September 1: Steel prices, which had been falling since May, could pick up from September 1, with companies prompted to raise price levels due to cost pressures.

August 31: With the stock of iron ore fines at its mining areas piling up with every passing day and impacting the mining operations, the state government owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) has decided to enter into long-term supply arrangements with the prospective buyers of these fines.

August 30, 2010: Iron-ore mining company Sesa Goa has finalised a blueprint to diversify into steelmaking with an investment of Rs 6000-9000 crore, in Orissa and Jharkand. The move is significant as the company is already under fire from shareholders for announcing a public offer to buy up to 20% stake in Cairn India.

August 30, 2010: Steel companies may hike prices by about Rs 1000/ton within a few days on pick up in demand after the end of monsoon.

August 27, 2010: Maruti Suzuki plans to invest Rs 1700 crore to set up a third production unit at Manesar in Haryana.

August 27, 2010: JSW Steel Ltd, India's No. 3 steel producer, expects to commission the first unit at its new plant at Vijaynagar, in Karnataka, in September, a top official said.

August 27, 2010: With a thrust on the retail customer, Essar Steel, global producer of steel, will increase its retail distribution network, Hypermart and Expressmarts in Kerala , a top official of the company said.

August 27, 2010: NMDC, the country's largest iron ore mining firm, is seeking foreign partners for its proposed steel plant in Karnataka, even as the project's feasibility report is yet to be written.

August 26, 2010: The Rs 450 crore KKN Group of companies, which has a presence in edible oils through the Tripti and Sunshine brands, has diversified into the steel sector. The group has acquired Balaji Ispat, a producer of mild steel ingots.

August 25, 2010: Navaratna Public Sector company Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is heading towards becoming a "global company" for its quality control, pricing, cost efficiency and cost effectiveness, SAIL chairman C.S. Verma said on August 24.

August 25, 2010: South Korean steelmaker Posco's Rs 54,000 crore integrated plant in Orissa may get the environment ministry's clearance by September end, a ministry official said.

August 23, 2010: Kolkata-based Maithan Alloys will be investing Rs 250 crore in setting up a ferro alloys plant in Vishakhapatnam. "The project, which will come up in a special economic zone, will double our total capacity by 120,000 tons," managing director, Subhash Agarwalla, said.

August 23, 2010: The Bolivian government has provided 3000 acres of additional land to Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel for its $2.1 billion steel and power plant in the south American country.

August 20, 2010: Even as Tata Steel rolls out its ambitious Industrial Park project at Gopalpur, on the coast of Ganjam in south Orissa, on August 21, the setting up of a desalination plant to overcome the water crisis there has become crucial for the success of the project.

August 20, 2010: Eight to 10 prospective anchor investors in sectors like engineering and downstream industries have evinced interest to invest on the Gopalpur Special Economic Zone (SEZ) being developed by Tata Steel on over 3000 acres of land.

August 20, 2010: Iron ore prices in Asia were up around 4 percent from a week ago on some buying in China and lower supplies in India, but the trade remained doubtful on concerns about steel oversupply, traders said.

August 19, 2010: The recent ban on iron ore exports and suspension of mineral despatch permits by the Karnataka government is likely to leave a Rs 2000 crore hole in the revenues of Indian Railways this year.

August 19, 2010: After a lull of nearly one and half decades, Tata Steel has finally geared up to put to use its 3200 acres of land lying idle at Gopalpur in Orissa. Playing the role of the anchor tenant for an industrial park proposed to come up on this patch of land, the company is all set to launch two projects: a 50,000 tons per annum ferroalloys plant and 40,000 tons per annum bar mill there.

August 19, 2010: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, is in talks with Chinese Wuhan Iron & Steel Group, to jointly develop overseas mining projects to gain more raw material resources and reduce cost risks, a media report said.

August 18, 2010: The Orissa government has achieved more than 25% of the mining revenue collection target in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year.

August 18, 2010: German engineering major Siemens on Monday said it has bagged a 10 million euro order from Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to supply an RH vacuum degassing plant to the Rourkela Steel plant.

August 18, 2010: Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said construction work of the
Rs 15,225 crore steel plant may commence by November-December this year and invited the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to inaugurate the same.

August 17, 2010: Tata Steel-owned Corus recently said that it will invest £185 million (Rs 1355 crore) in the No. 4 blast furnace at Port Talbot steelworks in Wales, that will increase capacity by 4,00,000 tons per year.

August 17, 2010: Jindal Steel & Power has secured over three-fourths of the land required to build its $2.1 billion steel and power plant in Bolivia that allows it to kickstart the delayed project, according to sources with direct knowledge of the development.

August 16, 2010: Leading steel-maker Tata Steel's domestic manufacturing capacity will jump three-fold to 21 million tons per annum (mtpa) following the expansion of its Jamshedpur project and Orissa and Chattisgarh's greenfield units becoming operational. The current manufacturing capacity of Tata Steel stands at 7 mtpa.

August 13, 2010: The country's largest iron ore producer, NMDC, has acquired the entire private land required for its proposed Rs 15,000 crore steel plant at Jagdalpur, headquarters of the Bastar division.

August 13, 2010: India has to raise its steel production by 208% to meet the need for 200 million tons (mt) by 2020 from the present 65 mt.

August 12, 2010: Nine mining companies, including India's largest iron ore exporter, Sesa Goa, have filed separate petitions and another half dozen are in various stages of approaching the court next week, to challenge the Karnataka government's abrupt decision to ban export of the steel-making raw material from the state.

August 12, 2010: State-owned SAIL has slashed its proposed investment by almost half to about Rs 35,000 crore for setting up a steel plant along with a urea unit in Jharkhand.

August 12, 2010: The Environment Ministry may clear Korean steel major Posco's Rs 54,000 crore steel project in Orissa in a month's time, a senior Government official said. The ministry had stopped the state government from providing 2959 acres of forest land citing violation of environment protection laws.

August 11, 2010: Uttam Galva Steels, said on August 10 that it has hiked the prices of its galvanised steel products by Rs 500/ton.

August 2, 2010: The country's largest steel-maker, SAIL, sees steel prices firming up on the back of demand from construction and automobile firms and may revise the rates for its products in the next few months.

August 10, 2010: As part of its Rs 70,000 crore expansion programme, SAIL commissioned a Rs 39.4 crore unit at its Salem steel plant.

August 9, 2010: Steel Exchange India Limited (SEIL) is planning to invest about Rs 1500 crore over the next five years to augment its steel production capacity to 1 mt by 2015. The company on Saturday commenced production at its Rs 300 crore integrated steel plant at Kothavalasa in Vizianagaram district.

August 9, 2010: The country's largest steelmaker SAIL will invest Rs 1500 crore to develop its domestic coking coal mines as it looks to reduce dependence on the import of the key input, which has been a prime cause of volatility in steel prices.

August 9, 2010: The Rs 52,000 crore Posco project, on August 6, received a fresh setback when the Union environment ministry asked the state government to stop all work related to it, including land acquisition, as it violated forest-rights law.

August 9, 2010: SAIL Chairman C.S. Verma has outlined a strategy to transform the steel PSU so that it can successfully compete with global peers in the industry.

August 6, 2010: A slow demand recovery resulting in extreme prices pulled down the performance of the steel companies in the first quarter. The bottomline of the steel companies--Bhushan Steel, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), Steel Authority of India (SAIL), JSL --improved marginally by 1.51% only.

August 6, 2010: JSW Steel, the country's largest private sector steel maker by domestic capacity, on Thursday said its output in July rose by 4% to 5.20 lakh tons on the back of rising demand for its products.

August 5, 2010: Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), the flagship entity of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL), is planning to set up a pellet plant based on fines of Dalli-Rajhara iron ore deposit in Durg district of Chhattisgarh.

August 5, 2010: Kolkata-based Shyam Steel Industries has announced the takeover of majority shares in Beekay Steel, which owns a medium scale steel plant in Barbil, Orissa,

August 5, 2010: JSW Steel on August 4 ruled out any increase in product prices for August, stating that the demand scenario does not warrant change.

August 5, 2010: The world's biggest steel producer, Europe-based ArcelorMittal, is interested in buying into Brazil's MMX Miner to bolster its iron ore supplies, Brazilian media reported on August 4.

August 4, 2010: The Karnataka government's move to ban the export of iron ore as well as suspension of permits to transport iron ore for export from the mines, to curb illegal exports, has had a ripple effect in the state.

August 4, 2010: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) hopes to stitch up a joint venture with Japan's Kobe Steel within the next six months. The two companies are in talks to set up a 0.5 million tons (mt) greenfield steel plant in India using Kobe Steel's pioneering new steel-making technology.

August 3, 2010: The timing of Corus buy was not right, Tata Sons director J J Irani said, when asked about the $12-billion acquisition that catapulted Tata Steel to the world's sixth-largest steel manufacturer.

August 3, 2010: Tata Steel has suspended work on Mount Nimba, West Africa's largest iron ore deposit. Rich in unique endemic species of fauna, Mount Nimba is classified as a 'Strict Nature Reserve'.

August 3, 2010: Tata Steel is in advanced talks with Thailand's Sahaviriya Steel Industries for the sale of its UK based Teesside plant, two sources with direct knowledge of the deal revealed.

August 2, 2010: Steel imports for the year 2009-10 have risen by 25%. This is according to the provisional figures released by the Joint Plant Committee. As compared to 5.839 mt of steel imports in 2008-09, the figure shot up to 7.296 mt last year.

August 2, 2010: The country's largest steel-maker, SAIL, sees steel prices firming up on the back of demand from construction and automobile firms and may revise the rates for its products in the next few months.

August 2, 2010: The world's largest steel-maker, ArcelorMittal, has achieved its target of saving $3 billion in 2010 through various cost-cutting measures in the first half of the year itself.

August 2, 2010: India should touch steel production of 100 million tons by 2015, Tata Sons Ltd director Jamshed J. Irani said on July 31.

July 30, 2010: The move by the Karnataka government to ban iron ore exports from its 10 ports to contain illegal mining is snowballing into a major controversy with the exporters.

July 30, 2010: State-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) today registered an 11.5% fall in first-quarter net profit at Rs 1,177 crore due to higher input costs, lower sales and increased cost on employees.

July 30, 2010: Pinning hopes on developing economies for its future growth, ArcelorMittal has said that it expects to start work on one of its Rs 1.3 lakh crore India projects in early 2011.

July 29, 2010: Steel behemoth ArcelorMittal is planning to study a spinoff of its stainless steel unit to present shareholders. This will allow the business to pursue growth, believes the company, according to a Reuters report.

July 29, 2010: The Orissa government today halted the land acquisition process for the proposed Rs 51,000-crore steel plant near here, to be developed by Korean company Posco, after facing stiff opposition from villagers.

July 29, 2010: Iron ore exporters are increasingly looking at the domestic market as demand for the ore witnessed decline on the back of sluggish demand from China, one of the major buyers of Indian ore.

July 29, 2010: Iron ore miners in Karnataka are adopting a wait-and-watch approach over the Karnataka government's reported move to ban exports from ports in the state.

July 29, 2010: Setting aside its long standing dispute with Rio Tinto over formation of a billion dollar joint venture to mine iron ore in the state, Orissa government today said it was considering a fresh agreement with the global mining major.

July 28, 2010: The world's fourth largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel, reported improved earnings for the fifth consecutive quarter. However, the company expressed concern over its slow growth in China, as per a recent Reuters report. The steep decline in prices in China is forcing steelmakers to slash output.

July 28, 2010: The Orissa government today began land acquisition for the proposed Rs 51,000 crore Posco steel project in Jagathsinghpur district, even as a central team termed the process as "illegal" saying that the Forest Rights Act had been violated.

Mining major NMDC Ltd is planning to invest $400 million for acquisition of two coking coal mines from Russia's Kolmar region. According to a report from Reuters, a company official said that its representatives have already inspected the mines and work is on in this direction.

July 27, 2010: Karnataka has banned export of iron ore from the 10 ports in the State. This would effective from Monday. Announcing the decision, the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa, said, "The State has stopped issue of permits for movement of iron ore in the State except for captive purpose."

July 27, 2010: India's largest iron ore producer NMDC Limited is planning to adopt the ITmk3 technology to create a 400,000 tons capacity sponge iron unit at Palwancha in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh.

July 27, 2010: State-owned KIOCL Ltd, an exporter of iron ore pellets, is all set to acquire Hospet-based Tungabhadra Steel Products Ltd (TSPL), a sick PSU engaged in the business of structural fabrication, for an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore.

July 27, 2010: JFE Steel Corp, the world's fifth-biggest steelmaker, said it had no plans to further raise its stake in India's JSW Steel Ltd above 14.99%.

July 27, 2010: Leading steel producer Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has started reviving erstwhile Malvika Steel Ltd (MSL) renamed Jagdishpur SAIL Unit (JSU) by laying the foundation stone of a TMT Bar Mill of 1.5 lakh ton per annum (TPA) capacity today.

July 26, 2010: NRI billionaire L N Mittal-led ArcelorMittal has paid Rs 600 crore to the Karnataka government for land in Bellary, state Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said on July 24.

July 26, 2010: The Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG) will hold a national-level competition which seeks to recognise and reward talented students of civil and structural engineering in India for excellence and innovation in structural steel design.

July 23, 2010: The high cost of power has forced several ferro alloy units in West Bengal to cut down on their production, the present capacity utilisation being around 55 to 60 percent.

July 23, 2010: ArcelorMittal South Africa, a unit of the world's biggest steelmaker, reached a stop-gap agreement to buy ore from Kumba Iron Ore over the next year at about half of recent market prices.

July 23, 2010: JSW Steel has announced that it will consider a share sale to a strategic investor to raise long-term funds.

July 22, 2010: Visakhapatnam Steel Plant plans to spend Rs 418 crore on developing a new iron-ore storage yard with a capacity of 600,000 tons. P K Bishnoi, chairman and managing director, VSP, inaugurated the structural erection work for the new yard on July 21.

July 22, 2010: KIOCL Ltd, a Union steel ministry undertaking, has selected a joint venture (JV) partner for setting up an integrated steel unit with a capacity of five million tons per annum (mtpa).

July 22, 2010: Aiming to diversify into steel making, the country's largest iron ore exporter Sesa Goa targets to buy land for the proposed plant in Jharkhand this financial year.

July 21, 2010: Kobe Steel of Japan, which has signed an MoU with NMDC Ltd for setting up an iron nugget plant in Andhra Pradesh, is keen to expand the scope of the relationship with India's largest iron ore producing company, it is learnt.

July 21, 2010: Cabinet secretary K. M. Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday he was not aware of any plan to hike export duty on iron ore.

July 21, 2010: Tata Steel, the world's seventh largest steel producer, expects coal production from its joint venture project in Mozambique to touch 5.3 million tons (mt) by 2011.

July 21, 2010: The world's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal is understood to be jointly working with its domestic partner Uttam Galva for setting up a Rs 15,000 crore steel plant in Maharashtra.

July 21, 2010: As part of its Rs 70,000 crore expansion programme, state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) today commissioned a newly renovated unit at its Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL).

July 20, 2010: India's leading iron ore miner NMDC Ltd plans to buy iron ore mines abroad to expand capacity and secure supply of the steel making raw material in future, chairman Rana Som told Steel Insights Daily on July 19.

July 20, 2010: Indian state-run iron ore miner NMDC Ltd is signing new domestic price contracts independent of international prices and will review its recently evolved quarterly pricing system next year, chairman Rana Som told Steel Insights Daily on July 19.

July 20, 2010: Kolkata-based Icore Group with interests in steel making, cement, gems and jewellery apparel and paints, would invest Rs 5,000 crore in Orissa setting up a 1.8 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel plant and a cement crushing unit with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per day.

July 20, 2010: India's leading iron ore miner NMDC Ltd plans to raise output to 51 million tons per annum by 2014-15, chairman Rana Som told Steel Insights Daily on July 19.

July 19, 2010: Tata Steel, India's largest producer of the alloy, said it had sold its entire stake in Malaysia's Southern Steel Berhad for $72 million (Rs 335 crore) as part of a reorganisation process.

July 19, 2010: Tata Steel expects a sharp rise in steel prices during the current fiscal on the back of the economic recovery and strong performance by consumer industries like infrastructure and automobiles.

July 19, 2010: Vardhaman Textiles Ltd said on Monday it will spin off its steel business and merge it with its unit, Vardhaman Special Steels Ltd.

July 19, 2010: India has no current proposal to curb iron ore exports, a senior government official said on Monday, responding to steel ministry officials' calls for preserving the key resource for local steelmakers.

July 15, 2010: Trains in neighbouring Sri Lanka will chug on the rails produced by the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) the flagship entity of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

July 15, 2010: The Jagatsinghpur district administration has formed three special teams to remove encroachers from the government land in the Posco project site after paying them compensation as per the provisions of the package announced recently.

July 15, 2010: In a major setback to the Rs 54,000-crore Posco steel project, the Orissa High Court today set aside the state government's recommendation for providing a prospecting licence to the company for Khandadhar iron ore mines in Sundergarh district.

July 12, 2010: Tata Steel is hopeful of passing on the recent price hike by iron ore companies to its clients, according to its vice-chairman B. Muthuraman. However, he declined to indicate the percentage of the proposed increase in prices and the tentative time by when it was likely to implement the same.

July 12, 2010: Hundreds of contract labourers locked the main gate of the Essar Steel project site in Paradip on Friday, demanding the fulfillment of their long-standing, eight-point charter of demands.

July 9, 2010: Passenger vehicle sales in the country is likely to grow at 12-13 percent in the current fiscal, according to the outlook given by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

July 9, 2010: China's drive to consolidate its fragmented steel sector is set to forge a handful of global giants, turning up the heat on top producers including ArcelorMittal and enabling it play hardball with material suppliers such as Rio Tinto.

July 8, 2010: With torrential rains slowing down construction activity in the northern region, prices of steel in Punjab have softened by Rs 500-700 a ton in the past four days.

July 8, 2010: The steel ministry has proposed to bring imports of hot-rolled (HR) coils under the restricted list to curb the flurry of imports from China, a senior ministry official said.

July 1, 2010: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, is likely to be the first among 53 steel companies that signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government a month ago to secure captive iron ore mines in Karnataka.

July 1, 2010: The Jagatsinghpur district administration has decided to submit the detailed report on socio-economic, forest and horticulture survey of the proposed Posco steel plant conducted in eight villages including the trouble torn Dhinkia village to the state government on July 1.

July 1, 2010: Bhushan Steel has raised $300 million in foreign currency. SBI Caps is the bank which arranged for the funds.

July 1, 2010: There appears to be no let-up from a weak steel market. Producers are contemplating downward price adjustments for July, though some think they can manage.

June 28, 2010: Iron ore spot price, which had fallen to around $95 per metric ton six months ago, is currently trading at $153 and expected to go up, thanks to the price fixed by the three big daddies -- BHP, Rio Tinto and Vale -- with Chinese steel mills for the September quarter expected to be 12% higher from the preceding quarter.

June 28, 2010: Ruias-led Essar Steel on Monday said that it has acquired UK-based Servosteel, marking its first- ever buyout in that country.

June 28, 2010: The government today said the country's total vehicle export is likely to increase by up to 15 per cent in the current fiscal, as demand from Europe is expected to rise.

June 21, 2010: Rourkela Steel Plant has exported a consignment of 2700 tons of plate mill plates yesterday to Dubai against an order placed by M/S Stemeor MESADMCC of Dubai.

June 18, 2010: Nearly five years after fierce opposition by the local people, the state government officials on June 17, 2010 succeeded to carry out socio-economic survey work at the 12-million ton Posco steel project site at Kujang near Paradip in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district.

June 18, 2010: Jindal Steel & Power has got three years extension to begin constructing its $2.1 billion steel plant in Bolivia as against the original deadline of 2010, said a person with direct knowledge of the development.

June 18, 2010: Given the rush of investment proposals from steel firms to set up plants in Karnataka and their requirement for captive iron ore mines, the state government is likely to fulfill only half their demand.

June 17, 2010: The sponge iron units in West Bengal are in peril. Non-availability of iron ore has rendered more than 200 units unviable, putting 2,00,000 jobs at risk.

June 17, 2010: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, is eyeing a stake in the Kolkata-based steel and wire producer, Ramsarup Industries.

June 18, 2010: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) will require 2.8 lakh tons of ferro alloy in 2010-11, the executive director (MM), Dr A. Dhawan, told Steel Insights Daily today.

June 18, 2010: India may bring the import of silico manganese (SiMn), an important input in steel making, under the "unrestricted" category of imports to make available larger quantity of the material to domestic steel makers.

June 16, 2010: NMDC Ltd., a state-run Indian iron- ore producer, may increase prices "only slightly" for local steel mills this quarter as the country seeks to curb inflation.

June 16, 2010: Tata Motors group sales, comprising Tata, Tata Daewoo and Hispano Carrocera, Tata passenger vehicles and Jaguar and Land Rover, grew by 50 per cent in May to 79,819 units, compared to the same month last year.

June 15, 2010: ArcelorMittal said its Czechoslovakian operations -- ArcelorMittal Ostrava -- has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of itself.

June 15, 2010: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) will enhance its production capacity of value-added steel required by the power sector and expand its global presence through mergers and acquisitions, company's new chairman CS Verma said.

June 15, 2010: At last there is some hope for the world's fourth largest steel company, Posco after five long year wait for its proposed 12-million ton steel plant near Paradip with chief minister, Naveen Patnaik meeting anti-Posco agitators here on Sunday evening.

June 11, 2010: World number one steelmaker ArcelorMittal has restarted work on two West African iron ore projects after suspending them last year, the firm said.

June 11, 2010: Ormo village, some 8 km from Petarwar in Bokaro district, will not be forgotten in a hurry by global steel czar LN Mittal.

June 10, 2010: Egypt's Industrial Development Authority has given ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, an August deadline to start building work on a steel plant near the Red Sea or lose its licence, an official said.

June 10 2010:India's steel consumption rose 12 percent in May, the fastest in at least one year, backed by strong demand from automobile, consumer durable
and infrastructure sectors, as per the provisional data of the steel ministry.

June 10, 2010: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the flagship company of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), and NMDC held discussions for setting up a pellet plant through joint venture.

June 10, 2010: The Orissa government is likely to renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South Korean steel major Posco for its 12 million ton, Rs 54,000 crore steel plant in Orissa with incorporation of a clause on giving priority to locals in employment.

June 10, 2010: Iron ore output has dropped nearly 36 percent a day since early June at a key mine run by the state-owned National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), after night freight trains were suspended to avoid Maoist attacks, sources said.

June 9, 2010: The steel ministry has proposed to introduce stricter norms for iron ore exports

June 9, 2010: Jindal Infrastructure Limited which proposed

June 8, 2010: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, today said it has appointed Daniel Fairclough

June 8, 2010: JSW Steel posted 23 per cent on-year growth in its May steel production to 565,000 tons, up from 459,000 tons produced in the same period a year earlier.

June 8, 2010: Leading steel maker Tata Steel has raised its holding in Canadian miner New Millennium Capital to 27 percent, the Indian company said.

June 7, 2010: Bhushan Steel has decided to raise funds worth $500 million from the market to finance the company's greenfield projects.

June 07, 2010: Strong economic growth could boost steel demand in Asia by 9 per cent annually in the coming years, an executive with Tata Steel said on Monday.

June 3, 2010: The Karnataka Government has said that ArcelorMittal is willing to offer stake in its Rs 30,000-crore steel project to farmers whose land will be acquired for the project.

June 3, 2010: Indian Railways has decided to increase the freight charges for iron ore for exports by an additional Rs 300 a ton.

June 2, 2010: SAIL is confident that it would soon get to mine iron ore from Chiria reserves in Jharkhand, although other steel majors like ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel are eying a share in it.

June 2, 2010: The state-owned steel major SAIL on Tuesday cut prices of its products by up to Rs 1500 a ton in line with the softening global trend and the slackening demand scenario in the domestic market.

June 2, 2010: Tata Motors on Wednesday inaugurated the world's cheapest car, the Nano's, manufacturing facility here, nearly two years after it was forced to shift the plant out of West Bengal over a land row.

May 31, 2010: A high level committee headed by the Development Commissioner, Orissa government, has suggested technological mix for production of steel in the state.

May 31, 2010: ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steel producer, has planned a foray into power generation in India.

May 31, 2010: State-owned NMDC today said that it has concluded a pact with South Korean and Japanese steel mills to supply them iron ore at prices that are higher by as much as 99 percent over the previous rate.

May 31, 2010: State-owned NMDC today said that it has concluded a pact with South Korean and Japanese steel mills to supply them iron ore at prices that are higher by as much as 99 percent over the previous rate.

May 31, 2010: State-run steel major SAIL and Korean giant Posco Steel, which are jointly working to set up a steel plant in Jharkhand, are in talks for another specialised mill to meet the rising demand from electrical industry, steel secretary Atul Chaturvedi said here today.

May 31, 2010: Tata Steel finally on Friday succeeded to lay the foundation stone of the plant at Ambagadia in Kalinganagar, 120 km from here after a long wait of five years.

May 31, 2010: Uttam Galva Steel, the domestic partner of the world's largest steel-maker ArcelorMittal, said on Sunday that it will commission the Wardha unit by June-end.

May 31, 2010: At least 35 sponge iron plants and 46 Induction Furnace (IF) units in the state remain shut down pushing the fate of over 50,000 workers into uncertainty.

May 31, 2010: SAIL has advised MNCs Posco and ArcelorMittal to be patient and not be distracted by hurdles in doing business here.

May 31, 2010: Steel prices may fall further by another Rs 1,000 a ton in June due to a softening global trend originating from the financial crisis in Europe and demand slowdown ahead of the monsoons, an official said today.

May 28, 2010: Tata Steel has entered into a letter of intent (LoI) to increase its stake in Canadian mining company New Millennium Capital Corp to 27.4percent, a move aimed at buffering its European operations from the volatility in raw material prices to some extent.

May 28, 2010: The share of Asian operations increased to 37 percent of Tata Steel group's crude steel production in 2009-10 compared to 30 percent in the previous year.

May 27, 2010: The acquisition of iron mines in Madagascar by Chinese companies is unlikely to affect Indian ore exports to China, as the bulk of Indian exports consist of high quality ore, which is only available in Australia and Brazil, besides India.

May 21, 2010: Global steel manufacturer Arcelor Mittal's plant in Karnataka, at an investment of Rs 32,000 crore, would soon become a reality as the firm has already deposited money for land acquisition, major industries minister Murugesh Nirani said.

May 21, 2010: In a major development pertaining to the Rs 51,000-crore greenfield project proposed by Posco in Jagatsinghpur district, the Orissa government today asked the South Korean company not to insist on 300 acres of private land in Dhinkia village.

May 21, 2010: Jindal Steel and Power will acquire Oman steel maker Shadeed Iron and Steel for $464 million as a reviving local economy and strong growth prospects give a confidence boost to India Inc in the global M&A arena.

May 21, 2010: NMDC, Asia's third-largest iron ore miner, plans to seek price increases of "at least" 90 percent and quarterly contracts from steelmakers in Japan and South Korea, following biggest global exporter Vale.

May 20, 2010: The Steel Ministry will push for a further increase in export duty of iron ore if there is a need.

May 20, 2010: Mining industries in Goa are mulling the possibility of setting up a network of conveyor belts to transport ore from the mining pits to the port from where it is exported, an industry insider said.

May 20, 2010: State-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) on May 19, floated the idea of combining the resources of all the industry players to create a "war chest" for "big ticket" buyouts of mines abroad.

May 20, 2010: Jindal Steel & Power said its unit has agreed to acquire Oman's Shadeed Iron & Steel Co LLC for $464 million including liabilities of $79 million.

May 20, 2010: The government said it was working on a technical collaboration between state-owned SAIL and Japan's Nippon Steel for training the PSU's staff working on a Rs 70,000-crore capacity expansion programme.

May 20, 2010: Ruias-led Essar Steel said it will commission the first phase of its Rs 13,000-crore expansion project by the end of next month.

May 20, 2010: Visa Steel and China's Baosteel Resources are discussing a host of projects, apart from the ongoing ferro chrome at Kalinganagar in Orissa.

May 18, 2010: Leading PSU steel maker Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is flooded with opportunities by both domestic as well as global steel majors for jointly setting up steel making units.

May 18, 2010: The chairman of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), S.K. Roongta, yesterday said that till now there have been no clear signs of dumping of steel to India, but there has been a significant jump in steel import to the country in the month of April.

May 17, 2010: The chairman of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), S.K. Roongta, on May 17 said there is no reason for further hike in coking coal contract price for second quarter of 2010-11.

May 17, 2010: The activists of the United Action Committee, a purportedly pro-Posco outfit active in the Posco steel project site near Paradip, have threatened to oppose the project if the district administration deploys police force in the 'peace zone' of the project area.

May 17, 2010: Anticipating a mid-term spike in demand as the steel sector recovers from the slowdown, Graphite India said that it has revised the electrode capacity expansion plan at its Durgapur facility from 10,500 tons to 20,000 tons.

May 17, 2010: Leading steel maker Jindal Steel and Power said last week that it has aborted discussions with UAE-based Al Ghaith Holdings for an estimated $500 million buy out of its assets in Oman citing many 'issues'.

May 17, 2010: Delhi-based Bhushan Steel will wait till June for a favourable response from the West Bengal government on its proposed six million ton steel plant in the Asansol-Durgapur belt of Bardhaman.

May 10, 2010: Bolivia has said that the multi-billion dollar contract it signed with India's Jindal Steel to develop an iron ore mine has not been rescinded, but the steel company would have to pay a penalty for not fulfilling the terms of the agreement.

May 7, 2010: Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL)'s joint venture with the Bolivian government to develop the El Mutun iron ore deposit could collapse and the Indian company may have to pay a fine of $800 million, according to media reports.

May 7, 2010: The proposed joint venture between state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and the South Korean steelmaker POSCO is likely to be finalised by the month-end.

May 7, 2010: Zimbabwe has rejected bids for the takeover of state steel maker ZISCO from ArcelorMittal's South Africa and India's Jindal Steel and Power Ltd in a move that could slow a drive to attract foreign investment.

May 7, 2010: World Steel Dynamics, a leading steel information services provider, has ranked state-owned steelmaker SAIL second in its list of world-class steelmakers, giving the company the right exposure ahead of its globalisation drive and its forthcoming public issue.

May 5, 2010: Aiming to raise Rs 40,000 crore from disinvestment, the government today said it will sell its stake in 10 more PSUs, including IndianOil, MMTC, Coal India Ltd, SAIL, RINL and Shipping Corporation, in the current financial year.

May 5, 2010: The government has started legal proceedings against 10 iron ore mining firms, which are part of larger companies, for providing inaccurate production and pricing figures.

May 3, 2010: The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) will start the construction work for its 3-million tons per annum (mtpa) integrated steel plant in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh in October this year.

May 3, 2010: Unperturbed by its rival Posco's steel joint venture with state-run Sail, world's number one steel maker ArcelorMittal today said it too was in talks with the public sector company but only that it was not in a race.

May 3, 2010: To step up land acquisition for the proposed Tata Steel plant in Bastar, the Chhattisgarh government has come out with a proposal to give subsistence allowance to the villagers losing their land to the project.

May 3, 2010: JSW Steel today said its consolidated net profit stood at Rs 611 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010.

April 30, 2010: The government has raised the export duty on iron ore lumps to 15 percent from 10 percent previously, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Parliament, a move that could shrink China's procurement from India.

April 30, 2010: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, forecast a sharp recovery in demand and prices in all main markets in the second quarter after its core earnings in the first three months missed expectations.

April 30, 2010: Navin Jindal-owned Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) is close to acquiring Oman-based Shadeed Iron & Steel for nearly $500 million, three persons with direct knowledge of the development said.

April 30, 2010: L.N. Mittal-led ArcelorMittal said that it expects to start work on its India projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore later this year.

April 30, 2010: Steel major ArcelorMittal is in discussions with customers on about how it can pass on some of the huge increase in raw material costs it is expecting, starting in the current quarter, as iron ore producers transition to a new pricing model.

April 29, 2010: Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) and Australian coal miner Rocklands Richfield (RCI) plan to form a 50:50 joint venture company to develop a coal-brick project at Raigarh in Chhattisgarh.

April 29, 2010: The country's largest stainless steel maker JSL reported a net profit of Rs 117.72 crore for the fourth quarter ending March 2010 on improved sales.

April 29, 2010: The Rs 500-crore auto component manufacturing industry in Kanpur is witnessing signs of a sustained upturn for the last one year.

April 26, 2010: The country's largest car producer Maruti Suzuki plans to scale up its production by at least 70,000 units in this year to meet the production demand, a top company official said last week.

April 26, 2010: India may have become the second fastest growing auto market in the world but the country's automotive industry is up against the problem of lack of skilled manpower that can hamper its growth, according to consultancy firm Ernst & Young.

April 26, 2010: JSW Steel Ltd, India's No 3 producer of the alloy, is seen turning to profit in the Jan-March quarter, mirroring its Asian peers, boosted by robust demand and better realisations.

April 23, 2010: The government said that it was not worried about the current level of steel prices and it did not expect extreme volatility in the coming months.

April 23, 2010: On steady revival in steel demand in the US market, JSW Steel on Thursday said it has increased the capacity utilisation of its two mills in that country to 40 percent.

April 23, 2010: LN Mittal led steel major ArcelorMittal has proposed a joint venture company with India's largest steel company Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to set up an integrated steel plant near the latter's existing steel making facility at Bokaro in Jharkhand.

April 23, 2010: In a move designed to curb iron ore exports, the Government is set to increase the tax on iron ore exports.

April 22, 2010: Downplaying the apprehensions of China banning low quality iron ore, Vedanta Resources group firm, Sesa Goa today said that they have not come across any notification speaking of restrain or ban.

April 22, 2010: Global steel demand will grow 10.7 percent in 2010, faster than expected six months ago, on increasing demand from China and other emerging economies, the World Steel Association (WSA) said.

April 21, 2010: New Mangalore Port in its endeavour to diversify cargo handling operations got a shot in the arm with the handling of 10,000 tons of steel coil imported from China in M V Alameda that berthed at the deep draught berth of the port here on April 14.

April 21, 2010: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, is eyeing another strategic buy in India.

April 21, 2010: The steel ministry may be losing sleep over the steel price rise, but it's the mining companies that are riding the profit boom.

April 21, 2010: Vedanta Resources group firm Sesa Goa on Tuesday said its net profit for the fourth quarter of the last fiscal surged to Rs 1,215.11 crore on account of strong demand for the mineral from countries like China.

April 21, 2010: Tata Steel is continuing efforts alongside European unit Corus to find a solution for the Teesside plant in northern England and remained open for offers from third parties, Tata said on Tuesday.

April 21, 2010: Iron ore miners may end up regretting a hard-won fight to establish spot-market pricing as the industry benchmark if a barrage of new mine production turns today's supply deficit into tomorrow's glut.

April 19, 2010: The government is meeting leading steel producers next Thursday to take stock of steel production, demand and prices in the country.

April 19, 2010: Iron ore prices could almost double in the next few months as the country's largest miner is planning a steep hike in prices for the new fiscal.

April 19, 2010: Tata Steel's European arm Corus today said it is looking at the European market for supplying longer 108-metre rails to tap the growing demand for high-speed rail lines.

April 16, 2010: Homegrown auto major Tata Motors today said its global sales increased by 39 per cent in March to 1,01,712 units on robust demand for both commercial and passenger vehicles.

April 16, 2010: State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is in talks with South Korean steel major Posco and Japan's Kobe Steel for technology tie-ups to jointly set up steel plants, Parliament was informed today.

April 16, 2010: Japan's JFE is in advanced talks to buy a small stake in JSW Steel as the debt-laden Indian steelmaker turns to its former rival for cash to implement ambitious expansion plans and take on other global and domestic rivals.

April 14, 2010: Bolivia warned India's steelmaker Jindal on Tuesday to stick to terms of a multibillion-dollar contract it signed to develop the El Mutun iron deposit or withdraw from the project.

April 14, 2010: Bajaj Auto Ltd's four-wheeler project, a joint venture with Nissan and Renault, at Chakan in Pune seems to have hit a roadblock, as the company has not been able to acquire enough land.

April 14, 2010: With most European countries withdrawing their earlier incentives for buying new cars, India could see flat growth in exports of passenger cars in 2010-11, as compared to the last financial year.

April 14, 2010: Domestic steel prices are expected to remain at the current level during 2010-11, a top steel ministry official said, adding that any upward movement in the rates of the commodity would erode the rising demand.

April 14, 2010: POSCO's stronger 2010 steel sales will be eroded by rising costs and global monetary tightening, offsetting firm demand from appliance and auto makers and keeping earnings at similar levels to the first quarter.

April 13, 2010: The efforts of Tata Steel, planning to set up a 6 million ton integrated steel project at Kalinganagar, to better the quality of life of the rehabilitated families, known as Tata Steel Paribar, in Jajpur district has started yielding results.

April 13, 2010: Tata Steel is to form a committee to undertake a social audit of its Kalinganagar project in Orissa, in a bid to counter allegations on the negative impact of industrialisation.

April 13, 2010: Tata Steel will kick off the development works on its proposed multi-purpose Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project near Gopalpur in south Orissa's Ganjam district, once the SEZ is notified.

April 13, 2010: Essar Steel Holdings (ESHL), the parent company of Essar Steel, is planning to raise $500 million this month through sale of foreign bonds, according to investment bankers familiar with the development.

April 13, 2010: Domestic steel prices are expected to remain at the current level during 2010-11, a top steel ministry official said, adding that any upward movement in the rates of the commodity would erode the rising demand.

April 13, 2010: Leading steel producer Tata Steel has ended the 2009-10 fiscal year on an upbeat note.

April 13, 2010: On the back of strong economic growth and optimistic outlook of the end users segment, Tata Steel forecasts HRC price for 2010-11 to be in the band of $620 to $660 per ton cfr Mumbai, up from the estimated price of $420 to $600 per ton for 2009-10.

April 13, 2010: Tata Steel will enter into a joint venture with Nippon Steel in the next two to three months.

April 13, 2010: Tata Steel expects to see improvement in its production and sales in the coming year.

April 13, 2010: Tata Steel is yet to finalise its coking coal contract for the accounting period starting April 1, 2010.

April 12, 2010: SAIL and South Korea's Posco may seal a deal by the end of next month to set up an estimated Rs 15,000 crore steel plant in Jharkhand with the government offering all support to expedite the project.

April 12, 2010: Sesa Goa Ltd, the country's largest iron ore exporter, is worried as China's iron ore trading association banned imports with less that 60 percent iron content.

April 12, 2010: Delhi-based Bhushan Steel's cold rolling project at Sankrail in West Bengal appears to have hit a roadblock as land prices have hit the roof.

April 12, 2010: Tata Steel, the world's eighth largest steelmaker, expects demand for steel in India to rise 10 to 12 percent in 2010-11, managing director H.M. Nerurkar, said today.

April 9, 2010: Private equity firm CX Partners has bought an 8 percent stake in steel company Monnet Ispat for Rs 150 crore from the secondary market, its first investment since launch in August 2008.

April 9, 2010: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved disinvestment in Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to mop up an estimated Rs 16,000 crore.

April 9, 2010: KIOCL Ltd, a 100 percent export-oriented unit under the Ministry of Steel and Mines, has dropped plans to go with a private firm for setting up a Rs 330 crore ductile iron spun pipe (DISP) plant in Mangalore as part of its diversification programme.

April 8, 2010: Ruchi Group has signed an agreement with Japanese conglomerate Mitsui to form a joint venture for setting up steel service centres across the country to cater to automotive, white goods and construction sector.

April 08, 2010: Long-term prices with Japanese Steel Mills (JSM), with weighted spot prices and quarterly variations, is likely to be the basis of the new pricing formula of the state-owned mining giant, NMDC.

April 8, 2010: Steel major, JSW Steel, said it has earmarked a capex of Rs 7,000-crore for the current financial year and plans to increase capacity of its Bellary plant in Karnataka from 7-million tons to 10-million tons by end-this fiscal.

April 8, 2010: Hit by the ban on loading and unloading of iron ore in certain goods sheds in Orissa, the Indian Railways had stated that the State Government should devise a "practical mechanism" to stop loading of illegally mined ore.

April 7, 2010: Top Indian steel makers including Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Tata Steel and Essars saw up to 15% increase in sales in March from a year ago owing to robust demand from automobile and infrastructure sectors.

April 5, 2010: The government today said it has granted licence to ArcelorMittal for prospecting iron ore in Karampada region of Jharkhand, a move which will give boost to the steel giant's proposed Rs 50,000-crore project in the state.

April 5, 2010: Steelmaker JSW Steel today said it planned to invest around Rs 25,000 crore in expanding the capacity of its Bellary plant in Karnataka by six million tons to 16 million tons in next three years.

April 5, 2010: In a sure sign of demand recovery, world crude steel production for 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (WSA) was 108 million tons in February, an increase of 24 percent from the same month last year.

April 5, 2010: Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) is planning to increase its product prices by 3-4 per this week.

April 5, 2010: Uttam Galva Steels, today said that it has increased the prices of its products in the spot market and monthly contract by Rs 6,000 per ton.

April 5, 2010: Steelmakers are fighting back over attempts by the $200 billion iron ore mining industry to raise the cost of their main raw material, calling for regulators to investigate an "oligopoly" that inflates prices.

April 5, 2010: State-owned NMDC, the country's largest iron ore producer, has intimated its customers about a 34-56 percent rise in base prices, which would go up later more substantially, factoring in various price adjustments.

April 1, 2010: The rake loading of iron ore at Bolani in Orissa has resumed after nearly three weeks.

April 1, 2010: Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL), the only public sector steel unit operating at the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex in Orissa's Jajpur district, is facing a critical condition due to acute shortage of iron ore fines.

April 1, 2010: Sponge iron prices have surged by 20 percent in a month on apprehension that a series of raids across the country to try and stop illegal mining of iron ore will constrict supply.

April 1, 2010: Steel companies are likely to increase prices by at least Rs 2,000 a ton from April, on the back of higher raw material costs.

March 31, 2010: Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) today said it has crossed 10 lakh units mark in sales this fiscal, the first time ever it has crossed the figure in a single year in its over 26 years of existence.

March 31, 2010: The steel ministry is lobbying the government to impose an export duty of 20 percent on iron ore to ensure adequate availability of ore for local steel makers who are targeting a big production hike to meet the demands of the economy that is expected to grow at over 8.5 percent in 2010-11 and accelerate to 9 percent the year after.

March 31, 2010: Steel prices are set to rise by Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 a ton from April on the back of a spike in input costs.

March 31, 2010: India's largest public sector iron ore mining company, NMDC has not wasted much time in increasing its prices just a day after Brazilian mining giant, Vale signed quarterly contracts with Japanese mills who agreed on a price hike as high as 90%.

March 30, 2010: A Chinese court jailed four Rio Tinto staff for seven to 14 years on Monday for taking bribes and stealing commercial secrets, a sentence Australia said was harsh.

March 30, 2010: Tata Steel's European arm Corus has said that it is open to dialogue for strategic tie-ups with investors having sound financials to rescue its recently mothballed Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant in England

March 30, 2010: The Shanghai Number One Intermediate People's Court has convicted the four Shanghai employees detained on July 5, 2009 on charges of receiving bribes and obtaining commercial secrets.

March 30, 2010: Bhilai Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) yesterday commissioned ahead of schedule its second normalising furnace in plate mill.

March 30, 2010: The much awaited joint venture between Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Shipping Corporation India Limited (SCI) has finally come through.

March 29, 2010: Tata Steel, the largest Indian producer, has once again planned to tap the global depository receipt (GDR) market for raising at least $500 million (Rs 2,300 crore).

March 29, 2010: A group of two entrepreneurs and private equity firm Rutland Partners have submitted a bid to purchase the Corus-owned Teesside Cast Products steel making plant that was mothballed recently, says a media report.

March 29, 2010: The Rs 5000-crore Sanjay Singal-promoted Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL) plans to invest Rs 2000 crore to set up an automotive grade steel plant with installed capacity of 5 lakh tons.

March 26, 2010: The Ruias-led Essar Steel and an engineering consultancy firm Buro Happold may enter into a supply agreement to meet the steel requirement of the UK- based entity for its multi-billion dollar projects in India.

March 26, 2010: The world's largest steel maker, ArcelorMittal, has completed the buyout of an additional 4.9 percent stake in specialty steel maker Uttam Galva from its promoters for an estimated Rs 75-80 crore.

March 26, 2010: Leading steel-maker, Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL), plans to set up a 3-lakh ton capacity cold rolling mill complex in the western region of the country at an initial investment of Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 crore, a top company official said today.

March 25, 2010: Led by Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Ford and Ashok Leyland, India's automobile exports during April-February of this financial year grew by 16 percent, generating a revenue of Rs 1.62 lakh crore.

March 24, 2010: The largest domestic carmaker, Maruti Suzuki said on Tuesday that it would invest around Rs 1,260 crore to expand the capacity of its engine plant. This plant produces the new K-Series petrol engine.

March 24, 2010: Steel Authority of India Ltd's Bokaro steel unit has 32,000 acres. That is eight times the requirement of Korean giant Posco's requirement in Orissa and twice Bokaro Steel's current requirement, half of it unutilised. No surprises, therefore, that Posco has turned to SAIL after a five-year wait for its land in Orissa.

March 24, 2010: Tata Steel's Rs 21,000-crore plant in Orissa, already delayed by four-years due to stiff resistance from locals for displacement and rehabilitation, is likely to start construction work next month, a senior company official said.

March 24, 2010: Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) will sign an MoU with the Orissa government to set up a coal-to-liquid (CTL) project in the state with an investment of Rs 45,000 crore. The project includes a power plant and a coal washery.

March 23, 2010: Naveen Jindal-promoted Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government for setting up a Coal to Liquid (CTL) project in Orissa.

March 23, 2010: Japan encouraged its top conglomerates to invest in India, citing the multi-billion-dollar investment the country is making to upgrade its infrastructure.

March 23, 2010: Tata Steel said work on its Rs 21,000-crore Kalinganagar project in Orissa, which is already delayed by four years due to stiff resistance from locals over the issues of displacement and rehabilitation, is likely start next month.

March 19, 2010: ArcelorMittal is in talks to buy a stake in Prakash Industries, the New Delhi-based Rs 1,526 crore steel company.

March 19, 2010: The much talked-about joint venture between two maharatna companies, Steel Authority of India Ltd and the Shipping Corporation of India, is finally taking shape. The joint venture agreement between the two will be signed shortly.

March 19, 2010: Disappointed over delays in the launch of its Rs 50,000-crore steel project in Jharkhand, global steel giant ArcelorMittal is set to relocate its plant proposed in Khunti-Gumla to Bokaro district in the state, mainly on account of land acquisition problems.

March 19, 2010: After struggling to acquire land for a steel plant in Orissa since 2005, Korean steel giant Pohang Iron and Steel Company (Posco) has found a way of gaining a foothold in India.

March 18, 2010: ArcelorMittal has finally called it quits at Khunti-Gumla in Jharkhand where it had originally decided to set up a 12-mtpa greenfield steel project at an estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore.

March 18, 2010: Nearly 100 sponge iron manufacturing units spread across Raipur, Bilaspur, Raigarh and Champa in Chhattisgarh face uncertainty due to non-availability of iron ore.

March 18, 2010: Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal's top executives have met officials of the unlisted Bhushan Power & Steel seeking a "strategic" stake in the company, in an attempt to rev up his three-decade old dream of building steel plants in his country shackled by bureaucracy.

by Arusha Das

March 17, 2010: Upbeat on the Indian steel market outlook, the South Korean steel major, Posco, will soon start the Chennai processing unit by mid 2010.

by Sarbani Haldar & Arusha Das

March 17, 2010: At a time when the major steel producers of the country are looking to expand their presence in the steel service centre segment, the country's leading steel service centre Tata Steel Processing and Distribution Limited (TSPDL) is definitely not lagging behind.

by Arusha Das

March 17, 2010: In India, the steel industry is gradually moving towards providing customised services to its customers, in addition to simply selling steel.

by Sarbani Haldar & Arusha Das

March 17, 2010: In line with plans of capacity augmentation, the country's leading steel producer Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is all set to establish its presence in the growing steel service centre segment of the country in a big way.

by Arusha Das

March 17, 2010: JSW is looking forward to strategic tie-ups with steel service centres (SSCs) in the auto hubs of the country.

by Arusha Das

March 17, 2010: The domestic steel industry is slowly embracing the concept of a one-stop shop for its customers, and Essar Steel is one of the more aggressive ones. The company has four service centres across the country with a capacity of 2.5 million tons.

In an exclusive conversation with Steel Insights, the director sales and marketing, Essar Steel, Vikram Amin, spoke at a length about the industry. He said Essar Steel is not only aiming for the number one spot in India, but also plans to widen its footprint across the globe.

by Arusha Das

March 17, 2010: The domestic steel industry is slowly embracing the concept of a one-stop shop for its customers, and Essar Steel is one of the more aggressive ones. The company has four service centres across the country with a capacity of 2.5 million tons.

In an exclusive conversation with Steel Insights, the director sales and marketing, Essar Steel, Vikram Amin, spoke at a length about the industry. He said Essar Steel is not only aiming for the number one spot in India, but also plans to widen its footprint across the globe.

March 17, 2010: Japanese auto major Nissan Motor today said it was open to tying up with yet another partner in India to develop a car positioned between the fourth-generation Micra, the compact car that will go on sale in May in India, and its proposed ultra low cost (ULC) car being jointly developed with Bajaj Auto.

March 17, 2010: Japanese auto major Nissan Motor today said so far the company, along with its joint venture French partner Renault, has invested around Rs 2,880 crore at Oragadam, near Chennai.

March 16, 2010: Fiat India is planning to double its sales this year at 50,000 units against the 24,000 units it sold last year, its President and Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Kapoor said.

March 16, 2010: State-owned NMDC today said it expects a 40 percent hike in the prices of iron ore supplied to Japanese steel mills under a long-term pact in next fiscal ahead of preliminary talks with the foreign manufacturers scheduled for Wednesday.

March 16, 2010: Steel Authority of India (SAIL), the country's second-biggest producer, expects to mop up Rs 43,000 crore from the sales of its products on rising demand.

March 16, 2010: Indian steel producers such as Tata Steel, JSW Steel and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) may have to see their cost per ton rise by around $100 (Rs 4,500) due to the rising price of coking coal and iron ore.

March 16, 2010: Global steel giant ArcelorMittal today said it will set up a $130 million steel plant in war-torn Iraq in collaboration with Turkish firm Dayen.

March 16, 2010: Tata Steel may increase prices of its products in the coming months on account of rising raw material cost,

by Arusha Das & Sarbani Haldar

March 15, 2010: As steel makers expand capacities and more and more customers look for customised products, the steel market is making a steady shift towards selling steel solutions instead of simply selling steel.

by Arnab Mallick

March 15, 2010: With time for long-term contract negotiations approaching fast, prices have started firming up once again in the global coking coal market. As per available sources, spot price of hard coking coal from Australia has shot up to around $250 per ton fob since the beginning of February.

March 15, 2010: Korean steel major Pohang Iron and Steel Company (Posco), the world's fourth largest steel maker, will lay the foundation stone today for a Rs 4000-crore steel processing plant in Maharashtra.

December 30, 2009: Faced with the threat of closure, metal scrap traders have appealed the government to reshuffle taxation structure to volume-based from value-based.

December 30, 2009: Top Indian steelmakers, including SAIL, Essar and Ispat, are likely to increase prices by 3-4% or Rs 1,000-1,500 per ton in January in line with rising global prices.

December 11, 2009: By Arnab Mallick & Arusha Das: Leading refractory makers, Tata Refractories is firming up big expansion plans to make the best of the potential that is likely to emerge in future.

December 9, 2009: China will take its baby steps in the world's second fastest growing auto market soon, piggybacking on Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group's joint venture with General Motors India, two decades after the country first attempted to penetrate the Indian market.

December 4, 2009: Essar Steel has approached the government to denotify a sector-specific Special Economic Zone developed by it in Hazira, Gujarat, as this would enable the company to sell the produce also locally.

December 3, 2009: In a move that will help importers, the government has relaxed anti-dumping duty on cold-rolled stainless steel of types not manufactured in the country.

December 3, 2009: State-run steel maker SAIL today cut prices of its flat steel products, used mainly by automobile and white goods industry, by up to Rs 500 a ton on account of weakening global demand.

December 2, 2009: Car majors Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) have registered record cumulative sales for the month of November.

December 1, 2009: The JSW Group, which was among the first conglomerates last year to hold back most of its major capital expenditure and greenfield projects due to the global financial crisis, has decided to revive two projects estimated to over Rs 2,000 crore together, encouraged by an improvement in the overall manufacturing sector.

December 1, 2009: The global slowdown did not have any negative impact on the output of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) due to the growing domestic demand, said top SAIL officials.

December 1, 2009: Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) plans to raise the steel consumption in Himachal Pradesh so that it reaches the national average, top SAIL officials said on November 30.

November 30,2009: After the success of ultra mega projects in the power sector, the government proposes to launch a similar scheme in the steel sector to accelerate creation of large steel capacity in the country to meet the growing demand.

November 27, 2009: Kalyani Gerdau Steels Ltd, the joint venture for an alloy steel plant between India's Kalyani Group and Brazilian steel major Gerdau, is set for a Rs 250 crore expansion

November 27, 2009: Iron ore producer Sesa Goa, said it expects a 25 per cent growth in output this fiscal and plans to ramp up production around threefold to 50 million tons in next 2 to 3 years.

November 27, 2009: After Karnataka, the steel giant ArcelorMittal has set its eyes on the mineral-rich Chhattisgarh for setting up a steel plant.

November 26, 2009: If there is one sector that has gained, from the recent economic rebound, both from a real economy and equity market point of view, it is the steel sector.

November 26, 2009: Tata Steel Ltd has posted a loss after minority interest & share of associates of Rs 2707.25 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 as compared to profit of Rs 4771.65 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.

November 25, 2009: The Karnataka government will be holding high level talks with a team from ArcelorMittal on November 27, to take forward the latter's proposal to set up a multi billion dollar steel plant in the state.

November 25, 2009: JSW Steel, may sell as much as 40 percent in its upcoming 10 million ton steel unit in West Bengal to its overseas partner JFE.

November 25, 2009: Delhi-based Bhushan Steel may look at doing a JSW Steel-JFE-like deal with Japan's Sumitomo Metal Industries.

November 24, 2009: The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi), the apex representative body of mining companies, has urged the government to vary the royalty rate for iron ore based on the content.

November 23, 2009: Leading steel maker ArcelorMittal today said it has approached the Karnataka government for setting up a steel plant in the state.

November 20, 2009: Leading Indian integrated zinc and lead producer the Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) has revised its zinc prices upwards

November 20, 2009: CMI FPE Ltd has bagged an order for A 6 - Hi single stand reversing cold rolling mills

November 20, 2009: JFE Steel Corporation and JSW Steel Limited have entered into a strategic tie-up

October 25, 2009: The country's largest steel maker SAIL said that steel prices are unlikely to go up in November.

October 25, 2009: Tata Steel said that it has formed a joint venture with state-owned mineral trading firm MMTC Ltd to acquire, develop mines, minerals and metals.

October 25, 2009: The government has said it would launch a survey to assess per capita steel consumption in rural India.

October 25, 2009: Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest car maker, expects buoyant demand in the domestic market to help notch double-digit growth for the rest of the year, after it posted better-than-expected 93% jump in profits to Rs 570 cr for the September ended quarter.

October 3, 2009: Steel Authority of India Ltd's Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) is planning to resume export of railway wheel sets.

October 3, 2009: Jharkhand is likely to start mapping its mineral reserves with assistance from National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) shortly. The state mines and geology directorate has given its nod to the proposal sent by NMDC last year. The proposal has now been sent to the advisor to the state governor for final clearance.

October 3, 2009: Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has recorded more than 100 percent capacity utilization in all major areas of production in the first half of this fiscal (April-September).

October 3, 2009: The Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) here has achieved sales turnover of Rs 4,583 crore from April to September, surpassing the MoU target by 10 percent.

September 27, 2009: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the country's largest steel producer, is looking to set up two greenfield slag-based cement manufacturing units with a total capacity of 3 million tons (mt) through a joint venture.

September 16, 2009: MSPL Ltd, the Bellary-based iron ore mining company, is planning to set up two iron ore beneficiation (extraction of iron ore from waste ore after washing) plants in the iron ore-rich Bellary district of Karnataka. Both the plants, which will have 1.2 million tons capacity each, will be set up with an estimated investment of Rs 650 crore.

September 16, 2009: Pig iron producer Tata Metaliks is eyeing a 3-5 million ton steel plant in Karnataka, depending on the feasibility, said H M Nerurkar, chairman, on the sidelines of the company's annual general meeting.

Rajkumar Mitra

September 16, 2009: In India, it is difficult to find the optimum quality of manganese ore in one location. On top of that, the availability of high grade ore is limited. Thus the domestic consumers, that is the manganese alloy producers, not only have to depend on ore from different regions of India but also have no option but to import.

Nudrat Alim

September 16, 2009: Orissa-based Shiva Cement Ltd has made a humble beginning in the field of iron ore beneficiation, but its necessity and importance will surely go up in the near future. In 2004, the company set up an iron ore beneficiation plant in Orissa with a capacity of 0.3 million tons.

Nudrat Alim

September 16, 2009: Sesa Goa Ltd, the only listed private sector iron ore mining company in India, runs more than a dozen iron ore mines spread across the states of Goa, Karnataka and Orissa. In an exclusive interview with Steel Insights, the managing director of Sesa Goa, P.K. Mukherjee, said that Indian mining should be formally given an industry status and fragmentation of mining leases should be stopped.

September 16, 2009: Tata Steel hopes to get control of land in Orissa shortly for starting work on its proposed 6 million tons per annum (in two phases) Kalinganagar project, according to H.M. Nerurkar, Executive Director of the company.

September 16, 2009: Tata Metaliks Ltd's decision not to go ahead with a mini steel plant at Kharagpur, the second plant there, is final.

September 13, 2009: India was the fifth largest steel producer in the world during the last financial year, a Steel ministry official said.

September 12, 2009: Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Chairman and Managing Director S. K. Roongta indicated that the company was open to joining hands with NMDC for setting up a steel plant in Karnataka, primarily catering to sectors such as automobile and consumer durables.

September 12, 2009: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is considering a ban on some Chinese contractors in its future projects after its poor experience with these companies, two people familiar with the development said.

September 6, 2009: SAIL is ready to put up a greenfield plant in Jharkhand

September 5, 2009: Essar Group has announced the appointment of Malay Mukherjee as chief executive officer of its steel business

September 5, 2009: Rastriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the flagship company of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), achieved sales of Rs 1,080 crore in August, 2009

September 5, 2009: Bhushan Steel (Australia), part of Delhi-based cold roller, Bhushan Steel group, has acquired a 60 percent stake in Australian exploration company

September 5, 2009: Uttam Galva Steels on September 4, said ArcelorMittal Netherlands, a unit of leading steelmaker ArcelorMittal, has taken a stake in it and Globe's biggest M&A

August 29, 2009: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has taken over state-owned Bharat Refractories (BRL) and merged it with itself. The merger, effective
April 1, 2007, has also got approval corporate affairs ministry, a SAIL official said.

August 21, 2009: Stainless steel major JSL Ltd's application for restructuring Rs 6,500 crore of debt was admitted in the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) cell, at a lenders' meet on August 11, the company informed the stock exchanges today after the lenders cleared the minutes of the meeting.

August 21, 2009: Tata Steel-owned Corus Group plans to reopen its Llanwern hot-rolled strip plant in South Wales temporarily to meet fresh demand.

August 20, 2009: Iron ore miners are protesting alleged ambiguity in the government's method for calculating the 10 percent ad valorem royalty notified on August 13.

August 18, 2009: The Rs 15,000-crore steel pipes industry is set to grow 20-25 percent in the next 3-4 years

August 18, 2009: The expansion project of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) is proceeding smoothly and the first phase is expected to be completed by September next year, according to P.K. Bishnoi

August 16, 2009: India's export of steel will fall by a whopping 35 per cent to 3.2 million tons (mt)

August 16, 2009: A majority of the steel companies in the world, which recorded huge losses

August 15, 2009: Tata Steel expects the Dhamra port in Orissa to be operational by next April

August 15, 2009: The Supreme Court has rejected iron-ore mining lease application of Orissa Sponge Iron and Steel

August 14, 2009: Paving the way for SAIL to go ahead with re-tendering to set up a blast furnace in Bhilai, the Durg District Court has dismissed a petition of Posco E&C, which had lost a construction order from the Indian firm due to alleged delay in signing the contract.

August 14, 2009: Revenues from iron ore for states such as Orissa is expected to go up substantially following the decision of the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) to levy royalty on iron ore on an ad valorem basis.

August 14, 2009: Steel Authority of India Ltd, the country's biggest domestic steel maker, hopes to get iron ore mining licence in a key state that will help boost output, company officials said on Thursday.

August 13, 2009: Faced with a huge shortage of base metal scraps due to a sudden ban on scrap imports, the Mumbai-based Bombay Metal Exchange (BME) and the Bombay Non-Ferrous Metals & Scrap Merchants Association (BNFMSMA) have urged the government to repeal the move.

August 13, 2009: Uttam Galva Steels, the value-added steel producer, has decided to increase galvanised and cold-rolled (CR) steel prices by Rs 2,000 a ton, marking the second hike this month.

August 13, 2009: As part of its long-term strategy, Tata NYK Shipping Pte Ltd, the Singapore-based joint venture (50:50) between Tata Steel and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), a Japanese shipping major, proposes to enter into long-term charter for capesize vessels, according to the Tata Steel annual report.

August 12, 2009: Steel companies' results failed to shine in the quarter ended June, despite a decent 5 percent rise in domestic sales, a 10-15 percent rise in steel prices from the recent lows and around 30-50 percent decline in costs of raw material.

August 12, 2009: Tata Steel said that it has reduced prices of some of its products primarily consumed by the construction sector by up to Rs 1,500 per ton in view of the prevailing market scenario.

August 11, 2009: Indian iron ore miners have always shown a distinct preference for trade in the spot market rather than entering into yearly contracts with their clients on benchmark rates.

August 11, 2009: Strong steel prices in China boosted benchmark spot prices of iron ore from India to around $115 a ton, including cost and freight, but the offers were for higher-grade ores with 63.5 percent iron content.

August 11, 2009: Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata has said the next 12-18 months would likely be "difficult and challenging" for Tata Steel, but hopes that it would come out stronger from the difficult period to become a more cost- effective manufacturer of the alloy.

August 11, 2009: Tata Steel is scouting for coking coal and iron ore mines abroad, including in Brazil and Australia, to ensure raw material security for its European operations.

August 11, 2009: Robust demand from automobile and consumer durable sectors led to increased production and consumption of steel during April-July period this fiscal.

August 10, 2009: The Congress-led government is increasing the royalties on non-coal minerals, including iron ore, to 10 percent, under pressure from mineral-rich states such as Orissa, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Rajasthan.

August 10, 2009: The Karnataka government is planning to develop a 300-km 'steel corridor', and the state expects this project to attract investments worth Rs 20,000 crore from steel majors. The corridor, which is expected to create 200,000 direct and indirect jobs, is planned around the iron ore-rich Bellary-Hospet area in eastern Karnataka.

August 10, 2009: State-owned NMDC, India's biggest mining company, will tap the capital market in two phases.

August 10, 2009: The Andhra Pradesh Government is contemplating to float a joint venture company with equal stake from Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) and National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).

August 9, 2009: Essar Steel has entered into a deal with Denmark-based Nordjysk Elhandel for selling carbon credits that will earn the Indian firm about Rs 300 crore over a period of 10 years.

August 05, 2009: Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has achieved a capacity utilisation of more than 100 per cent in its production of hot metal, crude steel and saleable steel in the month of July this year.

August 5, 2009: The country's top steel makers have increased prices of flat steel products sold in the spot market by up to 3% from August 1 due to higher input costs and rising metal prices globally.

August 4, 2009: Steel and base metal prices have surged in the last three-four weeks as corporate results in the US have shown a sign of revival in the economy. The rise in metal prices is also going to end the party for companies that have been making high profits on the back of low raw material cost.

August 4, 2009: 18 out of the 49 steel companies who signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government for setting up of steel projects in the state, have become eligible for the grant of mineral concession as per the terms and conditions embodied in the MoU.

August 04, 2009: Tata Steel, the world's sixth largest steelmaker, has prepared a plan to produce half the iron ore and coking coal, the raw materials used to make steel for Corus, its European subsidiary, by 2012.

August 4, 2009: Despite lower profits in the first quarter and eroding realisations, major steelmakers are increasing production, in what looks to be a volume play.

August 4, 2009: India's third-largest steel maker, JSW Steel Ltd, said on Tuesday that crude steel production for July rose by half to 0.5 million tonnes.

August 4, 2009: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has produced 1.08 million tonnes (mt) of saleable steel in July this year, a 14 per cent increase in production from the same period the previous year. In a statement the company said sales at 1 mt registered a growth of 25 per cent.

Source: Business Line

August 2, 2009: The government may soon levy a 10 percent royalty on iron ore on ad valorem basis as the mines ministry has sent a proposal in this regard to the union cabinet for its approval.

August 2, 2009: Public sector steel major Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) has entered into a joint venture with Manganese Ore India Ltd (MOIL) to form 'RINMOIL Ferro-Alloys (Private) Ltd', to produce ferro alloys.

August 1, 2009: The country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, on Saturday reported a 33.36 percent jump in sales at 78,074 units in July.

July 28, 2009: The Goa government has decided to close all mining companies found to have involved in illegal iron ore excavation.

July 28, 2009: State-run steel major SAIL on Monday said it plans to raise long-term debt of Rs 6,500 crore from various banks to fund its capex plans for the current fiscal.

July 26, 2009: The Government has cleared 15 highway projects totaling Rs 15,560 crore to be build under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in eleven states.

July 26, 2009: India's infrastructure sector output grew 6.5 percent in June from a year earlier, higher than an unrevised 2.8 percent in May, showed recently released government data, signaling signs of a pick up.

July 24, 2009: Ramsarup Industries Ltd, a leading producer of specialty steel wires, has set its sights on the power and infrastructure sector to gain a foothold in the engineering services sector.

July 24, 2009: Electrosteel Integrated Ltd, which is setting up an integrated steel plant in Jharkhand, plans to start production by the next financial year 2010-11.

July 21, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Steel has posted a 6.4 percent drop in the first quarter consolidated profit, at Rs 234.08 crore, as prices failed to recover in line with demand from automakers and builders.

July 20, 2009: JSW Steel reported a 6.45 percent decline in consolidated net profit, at Rs 234.08 crore, for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, against the same period last year.

July 19, 2009: The central government's plan to divest part of its stake in all undertakings of the steel ministry has come as a blessing in disguise for the ailing KIOCL. The company, which currently has no captive iron ore mine to run its pelletisation and pig iron plants in Mangalore, will benefit from the government's proposal to convert it into a subsidiary of NMDC. Following its acquisition, the ore-starved mining company will be assured of a captive mine in the iron-rich Bellary region of north Karnataka.

July 19, 2009: Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) is acquiring a thermal coal mine in South Africa, said a top company executive. The mine has reserves of more than 50 million tons of thermal coal, which is mainly used in power generation. Though the deal size could not be ascertained, mining experts feel it could be between Rs 350-400 crore depending on the quality and grade. JSPL has interests in steel, power and mining.

July 19, 2009: The government is looking at four mining units under the administrative control of the steel ministry for stake sale. But a roadmap is yet to be drawn. The move is being considered to meet funds requirement, said a top government official.

July 19, 2009: Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the design, development and production of 100-tonne wagons for the high-speed freight corridors planned by the Railways. A BEML release said that its Bangalore complex would design, develop and supply the wagons to the Railways.

July 18, 2009: Jindal Steel & Power has bought the Kiepersol thermal coal mine in South Africa, industry sources said.

July 18, 2009: Posco, will buy 90 percent stake in Vietnam's Asia Stainless Corporation and build a plant in India after this week's forecasting of a demand recovery in the second half.

July 18, 2009: SAIL said that it would borrow Rs 5,000 crore this fiscal to partly fund its expansion plans.

July 17, 2009: India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources Plc is planning to expand to steel manufacturing with a partner, the Mint newspaper reported on Friday.

July 17, 2009: India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources Plc is planning to expand to steel manufacturing with a partner, the Mint newspaper reported on Friday.

July 17, 2009: Steelmakers, including JSW, Essar and Ispat, have sought lower royalty charges on iron ore meant for domestic consumption with a view to
control input costs.

July 12, 2009: To discourage exports of iron ore, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh will soon talk to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for restricting shipments of the mineral.

July 12, 2009: They may commit investments of thousands of crores but Mittal, Tata or SAIL will have to bid like anyone else if they want coal blocks for their power or steel projects, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has said.

July 12, 2009: Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is planning to get up a steel processing unit in Himachal Pradesh.

July 12, 2009: SAIL said that it will invest Rs 3,500 crore to set up 4-million tons per annum (mtpa) steel mill at its Bhilai Steel Plant.

July 11, 2009: TRF Ltd, an associate firm of Tata Steel, has bought a 51 percent stake in a Sri Lankan trailer manufacturer for Rs 42 crore.

July 11, 2009: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd will complete its Rs 12,000-crore expansion project ahead of schedule and start commercial production from the augmented capacity by October 2010.

July 10, 2009: Corus Group, Europe's second-largest steel maker and a subsidiary of Tata Steel, today announced an additional 366 job cuts at its North East plant at Scunthorpe.

July 10, 2009: The Orissa government has cancelled the lease of 120 acres granted to Tata Iron & Steel Ltd at Nayagarh in Keonjhar district.

July 10, 2009: The Steel Ministry is in favour of restricting iron ore exports to China, South Korea and Japan to ensure availability of the raw material to domestic steel companies.

July 9, 2009: India will speed up the process of granting iron ore mining licenses to various steel companies, including South Korea's Posco, according to steel minister Virbhadra Singh.

July 9, 2009: ArcelorMittal SA, the world's largest steel maker, said it was seeking to change loan conditions with its main bankers for a year to allow the company take on more debt if the current steel slump worsens.

July 8, 2009: Essar Steel, part of the Ruia-controlled diversified conglomerate, is close to acquiring a majority stake in Shree Precoated Steels of the Ajmera Group, in a move that will consolidate its presence in the value-added steel market and make it one of the largest players in the cold-rolled segment.

July 5, 2009: ArcelorMittal, will restart its second blast furnace in Gent

July 5, 2009: Steel majors in Asia and elsewhere are anxious about developments in India in relation to iron ore.

July 5, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-controlled JSW Steel plans to double the output from its plate and pipe mills in the US

July 4, 2009: The steel industry seems unmoved by the Rail budget. While welcoming "a people friendly" budget which announced no increase in passenger fares or freights

July 4, 2009: Five Indian metals and mining companies are in the race for acquiring mining rights for the largest iron ore deposit in war-torn Afghanistan.

July 3, 2009: Paradip Port Trust (PPT) has signed a concession agreement for construction of a Rs 506.3-crore iron ore terminal on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis with Blue Water Iron Ore Terminal Pvt Ltd (BWIOTPL).

July 3, 2009: JSW Steel Ltd, India's No. 3 maker of the alloy, has said its crude steel output for the April-June quarter was up 45 percent, mainly due to production from its new plant in Karnataka.

July 2, 2009: Japanese steel major, the $21.7 billion Kobe Steel, Ltd, has decided set up a subsidiary in Kolkata to market its steel production machinery in India.

July 2, 2009: Steel prices could go up 2 to 5 percent in July, with large steel producers such as SAIL, Ispat and Jindal Steel contemplating price hikes.

June 29, 2009: Steel tycoon L.N. Mittal said that he was disappointed over delays in securing regulatory approval for his proposed Rs 1-lakh crore steel project in India.

June 28, 2009: All the 10 steel units of the Kalinganagar Industrial Complex in Orissa's Jajpur district are on the verge of closure.

June 27, 2009: After a failed attempt to sell Corus' Teesside plant, Tata Steel has initiated talks with fresh suitors to complete the sale by August.

June 27, 2009: Corporate Ispat Alloys Ltd, part of the Abhijeet Group, kickstarted the first phase of its integrated steel plant project in Seraikela-Kharsawan district on June 26.

June 26, 2009: India is poised to occupy the second or third position in the world's steel industry, according to Steel Authority of India (SAIL) on June 25.

June 26, 2009: Geologists have discovered 'Asia's largest' iron ore deposit in northeast China's Liaoning province, with estimated reserves of more than 3 billion tons.

June 26, 2009: As Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) embarks upon a major expansion and modernisation plan, its Management Training Institute (MTI) is getting ready to play a key role by developing its vast human resources.

June 26, 2009: Tata Steel suffered a 60 percent drop in its consolidated net profit for the year ended March 2009, as a slow economy in the US and Europe affected production and sales.

June 24, 2009: Expressing concern at China giving incentives for steel exports, ArcelorMittal chief L.N. Mittal said such steps could further delay the recovery of the sector, which is anyway unlikely before 2011.

June 22, 2009: The Karnataka government has urged the Centre to approve the iron ore mining lease in favour of Visvesvaraya Iron & Steel Ltd (VISL), one of the oldest steel plants in the state, "as a special case."

June 20, 2009: JSW Steel, is considering to raise prices of some products used in automobiles and consumer goods next month to make up for higher raw material costs, said a company official.

June 20, 2009: Tata Steel has raised product prices by Rs 500 to Rs 750 a ton for the second time in the last two months on the back of improved domestic consumption and signs of global economic recovery.

June 18, 2009: China has thrown the spanner in the works of the world iron ore market and almost threatened to block the proposed joint venture (JV) between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

June 17, 2009: The huge quantity of scrap generated by Indian Railways is now making its way to manufacturing units for production of wheels, thanks to the innovation brought about in this field.

June 17, 2009: Vedanta group company Sesa Goa is looking to raise about Rs 583 crore through issue of shares to the firm's promoters and its associates.

June 17, 2009: India's largest private steel maker, JSW Steel, is eyeing export markets such as South America, Mexico and Chile to keep its US subsidiary -- JSW Steel USA -- afloat.

By Arnab Mallick

June 16, 2009: Amid all adversities and challenges due to the deep global recession, India has finally emerged as one of the top three steel producers of the world.

June 16, 2009: International demand of ferrous scrap, led by Turkey and China, has driven price recovery in the global markets. In fact, the surge in Chinese import demand buoyed and export resurgence has helped EU prices to recover. Squeeze on supply has aided recovery, even while local demand continued to sag.

June 16, 2009: The mood was mixed in the international long products market in the month of May. Whereas prices moved up in some major markets, in countries like Turkey, prices moved down due to lack in demand. Though prices moved up in the US, markets were weak in Europe. However, the mood was upbeat in China where there were ample positive signals.

June 16, 2009: Steel markets across the country remained more or less stable towards the beginning of the month of May. Ingot prices, melting scrap and sponge iron also depicted a stable trend at various places of the country. Demand in the market did not see any major change over a week and remained by and large stable.

June 16, 2009: The domestic steel market saw some recovery in the month of May. However, the long products market witnessed a mixed trend with prices declining by the end of the month.

By Arnab Mallick

June 16, 2009: The overall economic sentiment saw some decent improvement in May. However, it would be too early to suggest that we are on growth track as signals from the world's largest economy is still not very encouraging. But that can never negate the fact the economic sentiment in Asian economies, primarily in India, China and South Korea are showing signs of improvement.

By Sarbani Haldar

June 16, 2009: The upcoming Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL) will handle approximately 5 million tons per annum of cargo from Tata Steel as soon as it is commissioned in April 2010, company sources told Steel Insights. This comes at a time when other leading ports of the country are striving hard to meet their cargo handling targets.

By Arnab Mallick

June 16, 2009: After a long wait, the international flat products market has finally seen some revival in demand. There was considerable demand seen primarily in the Asian, Middle East and CIS markets.

By Madhuchanda Dasgupta

June 16, 2009: A porcelain cup with a steel handle, a steel and glass tea cup, a steel tray with leather handles. Or maybe a fountain-like floor lamp in your living room and a designer candlestick stand. All with a bit of steel and all straight from the showroom into your home.

By Nudrat Alim

June 15, 2009: Indian importers of ferrous scrap heaved a sigh of relief after the import restriction on the material was eased by the Ministry Of Environment & Forests.

June 15, 2009: Cost reduction efforts are now just another routine activity at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). The plant has taken several different steps - both short term and long term - in its efforts.

June 15, 2009: Pre-fabricated parts have been facilitating the Indian industrial sector while carrying out projects. However, domestic fabricators' limited production capacity has caused more and more buyers to shift their focus towards imports to ensure timely delivery.

June 15, 2009: Falling demand from major consuming areas under prevailing market conditions have prompted major steel producers of the world to realign their strategies and focus markets. Indian steel producers, like their international counterparts, have been looking at improving demand in the current scenario.

By Nudrat Alim

June 15, 2009: Taking a cue from the long term iron ore contract signed between Japanese steel major Nippon Steel and Australian mining company Rio Tinto, most Asian countries, except China, have gone ahead and settled the deal with the mining giant at the same terms which were agreed upon by the Japanese steel mill.

June 15, 2009: The global financial crisis has perhaps been discussed threadbare over the last few months. Throughout this period, experts have tried to analyse at what point there will be some positive signs. And now it is perhaps the Indian steel experts for whom the revival has become a reality.

June 15, 2009: In a scenario where the steel sector is showing the first signs of revival, every steel producing nation is trying its best to protect its own domestic industry.

By Rajkumar Mitra

June 15, 2009: Steel plants have decided not to compromise any more on the specifications of ferro alloys for the sake of cost advantage.

By Arusha Das

June 15, 2009: Just like its global peers, the Indian steel industry has faced one of the most difficult times in 2008. The obvious reason of this downhill movement has been the global meltdown cutting across all the sectors.

By Arusha Das & Arnab Mallick

June 15, 2009: At a juncture when the entire world is trying to battle the consequences of the global economic recession, the Indian pig iron industry is no exception, struggling hard to come out of the downturn. And this was rather expected considering that most of the major consuming sectors had been going through a rather difficult phase.

By Arnab Mallick & Arusha Das

June 15, 2009: The Indian pig iron industry has been in doldrums for the past one year, thanks to the global economic crisis. Both domestic and global demand declined, and exports were massively hit. As a result, the prices went down to an all time low, dampening the spirits of the entire pig iron industry.

June 15, 2009: NLMK is currently implementing the second phase of its technical upgrading programme, which is expected to be completed by 2011.

By Sarbani Haldar

June 15, 2009: The Russian steel sector was severely hit by the recession and in October 2008, 29 percent of the country's production facilities were shut down.

By Sarbani Haldar

June 15, 2009: Siemens VAI - one of the leading technology providers in the global iron and steel industry - is focusing on China, India and Russia as its future growth markets in the steel sector.

June 15, 2009: The world's second and third largest iron ore miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, have announced that they have signed a non-binding agreement in order to establish a production joint venture to tap both the companies' Western Australian iron ore assets in the best possible way. The 50:50 JV encompasses all current and future Western Australian iron ore assets and liabilities.

June 15, 2009: Keeping the current economic scenario in mind, JSW Steel has decided to defer its Bengal project by six to eight months.

June 14, 2009: Steel ministry has proposed to the finance ministry to reimpose 15 percent export duty on iron ore (lumps and fines)

June 14, 2009: The global steel market stands battered by economic slowdown. Falling demand, burgeoning inventory and collapsing prices

June 14, 2009: Ferrous scrap consumption in the country, which has been showing signs of revival since the start of the current financial year

June 13, 2009: The Goa-based Dempo group, which sold its mining assets to Sesa Goa, is not severing its ties with iron ore mining, its traditional business.

June 13, 2009: Union steel minister Virbhadra Singh said the government would soon set up a steel plant in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh.

June 12, 2009: Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel - the takeover target of three firms - has written to Sebi seeking extension of the deadline to convert warrants owned by Bhushan Group into equity shares by at least two months, said a director on the board of Bhubaneswar-based company.

June 12, 2009: Iron ore prices surged 10 percent, touching a four-month high in June on rising demand from China, even as the final decision on long term contract prices remained unresolved between Australian suppliers and Chinese buyers.

June 12, 2009: About 35,000 square km forest area in Orissa had mineral reserves and out of this, preliminary exploration has been taken up in 31,000 square km and detail exploration work in 485 square km area, steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty told the state assembly.

June 12, 2009: The slowdown in global steel consumption may force India's largest steelmaker, the state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL), to cut its Rs 78,000-crore expansion plan by 13 percent to save around Rs 10,000 crore.

June 11, 2009: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and BHP Billiton have finalised a long term contract for hard coking coal (various grades) at between $113 to $128 fob.

June 11, 2009: Steel prices should not increase in India as raw material prices have fallen.

June 11, 2009: With demand accelerating from the automobile and construction sectors, India's steel consumption increased 6 percent to 8.22 million tons (mt) during April-May, over the corresponding months last year.

June 11, 2009: TRF, a Tata Steel arm specialising in material handling systems, is targeting the merger and acquisition (M&A) route in a bid to notch up a five-fold revenue growth by 2013.

June 10, 2009: Steel companies can finally breathe easy. At least three companies -- JSW Steel, Ispat Industries and Essar Steel -- are likely to enter into long-term raw material purchasing contracts soon and the savings on input costs could be as much as 40 to 50 percent in this financial year.

June 8, 2009: Bokaro Steel Plant plans to shave off up to Rs 225 crore in expenditure this fiscal on account of rising input costs and declining profits.

June 8, 2009: Vizag Steel Plant has sold some 1.69 lakh tons value added steel in May 2009, 14 percent more than May 2008.

June 8, 2009: A.P. Choudhary has joined RINL, Visakhapatnam as director (projects) while capacity expansion is on.

June 7, 2009: Domestic steel giants like JSW Steel and Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) are considering increasing prices of their products following the firming global cues and the improvement in domestic demand.

June 6, 2009: Rio Tinto is right to scrap plan A and pursue plan B.

June 6, 2009: Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, scrapped an investment from Aluminum Corp of China in favour of raising $21 billion from a share sale and an iron ore venture with BHP Billiton Ltd.

June 6, 2009: JSW Steel has clocked a 33 percent growth in crude steel production for May 2009, compared to the year-ago period.

June 6, 2009: Tata Steel has said its sales volume surged 18 percent to 4.69 lakh tons in May on the back of robust demand from the auto and construction sectors.

June 5, 2009: India's largest steel maker Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has stopped giving discounts on flat steel products to take advantage of better demand in a move that would make these products marginally more expensive for buyers, said a person with direct knowledge of the development.

June 3, 2009: Tata Steel-owned European steel company Corus chief executive officer Kriby Adams is expected to meet members of the international consortium of buyers who had walked out of a 10-year contract to buy from Corus' north east Teesside plant.

June 3, 2009: After cutting investment in the first phase of its ambitious 10-mtpa West Bengal project by almost a third, JSW Steel has said commencement of construction work at the site of the mega steel plant will now be deferred on account of the current "economic situation."

June 1, 2009: The promoters of Ispat Industries, Pramod and Vinod Mittal, have pledged their entire shareholding in the company with lenders as the beleaguered steel company makes yet another attempt to rid itself of a mountain of debt and emerge healthy.

May 31, 2009: Corus, or Tata Steel UK, has gained much-needed breathing space, even as it explores all options to save its Teesside plant that is temporarily closed. Its lenders agreed to reset the terms and conditions for a GBP 3.7 billion loan ($5.6 billion) that was taken at the time of the acquisition of Corus by Tata Steel.

May 30, 2009: The new Minister of Steel, Virbhadra Singh, sympathised with the demand of the steel producers for fiscal measures to curb the threat of cheap steel imports.

May 29, 2009: Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has reported an increase of 141 percent in net profit after tax to Rs 3,007.15 crore for 2008-09.

May 29, 2009: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) made a net profit of Rs 1,487 crore for the quarter ending March 31, 2009.

May 29, 2009: The UPA government has its 79 council of ministers in place now.

May 27, 2009: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the New Energy & Industrial Technology & Development Organization of Japan.

May 26, 2009: Rio Tinto has agreed to reduce 2009-10 benchmark prices for iron ore with Nippon Steel by 37 percent.

May 26, 2009: Vedanta Resources group firm Hindustan Zinc said it has cut the prices of zinc, used for producing galvanised steel, by Rs 1,100 to Rs 89,200 per ton.

May 25, 2009: Welspun Power and Steel Ltd (Welspun), has completed take-over of Vikram Ispat, the Sponge Iron Business of Grasim Industries Limited, on May 23, 2009.

May 24, 2009:The Steel Ministry is yet again pushing for the renewal of Chiria mines' leases in favour of SAIL to ensure that company does not face any iron ore shortage while implementing its Rs 78,000-crore expansion project.

May 24, 2009: The Jharkhand government has granted a prospecting licence (PL) to Tata Steel for the Ankua iron ore mines. A senior company official said that Tata Steel has been allocated 1,800 hectares for prospecting in the Ankua area.

May 23, 2009: Hit by the prevailing industrial downturn, the country's largest stainless steel producer, JSL, has shelved its $1.2-billion joint venture project with Indonesia's PT Antam TBK in the South East Asian country.

May 23, 2009: The Orissa High Court on 21 May asked Jindal Stainless Ltd [JSL] to sell surplus power generated from its captive power plant at Kalinganagar to the state grid.

May 23, 2009: It's not official yet. But the signs are ominous. One of the state's most high profile industrial projects, the Rs 40,000-crore JSW Bengal Steel venture appears to be have been relegated to the back burner.

May 20, 2009: The Indian Steel Secretary, P K Rastogi, has said that the government will not impose a temporary duty on steel imports. He was speaking at the sidelines of 'Indian Steel 2009', a conference organised by Metal Bulletin and mjunction services limited.

May 20, 2009: Production at Bhilai Steel Plant's (BSP) plate mill may go up to 1.8 million tons in 2010-11 if demand continues to remain strong, said S S Mohanty, GM in-charge (services), BSP. He was speaking at the sidelines of 'Indian Steel 2009', a conference organised by Metal Bulletin and mjunction services limited.

May 20, 2009: Utilisation of virgin iron ore will stabilise over the next 20 to 25 years, according to J J Irani, director, Tata Sons. Irani said this at the sidelines of 'Indian Steel 2009' a conference organised by Metal Bulletin and mjunction services limited.

May 20, 2009: As per J J Irani, director, Tata Sons, HRC prices are expected to stabilise soon. He was speaking at the sidelines of 'Indian Steel 2009', a conference organised by Metal Bulletin and mjunction services limited.

May 20, 2009: JSW Steel said it plans to close down its US mills for three months from June due to poor demand but carry out upgrade and modernisation works in the interim expecting better times ahead.

May 20, 2009: SAIL, the country's largest steel maker, managed to sail through the global economic meltdown in 2008-09, retaining its steel production almost equivalent to the previous fiscal (2007-08) at 12.5 million tons (mt).

May 20, 2009: India's steel demand is poised to grow between 5 to 10 percent in the current financial year despite a slide in global demand.

May 19, 2009: Steel prices are likely to witness stability in the near future, as per Shoeb Ahmed, director (commercial), Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

May 19, 2009: Demand for steel from the automobile sector in India almost doubled in the last one month for Ispat Industries, said Vinod Garg, executive director (commercial) of the company,at the sidelines of 'Indian Steel 2009', a conference organised by Metal Bulletin and mjunction services limited.

May 19, 2009: The Supreme Court allowed the Neeraj Singhal-led Bhushan group to transfer, sell or create third party rights in any Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel Ltd (OSIL) shares it acquired.

May 19, 2009: Speaking at the sidelines of 'Indian Steel 2009', a conference organised by Metal Bulletin and mjunction services limited, Indian Steel Secretary, P K Rastogi, said that demand for steel in India will pick up in 2009-10.

May 19, 2009: India's Steel Secretary, P K Rastogi said that the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) would be investing Rs 13000 to Rs 14000 crores in the current financial year, out of the total Rs 60,000 crores which it plans to invest over a period of time. He was speaking at the sidelines of 'Indian Steel 2009', a conference organised by Metal Bulletin and mjunction services ltd.

May 19, 2009: Bosch Rexroth India Ltd will train Steel Authority of India Ltd's (SAIL) 20,000-odd technical and executive manpower to meet the modernisation and expansion needs of its plants.

May 18, 2009: Steel firms want the next government to control cheap imports of the alloy into the country to support the local industry and step up investment in infrastructure to boost demand, according to officials.

May 17, 2009: Tata Steel on Sunday said it has taken major retail initiatives to promote sale of its steel products in the country, including doubling of its outlets to 1,000 in the next 2-3 years for its branded products.

May 16, 2009: Keeping pace with the fast changing scenario in the steel sector, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has embarked on a major modernisation programme, wherein it will increase production and improve quality of products, its managing director S N Singh said.

May 16, 2009: Keeping pace with the fast changing scenario in the steel sector, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has embarked on a major modernisation programme, wherein it will increase production and improve quality of products, its managing director S N Singh said.

May 16, 2009: Domestic producers of hot rolled (HR) steel, the intermediate that is used by automobile and consumer durables manufacturers, have emphatically ruled out the possibility of dropping prices ahead of the imposition of a safeguard duty on imports.

May 15, 2009: Stung by an "extraordinary economic environment," global steel behemoth ArcelorMittal has decided to indefinitely lay off nearly 1,000 employees at its Indiana Harbour facility.

May 15, 2009: India has emerged as the third-largest steel producer in the world - leaving behind Russia and the US - in the first quarter of 2009.

May 14, 2009: ArcelorMittal feels the flat product market in Asian countries is likely to get stronger. Keeping this in mind the company plans to increase prices for export shipments there.

May 14, 2009: The current fiscal would be "very challenging" for ArcelorMittal, even as it is optimistic about demand picking up in the second half of 2009.

May 14, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel has said it has no plans to sell its US-based units.

May 14, 2009: More than two dozen corporates - including Larsen & Toubro, Siemens VAI, SMS Siemag and Paul Wurth - have evinced interest for nine turnkey NMDC contracts, for its Rs 14,000-crore steel plant in Chhattisgarh.

May 14, 2009: Steel Authority of India Ltd will not raise prices of hot rolled coil (HRC) even if the government imposes a safeguard duty.

May 14, 2009: Maharashtra Seamless (MSL) has postponed by almost two years its plan to set up two separate steel plants.

May 14, 2009: At a time the US and European governments are busy trying to close their markets to foreign steel and imposing anti-dumping duties on steel products from India, there has been a sharp surge in steel imports.

May 13, 2009: Automobile sales for the financial year 2010 started on a better note with improved performance in April. The increase in sales is attributed to auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya falling during the month and revival in demand from rural markets.

May 13, 2009: Indian steel makers have increased prices of galvanised steel by up to 5 percent due to sharp escalation in price of zinc, a key input, in the spot market.

May 12, 2009: Usha Martin Ltd reported a standalone profit before tax of Rs 214.04 crore for the year ended March 31, 2009, from Rs 200.72 crore in the previous fiscal - an increase of 6.6 percent.

May 12, 2009: Taiwan's China Steel Corp (CSC) reported a 12.3 percent month-on-month fall in its steel output during April. The company produced 571,916 tons of steel in April due to the weak steel prices, as per a Steel Business Briefing (SBB) report.

May 12, 2009: The prospect of a mid-month price increase in cold rolled (CR) and galvanised steel used by automobile and consumer durables makers has abated.

May 12, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Steel has said it aims to sell more than half of its total production through retail chains in the next two years.

May 12, 2009: JSW Steel plans to sell its plants in the US to cut rising losses.

May 11, 2009: Uttam Galva Steels Ltd (UGSL), producer-exporter of value added steel products, posted 39 percent more net sales, at Rs 4,372 crore, in the year ended March 31, 2009 than Rs 3,156 crore in the previous corresponding period.

May 11, 2009: The Ruias-promoted Essar Steel will expand its global chain of retail brand -- Steel Hypermarts -- in the Middle East, Indonesia and other South Asian nations in the next three years.

May 11, 2009: JSW Steel has said it registered a 60 percent year-on-year growth in crude steel production for April, mainly on output from a recently commissioned expansion project.

May 10, 2009: Tata Steel supplied 800,000 tons to the auto sector last fiscal, a 12 percent fall from 900,000 tons in 2007-08.

May 10, 2009: Value-added steel products manufacturer and exporter, Uttam Galva Steels, has posted a cash profit of Rs 193-crore in FY 09.

May 10, 2009: Global iron ore trade, which is dominated by companies like BHP and Rio Tinto and Vale of Brazil, is poised to see radical new price trends in 2009, thanks to production cuts and volatile market conditions in the last few months.

May 10, 2009: NMDC is likely to float a joint venture firm with South Africa's Kopano Ke Matla Investment Company by July to scout minerals like iron ore and manganese in African nation.

May 10, 2009: Backed by improved demand from auto and construction sectors, the country's steel production increased by nearly four percent to 4.49 million tons in April compared to the corresponding month last year.

May 9, 2009: A panel of secretaries is likely to take up the issue of imposing safeguard duty on hot rolled coils (HRC) on May 11.

May 9, 2009: There's a welcome buoyancy in domestic demand for steel.

May 9, 2009: European steelmaker Corus, which was acquired by Tata Steel, may be forced to shut down its Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant in northeast England if a consortium of buyers fails to honour its commitment to buy nearly 80 percent of its output.

May 8, 2009: Top private steelmakers witnessed robust sales growth in April 2009, compared to the same month last year, on the back of healthy demand from the construction and automotive sectors.

May 8, 2009: Tata Steel ended April with a significant hike in its hot metal, crude steel and saleable steel production over the corresponding month of last year.

May 8, 2009: Tata Steel has launched a new brand of flat steel, named Galvano.

May 7, 2009: Steel makers such as Tata Steel and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) have increased prices of long products sold in the spot market by up to Rs 1,000 per ton this month.

May 7, 2009: The Liberian government, which invited global bids for a $1.6-billion iron ore project, has extended the deadline for bidding after potential bidders expressed a lack of interest.

May 6, 2009: Ruias-led Essar Steel has said it plans to pump in Rs 1,000 crore in a span of three years for setting up service centres across India, North America and the Middle East, to cater to specific steel requirement of auto, white goods and SME sectors.

May 4, 2009: Steel production has registered a 2.6 percent dip during March, even as cement output

May 2, 2009: The global slump in steel prices and demand has prompted Tata Steel to consider restructuring

May 2, 2009: Bhushan Steel's net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009, dipped

May 2, 2009: The world's largest steel producer ArcelorMittal has shelved its plans

April 30, 2009: Anglo American lowered its production in the quarter ended March 31, 2009 against the previous quarter. Demand for Eskom coal was down and this prompted a 10.9 percent decrease in output from the previous quarter.

April 30, 2009: Hyderabad-based Pennar Industries Ltd - engaged in the production of cold-rolled steel strips, metal profiles and engineering components - registered a net profit of Rs 10.18 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009.

April 30, 2009: Mumbai-based Montage Capital Markets Ltd, a corporate finance and financial advisory company, is exploring investment opportunities in the steel and manufacturing sectors.

April 30, 2009: Madras High Court has permitted Kolkata-based Fairdeal Supplies to remove the movable properties from SIV Industries, which is under liquidation.

April 30, 2009: ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steel manufacturing company, is finding India a difficult country to work in.

April 29, 2009: Alleging the government of distorting competition in the steel sector, a CCI-sponsored study has suggested the competition watchdog should investigate the HR coil industry, which is dominated by a few top producers.

April 29, 2009: Bucking the global trend, India's steel consumption is likely to rise by nearly 2 per cent to 53.5 million tonnes in 2009, the World Steel Association has said.

April 28, 2009: The government is considering levying a safeguard duty of 25 percent on key steel products imported from countries like China and Japan to protect the domestic industry against damages from cheap arrivals.

April 28, 2009: Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL) has floated a tender for a partner for its new venture.

April 28, 2009: Mining companies which export iron ore to China are reluctant to set a benchmark price for the entire year by getting into annual contracts.

April 28, 2009: There has been a steady improvement in the long products market over the past month in the domestic market. However, the flats market has been a laggard in both domestic and international market.

April 28, 2009: World Steel Association (worldsteel) expects a fall of 14.9 percent to 1,018.6 million tons (mt) in apparent steel use worldwide in 2009. Usage had dropped 1.4 percent, or 1,197 mt, in 2008.

April 28, 2009: Neeraj Singal-led Bhushan Group's open offer for Bhubaneswar-based Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel has got delayed as the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is yet to approve the offer.

April 28, 2009: The government plans to allot natural gas from Reliance Industries' Krishna Godavari (KG) basin to steel companies affected by the shortage of the commodity.

April 27, 2009: Steel major Jindal Stainless is planning to ask its overseas bond-holders for rescheduling the outstanding amount on its foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) that is due in December, as it expects repayment of the bonds to be a challenge.

April 26, 2009: The government is considering levying a safeguard duty of 25 per cent on key steel products imported from countries like China and Japan to protect the domestic industry against damages from cheap arrivals.

April 26, 2008:India's Jindal Steel and Power expects to start producing gas in Bolivia in June for export to Argentina, company representatives told the Andean nation's president here.

April 25, 2009: Maharashtra Seamless has said its net profit in the quarter ended March 31 grew 19.57 percent to Rs 64.63 crore over the same period a year ago.

April 25, 2009: Mumbai-based steel maker Uttam Galva plans to invest Rs 400 crore in enhancing capacity of its service centre and adding a new product mix over the next year.

April 23, 2009: JSW Steel is expecting up to 60 percent increase in sales volume in 2009-10 and plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore in expanding steel capacity and developing coal mines.

April 22, 2009: Sesa Goa, India's largest iron ore exporter, is exploring options of bidding for the controlling stake in an iron ore mine that has been put on the block by Brazil's mining exploration company GME4.

April 21, 2009: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, may cut the size of a planned steel plant in India by half and indefinitely defer a second facility as the global recession curbs sales of cars and homes, a company official has said.

April 21, 2009: Tata Steel and Canadian mining company New Millennium propose to start production from one of their iron ore joint ventures (JV) in Canada from the second quarter of 2011.

April 21, 2009: The reprieve for domestic steel majors such as SAIL, Tata Steel and the Jindals may be shortlived.

April 20, 2009: Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd. announced the de-merger of its Plate-cum-Coil mill into a 100 percent subsidiary today.

April 20, 2009: Bhushan Steel has informally approached the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) for an additional 1,000 acres in West Bengal, in the wake of negotiations with Sumitomo Metal Industries (SMI) for participation in its steel project.

April 19, 2009: The steel and cement sectors are recovering on the back of demand from the small constructions, but price of steel in the coming months is expected to remain stable at the current rates, said S.K. Roongta, Chairman, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

April 18, 2009: The good times for India's iron ore exporters seem to have been short-lived.

April 17, 2009: The fate of ArcelorMittal's greenfield steel project in Orissa hangs in the balance, with the world's largest steelmaker delaying payment to the state for 1,500 acres meant to house the facility.

April 17, 2009: The battle for control of the resource-rich Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel may intensify, with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) allowing Bhushan Steel, one of the three contenders, to go ahead with its open offer for the Bhubaneswar-based company.

April 17, 2009: The Liberian government has cleared Tata Steel of financial wrong-doing, clearing the way for the Indian firm to bid for a $1.5 billion iron ore project in the West African country.

April 17, 2009: The steel industry staged a smart recovery in the three months to March end on account of a revival in demand from the automobile, rural infrastructure and housing sectors.

April 16, 2009: The economic think-tank, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), has said demand for steel has improved and the trend will continue in the present financial year.

April 16, 2009: State-run Steel Authority of India posted a 4 percent rise in sales volume in March from a year earlier, according to steel secretary Pramod Kumar Rastogi.

April 16, 2009: ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steel group, may delay its planned $20 to $25 billion investment in India by at least two years from an earlier schedule.

April 16, 2009: Amid a sharp decline in steel demand due to the global economic slowdown, steel giant ArcelorMittal may half the size and slash its investment for the first phase of its Rs 1,00,000-crore projects in India.

April 16, 2009: India's steel industry is looking up, with input prices crashing.

April 15, 2009: China is expected to breach the 20.2-million ton (mt) mark, set in 2008, for ship plate production this year.

April 15, 2009: There is not much buying interest for plate in Southeast Asia.

April 14, 2009: JSW Steel intends to set up a hot rolled mill in Vijayanagar entailing an investment of Rs 2,000 crore.

April 14, 2009: The Supreme Court has set aside the Orissa High Court order asking the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to investigate if the Neeraj Singhal-led Bhushan group had violated takeover norms while buying a stake in Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel Ltd (OSIL).

April 14, 2009: Delhi-based Bhushan Steel has increased the production capacity of its integrated steel plant based in Orissa five times to 2.5 million ton (mt).

April 14, 2009: Japan's Sumitomo Metal Industries may build a blast furnace steel plant in India with mid-tier producer Bhushan Steel, investing as much as $3 billion.

April 13, 2009: Tata Steel Ltd is in talks with group company Tata Motors Ltd for supply of steel for the prestigious Rs 1-lakh Nano, which was launched recently.

April 13, 2009: Tata Steel Ltd, the world's sixth largest producer of steel, feels that despite some early steps taken by the management to tide over severe recession in the second half of 2008-09, capacity utilisation at Corus plants in Europe is likely to fall in 2009-10.

April 13, 2009: A revival in steel demand and prices throughout the world is likely from the third quarter of the current financial year, according to Tata Steel Ltd managing director B. Muthuraman.

April 13, 2009: HR sheets (of 5 to 10 mm thickness) are currently available at Rs 29,500 per ton basic from SAIL on direct despatch.

April 13, 2009: Domestic market prices of angles and channels from 50 to 110 mm have risen Rs 2 to 3 per kg due to shortage conditions. This is sending both good and bad signals to the market.

April 13, 2009: Availability of 500 and 600 mm beams have reduced substantially in the Indian market.

April 13, 2009: India's largest private steel maker Tata Steel relied heavily on government-funded projects and the Indian Railways, in the face of a demand downturn, to boost steel sales in the last quarter of 2008-09.

April 13, 2009: The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) commissioned the 4th coke oven battery by charging coal into the oven on 11th April, 2009.

April 13, 2009: Hundreds of steelworkers in Illinois, the home state of US President Barack Obama, have protested against the use of India-made steel in an oil pipeline project connecting the US region with Canada.

April 11, 2009: Ratan Jindal led JSL formerly known as Jindal Stainless is planning to make Indonesia a manufacturing hub to supply stainless steel products in the South-East Asian region, informed a top company executive.

April 11, 2009: In a bid to tide over recession Tata Steel is targeting £1 billion in cost savings at its UK subsidiary, Corus, during FY10. The company has already managed to save some £650 million up to March 2009.

April 11, 2009: Tata Steel said it will begin production at Sedibang mine in South Africa from next year.

April 11, 2009: The first phase of the 6 million ton integrated steel complex of Essar Steel at Paradip in Orissa is likely to be commissioned by March 2010.

April 10, 2009: Tata Steel has negotiated coking coal contracts for 2009-10 at $129 per ton fob.

April 10, 2009: With the commissioning of a Rs 250-crore plant to produce steel sheets in Agartala, Dharampal Premchand (DP) Ltd, has diversified into steel production. It is also the group's first steel unit in Tripura.

April 10, 2009: Driven by a revival in demand from the auto and railway sectors, the country's per capita stainless steel consumption is likely to double in two-three years.

April 9, 2009: A trader in the Kolkata market made a recent deal for 100 tons packeted 3.15 x 1,250 x 2,500 mm hot rolled sheet at Rs 30.50 per kg, inclusive of excise duty.

April 9, 2009: ArcelorMittal, the largest steel maker in the world, has evinced interest to set up a captive port at Barunei Muhan to the north of Mahanadi river near Paradip in Orissa.

April 9, 2009: The Supreme Court has dismissed Bellary Steels & Alloys Ltd's plea, challenging market regulator Sebi's order that debarred it from the securities market for five years.

April 9, 2009: India may abolish a 5 percent import tax on iron and steel after the April and May elections, a newspaper has cited anonymous official sources as saying.

April 9, 2009: The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government and Coal India Ltd (CIL) have reached an agreement that will pave the way for relocation of four big ticket projects.

April 8, 2009: There was nearly 50 percent reduction in March crude steel production in Germany from the previous corresponding period.

April 8, 2009: There was weakness in the domestic and export markets for commercial plate in China in April due to a lack of demand.

April 8, 2009: Northern Italy has seen a spurt in long product prices in the past two weeks.

April 8, 2009: Bhushan Steel sees a revival in demand in the near term, according to managing director Neeraj Singal.

April 8, 2009: The Ruias-led Essar Steel plans to start the first phase of production from its proposed $1.1-billion steel plant at Minnesota in the US by 2011, company sources said.

April 8, 2009: Ratan Jindal-led JSL (formerly known as Jindal Stainless) is planning to raise Rs 500 crore through various routes - including a rights issue or issuance of global depository receipts (GDRs) - to fund its upcoming Rs 5,700-crore stainless steel project in Orissa, said a top executive of the company.

April 7, 2009: Prime producers are planning to maintain the steel price at the same level in the first half of 2009-10 if international prices and import duties do not undergo any major change.

April 7, 2009: The end user industry of high grade stainless steel in the country - currently importing for their respective industries - has strongly protested against the proposed levying of anti-dumping duty on import of stainless steel.

April 7, 2009: Bhubaneswar-based steel firm Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel (OSIL), the takeover target of three separate groups, continues to face corporate governance issues.

April 7, 2009: Tata Steel ended 2008-09 with an 11 percent jump in saleable steel production to 5.3 million tons (mt), against 4.8 mt in the previous corresponding period.

April 6, 2009: A Kolkata-based trader offered plates (5 to 10 mm) at Rs 31.50 per kg inclusive of excise duty 10 percent and VAT.

April 6, 2009: There have been spot deals for angle and channels at Rs 27.5 per kg basic this week.

April 6, 2009: Foundry grade pig iron is being sold at Rs 16,500 per ton basic and steel grade is being sold at Rs 15,500 per ton basic currently in the Kolkata market.

April 6, 2009: JSW Steel Ltd, India's No. 3 producer of the alloy, has said its crude steel output in the January-March quarter rose 11 percent to 1.1 million tons (mt) while long products grew by half to 0.13 mt.

April 5, 2009: Leaving rivals in public and private sector gasping for breath, Tata Steel has stolen the show by registering a 12.6 per cent growth rate in production during the fiscal that just ended.

April 4, 2009: Indian ferro alloys producers have raised their capacity utilisation in a major way since the second fortnight of February on a revival in demand for steel, which started in the fourth quarter of the last financial year.

April 4, 2009: Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland on Friday reported a fall of 52.2 per cent in commercial vehicle sales at 5,112 units in March this year compared to same month in 2008.

April 3, 2009: There has been an increase in scrap import prices of east Asia.

April 2, 2009: Tata Steel, which completed its centenary in 2007, will achieve another milestone when its mining division in Jharia completes a 100 years of operations on April 4.

April 2, 2009: NMDC Limited has exhibited commendable performance during 2008-09 by achieving a production level of 29 million tons.

April 2, 2009: As per some rough estimates Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) held Vizag Steel Plant (VSP) has recorded a sales turnover of Rs 10,440 crores for the year 2008-09.

April 1, 2009: Country's largest steel producer Steel Authority of India (SAIL) will produce 12 million tons (mt) of saleable steel during 2009-10.

April 1, 2009: Just days before the G-20 summit in London, the commerce ministry has recommended anti-dumping duty on cold-rolled stainless steel originating in eight countries, including China.

March 31, 2009: Spot trading in medium and higher grade iron ore between India and China has been slow over the past couple of weeks as prices too have kept low.

March 31, 2009: Chinese major Baosteel has drawn out of the race for iron ore in the domestic market.

March 31, 2009: China may soon impose a 13 percent tax rebate on cold rolled and hot dip galvanised sheet and strip exports. However, this is not expected to make much of a difference to the already weak east Asian import markets.

March 31, 2009: State-owned mining giant NMDC would soon join hands with South Africa's Kopanao Ke Metla Investment Company for acquiring coal, iron ore and manganese properties in African nations.

March 31, 2009: It marks a distinct shift in bargaining power, perhaps for the first time in years. With barely a day to go for annual price contracts for FY10, domestic steelmakers -- SAIL, JSW Steel and Ispat -- are gearing up for intense negotiations to induce price cuts of 40 to 70 percent on key raw materials, such as iron ore and coking coal.

March 31, 2009: With the aim of promoting new technology in the sponge iron plants to reduce carbon emission and ensure optimum use of the resources in the production process, the Orissa government plans to promote a sponge iron cluster at Bonai in Sundergarh district.

March 30, 2009: Steel makers such as SAIL, Tata Steel and JSW Steel are witnessing a revival of demand in the country following improved consumption from sectors such as construction and automobile.

March 29, 2009: Lakshmi N Mittal has threatened to stop work on the Rs 18,919-crore oil refinery project at Bhatinda in Punjab unless the state government restored fiscal incentives it had taken away a few years ago.

March 29, 2009: Domestic steel companies are likely to enter into a pricing war as input costs have come down significantly and demand could peter out after the elections.

March 29, 2009: Titagarh Wagons (TWL) has decided to merge Titagarh Steel (TSL), an associate and listed company, with itself.

March 28, 2009: Baoshan Iron and Steel Co, announced that it has planned crude steel production of 24.9 million tons in 2009 compared to 26 million tons- the current annual capacity.

March 28, 2009: SAIL expects to clock up to 10 percent more sales in the present month compared to the year-ago period on improved demand from sectors like construction and automobile.

March 28, 2009: If the performance of the steel and cement industries is any indication, a nascent recovery in economic activity seems under way.

March 27, 2009: Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has said it is actively considering its plans to enter into a joint venture with steel major SAIL. But, there is no timeline available by which the joint venture will be firmed up.

March 27, 2009: India's largest steelmakers are operating at full capacity after a five-month lull that saw them cutting production, raising hopes that an economic recovery may be just round the corner.

March 26, 2009: China has still no presence in the strips market while prices have been dropping for imports into southern Europe.

March 26, 2009: A slump in the shipbuilding and machinery production industries has led to almost zero demand for plates in Turkey.

March 26, 2009: ArcelorMittal Poland has indefinitely postponed renovation of the closed blast furnace No. 3 at its Krakow plant.

March 26, 2009: The billet imports market in Southeast Asia has seen offer prices rising from last week, even as the number of offers decrease.

March 26, 2009: The Orissa High Court has directed the state to communicate its decision on the application of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL), seeking grant of prospecting licence (PL) for Khandadhar mines in Sundergarh district.

March 26, 2009: Iron ore, the prime raw material for making steel, could see a further decline in prices. While steel demand has fallen heavily, iron ore prices - which more than doubled last year - remain vulnerable to a decline.

March 26, 2009: ArcelorMittal has raised 1.1 billion euro (about $1.5 billion) through issue of convertible bonds, a move which will help in strengthening the company's liquidity position.

March 25, 2009: JSW Steel has opened one exclusive steel retail outlet in Hyderabad and three such showrooms in West Bengal in association with its authorised distributors.

March 25, 2009: Exports of non alloy pig iron from the different ports of Brazil have dropped by about 32.3 percent during January 2009 as compared to January 2008 revealed data in the recent Tex Report.

March 25, 2009: The Orissa High Court has directed market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to investigate whether companies belonging to the Bhushan Steel Group had purchased shares of Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel from the market and whether there has been any violation of Sebi's takeover regulations in such transactions.

March 25, 2009: Welspun Power and Steel, a Welspun Group company, has raised Rs 700 crore debt from a consortium of 20 domestic banks to part finance its Rs 1,030-crore acquisition of Vikram Ispat from Grasim Industries.

March 24, 2009: Corus has more cost-cutting measures on the cards.

March 24, 2009: Rebar exports from Turkey are now selling at a higher price due to better scrap realisations.

March 24, 2009: Metal prices have come off from their highs of 2008 and are now down about 50 percent.

March 22, 2009: ArcelorMittal, expects steel markets in North America and Brazil to start recovering from the current fall in the second quarter.

March 22, 2009: Global research firm Macquaire has said demand for steel in India remains better placed than many other countries. However there would be pressure on margins.

March 22, 2009: Essar Steel has set up a steel processing facility, of 2.5 lakh tons per annum capacity, close to the manufacturing unit of one of its largest customers - Hyundai motor India - at Oragadam near Chennai.

March 20, 2009: The world crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 84 million tons (mt) in February 2009 down by 22 percent from the figures in February 2008.

March 20, 2009: Usiminas has decided to postpone discussions on equipment for its new 5 million tons per annum slab plant.

March 20, 2009: A lack of demand in the Middle East has stopped expansion work at steel projects.

March 20, 2009: Ramsarup Industries bagged orders worth Rs 164 crore for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) electrification work from the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co.

March 19, 2009: KIOCL expects to finalise its draft tender document for seeking expression of interest from interested parties to set up a mini steel plant in Karnataka this week.

March 19, 2009: US scrap prices have maintained their downwards trend and April's prices are expected to be below the baseline used by electric furnace mills to establish raw material surcharges.

March 19, 2009: KIOCL Ltd is set to end the fourth quarter of this fiscal with a loss of approximately Rs 25 to 30 crore due to lower demand for iron ore pellets from steel makers.

March 19, 2009: Prices for commercial plate have risen RMB 20 - 30 per ton in China in this week.

March 19, 2009: ArcelorMittal has shut down one of its Spanish mini mills temporarily and indefinitely as a result of the weak market.

March 19, 2009: Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) is adding to its railway facilities to meet the additional requirement to be thrown up by the projected increase in rail-borne traffic by 2011-12 when the capacity expansion programme, currently in progress, is expected to be complete.

March 19, 2009: China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) has predicted that Chinese steel exports will decrease 80 percent year-on-year in 2009.

March 19, 2009: The Bolivian government has given approval to Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) for its El Mútun iron ore and steel project.

March 19, 2009: Operators in the mining and metals industry have enjoyed an unprecedented boom over the past decade as China, India and other rapidly-developing economies sought to modernise their infrastructure and a rising middle class was able to afford cars and other metals intensive goods for the first time.

March 18, 2009: Essar Steel has denied having sold hot rolled coil at a discount, as traders had reported.

March 18, 2009: Confidence is running low in the east Asian steel market, which is unable to stabilise due to price volatility.

March 18, 2009: Chinese traders have recently bought Russian re-rolling hot rolled coil (HRC) at $385 to $400 per ton cfr.

March 18, 2009: JSW Steel, India's third-biggest steel producer, would set up 600 outlets to supply steel in rural areas, according to JSW vice-chairman and managing director Sajjan Jindal.

March 18, 2009: The last couple of months have brought some relief to steel manufacturers in India, thanks to higher sales volume. However, one shouldn't read much into it as demand revival may not be just around the corner.

March 17, 2009: Around 2,000 contract workers at the Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), a unit of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), have disrupted normal work.

March 16, 2009: Steel scrap prices once again nosedived - after a slight revival - with demand weakening at various locations. The month ended on negative sentiment, indicating a further downtrend in the future.

March 16, 2009: The domestic steel market was again depressed in the third week of February after a slight improvement in prices till the second week. Sentiment remained low over a week as demand remained sluggish.

March 16, 2009: The flat products market remained stable at the beginning of the month. The price of IS2062 2.0 mm hot rolled coil (HRC) prevailed at around Rs 28,000 per ton basic and demand did not rebound or fall much.

March 16, 2009: The international long products market has been in doldrums this February. After showing some signs of strength in December 2008 and January 2009, the market fell pretty fast in February.

March 16, 2009: There is no doubt about the fact that the world is witnessing one of the worst recessions in recent times. The entire world is trying their level best to come out with some plans and policies to avoid a scenario which could turn out to be even worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

March 16, 2009: The steel sector is limping back to normalcy, with sales and despatches in February significantly better than the previous month, leading some producers to revisit expansion plans.

March 15, 2009: The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) plans to ask the government there to increase import tax on billets and long products.

March 15, 2009: Although US steel prices have very nearly bottomed out, it seems improbable that demand will resume until the second half of 2009.

March 15, 2009: Ilyich Iron & Steel Works has called for an open price calculation of iron ore and coking coal during the steel market slump.

March 15, 2009: Peru exported 4,30,000 tons iron ore in January, a decrease of 35.8 percent against the same month last year.

March 15, 2009: China Shipping Haisheng Co and Hainan Mining Co have forged a shipping contract for transportation of iron ore.

March 14, 2009: Ship plate price shave been decreasing steadily since the middle of February and some offers have already fallen below production costs.

March 14, 2009: Russia's Severstal group is operating two out of four blast furnaces at its Cherepovets steelworks.

March 14, 2009: Shredded scrap in Brazil is selling at an average price 16 percent lower than recent months.

March 13, 2009: Lower consumption in the Middle East has pulled down Turkish billet exports to 131,660 tons in February, against 233,823 tons in the same month, last year. The figure was 135,438 tons in January 2009.

March 13, 2009: ArcelorMittal Spain is undecided on whether to idle one of its two blast furnaces in Gijon, Spain.

March 13, 2009: Production is expected to stay low at ArcelorMittal's cold rolling and coating plant in Piombino, Italy even in the second quarter.

March 13, 2009: Indian 2 mm commercial grade hot rolled coils (HRC) are selling at an average Rs 31,700 per ton ($611 per ton).

March 13, 2009: Domestic steel demand is likely to recover by the first quarter of the next fiscal on the back of a rise in construction activity pushed by the stimulus packages announced by the government, according to a research firm.

March 12, 2009: World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) was 86 million tons (mt) in January. This was 24 percent lower than the same month last year. All major steel producing countries showed a two-digit decrease in crude steel production in the first month of 2009, compared to January 2008, except China.

March 12, 2009: Tata Steel has said the production cut at its UK subsidiary, Corus, continues to be around 40 percent. Speaking at the sidelines of CII annual regional meeting, Tata Steel group chief financial officer Koushik Chatterjee confirmed that the production cut continues to be around 40 percent.

March 10, 2009: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) is going ahead with expansion of its melting capacity to 6.3 million tons per annum (mtpa), from the current 3 mtpa, by the middle of 2011.

March 10, 2009: Wheels India Ltd, the Rs 1,140-crore TVS group company, is entering the power sector. It wants to make "steel structural components" for power plants; specially made steel products such as girders, columns and beams that support a boiler.

March 10, 2009: Home minister P. Chidambaram has laid the foundation stone for a Rs 750-crore alloy steel plant, promoted by Sundareshwarar Alloy & Stainless Steel Ltd, at Seyanoor, near Manamadurai in Sivaganga district.

March 10, 2009: Dhruvdesh Metasteel Pvt Ltd - Bangalore-based manufacturer of sponge iron - is embarking on both forward and backward integration projects to manufacture finished steel products and double its existing capacity to 60,000 tons per annum at an investment of Rs 120 crore.

March 9, 2009: The US operations of ArcelorMittal has plans to idle its Cleveland integrated steelworks indefinitely. This is part of the group's efforts to lower global production by 45 percent due to market conditions.

March 9, 2009: Wuhan Iron & Steel (Wugang) has decided to cut its hot rolled coil (HRC) ex-works prices for April by RMB 50 to 200 per ton ($7-29 per ton).

March 8, 2009: Steel maker ArcelorMittal plans to suspend operations at its Cleveland site in early May amid a declining market for steel and lay off about 700 more workers for an indefinite length of time, a local union official said.

March 8, 2009: The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has said that steel prices would remain weak domestically in 2009-10 but the output of the alloy would grow by 6.5 percent during the period.

March 8, 2009: Tata Metaliks Ltd (TML) has shelved the Rs 800-crore diversification plan of its pig iron unit at Kharagpur in West Bengal.

March 8, 2009: Tata Metaliks Kubota Pipes Ltd (TMKPL), a 51:44:5 joint venture between Tata Metaliks Ltd (TML), Japan's Kubota Corporation and Metal One Corporation, expects to start production of ductile iron pipes (DI pipes) in the Kharagpur plant from April, according to Rajesh Mishra, Chief Executive Officer of the company.

March 7, 2009: Tata Steel said that it has posted a 47 percent rise in sales at 5.84 lakh tons in February 2009, compared with 3.97 lakh tons logged during the corresponding month in 2008.

March 7, 2009: The Jindals have decided to put off construction work at Salboni in West Midnapore by a year.

March 6, 2009: Small and medium industries in Orissa have sought reduction in licensing fee for the storage of raw materials, reduction of value added tax (VAT) on items like tyres and bringing in uniformity in the rate of entry tax.

March 6, 2009: The promoter of Orissa Sponge -- the takeover target of three steel firms -- is now caught in another controversy.

March 5, 2009: Finished steel imports surged 60 percent to 5.1 lakh tons in January, from 3.2 lakh tons in December due to the high demand from the auto and construction sectors, according to latest data released by the Steel Ministry.

March 4, 2009: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) has recorded a sales turnover of Rs 9,202 crore for April 2008 to February 2009 in the backdrop of the global economic crisis. This is an increase of 4 percent over the previous corresponding period.

March 4, 2009: Tata Steel managing director B. Muthuraman still feels the $12-billion acquisition of Corus was a good deal, despite the fact that its poor performance is pulling overall profit down.

March 4, 2009: The race for control of Orissa Sponge Iron is heating up.

March 4, 2009: Siemens VAI Metals Technologies has received an order from Steel Authority of India (SAIL) for a new LD converter steel mill, which will be built at the company's Bhilai Steel Plant.

March 3, 2009: The price of Egyptian rebar has been lowered by producers by EGP 350 per ton, effective from 1 March, in the face of competition in times of the slowdown.

March 3, 2009: JSW Bengal Steel may take a second call on the products it plans to market. The company is setting up a 10-million tons per annum integrated steelworks in Salboni.

March 3, 2009: Steel sales appear to have bounced back in February, capping marginal but steady volume growth witnessed on a month-on-month basis since December 2008.

March 3, 2009: Iron ore export prices have decreased up to 12 percent due to a drop in demand from China, which consumes almost half of domestic ore shipments.

March 2, 2009: The Orissa government has completed the hearing for the Malda iron ore mines, for issue of a prospecting license (PL) over an area of about 350 hectares in Sundergarh district. The hearing for this block of iron ore had started in October 2008.

March 2, 2009: The government is planning stricter norms for import of steel scrap. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, nodal agency for foreign trade matters, is expected to issue a notification this week that will make it mandatory for importers to furnish proof that imported consignments have no traces of radioactivity.

March 2, 2009: Demand has still not risen enough for Tata Steel to restart its Corus unit's idle capacity.

March 2, 2009: There has been an interesting turn in the three-way takeover battle for control of Orissa Sponge Iron, with the various parties involved trading charges of violation of takeover norms.

March 1, 2009: Rio Tinto Group has informed that a storm has halted operations at three of its mines in Pilbara district of Western Australia.

March 1, 2009: Indian steel demand is likely to grow by 5 percent in 2009, while prices are likely to remain stable stated a top official with Tata Steel recently.

March 1, 2009: Even as the three-way takeover battle for control of Orissa Sponge Iron is warming up, the board of directors of Orissa Sponge has decided to co-opt Monnet Ispat as a strategic partner.

February 28, 2009: Steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan has launched the project for rebuilding erstwhile Malvika Steel at Jagdishpur Industrial Area of Uttar Pradesh. The steel plant has now been taken over by SAIL.

February 28,2009: Tata Steel, posted a 44 percent fall in its net profit to Rs 732.21 crore on a consolidated basis for the quarter ended December 2008, owing to high raw material costs, inventory build-up and a foreign exchange loss of Rs 200 crore.

February 27, 2009: Delhi-based Surya Roshni (SRL) is planning an entry into the cement sector and expansion of its steel making business.

February 27, 2009: Jindal Stainless may supply steel to Bombardier Transportation for metro coach bodies.

February 27, 2009: Recently, a Mumbai-based steelmaker's consignment of stainless steel bars was detected with radioactive contamination. Overseas clients of major players here are reportedly seeking in-depth details on the material procurement and processing methodology, besides the precautions taken to ensure that contaminated steel does not land up at their doorstep.

February 27, 2009: The proposed capacity expansion of Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) to 7.5 million tons (mt) of hot metal (5.27 mt in 2007-08) annually may not be complete within the scheduled 2010-11 period.

February 27, 2009: The joint venture (JV) formed between SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) and Jaypee Cement for a slag cement plant is likely to start production by the end of this year. The JV company is called Bhilai Jaypee Cement Limited and is loacted in Bhilai itself.

February 27, 2009: More and more ship-breaking activity at Alang may result in a decrease in steel prices.

February 26, 2009: KIOCL Ltd has decided to set up a ductile iron spun pipe (DISP) plant beside its blast furnace in Baikampady industrial area.

February 26, 2009: Steelmakers plan to trim prices by about Rs 600 per ton, following the 2 percent cut in excise duties. However, that's unlikely to result in a spurt in orders from the real estate or automobile players, though players in the infrastructure space may be willing to buy more.

February 26, 2009: Chennai-based Sical Logistics has formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) -- Sical Iron Ore Terminals Ltd -- with MMTC Ltd to set up an iron ore terminal at Ennore port.

February 26, 2009: Monnet Ispat group has made an open offer for 20 percent at Rs 310 per share, after having acquired 27 percent in Orissa Sponge Iron from promoter P.K. Mohanty at Rs 283 per share.

February 26, 2009: Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren announced that it had received orders for steel plates worth Rs 5 billion, taking its order book to Rs 93 billion.

February 25, 2009: The US recorded imports of a total of 2,343,000 net tons (NT) of steel, up by 13 percent in January 2009 against the December final data. This includes imports of 2,134,000 NT of finished steel, up by 15 percent.

February 25, 2009: Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd. (WGSRL) has shutdown its plate mill at Anjar for 45 days to implement the 1.5 million ton Stackel coil mill which is a part of the backward integration project to improve the company's internal flexibility to produce in-house high grade coils.

February 25, 2009: Things are improving this quarter for Goa's iron ore export industry, which was badly hit due to global recession between September and December.

February 25, 2009: Delhi-based Monnet Ispat & Power has now joined the race to acquire Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel by acquiring 27 percent in the company.

February 25, 2009: The economic slump has claimed another victim in ArcelorMittal, whose India projects are expected to be delayed.

February 25, 2009: ArcelorMittal has decided to "curtail merger and acquisition (M&A) activity" as a fallout of the global economic slowdown.

February 25, 2009: Steel prices are expected to dip Rs 500 to 600 per ton after the government reduced excise duty by 2 percent.

February 24, 2009: Corus plans to relocate its panels and profiles line from its Ammanford site to Shotton in North Wales.

February 24, 2009: China is considering starting new export rebates on steel products or raising them.

February 24, 2009: Bearish sentiments have kept buying activity at a minimum for hot rolled coil (HRC) into Southeast Asia, at a rate of $430 to $440 per ton cfr.

February 24, 2009: The downward trend continued for US raw steel production last week and dropped below the 1 million short tons (mst) per week mark. This is almost half the normal rate of output.

February 24, 2009: The IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) is increasingly turning to buyjunction, an arm of mjunction services, for their vendor base needs. Looking to increase their quality vendor base, ISP is using buyjunction as their existing vendor base could not meet all their needs and there was a distinct need for improvement.

February 24, 2009: There is a big impending changeover at the Burnpur works of ISP, while they shift from the twin hearth ingot making route to the basic oxygen furnace and continuous casting route (BOF CCS) of steel production.

February 24, 2009: The entire steel plant at Burnpur which is currently operating would be sold as scrap in another two years' time, when the new plant with a capacity of 2.5 million tons per annum starts to function.

By Arnab Mallick

February 24, 2009: The global steel market has been pretty eventful during the first month of the year which has emerged as one of the most crucial years in recent history. After witnessing a global meltdown, everyone and particularly the steel sector is keeping their fingers crossed and closely observing the market.

February 24, 2009: Russia is now exporting coils at $30 to $40 per ton less than what it offered 10 days ago.

February 23, 2009: Iron ore demand has not shown any signs of recovery other than in China stated Vale's finance director Fábio Barbosa as reported by Steel Business Briefing.

February 23, 2009: The economic slowdown has led to a 24 percent lower production of crude steel in January, at 86 million tons (mt), for the world.

February 22, 2009: The fourth quarter has seen Severstal making a near 50 percent cut in crude steel production in Russia, at 1.7 million tons (mt), compared to the third quarter.

February 22, 2009: Steel Authority of India's (SAIL) expansion and modernisation programme is well on track.

February 22, 2009: Corus Distribution Europe has started a joint venture steel service centre in Thessalonica, Greece, along with steel distributor and processor Elastron.

February 21, 2009: Amidst the existing global situation wherein almost all the steel companies across the world are taking a back foot, it seems that Jai Balaji is striding fast. After acquiring the land in Purulia, Jai Balaji inaugured it's 0.45 million ton alloy and stainless steel division in Banspoka, Durgapur today.

February 21, 2009: Sesa Goa's revenues have slowed down considerably. Iron ore manufacturers are naturally under pressure as major steel producers cut back production due to the fall in demand.

February 21, 2009: Brazilian long products producer Gerdau has managed to offset the lower prices of rolled steel with the help of cheaper sources of scrap.

February 21, 2009: China has no presence currently in the south European markets, though Australia, South America, some Mediterranean countries, Thailand and other Far Eastern countries have conveyed offers.

February 21, 2009: JSW Steel is seeking 66 percent lower rates for coking coal from global suppliers, at $100 per ton, in an effort to ease input cost pressures.

February 20, 2009: China has decided to bring its steel production down 8 percent from last year and limit it at 490 million tons (mt) in 2009. This is against an output of 500 in 2008, of which more than 10 percent was exported.

February 20, 2009: The Japanese market for commodity grade heavy plates is being affected by a lack of demand and increasing distributor inventories.

February 20, 2009: Vale has signed a contract with Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co (ZPMC), a leading Chinese machinery producer, for supplying nine bulk materials handling machines.

February 20, 2009: Minister for steel Ram Vilas Paswan has said that import duty on steel could still be increased through a notification. The industry, which has been badly hit by the recession, has been demanding protection from imports.

February 20, 2009: Offers for CIS-produced billet are maintaining their downward movement from levels of $380 to $390 per ton fob Black/Baltic Sea two weeks ago, when buyers were ready to pay $20 per ton less.

February 19, 2009: The China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) has approved the measures which strictly control imports of iron ore, with large mills organising shipments on an FOB basis with one-year contracts starting on 1 January.

February 20, 2009: The iron ore rich, Bellary-Hospet region of Karnataka has witnessed the forcible closure of more than 20 iron ore mines in the past 10 days by the Indian government

February 20, 2009: After acquiring Algoma Steel in 2007, diversified Essar Group may make further investments in Canada across several areas.

February 19, 2009: Essar Steel Algoma Inc, a part of Essar Steel and, based out of Canada, has started a new emission control system (Bag House) at a cost of $25 million. The step has been taken with a view to reduce net particulate emissions.

By Nudrat Alim

February 19, 2009: The Chinese market is back in action after a relatively silent January.

By Nudrat Alim

February 19, 2009: The ferrous scrap market is once again at the mercy of the buyers, thanks to sporadic demand. Although it was being felt that the market is on the verge of gaining some degree of stability, and the initial effect of the economic downturn would somehow fade away, the absence of buyers from the market has put all these notions to rest.

By Rajkumar Mitra & Arusha Das

February 19, 2009: The upcoming Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Bharat Refractories Limited (BRL) amalgamation could give rise to a monopoly situation for BRL with respect to SAIL, but only if BRL expands capacity. With its present capacity, however, there is no question of any kind of monopolistic situation arising, industry insiders feel.

February 19, 2009: NMDC is considering acquiring iron ore mines in Africa.

February 19, 2009: Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) is likely to get the first shipment of crushing equipment this week for its major iron ore project, El Mutún, in eastern Bolivia.

February 18, 2009: A slow purchase scenario has led to a continuous fall in the price of billet in China.

February 18, 2009: Both General Motors and Chrysler have said that they would need an additional $14 billion as aid from the federal government to remain solvent. This would take the total amount of aid sought by the two companies to a whopping figure of $39 billion, as reported by The New York Times.

February 18, 2009: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is setting up steel processing units (SPUs) at locations where it does not have any production facility. It plans to meet market demand for tailormade products and help increase per capita steel consumption in rural areas.

February 18, 2009: JSW Steel is ready to overtake Tata Steel and become the country's largest private sector steel producer with an extension at its Vijaynagar facility.

February 17, 2009: The stainless steel market in Asia may gain in strength now that Taiwan's Yieh United Steel Corp (Yusco) and Tang Eng will raise the export stainless steel price for February.

February 17, 2009: Gangcheng Group plans to establish a 1.4 million tons per annum pellet plant in China's Sichuan, where it already has two 1.2-mtpa units.

February 17, 2009: ArcelorMittal board member Michel Wurth, in charge of the group's Flat Carbon Europe segment, feels Europe's steel prices have "really reached the bottom."

February 17, 2009: Coil prices have dropped in the US and stayed stable in Europe. Turkish domestic cold rolled (CR) coil prices and CR coil export prices from China have also decreased.

February 17, 2009: As part of its expansion and modernisation plan, the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has ordered new equipment for its integrated steel mills at Bokaro and Rourkela located in Jharkhand and Orissa, respectively.

February 17, 2009: The global economic crisis has adversely impacted Japan's economy which shrank 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter, reported an international news agency. This has been the biggest drop since 1974.

February 17, 2009: As per ArcelorMittal CEO, Lakshmi Mittal, steel demand in China is starting to improve as destocking ends. This development has helped in bolstering domestic prices.

February 17, 2009: ArcelorMittal is likely to get about 1,025 acres from the Jharkhand government for its project there. The company will pay Rs 12.39 crore for this.

February 17, 2009: South Africa's Kumba Iron Ore (KIO), the world's fourth largest iron ore producer, has planned to increase its production by 10 percent in 2009, if the market permits.

February 16, 2009: Tata Steel subsidiary Corus is targeting a cost savings of £600 million during the year in a bid to weather the current economic downturn even as its parent company expects to record improved sales in Q4 of 2008-09 compared to the earlier corresponding quarter.

February 16, 2009: JSW group chairman Sajjan Jindal will review the status of the delayed steel project in West Bengal after three months, a company official has said.

February 15, 2009: Unlike Singur and Nandigram, land isn't the problem here. But funds are. As a result, the chief minister would be able to lay the foundation of one mega steel project in Purulia, instead of two.

February 14, 2009: Bhushan Steel has initiated discussions with Sumitomo Corporation, for investing in Bhushan's proposed steel plant in West Bengal.

February 14, 2009: Tata Steel will not focus on any acquisition 'for the time being', said company managing director, B. Muthuraman.

February 14, 2009: Pohang Iron and Steel Company (Posco) is engaged in negotiations with the Maharashtra government to set up a downstream steel plant in the state, said a top government official.

February 13, 2009: Exports of Turkish bars were at 963,233 tons in January 2009, a rise of 31.8% from 730,835 tons in the same month, last year.

February 13, 2009: The flat rolled market in south Europe, which saw action in December 2008, has seen a slight increase in trading volumes of late.

February 13, 2009: Rio Tinto has plans to sell off 15 percent of its Hamersley iron ore works to Chinalco. The transaction is valued at $5.2 billion.

February 13, 2009: Base metals prices fell steadily on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on February 12 in the backdrop of the recession.

February 13, 2009: Ukrainian steel producers have decided to maintain increasing production in February, from December-January.

February 13, 2009: Steelmaking input prices maintained their upward trend on February 12.

February 13, 2009: Bhushan Steel has initiated talks with the $2.4 billion diversified Japanese trading company, Sumitomo Corporation, for investing in Bhushan's proposed steel plant in West Bengal.

February 13, 2009: Steelmakers in the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex have asked chief minister Naveen Patnaik to take action against Orissa Mineral Corporation (OMC), for setting high iron ore prices.

February 12, 2009: China has announced average reference prices for import transactions of Indian iron ore Fe 63.5 percent, which finished on February 9.

February 12, 2009: Exports of finished steel products stood at 1.91 million tons (mt) for China in January, a fall of 53.8 percent compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

February 12, 2009: ArcelorMittal is upbeat on a turn of fortunes for the steel industry in the second quarter.

February 12, 2009: ArcelorMittal has predicted a huge drop in iron ore prices this year.

February 12, 2009: Karnataka has given permission to Essar Steel for setting up a 6 million tons per annum (mtpa) integrated mill. The company has also sought iron ore mines allocation from the state.

February 12, 2009: Steelmakers in the US have demanded a 'Buy America' provision in the final economic stimulus bill to be sent to President Barack Obama.

February 12, 2009: In the week ending February 7, 2009, US domestic raw steel production stood at 1.08 million net tons while the capability utilisation rate was 45.3 percent, according to data released by the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI).

February 12, 2009: ArcelorMittal is likely to cut its global crude steel production by 12 million tons (mt) in the first quarter of 2009, compared to levels in the first quarters of 2008, 2007 and 2006.

February 11, 2009: Scrap and pig iron prices have been steadily dropping in the US.

February 11, 2009: Liberia's $1.6-billion Western Cluster iron ore project has received bids from ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel among others.

February 11, 2009: The top 10 Chinese mills have manufactured 16.3 million tons (mt) of crude steel in December, up 12.9 percent from the previous month. Production at these mills increased between 6.4 percent and 30.3 percent month-on-month in December.

February 11, 2009: The prevailing downturn has forced Czech steel producer Evraz Vitkovice to idle its heavy sections rolling mill and slab producing steel plant.

February 11, 2009: Real demand is still eluding Italian rod producers. Currently, stocks are depleted and prices expected to keep falling.

February 11, 2009: ArcelorMittal Kazakh is planning to invest $190 million more in its plant for environmental improvement, increased safety in coal production and a new coal mining unit.

February 11, 2009: European coil prices have been pegged lower than last week by The Steel Index though coil prices in the US have stabilised. Turkish domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) prices decreased since last week while Chinese HRC and cold rolled coils (CRC) export are better.

February 11, 2009: Steelmakers in Bangladesh are seeking a cut in import duties on raw materials from the government.

February 11, 2009: European coil prices and the Turkish domestic hot rolled coil price saw a drop since the week ended February 6, 2009.

February 11, 2009: Licensing restrictions on imports of steel hot-rolled coils (HRC) are expected to soon be redundant as the decision is being widely viewed as "an unfair, unnecessary deterrent" to trade.

February 11, 2009: Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) has plans for a 2.5-million tons per annum (mtpa) crushing system, along with conveyance and a mechanised wagon loading facility, at its Daitari mines.

February 11, 2009: European coil prices and the Turkish domestic hot rolled coil price saw a drop since the week ended February 6, 2009. Meanwhile, the US coil prices have stabilized. There was also a rise in the export levels for Chinese HRC and CRC.

February 11, 2009: The quarter ended December 2008 has been the worst showing by the metals industry in the past couple of years as profits dived on high costs while sales dropped slightly.

February 11, 2009: The Steel Ministry has asked the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to improve road infrastructure in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal to support the massive growth of steel production by 2011-12.

February 11, 2009: Union minister for steel, chemicals & fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan has demanded an embargo on high grade iron ore exports to help the cause of the domestic steel industry.

February 10, 2009: China's finished steel imports stood at 9,27,811 tons in December 2008, down 9.3 percent month-on-month.

February 10, 2009: Kudremukh Iron Ore Company (KIOCL) has plans to set up integrated steelworks in Karnataka and commission it by 2011, assuming all the necessary clearances are received in time.

February 10, 2009: Mexican flats prices touched record lows late last month and in early February.

February 10, 2009: Northern European scrap prices are expected to drop in February on very weak local demand and few exports.

February 10, 2009: Corus' Thrybergh bar mill at Rotherham and wire rod mill at Scunthorpe will be combined into a single commercial entity to keep costs down.

February 10, 2009: Offer prices in Southeast Asia for imported hot rolled (HR) cut sheet stayed at $500 to $520 per ton cfr Singapore for Russian-origin material and at around $520 per ton cfr for Thai material.

February 10, 2009: Minister of steel Ram Vilas Paswan has said India would become the world's second largest steelmaker after China by 2015.

February 10, 2009: Scrap steel realisations have halved to Rs 17,000 a ton, from Rs 34,000 a ton last year, reflecting the drop in steel prices.

February 10, 2009: The Turkish sections for the export markets are offered at $500-540 per ton fob, while the offers in the domestic market hovered around TL 800-820 per ton ($497-508 per ton) ex-works.

February 10, 2009: The Turkish market is witnessing slow return of demand, albeit the market is still suffering due to the liquidity problems and short payment periods, said Turkish strip product traders.

February 10, 2009: In Southeast Asia, the offer prices for imported hot rolled cut sheet of Russian-origin stood at $500-520 per ton cfr Singapore, while for Thai material at around $520 per ton cfr.

February 10, 2009: Keonjhar Industries Federation (KIF), the industry body representing about 30 iron ore crushing units, has sought iron ore lumps at lower prices to continue operations.

February 10, 2009: Sanjay Singhal, elder brother of Bhushan Steel's Neeraj Singhal, has teamed up with Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel promoters to check any takeover bid by Bhushan Steel.

February 10, 2009: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) has lowered its production by nearly 30 percent as a result of slow demand.

February 9, 2009: Kudremukh Iron Ore Company (KIOCL) has temporarily put a stop to production of foundry grade pig iron and iron oxide pellets and slashed sales for the current quarter.