of Rourkela Steel Plant and was transferred to Bokaro Steel Plant as Executive Director (material management) in January 2012.
Source: ISMW

April 27, 2012: The average prices of flat steel in India rose by 7.57% to 10.72% between April 2011 and March 2012 while the prices of wire rods and billets have gone up by 2.55% and 6.56% respectively during the same period, according to a data compiled by the ministry of steel.

The compilation revealed that the prices of TMT bars (10 mm) in India had risen on an average of 10.07% during the financial year 2011-12. On the other hand, the average prices of hot rolled steel in CIS, the US and Chinese markets have fallen by 10%, 19% and 14% respectively during the period, the data revealed.

The prices of rebar, however, remained comparatively firm between April 2011 and March 2012 in CIS and US markets, but fell by nearly 17% in China during the same period, according to the data.

According to the compilation, the price of HR coils (2.0 mm) increased by 10.72% in Delhi market from Rs 43,020/ton in April 2011 to Rs 47,630/ton in March 2012 whereas the price of CR coils (0.63 mm) increased by 7.57% to Rs 52,040/ton in March 2012 from a low of Rs 48,380/ton in April 2011.

Similarly, price of 10 mm Tor Steel (Long product) increased by 10.07% to Rs 47,670/ton in March 2012 from Rs 43,310/ton quoted in April 2011. Wire rod (8 mm) prices rose by 3.55% from Rs 44,230/ton in April 2011 to Rs 45,800/ton in March 2012.

The price of billets (100 mm) in New Delhi market, however, rose by 6.56% to Rs 39,810/ton in March 2012 from Rs 37,360/ton in April 2011, the compilation revealed.

According to the compilation, the average domestic price of HR coils in CIS fell by 10% to $672/ton in March 2012 from a high of $748/ton quoted in April 2011.

The average domestic price of HR coils in the US fell by 19% to $695/ton from $860/ton while the prices fell by 14% in Southern China to yuan 4274 from yuan 4960/ton in April 2011.
The rebar prices, according to the compilation, remained comparatively stable in the CIS and US markets during the period, but fell by a staggering 17% in Southern China to yuan 4438/ton in March 2012 from a high of yuan 5345/ton quoted in April 2012.

Source: ISMW

April 27, 2012: Steel Authority of India Limited's (SAIL) raw materials division has floated a notice inviting tender (NIT) for sale of 40,000 tons of iron ore 'reject/waste' fines from the tailing pond of Barsua iron ore mines in Sundargarh district of Odisha via online forward auction, according to information available with ISMW.

The material to be sold has about 62% Fe content while the offered quantity is to be lifted within 45 days from date of delivery order, the notice said.

Interested parties can download tender documents till April 27, 2012 till 12 hours while the online forward auction will take place on the same day at 2.30 pm.
Source: ISMW

April 27, 2012: The prices of ferro alloys in India were slightly depressed due to higher availability in the international market which has brought down the demand for Indian material in the export market, an official of a ferro alloy maker said on April 26.

"Prices are not going down as such, but they are slightly depressed because of surplus capacity and low demand," the official of a Raipur-based ferro alloy manufacturer said.

A number of big producers in Russia and Africa, who had earlier stopped production because of low demand and higher input cost, have resumed production and thus there is oversupply in the market, he claimed.

"As a result of higher availability in overseas markets, Indian exporters are finding it difficult to sell their products abroad and are forced to sell it in the domestic market. This is leading to higher availability in the domestic market and a consequent depressed trend," the official added.
On April 26, the company was offering ferro manganese (70-75) at Rs 57,000/ton (Ex-Raipur) and Silico Manganese (64) to Rs 58,000/ton (Ex-Raipur). A week ago, the company had sold ferro manganese at Rs 59,000/ton and silico manganese at Rs 60,000/ton, the official said.
Source: ISMW

April 27, 2012: Beginning second quarter, Odisha's state-owned mining firm Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) will e-auction chrome, an ore essential to make stainless steel.

By resorting to auctions, Orissa Mining Corporation is preempting a similar move for iron ore linkages, but more immediately addressing a long pending demand from its suppliers to address the high prices for chrome.

OMC is the primary supplier of chrome ore, which is almost solely mined within Odisha, home to 95-98% of the country's estimated reserves of 66 million tons. Only Tata Steel, Balasore Alloys, FACOR and IMFA own chrome mines, leaving OMC as owner of two-thirds of the state's deposits as the monopoly supplier of the raw material.

Chrome is converted into ferrochrome, which in turn is used for steel alloys like stainless steel.
Ferrochrome producers such as Jindal Stainless, Visa Steel, and Rohit Ferro Tech, who set up capacity in the eastern state on commitment of assured supply, have been forced to shut furnaces claiming OMC ore pricing was unviable. Some such as Nav Bharat Ferro Alloys, Aarti Steel have turned conversion agents for companies such as Tata Steel, and others such Jindal Stainless resorted to importing the alloy directly for downstream production, while keeping their own ferrochrome units idle.

"We have been very badly hit by this, and were forced to shut down our five ferrochrome furnaces for 5-6 months last year, and started importing ferrochrome instead from South Africa which turned out to be Rs 7,000-8,000 a ton cheaper. But it is not very wise particularly in a backward tribal area to keep huge manpower idle for too long," said Subash Singh Virdi, Executive Director responsible for Jindal Stainless' Odisha business. Failing to resolve issues, the industry represented by the All Odisha Steel Federation (AOSF ) and Kalinga Nagar Industries Association (KNIA ), has sought redressal from the High Court at Cuttack, as well as the Competition Commission in the centre.

The differences have been over the pricing modalities adopted by OMC. As a practice, the firm would tender a sample lot, accounting for 2% of its total production, before the start of a quarter. It would then use the highest offer as benchmark, around Rs 15,000-16,000 per tonne last year, for its entire production over the next three months offered to empanelled members.
The industry had wanted OMC to go back to its pre-2007 practice of pricing chrome on the basis of sale price of state ferrochrome from state-owned IDCOL Ferro Chrome & Alloys Ltd, or the price at which Steel Authority of India buys ferrochrome.

Source: The Economic Times

April 26, 2012: The shareholders of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) have approved its conversion to a public limited company in the tenth extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM).
The present share value of Rs 1,000 is now split into Rs 10 per share along with adoption of a new set of Articles of Association & Memorandum of Association. The CMD of RINL, A.P. Choudhary, chaired the meeting.

RINL being fully owned by President of India, was registered as a private company as per Companies Act 1956.

The under-secretary, Ministry of Steel, Sarita Taneja, and authorised nominee on behalf of the President of India, attended the EGM.

Source: ISMW

April 26, 2012: Spot iron ore prices in China have fallen further by $1-2/ton ahead of the long weekend holiday on Monday and Tuesday for the Labour Day break.

Indian fines Fe 63.5/63% was heard being quoted at $148/ton.

According to reports, Vale sold a cargo of Fe 63.9% grade iron ore fines at $151/ton (CnF). Earlier, Rio Tinto also sold a 62.5% grade South African iron ore concentrate at $142/ton.
According to traders, mills will prefer to wait until after the holiday to see where the markets head.

Source: ISMW

April 26, 2012: Bhilai Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd has erected one leg assembly of lower tower structure in its Blast Furnace 8 project.

Bhilai's ED (projects) S.B. Jagdale, senior officers of the plant and projects department and L&T were present on the occasion.

The BF 8 project, an important component of the 7 million ton (mt) modernisation and expansion plan of Bhilai Steel Plant, has made good progress, it said in a release.

The lower tower structure consists of two nos. of leg assemblies and two nos. of Tie Beams, with total weight of 660 metric ton. Each leg assembly measures 32 metre in length, 18 metre in height and weighs 285 ton. Of these, the heaviest structure of BF#8 has been erected successfully. One big 600 ton DEMAG crane and 2 nos 80 ton cranes were utilised for handling such a big structure.

Bf#8 furnace is a free- standing type furnace. The lower tower placed on 4 nos of poster columns would take the load of Bustle main, Back draught chimney, total top vertical Load of surrounding structures, super structures, charging system and utilities. This Paulwurth designed four poster column and tower structure, manufactured and erected by L&T is an improvement over the conventional Russian design of Mantle Ring supported structure and is being introduced for the first time in Bhilai Steel Plant.

Source: ISMW

April 26, 2012: Vedanta group firm Sesa Goa reported a decline of 20.50% in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,162.11 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, due to a slew of reasons like lower volumes, higher export duty and higher interest cost.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 1,461.76 crore during the corresponding quarter of 2010-11.

During the period under review, net sales of the company were also down by 22.59% to Rs 2,791.37 crore vis-a-vis Rs 3,605.92 crore reported during the same period of FY11, it said in a BSE filing.

The Goa-based iron ore miner said in a separate statement that it has received approvals of BSE, NSE and Competition Commission of India for the proposed merger of Sterlite Industries and other Vedanta group companies into it.

"The application of the company before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board is pending consideration," Sesa Goa said, adding that it has also sought approval of the relevant courts for the proposed merger.

The company has also accounted Rs 465.80 crore for its 20% stake in Cairn India, that was acquired last year for Rs 13,075 crore, it said. During the fourth quarter, Sesa Goa's cash profit declined by 51% to Rs 1,110 crore, while for the entire fiscal, it was lower by 43% to Rs 3,235 crore.

"The profit was lower on account of lower volume, higher export duty, reduced income from investments on account of lower cash balance, higher interest cost and foreign exchange losses," the company said.

For the full year 2011-12, Sesa Goa's net profit was down by 36% to Rs 2,695.50 crore, while its net sales declined by 10% to Rs 8,274.53 crore.

Production of iron ore in Q4 was lower by 11% at 4.9 million tons (mt). Production for the full year was 13.8 mt compared with 18.8 mt in the previous year. Volumes were lower primarily due to the Karnataka mining ban and discontinuation of Orissa operations.

Expansions of the pig iron capacity to 625 ktpa and metallurgical coke capacity to 560 ktpa are progressing well and will be commissioned in the current quarter, it added.

Source: ISMW

April 26, 2012: A consortium of four state-owned Indian companies - SAIL, Nalco, Hindustan Copper and Mineral Exploration Corp - has been shortlisted to invest in new gold and copper deposits in Afghanistan.
Two private players - Monnet Ispat & Energy and Jindal Steel & Power - have also made the cut, opening up the possibility of a public-private partnership for a strategic bid by the Indian metals majors.
The Indian companies are among the 25 chosen from 41 firms from the US, UK, Australia, Canada, UAE, Turkey and Afghanistan.
If a public-private partnership fructifies between Indian companies, it would be on the lines of AFISCO, the consortium of PSUs and private players which bagged the rights to explore nearly a billion tonnes of iron ore reserves in Afghanistan's Hajigak region.
Jindal Steel and Monnet Ispat, which were part of AFISCO, confirmed their selection on an individual basis for developing copper and gold deposits.
Negotiations, meanwhile, are on for the Hajigak iron ore deposits, bagged by AFISCO. "Talks are expected to be sealed by July," the Afghan official added.

Earlier this month, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma and senior officials had travelled to Kabul, and agreed to collaborate with Afghanistan to help exploit its vast untapped mineral riches.
Source: The Economic Times

April 26, 2012: Sesa Goa, a Vedanta Group company, already seeing erosion in profits due to a mining ban in Karnataka, is facing fresh trouble in Goa, with a stop-mining order on a petition from locals.

A sub-divisional magistrate (Bicholim) has directed immediate stopping of work at its Phase-III mines in Advalpal village (north Goa). Phase-I and -II mining operations in the area were stopped earlier. Sesa Goa sources 15 mt of ore from Goa annually. From Phase-III, it gets 200,000 tonnes of ore.

A Sesa Goa spokesperson declined to comment, saying the matter was in court. Goa Foundation, a non-government organisation, and the villagers had filed a complaint before the district administration at overflow of mining dumps into the drain passing through Advalpal village. The complaint was at Sesa Goa and another company, Lithoferro. The SDM has asked both companies to stop operations. Lithoferro has been told to pay the cost of rehabilitating the drain.

The case had gone to court in 2006 and the first notice to the companies was issued the same year. Subsequent notices asked for detailed technical reports. For the past three years, only Phase-III of the Sesa Goa project was allowed to operate.

While announcing its quarterly numbers, Sesa Goa said closure of operations in Karnataka due to the mining ban imposed by the Supreme Court last year had led to a decline of 27% in iron ore production in 2011-12. It reported a decline of 36% in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,695 crore for the year.

It said it had submitted rehabilitation & resettlement plan for its mine in Karnataka's Chitradurga district and expected mining operations in the state to begin soon.

Source: Business Standard

April 25, 2012: India's steel exports in March is estimated to have increased by 1.4% to 297,000 tons in March compared with 293,000 tons in February, according to provisional steel ministry data.
Exports in March this year, however, was lower by 22.3% compared with 382,000 tons of exports in March 2011, the data revealed.
According to the data, India's April 2011-March 2012 steel exports were up 11.1% to 4.04 million tons (mt) from 3.63 mt in the same period last year.
Source: ISMW

April 25, 2012: India's steel imports in March is estimated to have dropped by 21.1% to 546,000 tons in March compared with 692,000 tons in February, according to latest provisional steel ministry data.
The imports in February this year, however, increased 55.1% compared with 352,000 of imports in March 2011, the data revealed.
According to the data, India's April 2011-March 2012 steel imports were up by 2.4% to 6.82 million tons (mt) from 6.66 mt in the same period last year.
Source: ISMW

April 25, 2012: India's steel consumption is estimated to have increased by about 0.7% to 5.99 million tons (mt) in March compared with 5.95 mt consumed in February, according to provisional steel ministry data.
The consumption in March this year was 4% lower compared with 6.24 mt consumed in March 2011, the data revealed.
According to the data, India steel consumption in the April 2011-March 2012 period rose 6.8% to 70.91 mt from 66.42 mt in the same period last year.
Source: ISMW

April 25, 2012: India's finished steel production has risen by 3.8% to 6.36 million tons (mt) in March compared with 6.13 mt in February, according to provisional steel ministry data.
The output in March this year was marginally up by 2.3% compared with 6.22 mt produced in March 2011, the data revealed.
According to the data, India's output of finished steel during the April 2011-March 2012 period rose 7% from a year earlier to 73.41 mt from 68.62 mt in the same period last year.
Source: ISMW

April 25, 2012: India's crude steel production rose 3.5% in March to 6.25 million tons (mt) compared to 6.03 mt produced in February, provisional steel ministry data showed.
Detailed analysis of the data shows that SAIL's production rose 11.3% to 1.20 mt in March from 1.08 mt in February. RINL's production in March rose to 280,000 tons from 271,000 tons in February. Tata Steel's production in March rose 0.3% to 601,000 tons from 599,000 tons in February.
JSW Steel's production rose 6.3% to 627,000 tons in March from 590,000 tons in February, Essar's production rose 0.9% to 348,000 tons in March from 345,000 tons in February. However, JSPL's production rose 4.7% to 269,000 tons in March from 257,000 tons in February.
Production of secondary producers increased 2% to 2.73 mt in March from 2.68 mt in February.
Meanwhile, the April 2011-March 2012 production rose 4.4% to 73.79 mt from 70.67 mt in the same period last year, the data showed.
Source: ISMW

April 24, 2012: Naveen Jindal-led JSPL will invest over Rs 10,000 crore in 2012-13 to part-fund its Rs 2 lakh crore capex plan that aims to ramp up its steel making capacity to 18 million tons in five years.
"We will be spending more than Rs 10,000 crore in FY'13 to part finance the ongoing expansions in our company. We had invested around the same amount last fiscal," JSPL Dy Managing Director and CEO (Steel Business) V R Sharma told reporters.
JSPL produces around 4.5 million tons per annum (mtpa) at its Raigarh plant in Chhattisgarh. It is now setting up three steel facilities at Angul in Odisha, Patratu in Jharkhand and Raigarh to raise capacity to 18 mtpa.
Besides, it is setting up a 4,200 MW captive power plants in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The company is also investing Rs 45,000 crore in a Coal to Liquid project in Odisha.
Asked about financing the Rs 10,000 crore investment for the project, Sharma said the company was always maintaining a 2:1 debt-equity ratio for project funding.
Source: The Economic Times

April 24, 2012: The Supreme Court on April 20 allowed mining to restart in iron ore mines of more than 50 hectares in Karnataka state after their environmental plans are approved, potentially bringing 4.5 million tons per annum (mtpa) to local steel producers.
The move is likely to have little impact on exports, however, which remain stalled as Karnataka failed to implement the Supreme Court order that the export ban may be lifted.
India used to export about 100 mt a year of iron ore - half its production - but clampdowns on illegal mining and the federal government's desire to keep production for domestic steel mills has slashed that figure.
Now, the Karnataka state government will decide the amount of iron ore that each mine can produce up to a limit set by the Supreme Court, Dhiraj Kumar, one of the lawyers who represents appellant Mineral Enterprise Ltd, said.
This would be in addition to 1 mt that the Supreme Court has allowed state-run NMDC to mine every month.
The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) was optimistic the move could herald the resumption of mining throughout the state.
In 2011, the Supreme Court banned iron ore mining in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts of Karnataka citing environmental violations, and asked a federal government body to carry out an environmental impact assessment.
Last month, the court set a cap on annual iron ore output of 25 mt in Bellary, and of 5 mt altogether from Chitradurga and Tumkur districts.
The court has only allowed mines with low environmental violations to extract iron ore and the state government can now set limits within these caps.
Last week, the top court asked companies in Karnataka to push ahead with land clean-up for rehabilitation of affected people and reclamation.
Source: ISMW