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voda 29 juni 2015 16:23

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JSW CMD expects trade barriers to curb cheap steel imports in 6 months

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and MD, JSW Steel, says 50 percent of India’s steel imports come from Foreign Trade Association (FTA) countries. FTA nations facilitate for duty free steel being dumped from nations like China which, in turn, is hurting steel industry, domestically. JSW Steel expects the government to hike steel import duty to 15 percent from the the current 10 percent for HR Coils and 7.5 percent for Long steel, hiked recently.

Mr Jindalsays 50 percent of India’s steel imports come from Foreign Trade Association countries. FTA nations facilitate for duty free steel being dumped from nations like China which, in turn, is hurting steel industry, domestically. He also expects the government to bring in some more safeguard and anti-dumping measures for steel industry within 6 months apart from the recent imposition of anti-dumping duty.

Below is the partial edited transcript of Mr Sajjan Jindal’s interview with Kritika Saxena on CNBC-TV18.

A: Japan, Korea which are very strong in steel. They have got old plants of steel because those are old economies so first; their cost of funds or cost of money is in any case is near zero. Second, they have very large plants located right on the sea which are very competitive. Third, they have not got enough market in their own country so they export about 40 percent of their capacity. Now because there is no duty on those products, that steel is headed towards India in a big way. 50 percent of Indian imports are coming from FTA countries which is very unfair because Indian steel industry is quite young, we have huge debt burden as an industry. We have to compete with these countries who have got no debt burden and no cost of money. So, it is an unequal level that we are fighting on.

Q: As you were implying, even if some of the steel players are asking for import duty to be hiked up to around 15 percent, the Union Minister said that they are considering various options but will it save the day or change things on ground if import duty is even hiked to that 15 percent?

A: We were hoping that the government would do 15 percent import duty; that is why we as an industry had gone and met the government. Unfortunately, they in their wisdom decided only 2.5 percent increase which is okay but the challenge for us is not 2.5 percent or 5 percent duty, but that if these countries are dumping steel into India at a predatory pricing, then the industry really gets hurt in the country. They sell in their home market at a much higher price and they export into India at a much lower price. So, we just have to tackle that and for that we as an industry are working with the government to bring in safeguard or anti-dumping measures. Once that is put in place then hopefully we will be okay because most countries in the world have done that whether it is United States, Europe, Malaysia, Thailand – they all have brought in very quickly this anti-dumping and safeguard mechanism . Unfortunately, in our country we don’t have a very robust mechanism or system in the government which acts very quickly on these. Also, as an industry we are not trained, we are not prepared for safeguard and anti-dumping and therefore we have not acted to be fair. So, therefore now the industry is gearing up, that is the way the world is going to be. So, now the industry is gearing up. Hopefully we will be able to be effective on that.

Q: Realistically speaking then, from the conversations you have had with the government what are the measures that they will implement, we can ask for whatever is required but what seems or rather what will they put in place to ensure the make in steel story so to speak does become a reality?

A: If you see, our honorable Prime Minister has been very vocal about wanting to see more steel produced in our country; we want to be one of the global leaders in this industry very quickly. Therefore, he has been very clear about the policy and he has been always saying that we must not export iron ore and steel; we must export value added products which are made from steel. This is how we will make ‘Make In India’. The whole machinery in the government understands this that steel is a very important industry and this needs support as well as protection from the dumping point of view. So therefore all of them are working towards it. However, all these measures will take time.

Q: How long?

A: I don’t know but let us say six months.

Source : CNBC-TV18

voda 29 juni 2015 16:24

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Mr BK Mishra of Welspun in talks with ET Now about steel pipe biz

ET Now: Is your steel pipe business looking strong? What is the outlook for US, your main business hub, for the next 12-24 months? BK Mishra: First and foremost, the fire is not yet out. With oil prices going down, generally you would have expected oil prices at S50, the oil and gas market will probably be very bearish. No doubt that has had an impact on the E&P side. We have seen a good number of drilling ring going off in America. Having said that, there is another dimension that has come up. People have started believing that oil price at S50-60 is going to be a reality. Those sitting upon a pile of cash in the balance sheet may spend and be lean and mean. They can deliver the oil at the refinery at a minimum cost. Obviously, pipeline is the cheapest way to transport oil from the product field to the refinery. The transportation cost could actually be varying somewhere between 100% and 300%.

ET Now: There is this general belief that things are looking bleak; legacy orders will probably be in the order book of pipe companies. Are you saying there is a possibility of newer orders coming in?

BK Mishra: I have always talked about this contradiction. I visited five of our top customers in the US and everybody was talking exactly on the same lines. As a matter of fact, most of them are saying that they would buy pipes at the current rate probably for the next five years. There is quite a good amount of surge happening in inquiries from North America as well as South America. Inquiries from Saudi Arabia are also increasing. But the Saudi stress is on gas rather than oil. Saudi has decided that they must expand their gas infrastructure. Last year, we executed one of the largest orders of Saudi Ramco for a gas field. The second phase of the project has already been announced — half a million tonnes of single inquiry. So, the steel pipe market is looking largely buoyant. On top of that, there is the Prince Rupert Pipeline Project which is going to transport gas from Alberta to British Columbia. It is the beginning of the first LNG project for transporting or shipping LNG out of Canada to the Asian markets. All these things put together, the market looks much much bigger than what it was yesterday. A March report projects 101 million tonnes over the next four years.

ET Now: How you are going to address the surge in inquiries from the US and Saudi Arabia? Also, what does your current order book look like?

BK Mishra: In the US, our meeting was not with existing customers. It was a meeting with a wide variety of professionals from the E&P and transportation side. Although the E&P side was a little bearish, the transportation industry was absolutely bullish about everything. As far as the inquiry flows are concerned, the book of offers is probably at an all-time high at the moment. These inquiries are not necessarily only from North America; they are from across the globe.
At least 4-5 large projects are being implemented in the Middle East — especially in Abu Dhabi. At least three big projects are getting implemented in Saudi, besides several projects in North America and South America.

ET Now: What kind of projects are you bidding for? What is the scale of those projects? What value are you looking to garner from these projects?

BK Mishra: Welspun's strength is in executing large projects. During the last S-7 years that Welspun has been seriously in US business, our market share has been 60%-70%. In Keystone or Keystone XL — which is the largest pipeline for onshore — we have supplied 60%-70% of those pipes. So, we have a definite edge in this area.

ET Now: What kind of market share are you looking to garner from the capacity that is out there to lap up?

BK Mishra: Interestingly enough, the market has not been quite generous to the industry over the last three years. Still, we have actually increased our share from 7% to 8.5% in our targeted market. In a 15-million-tonne market, we are already at about 1.1 tonnes. It is a growth of about 10% over last year.

ET Now: What is your current order book like?

BK Mishra: We have in excess of 5 million tonnes of offers submitted. In terms of money, it is anywhere in excess of S6 billion. At the beginning of this order year, we were at Rs 7,200 crore. It amounts to about a million tonnes, which is almost the similar quantity that we had executed last year.

Source : ET Now

voda 29 juni 2015 16:26

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KCCI wants ArcelorMittal SAIL auto JV to come to Dharwad

Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to announce incentives to get the ArcelorMittal- SAIL joint venture established in Dharwad.

Addressing press persons president of KCCI Mr Vasant Ladawa said that KCCI had already initiated a correspondence in this regard with the consultants for the joint venture and urged the State government to take it forward.

He said “The project requires contiguous piece of area of 250 to 300 acres, which should be in the vicinity of automotive cluster. A good road, rail and port connectivity, civic infrastructure are some of the other major requirements. After getting the confirmation by Development Commissioner of KIADB, Dharwad, we have communicated to the consultants about the availability of the requisite land at Mummigatti village near the Belur Indutrial Growh Centre on National Highway No. 4.”

He said that a KCCI delegation met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and District-in-charge Minister Dinesh Gundurao in Bengaluru on June 24 to apprise them of the matter.

t Steel giant ArcelorMittal and the Steel Authority of India had signed a MoU on May 22nd 2015 in London for establishing an Automotive Steel Manufacturing Facility under a joint venture. Ireland-based Roland Berger consultancy, which is the technical advisor to Arcelor-Mittal, is in search of a suitable place for the proposed steel plant.

Source : The Hindu

voda 29 juni 2015 16:27

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5 Indian steel companies facing financial stress on projects delays - RBI

Published on Mon, 29 Jun 2015 151 times viewed

Business Line reported that according to the Financial Stability Report published by RBI on last Thursday, 5 of the top ten private steel companies are facing sever financial stress due to delay in implementation of their projects,

Listing out the woes of the industry, the central bank in its half-yearly review of the economy said steel companies’ expansion projects are getting delayed due to problems with land acquisition, environmental clearances among other factors. Though the sector holds good long-term prospects it is currently under stress, necessitating a close watch by lenders.

The industry is also facing other challenges with respect to access to capital for investment, shortage of iron ore, low-paced mechanisation of mines, lower level of capacity-utilisation of coal washeries, dependence on imported coking coal and volatility in the currency market.

Accessing the overseas market, the report said the industry faces high domestic port charges amidst low domestic demand.

The depressed global steel prices have taken a toll on Indian steel companies on the pricing front in domestic market. A mismatch in steel pricing leads to large-scale imports. “These factors have created stress in the sector in general and more particular in case of private sector companies,” the report said.

Source : Business Line

voda 29 juni 2015 16:29

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Reports of incident at TATA Steel Scunthorpe steelworks

Scunthorpe Telegraph reported that ther has been an incident on Scunthorpe's Tata Steel works on Sunday afternoon. People have contacted the Scunthorpe Telegraph's Facebook page to say there had been an "explosion" at the works at around 1.30 PM.

But Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said it had not been called out to attend any incidents at the site.

Witnesses reported seeing a cloud of orange smoke coming from the works and reports suggest the incident was caused by molten metal coming into contact with water.

Source : Scunthorpe Telegraph

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voda 29 juni 2015 16:35

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Iron ore output in Odisha rises 11% in Apr-Jun period

Business Standard reported Odisha witnessed improved iron ore output at 14.4 million tonne during April 1-June 22 period, compared with close to 13 million tonnes produced in the same period last year as legal restrictions slapped on mining activities have been lifted.

Mr U Jena, head of IT wing of the state mines directorate, said "Based on our weekly performance review, I can say that the situation is gradually improving. I expect the production will go up further after few months when the key mines will start producing after lease extension.”

The state government has so far signed agreements to extend lease validity of 17 mines out of 26 mines which were asked to halt production by Supreme Court in May last year due to invalidity of mining leases and only one iron ore mines of Steel Authority of India Ltd is operating currently. The suspension of key mines had affected iron ore out of the state by around 40 per cent to 47.73 mt in 2014-15, the lowest in last 10 years.

However, the government hopes the production might touch 65 million tonne in 2015-16 after the dispute related to lease validity was settled through the new Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015.

Source : Business Standard

voda 29 juni 2015 16:36

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Tanzania set to earn $110m from iron

Business Week reported that Tanzania is set to receive Tsh252.4 billion (about $110.425 million) in royalties and various taxes that will be collected from Mchuchuma and Liganga projects annually. Liganga iron ore mine and Iron and Steel Complex are expected to produce 1.1 million tonnes of iron and steel products, vanadium pentoxide and titanium dioxide. Once the commercial production takes off, Tanzania will be one of the top four iron ore producers in Africa.

According to Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals, Dr Charles Kitwanga, the ore mine is expected to start operation by 2015 and production of iron and steel products by 2016.

Minister Kitwanga told the National Assembly in Dodoma last week that the revenue will be collected annually in 50 to 100 years which is the life span of Liganga and Mchuchuma respectively. He said “The royalties and various taxes that will be collected from the Mchuchuma and Liganga projects will generate Tsh252.4 billion ($110.425 million) revenue to the government annually.”

Dr Kitwanga said that the projects will directly benefit local communities as some 3049 jobs will be created along with other indirect benefits. He said “Due to a long life span of the two projects, the government is working on how to accrue benefits for future generations to match the anticipated increase in cost of living.”

According to Dr Kitwanga “The government has issued a licence No SML 533/2014 for extracting iron at Liganga to Tanzania China International Mineral Resource Limited (TCIMRL), the licence will expire October 2029. TCIMRL is a joint venture company with the National Development Cooperation (NDC) owning 20% and Sichuan Hongda (group) Company Limited amassing the lion share of 80% of all stocks. The TCIMRL continues with preparations to open an iron mine in Liganga together with the establishment of a steel plant and coal mine at Mchuchuma.”

The two projects located at Ludewa District in the Southern Highland of Tanzania. According to the Minister, the same iron resources have been also discovered in Morogoro and Itewe in Mbeya, but the Liganga deposits offer the greatest investment opportunity.

Source : Business Week

voda 29 juni 2015 16:37

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ArcelorMittal fined for fouling wetlands with mining waste in Minnesota

Published on Mon, 29 Jun 2015 128 times viewed

MPR News reported that state regulators said last week that they have penalized an iron ore operation in northern Minnesota for fouling wetlands. ArcelorMittal, which operates an iron ore mining and processing facility in Virginia, sends mining waste through a pipeline to a storage basin to keep pollutants out of the environment.

But the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said that system failed three times sometime between May 2013 and April 2014. Mining waste mixed with water and road debris made its way into 15.3 acres of wetlands, roughly the size of 11 football fields.

MPCA officials said the company hadn't inspected and maintained the pipeline and tailings basin properly and was slow to report the spills. ArcelorMittal has paid a $58,000 state penalty and was also fined $272,000 dollars by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Cleanup continues at the site, but state officials said in a news release that it isn't clear yet if the wetlands can be restored.

Environmental groups cite such incidents as reason to require in-depth studies for new or expanded mining projects. For example, some groups have asked a state court to require an environmental impact statement for Northshore Mining's proposed expansion near Babbitt. Environmental groups are also scrutinizing the tailings basin and waste plans for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine.

Source : MPR News

voda 30 juni 2015 17:04

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Mr Obama signs trade bill strengthening US steel companies to fight steel imports

US President Mr Obama signed two significant trade initiatives - Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), and the extension of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and other trade preference programs, which includes renewal of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and trade remedy improvements. Trade legislation that includes the Leveling the Playing Field Act, a bill introduced by US Sen Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in March and co-sponsored by US Sen Rob Portman, R-Ohio, that will give US companies especially the US steel industrytools to fight against unfair trade practices

Mr Brown said “Strong trade enforcement is key to giving American industries the ability to compete. As this bill becomes law, we are one step closer to making sure our workers have a level playing field. This law will allow workers and companies to challenge the unfair practices that have stacked the deck against them for too long.”

Mr Portman said “We must crack down on countries that break the rules, so our workers can get a fair shake in the global market. These measures ensure that Ohio workers can remain globally competitive by holding foreign countries accountable when they skirt the rules by illegally underselling or subsidizing imports. I’m pleased these provisions to help Ohio steelworkers are now law.”

The Leveling the Playing Field Act, introduced in March, will restore strength to antidumping and countervailing duty statutes that allow businesses and workers in the United States to petition the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission when foreign producers sell goods in the US below market price or receive illegal subsidies. The steel industry no longer has to worry about whether imports have squashed enough profits and siphoned away enough jobs for the federal government finally to do something about it.

Steelmakers long have complained the injury standard – what the International Trade Commission considers when deciding whether to impose duties – has been weakened to the point where it was no longer effective against a record tide of imports. They said foreign steelmakers figured out how to game the system so they can flood the U.S. market with steel that's often below-cost and illegally subsidized.

Source - Strategic Research Institute

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voda 30 juni 2015 17:06

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JSPL well positioned to supply plates for most critical applications

Jindal Steel & Power Limited is in a unique position to supply high quality plates to Indian as well as International clients from its state of the art 1.5 million tonne Plate Mill at Angul plant, which started mass production in August 2012.

Being one of the latest plate mills to be commissioned in the world, it has the most advanced equipment’s and controls to produce high quality plates in thickness range of 5-150mm in widths of 1500-5000 mm and length rage of 6 meter to 24 meters subject to maximum weight of 24 tonnes per piece in international specifications including IS, EN, DNV, BS, ASTM, JIS standards suited for most critical applications. It is already catering to many user segments having stringent quality & dimensional requirements including Construction / General Engineering, Wind Mill, Boiler & Pressure Vessels, Ship Building, Line Pies & Offshore Platforms, Yellow Goods, Cranes & Mining equipment and special plates for Penstocks , Gates for hydro power plants etc

Plate mill is accredited with ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007 certifications for Quality Management systems. It also has CE Certification for fulfilling orders in Europe. Other certifications which are in pipeline include LRS, ABS, DNV, GL&NK for servicing the requirements shipbuilding industry and Q1 certification from API for pipe making.

Some of the equipment’s and technologies, which make the difference in the final quality include

1. JSPL Plate Mill is catered with superior quality input slab produced in state-of-the-art Iron & Steel making complex at Angul. Process route adopted is coal based DRI-EAF-LF/RH Degassing- CC route. Clean Steel Combined with advanced technology produces slab with improved homogeneity & internally soundness.

2. High Pressure De Scalers are provided at the entry and exit points of the Finishing Mill to ensure excellent surface quality.

3. Five Steins Walking Beam Reheating Furnace, which ensures homogenous heating of slabs to 1100-1250 degrees Celsius

4. 4 Hi Reversing Finishing Mill from Siemens VAI with roll separating force of 10000 tonnes for high shape factor rolling to reduce internal discontinuities and also roll ultra-high tensile specs. The rolling mills is supported by high speed automatic gauge control, work roll anti bending & shifting equipment, smart crown facility, plan view rolling, profile and flatness gauges.

5. Thermo Mechanical Control Process for producing fine grain steel by rolling plates in re-crystallization & non recrystallization region of austenite and for some grades in dual phase region austenite & ferrite and then using accelerated cooling. The mill also has Multi-Purpose Interrupted Cooling (MULPIC) with features of Accelerated Cooling, Direct Quenching (DQ) and Quenching with Self Tempering (QST) facilities

6. The Hot Levellers. With a capacity of 4000 tonnes, provide excellent flatness & residual stress free plates

7. On line Shearing can shear plates of upto 50mm thickness With double side trim shear, plates are supplied in trimmed and ready to use condition with tighter width & length tolerances

8. The Ultrasonic testing Unit is supplied by GE for automatic inspection & evaluation of the full body of the plate. The 102 probes ensure accurate examination of all flaws

9. Heat Treatment mill form LOI Therm is equipped with normalizing, austenising, quenching and tempering furnaces for achieving desired properties.

Leveraging these capabilities, JSPL plans to establish itself as one of the most premium plate suppliers in the world, especially for applications & segments with critical quality and dimensional requirements

Source - Strategic Research Institute

voda 30 juni 2015 17:08

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Primetals Technologies receives FAC for blooming mill at Acciaierie Venete in Italy

Acciaierie Venete S.p.A. has issued the Final Acceptance Certificate (FAC) for a blooming mill extensively modernized by Primetals Technologies at its Camin, Italy location. Within the scope of this project, a new blooming stand including ancillary system was installed and integrated into the existing line. The production capacity is up to 110 metric tons per hour.

The main aim of the project was to improve the quality of blooms with the option of entirely or partly dispensing with downstream processing steps. The project was handled on a turnkey basis, and its value was in the low double-digit millions Euro range.

Primetals Technologies installed the blooming line from the exit point of the new bloom caster. From there, a transfer crane transports the blooms either to the run-in roller table of the new reheating furnace or to the cooling bed. This is realized as a walking beam system and is able to provide different cooling profiles for specific products. Roller tables equipped with elevating and rotating fixtures feed the reheating furnace with the capability of hot charging. As a special feature, the reheating furnace has two exits. This ensured the supply of ingoing material to the existing continuous rolling line during the construction of the new blooming line.

A high-pressure descaler was installed between the furnace and the blooming mill. The blooming mill itself is conceived as a duo reversing blooming stand with transverse sliding movement for pass change. It features an inline quick-change system for simple and fast replacement of rolls and chocks. The rolls have a length of 1,500 millimeters and a diameter of 1,060 millimeters. Per hour, the blooming stand can process around 110 tons of blooms with a weight of up to ten tons and diameters of between 350 and 600 millimeters. Products with square cross-sections of 180x180, 240x240 and 280x280 millimeters and round stock with diameters between 180 and 315 millimeters are rolled from carbon and quality steels, and cropped by a hydraulic shear. A roller table to the existing continuous long product rolling mill completes the blooming line's mechanical equipment. The scope of delivery also included the electrical, drive and automation technology, including medium-voltage transformers for the blooming stand, AC main drives including two motors with a power output of 1,800 kilowatts each, AC auxiliary drives, the complete level 1 automation, mechatronic components and a CCTV system.

Primetals Technologies was also responsible for the installation and commissioning and for customer training. Primetals Technologies also assisted the customer in obtaining the required safety certification for the machines and the plant in compliance with Italian and European regulations.

Acciaierie Venete is a private manufacturer of rods and profiles made of carbon and high-grade steels that has several production facilities in Italy. The company's headquarters is in Camin in the province of Padua. Acciaierie Venete produces around 1.5 million tons of steel every year.

voda 30 juni 2015 17:09

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AISI Hails Presidential Signing of Trade Package

The US steel industry applauded action, particularly enactment of the trade remedy measures for which the industry strongly advocated:

Mr Thomas J Gibson, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, said “Today’s bill signing is the culmination of dedication and hard work by many members of the steel industry, partner industries and numerous steel champions in the House and Senate who worked tirelessly to ensure the trade remedy provisions were included in the trade package. We thank the Administration for recognizing the critical role of the steel industry by supporting these initiatives to improve the effectiveness of our antidumping and countervailing duty laws,”

He said “We greatly appreciate having these improved tools at our disposal in our continuing efforts to combat unfair trade, given the trade laws have not been updated by Congress in over 20 years. The surge in foreign steel imports continues at record high levels, leaving us with a great deal more work to do to mitigate the job loss and negative impact on our industry. We urge quick action by Congress to adopt the Senate version of the ENFORCE Act during the House-Senate conference on the customs bill, which will better enable companies and workers to combat the evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders. We hope to soon see the president signing that bill also.”

Source - Strategic Research Institute

voda 30 juni 2015 17:10

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JSPL Shadeed rolling mill to be commissioned by 2015 end

Times of Oman reported that Jindal Steel & Power Limiteds’s Oman based Shadeed Iron and Steel plans to open its rolling mill for manufacturing re-bars by the end of the year. This is part of further integration and the 1.4 million tonne per annum rolling mill is being set up with a capital expenditure close to USD 200 million.

Mr NA Ansari chief executive officer of Shadeed Iron and Steel told Times of Oman that “Shadeed is waiting for the market to recover for floating its initial public offering on the Muscat Securities Market. There is a major fall in prices of steel in the last nine months. We are waiting for the market to improve before we proceed with the IPO. The purpose of the initial public offering is to install certain equipment for further reducing the cost of production and increase capacity. But the overall business scene of steel industry across the world is not that good. Valuation of the company again depends on the market scene."

He said the proposed issue will be by way of a dilution of stake by promoters and enhancement of the company's capital.

Mr Ansari said the steel melting shop, which was commissioned last year with a capital expenditure of USD 400 million, produces steel billets and rounds.

Source : Times of Oman

voda 30 juni 2015 17:12

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US Steel CEO Mr Longhi commends Mr Obama for strengthening trade laws

United States Steel Corporation President and CEO Mr Mario Longhi commended President Barack Obama as he signed the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) legislation into law.

Mr Longhi said “I commend President Obama for strengthening our trade enforcement laws by signing Trade Promotion Authority and Trade Adjustment Assistance. This legislation will open new markets for American goods and services, but also clarifies the injury standard in dumping and counterveiling duties cases to better protect our workers and companies from the harm of unfairly traded products. “

He said "I and the more than 34,000 employees who work for United States Steel thank President Obama and our Congressional champions for pursuing responsible fair trade policies. Fair trade is critical to a successful economy, and these laws are another step on our drive to ensure that America remains a global economic force.”

He added "The president and members of his administration have visited our facilities and have seen first-hand the power of American manufacturing and the American worker. He knows that we can compete against any country if the rules apply to all. Today he took an important first step in the process of leveling the playing field against unfairly traded products and supported fair trade at home and abroad. We look forward to working with members of the administration to ensure that U.S. trade laws and practices are strong and that countries who break our laws are punished before irreparable harm is done."

Source - Strategic Research Institute

voda 30 juni 2015 17:12

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PSM says gas shortage causing damage to furnaces

The Express Tribune reported that the Pakistan Steel Mills on Monday said the non-availability of gas is now utterly damaging its blast furnaces, which may result in the complete shutdown of mills. In a press release, the PSM administration said the production of the mill has come down to almost zero due to the suspension of gas supply since June 10, 2015.

It said that repeated requests have been made to Federal Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) but they have not shown a positive response.

Now that the blast furnaces are being operated irregularly, it has reduced the inside temperature of furnace. The mill administration warned that continuous gas stoppage will cause water leakages from the coolers of furnaces that will lead to extensive damage to the furnace structure and may shut down the plant completely.

The release said that PSM engineers and its workforce have worked since April 2014 to bring the mill to certain acceptable production levels. All this hard work may now go down the drain if the current situation persists.

The gas suspension since June 10, 2015 has already made steel making and rolling of slab impossible. Now the only remaining producing unit – blast furnace – is also at risk of severe damage and ultimate closure due to gas stoppage.

The administration added that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources should intervene and ask SSGC to normalise gas pressure to save the plant in the national interest. The PSM closure will leave the Pakistani steel industry at the mercy of imports and cause losses of millions of dollars to the national exchequer.

Source : The Express Tribune

voda 30 juni 2015 17:14

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NLMK building recycling facility at Lipetsk site to process iron waste into briquettes

NLMK Group recently announced that it has received an approval from the State commission and a permit for the construction of a facility with an annual capacity of 700,000 tonnes of metallurgical briquettes from iron containing waste at the company’s Lipetsk site.

Iron-containing briquettes are a raw material for the smelting of hot metal. The briquettes will be manufactured using a hard extrusion method from a mix of iron ore concentrate and blast furnace sludge, i.e. iron-containing waste formed in the process of wet blast furnace gas cleaning. The production of briquettes is an environmentally friendly technology that does not generate any dust or gas emissions.

The launch of the plant will enable more than 350,000 tonnes of blast furnace waste to be recycled each year. NLMK will cease to accumulate sludge and will begin to process existing iron containing waste stocks.

Mr Konstantin Lagutin, Vice President for Investment Projects, said: “Construction of a facility to manufacture metallurgical briquettes is a Strategy 2017 project aimed at boosting the efficiency of production processes through recycling and utilizing production waste as a proper raw material. The new facility will not only increase the efficiency of iron extraction, but will significantly reduce the plant’s environmental footprint. We also plan to fully liquidate existing blast furnace sludge piles, which total approximately 3.5 million tonnes of waste accumulated since Soviet times, by 2030.”

Detailed engineering has begun as part of the briquetting plant construction project and is due for completion by the end of the year. Facility launch is scheduled for 2017. Investment in the project will total approximately 2.3 billion rubles. The economic effect of EBITDA is 25 million dollars per year; the pay-back period is approximately 2.5 years.

Source - Strategic Research Institute

voda 30 juni 2015 17:15

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US raw steel production in Week 26 dips YoY

AISI announced that in the week ending June 27, 2015, domestic raw steel production was 1,733,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 73.3 percent. Production was 1,889,000 net tons in the week ending June 27, 2014 while the capability utilization then was 78.5 percent. The current week production represents a 8.3 percent decrease from the same period in the previous year.

Production for the week ending June 27, 2015 is up 0.4 percent from the previous week ending June 20, 2015 when production was 1,726,000 net tons and the rate of capability utilization was 73.0 percent.

Adjusted year-to-date production through June 27, 2015 was 43,570,000 net tons, at a capability utilization rate of 72.5 percent. That is down 7.4 percent from the 47,062,000 net tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 77.3 percent.

Broken down by districts, here's production for the week ending June 27, 2015 in thousands of net tons: North East: 227; Great Lakes: 622; Midwest: 209; Southern: 597 and Western: 78 for a total of 1,733.

Note: Capability for the Second Quarter 2015 is approximately 30.7 million tons versus 31.3 million tons for the same period last year and 30.4 million tons for the First Quarter of 2015. +Includes revised data

Source - Strategic Research Institute

voda 1 juli 2015 16:33

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Cheap imported cargoes of plates hitting Indian steel mills below the belt

The outlook for steel plates products in Indian domestic market is looking quite bleak for the month of July as low prices imports cargoes are landing all over Indian shores and it is expected that Indian steel mills would be forced to reduce their prices substantially in coming days to keep their market share

As per latest reports, about 17,000 tonnes of plates from a South East Asian country has been received at Chennai port few days ago. It seems that the material has been received on account of almost 4-5 users and traders in the area and is reported to be prices at about INR 32000 landed considering CFR price of about USD 410 for base and zero import duty. In addition this is quite substantial quantity for the area and would keep the prices depressed

The situation is likely to worsen in coming months as the import prices have weakened further and were last reported at USD 360 CFR India from China. Unconfirmed reports of USD 350 CFR are also making rounds. But the buyers are staying away from Chinese steel mills on the threat of additional duty and prefer to book from nations having negligible or zero import duty under trade agreements.

It is learnt that some Indian steel mills have already adjusted plate prices so as to get NSR of about NR 28000-29000 per tonne EXW

Source - Strategic Research Institute

Bijlage:

voda 1 juli 2015 16:34

0

Common approach needed for manufacturing and steel industry in India

Mr Shushim Banerjee DG of Institute of Steel Growth and Development in his personal capacity wrote in Financial Express that steel demand characteristically gets its booster by a strong linkage between construction and manufacturing sectors. Construction is investment-driven (public and private) and needs a whole lot of manufactured items for a smooth completion of the project. If the required steel items (eg. boiler grade plates for construction of power vessels) are not indigenously available or are priced higher, imports take place. Similarly for special grade auto body CR sheets, imports are easy way out. Cheaper landed costs also account for large import flows of long products by large buyers and construction agencies.

The crux of the matter is either to match the cheap landed prices of imports or make imports prohibitive by enhancing customs duties, imposing AD and countervailing duties and wait for further exchange depreciation. There is one effective NTB measure in terms of mandatory certification of a few steel products which the ministry of steel has announced and is planning to extend it to other steel categories as well. But strict compliance of these quality orders, particularly with respect to imported items is still not ensured.

In order to address all these issues the US Congress has recently voted in favour of a Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 ( HR 1295) that in addition to extend the African growth and opportunities specially for Haiti has also made improvements in AD/CVD laws to combat unfair trade practices and renew Trade Adjustment Assistance. Primarily the approved clauses attempt to effectively enforce the AD/CVD laws by amending/simplifying some of the irritants that were coming into play in implementing the existing laws.

For instance, if no firm data is available on prices and costs in a non-market economy (China for instance), the broadly available export or price subsidy data can be accepted for determination of cost or price. Similarly, the definition of material injury to the domestic producer in anti-dumping or countervailing duty cases has been broadened with less focus on profitability factor. The discretion to apply the highest rate of countervailing subsidy or dumping margin rests with the administrative authority while evaluating adverse influences.

It is, therefore, quite clear that the Act awaiting the President’s consent has been hailed by US steel producers who had profusely thanked all the US senators supporting and bringing relevant amendments to the Act. The US steel industry has also noted with caution that since 2000 a total number of 5.6 million jobs have been lost by US manufacturing sector due to lack of aggressive policies to promote manufacturing in the country.

There are two immediate lessons for Indian steel industry. First, it needs to interact more closely and intensely with the manufacturing sector, particularly those sub-sectors that need steel in various stages of operation and work out a long term strategy to meet their total requirements. The industry would be able to identify profiles and processes that manufacturing would need them to develop in the coming months and years to stay connected with the industry. In this respect, the current thrust on Make in India programme would be the ideal platform to take forward this interactive process.

Secondly, the voice of the industry must be heard at the highest level of policy planning. The industry needs to strategise this process so that genuine grievances (for instance, the threat of imports, current and potential, from China, CIS and CEPA) are put up in a coherent and logical manner at all levels of decision making in the country for a favourable consideration.

It is important to keep in mind that threat of imports to dislodge all plans of product development, capacity augmentation and massive investment is a critical aspect that afflicts both heavy and medium industry-based manufacturing and steel sectors in equal measure. A common approach would be welcome.

Source : Financial Express

voda 1 juli 2015 16:35

0

JSPL needs 1,000 acres more land at Angul to reach 6 million tonne capacity

Business Standard reported that Jindal Steel & Power Ltd has sought allotment of 1,000 acres of additional land to achieve full steelmaking capacity of six million tonne per annum at its Angul facility.

JSPL needs 4,300 acres for its 6 million tonne plant. Presently, the company is not having possession of 1,800 acres though the land has already been acquired. The steel firm has urged the state government to hand over possession of this acquired land to enable it begin work on the remaining facilities.

Mr Manish Kharbanda executive director of JSPL said “We need additional 1,000 acres of land to expand steelmaking capacity from two mtpa to six mtpa. Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol) has assessed our land requirement. Our two mtpa facility has come up on 2,500 acres. We have also requested the state government to extend our lapsed MoU.”

JSPL has already invested INR 22,000 crore on its steel project in Odisha. Commissioning of six mtpa capacity can take investment beyond INR 40,000 crore.

Source : Business Standard

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