May 17, 2012: Consumers can soon expect standardised steel products meant for construction and infrastructure sectors, as BIS norms take effect from September for almost all long steel products. As per a government order, long steel manufacturers will have to mandatorily comply with the specific norms prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) from September 12 and would have to carry the standard mark. "The move is aimed at ensuring that quality of the long steel products like bars, rods and wires, is as per the standard specifications. Till now, it was not there," said G K Basak, Executive Secretary, Joint Plant Committee of the Steel Ministry. Stating that many producers of induction furnace industry do not follow the quality standards, he said that smaller firms can upgrade their facilities in a month's time as the required investment would not be large. Secondary steel producers, which account for about 50% of country's total production capacity at 88 million tons, fear that the move would lead to closure of many smaller units, particularly the induction furnace units as the costs would go up significantly. Source: The Economic Times

May 17, 2012: Odisha government and Posco- India agreed to set up an 8 mtpa greenfield steel plant near Paradip, downsizing the earlier plan of establishing a 12 mtpa facility. This was stated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Posco-India CMD Y W Yoon after a marathon 90-minute discussion over the future of the proposed mega steel project which had been hanging in balance for last seven years. "We will start the project work as soon as the state government hands over 2,700 acres of land for setting up of 8 mtpa steel plant," Yoon told reporters. The company had so far been given only 500 acres of land for the purpose though the government claimed to have acquired about 2,000 acres, he said. Posco-India which had proposed to set up a 12 mtpa steel plant near Paradip at an investment of Rs 52,000 crore, said to be the biggest FDI in the country, had failed to pick up due to various issues including stiff resistance from locals under Ersama block of Jagatsinghpur district. Source: The Economic Times

May 17, 2012: If court-ordered resumption of mining in Karnataka takes place, JSW Steel aims to raise output in the 2012-13 fiscal year by 14%, to 8.5 million tons (mt) of cast products. JSW Steel has increased its raw steel production by 16% to 7.43 million tons (mt) in the year to the end of March 2012, in spite of iron ore shortages resulting from the disruption to mining operations in Karnataka. In a stock exchange filing, JSW said that it would have produced more than 8.75mt of crude steel in 2011-12 if its iron ore supply had not been limited by the mining ban. Its production of saleable steel products last year increased 28% to 7.8 mt. JSW said it expects Indian steel demand to grow by 7.5% this year, tracking the expected GDP growth of 7.6%. This would be an increase from 6.8% in 2011-12. JSW intends to increase its output of saleable steel by 15% to 9 mt this year, including 6.8 mt of flat products, 1.8 mt of long products and 0.4 mt of semis. The company expects to complete the expansion of its hot strip mill by the end of September 2012. This will raise capacity from 3.5 mt/year to 5 mt/year. In the following fiscal year it hopes to complete the expansion of its Vijayanagar integrated steelworks from 10 mt/year to 12 mt/year and to install a new cold rolling mill. Source: ISMW

May 17, 2012: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) has completed hot trials on a new continuous billet caster, the latest element of its major expansion plan, according to industry sources. To secure outlets for the additional production the plant's owner, RINL, is seeking to establish toll-rolling arrangements with independent mill operators. The new caster can produce billets of 150mm and 200mm square at a speed of up to 4.0 metres/minute. It adds 1m tons/year to the works' production capacity. The Visakhapatnam plant has almost completed a project to increase crude steel capacity from 3 million tons/year to 6.3 million tons/year. Source: ISMW

May 17, 2012: After witnessing a fall in the prices, the ingot market across the country was found to firm up a bit over the trading sessions in the range of Rs 100/ton to Rs. 200/ton. This rise in the ingot prices despite the weak demand scenario can be attributed mainly to the tight supply of the materials in the market. As the long steel market remains dull at the face dwindling demand, the manufacturers are trying to hold production to maintain the supply-demand ratio. In Mandi Gobindgarh, the induction furnaces will remain closed for three days starting from May 15 to protest the hike in private power tariff. Similarly, the induction furnaces at Raipur, Rourkela and Hyderabad are operating at 50% capacity to maintain the supply and demand check. Hence all these factors may put a pressure on the supply of the material in the market. Source: ISMW

May 16, 2012: For the first time, Paradip, which used to be a major iron ore exporting port, will handle the consignment of about 50,000 tons of iron ore pellets being imported from Brazil. An Odisha-based steel plant is importing it and the cargo is to arrive shortly. Beleaguered by difficulties in sourcing the mineral locally largely due to the plethora of restrictions imposed by the Odisha Government on mining and transportation of iron ore in the State, the steel plant has opted for the import route to meet its requirement. The indication is that it will also import lumpy ore and the size of the import could be between 2.5 lakh tons and 3 lakh tons in the current fiscal. Paradip handled 13 million tons (mt) of iron ore export in 2010-11 but experienced a sharp drop in throughput in 2011-12 to 7.5 mt. "If the trend so far in the current fiscal is any indication, we may end up with a couple of million tons of iron ore export in the current fiscal," according to port sources. Source: Hindu Businessline

May 16, 2012: The steel ingot market across the country too bore the brunt of the weak demand and falling prices. As per market sources, the sellers at various places of the country are currently offering discounts to attract buyers while the buyers are waiting for further price falls. The ingot prices in the northern region of the country suffered a price drop of around 2% over the week while Raipur region witnessed a subdued trend but the fall in prices (a dip of around 0.3% over a week) was comparatively lower as compared to its northern counterparts. The ingot market has softened further with the opening of this week with the prices going down in the range of Rs 200/ton to Rs 300/ton since the close of the last week. The melting scrap market remained weak with the demand scenario remaining listless. The ferrous scrap offers to India went down by $5-10/ton cfr on Friday (May 11, 2012) due to poor buying interest from Indian importers. Indian importers prefer to wait and watch over strong value of Dollar in currency market and remain sideways. Source: ISMW

May 16, 2012: The prices of galvanized steel coils (GI) and pre-painted galvanized steel coils (PPGI) continued to drop on low demand in the week ending on May 13, an official of China's Shandong Star Steel Sheet Co said. "The need of the market was not very good and would still bad next week," the official, Derek Lee, said in an e-mail to ISMW. "The central bank of China announced lowering down of reserve ratio of the banks. This would relieve the trader's and the manufacturers' thirst of capital in the near future. However it could not improve the market need of the GI and PPGI now," he said. In conclusion, the prices would keep on going down this week, he added. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: JSW Steel, the country's third-biggest steelmaker, reported a 10% fall in quarterly net profit, beating expectations, and said it expected to operate its main plant at 80% capacity in 2012-13, as iron ore supplies take time to stabilise. Production at JSW Steel's 10-million-ton per year Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka has been affected since August after the Supreme Court put an interim ban on mining in the state, citing illegalities in some mines. While ore supplies have been partially restored through auctions, the Supreme Court last week ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe JSW Steel's alleged involvement in illegal iron ore mining in the state. "In some ways, we are a victim of circumstances, since we do not have mines of our own and are forced to buy all our ore requirement," chairman Sajjan Jindal told reporters. "It will be a few more months before the iron ore issues are fully resolved". JSW Steel, in which Japanese steelmaker JFE Holdings owns 15% stake, reported a net profit of Rs 752 crore ($140 million) for the January-March period -- its fourth quarter -- and net sales up 35% to Rs 9,510 crore. Source: Business Standard

May 15, 2012: Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Limited, a part of the Adani group, has recorded a growth of 20.03% in net profit during the year ended March 31, 2012 which stood at Rs 1102.06 crore as compared to Rs 918.14 crore in 2010-11, the company said in a filing to BSE. Total income of the company during the year stood at Rs 3270.80 crore against Rs 2000.11 crore in 2010-11. On the other hand, the company's total expenses stood at Rs 1668.58 crore as compared to Rs 939.46 crore during the previous fiscal. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: Uttam Galva Steels Limited has recorded a marginal fall of 4.62% in net profit during the year ended March 31, 2012 which stood at Rs 73.10 crore as compared to Rs 76.64 crore earned during 2010-11. The company's total income from operations during the year stood at Rs 5647.38 crore as against Rs 5040.82 crore during 2010-11. In 2011-12, total expenditure of the company stood at Rs 5256.53 crore while it stood at Rs 4712.51 crore during 2010-11. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL) has submitted a price bid to acquire a coking coal block in Australia, industry sources familiar with the development told ICMW. "ICVL has identified the property and after due diligence has submitted a price bid, which is slightly on the higher side," the sources claimed. ICMW, however, could not obtain any further detail from the sources. ICVL is a joint venture company of set up by the mandate of government of India with SAIL, Coal India Ltd, RINL, NMDC and NTPC as its promoter companies. The joint venture is actively scouting for coal assets in target countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Mozambique, Indonesia, Canada and USA. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: MOIL Ltd, formerly Manganese Ore (India) Ltd, has published an advertisement inviting Expression of Interest (EoI) for jointly securing, exploring, mining, commercially exploiting and participating in value addition projects relating to the coal blocks, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma said in a written reply in Parliament. The purpose of MOIL behind publishing the EoI is to diversify its business into areas such as coal and other minerals, he said. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Amplus Mineracao Ltd, a company having iron ore concessions in Brazil, for acquisition of equity in the project, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma said in a written reply in Parliament. "However, in absence of due diligence, it is not possible to indicate the expenditure for acquisition of stake in the project at this stage," the minister said. NMDC had earlier acquired 50% equity shares in Legacy Iron Ore Ltd, an Australian company, at a total value of Australian Dollar (A$) 18.89 million through subscription of new shares. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: Steel secretary D.R.S. Chaudhary inaugurated the Caster Shop in New Steel Melt Shop (SMS2) and Air Separation Unit (ASU4) of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited's (RINL) Vizag Steel Plant last week. A RINL release said on May 14 that the Caster Shop And ASU4 were a part of company's 6.3 million tons per annum expansion plan and were built at a cost of around Rs 800 crore. Chaudhary advised the RINL management to fully capitalise on the advantages of the coastal location of the plant. He also advised the company to set up a captive jetty in order to take full advantage of material logistics. Chaudhary mentioned that proposed listing of RINL shares will be a gain not only to the company, but also to the government. He allayed the fears that disinvestment of of 10% shares in RINL will lead to privatization and added that it would in fact enhance corporate governance. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: The prestigious Air Separation Unit 4 (ASU-4) project in Bhilai Steel Plant's (BSP) Oxygen Plant 2 has been completed and trial production has commenced. The new unit with a capacity to produce 700 TPD (Tons Per Day) is supplying both Oxygen & Nitrogen gaseous products to existing BSP gas networks with ultra high purity, thus enhancing the product & process quality further to new highs, a release from the BSP said on May 14. The new unit is also producing Liquid Oxygen. Since its 'start-up' and commencement of the 'first industrial production' earlier this month, the new ASU 4 unit in OP 2 continues to produce gaseous oxygen & nitrogen as also Liquid Oxygen. This ASU-4 was envisaged to meet the plant's oxygen requirements by augmenting the existing production from OP 2. The entire ASU-4 project was executed successfully by the Project department of BSP, under the overall guidance of SB Jagdale, ED (Projects). The project has been executed under the leadership of SK Pradhan, GM (Projects) who is assisted by D Kardekar, DGM (Projects-OP & Utility), PP Sathpathy DGM I/c (OPs) and other team members. The extension of Main Building in OP II is being done by M/s HSCL. The consultant for this project was M/s MECON. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the ASU-4 that has been installed with associated facilities at the Plant's existing Oxygen Plant II itself would fulfill the enhanced requirements of the three gases - oxygen, nitrogen and argon. The oxygen, nitrogen and argon in both gaseous and liquid form play a pivotal role in all the critical production operations in an integrated steel plant such as blast furnaces, secondary refining units such as VAD, LF-RH, steel melting shops, rolling mills and auxiliary shops including R&C Lab & JLN Hospital also. The main package of ASU has been designed, supplied and erected by the Indian wing of French Major Air Liquide Engineering. Besides the main package, the project consists of several other packages including the Power Supply facilities by M/s Siemens, Pump house & Cooling Tower facilities by M/s BSBK, Ventilation & AC Systems by M/s Saket Engg, Shop Electrics & Illumination work by M/s R.A.Singh and Extension of Main Machine hall Building by M/s HSCL. State-of-the-art modern equipment was supplied by the global technology leaders. M/s Siemens AG, Germany supplied the Main Air Compressors (MAC) & Booster Air compressors (BAC), Expansion Turbines were supplied by M/s CryoStar, France, Cryogenic Liquid pumps for Oxygen, Nitrogen & Argon by M/s Fives Cryomec, France, Nitrogen compressors of Medium & High pressures by M/s Atlas Copco and Instrument Compressors by M/s Ingersoll Rolland. The composite electrics HT distribution works were executed by M/s Siemens. The HT drives are from M/s ABB. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: The Indian steel sector is well placed to reach its production target of 200 million tons (mt) by the year 2020 and it is expected that by then the demand for flat and long products would be equal, according to deliberations at a recently held summit in Delhi. "At the CII Steel Summit 2012 in New Delhi on May 2 where private and public sector steel makers discussed their expansion plans, it was made clear that the Indian steel sector is well placed to reach its production target of 200 mt by the year 2020," a delegate who attended the summit said. "As for the new future, it is expected that the demand for steel in India would be 90.6 mt by 2015-16," he said. According to estimates of Ministry of Steel, available with ISMW, India's steel production in 2011-12 was 73.792 mt and real consumption was estimated at around 70.914 mt. Source: ISMW

May 15, 2012: Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has floated a global notice inviting tender (NIT) for development and operation of entire Tasra coal block including part of Chasnalla block of 4 million tons per annum (mtpa) ROM coal capacity, according to information available with ISMW. The mine developer cum operator (MDO) has to carry out minining activities in this coalblock by open cast mining process and production of washed coal is to be done in terms of quality and quantity as per approved mining plan, the notice said. Interested parties can submit their bids till June 19, 2012 up to 2 pm while the bids will open on the same day at 3 pm. Source: ISMW

May 14, 2012: The Steel Ministry has turned down the proposals of the Planning Commission to either hand over Hindustan Steelworks Construction Ltd (HSCL) to SAIL or shut down the Kolkata-based company if its financial restructuring is not possible. The apex planning body wrote in a letter to the Steel Ministry on January 16 contending that since there was no credible plan to suggest that HSCL's performance would be better than in the past, it was "a fit case for closure". "Alternatively, the Ministry should let SAIL take over HSCL along with accumulated liabilities," Planning Commission had suggested. Not in favour of closing down the Kolkata-based HSCL, the Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma replied that both the options were not workable. This is because SAIL was not interested in acquiring the firm, which is in the business of construction of steel plants and building of infrastructure while the closure was not feasible as this would cost the government around Rs 1,900 crore. In a letter to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Verma wrote: "The Ministry had consulted the Chairman of SAIL on the views of the Planning Commission as to if it should let SAIL take over HSCL along with accumulated liabilities. SAIL has examined the matter in detail and has informed they are not in a position to takeover HSCL". Source: The Economic Times

May 14, 2012: Worried over long delay in implementation of its much hyped 12 million ton steel plant in Odisha, Posco-India has renewed its efforts to expedite work on the project. To clear the ground for start of at least the first phase work, the company officials seek to impress the top state administration about the urgency of acquiring the required land through a series of parleys. The latest of such engagement is the scheduled meeting between Posco-India chairman and managing director Yong Won Yoon and chief minister Naveen Patnaik on May 16 which will be the second high profile meeting on the project with Patnaik in last two weeks. The Korean ambassador to India Kim Joong-Keun had met chief minister in Bhubaneswar on May 2 and requested the later to provide at least 2,700 acres of land out of identified 4,004 acres at the designated area near Paradip for start of work on the phase I and II, comprising 4 million tons each, at the earliest. The company has agreed to put off the Phase III till rest of the land is acquired. The state government agency Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco), which is acquiring land for the project, till date has got clear possession of 2,000 acres in Nuagaon and Gada Kujang Panchayats while being unable to progress with the drive in Gobindpur and Dhinkia villages due to stiff resistance of the people. However, Posco is repeatedly harping on need of acquiring additional 700 acres for the project to help it start building the plant. "The CMD (Chief Managing Director) and other Posco-India officials will meet chief minister Naveen Patnaik on May 16 and hold discussion on the project. There will be general discussion this time," said Ho Chan Ryu, deputy managing director, Posco-India Private Ltd, while refusing to divulge the details of the meeting agenda. Meanwhile, the state government has asked the company to be patient and understand the ground realities hindering the land acquisition process. Source: Business Standard

May 14, 2012: The Air Separation Unit 4 (ASU-4 ) in the Bhilai Steel Plant's Oxygen Plant 2 has started its trial production. A company statement issued here said that the new unit with a capacity to produce 700 TPD (Tons Per Day) is supplying both Oxygen and Nitrogen gaseous products to existing BSP gas networks with ultra high purity. This would enhance the product and process quality further to new highs. The new unit is also producing Liquid Oxygen. Since its 'start-up' and commencement of the 'first industrial production' earlier this month, the new ASU 4 unit in OP 2 continues to produce gaseous oxygen and nitrogen as also Liquid Oxygen. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the ASU-4 that has been installed with associated facilities at the plant's existing Oxygen Plant II itself would fulfill the enhanced requirements of the three gases - oxygen, nitrogen and argon. The successful production from ASU-4 will definitely enhance the productivity of BSP and also result in financial savings by reducing the cash outflow of oxygen procurement from external sources, the statement said. The ultra-high purity of gaseous oxygen from this modern plant would go in a long way sustaining the superior quality of finished products from the BSP. Source: Business Standard

May 14, 2012: ArcelorMittal's chairman and CEO, Lakshmi Mittal, said he sees little prospect of the company's Indian projects making progress in the next few years. The projects are still receiving regulatory approvals, Mittal said, adding that progress on the acquisition of land remains slow. According to media reports, Mittal had told shareholders at ArcelorMittal's shareholders conference held recently that the company's Indian projects might not be completed for five to 10 years. India needs to expand its infrastructure and basic commodities production capacity, Mittal said, adding that the fast growing India market remained attractive. Mittal noted that unusually for a developing economy, apparent steel demand in India had lagged below real GDP growth at the beginning of 2012. The country needs to accelerate its approvals process, so projects can take off, Mittal added. ArcelorMittal has two projects for 12 million ton/year integrated works, located in Jharkhand and Odisha. The group also has plans for a 6 million ton/year integrated steelworks in Karnataka. Source: ISMW

May 14, 2012: Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Mineral Resource & Energy (MMRE) of the Government of Mongolia at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for exploring business opportunities in the mining and steel sector. The MoU was signed by H.E. Balkhuu Bataa, Director (Mining & Heavy Industry), Policy Dept., Govt. of Mongolia, on behalf of MMRE and Rakesh Kulshreshtha, SAIL Executive Director (Corporate Planning), in the presence of SAIL chairman C.S. Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel U.P. Singh and other delegates from India and Mongolia. Verma said that SAIL is happy to be a partner in Mongolia's economic development, and commended the Mongolian government for its initiatives in developing its mining sector, which will serve to be ''crucial drivers of FDI'' for the country, while also meeting the mineral needs of India and other Asian economies. MMRE Vice-Minister Ms Ts Garamajav termed the MoU as a welcome step in cooperation between the two countries and hoped that joint feasibility report could help Mongolia set up a mineral processing industry. As per the MoU, MMRE will provide information on iron ore and coal deposits in Mongolia to SAIL and will offer options of locations and size of steel manufacturing facility for pre-feasibility study. A joint pre-feasibility study for setting up of mineral processing facility for iron ore and coal, both coking and thermal, in Mongolia, and downstream steel making facilities for domestic consumption and trade, will be taken up by MMRE and SAIL. SAIL, on the other hand, will select the best available technology to treat Mongolian iron ore and coal deposits based on the feasibility study. The MoU envisages exploration of opportunities for investments to be made by SAIL either individually or in a consortium with other entities to develop mineral processing/ steel manufacturing facility in Mongolia. Source: ISMW