Post here the News and Upcoming Steel projects in India.

Saturday, 10 Apr 2010

2010 has been a path breaking year in many ways for the global steel industry. Steel prices and demand has shown definite signs of revival providing reprieve to the parched market. With the culmination of Q1 it can be adjudged that the market is certainly for merry making because of the following:

Steel prices have appreciated by USD per tonne 100 to USD 150 per tonne since March. Capacity utilization is touching levels of 70% to 80% across the world Mills are booked up to May shipment and feeling shy of June bookings lest they get a price hike of another USD 100 per tonne.

One of the triggering factors for the radical turnaround has been sky rocketing input material prices apart from release of pent up demand from stockiest and traders to replenish their depleting stocks before the prices go up further thereby setting speculative trend rather than any sustained demand revival.

Iron ore prices have zoomed by more than 30% and scrap prices have improved by 35% since March. Iron ore being the seed of steel has been the pivot of movements in steel market. China consuming almost 70% of the global production has continued unabated growth in consumption as import touched 627 million tonnes.

India being one of the major supplier after Brazil and Australia 20% of the kitty has not only been affected but has played a key role in spot market as buyers have been sourcing only from the spot market in the absence of annual contracts.

Some of the key factors effecting the iron ore market in India has been as follows

1. Severe crack down by government on illegal mining leading to curtailed availability and hiked prices

2. Hike in railway freight by INR 300 per tonne

3. Imposition of 5% and 10% export duty iron ore fines and lumps

4. Iron ore majors Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto targeting quarterly pricing rather than annual with a 100% hike in prices leading to an imbroglio with Chinese buyers once again

5. Clamor by steel ministry for 20% export duty on iron ore fines to discourage export to augment domestic availability mills vie for capacity expansion.

6. Restrictive approach of Chinese buyers by banning import by traders with turnover of less than 1 million tonne is 2009

7. Banning import of lower grade iron ore below Fe 60%

8. Banning import of Iron ore for 2 months arm twist majors from dictating price levels for quarterly contracts.

9. Anticipated devaluation of Chinese currency under pressure from Western world.

SG (http://steelguru.com/news/index/MTQwNTc5/Indian_iron_ore_industry_in_a_quandary_.html)

Saturday, 10 Apr 2010

BS reported that KIOCL Ltd has dropped plans to go with a private firm for setting up a INR 330 crore ductile iron spun pipe plant in Mangalore as part of its diversification program and has decided to form a 50:50 joint venture with the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited to set up the plant in Mangalore with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum.

The report quoted Mr K Ranganath CMD of KIOCL as saying that “We have dropped the plans to go with the private firm due to the higher cost and also with the thought of roping in another PSU. Meanwhile, RINL has shown interest in joining us for the project. We have already discussed about this with the CMD of RINL and he has agreed to a JV. The boards of both companies will meet shortly and approve the JV formally.”

Mr Ranganath told Business Standard that “The main reason for dropping the earlier plan was purely on the grounds of high cost involved in it. At this juncture, when we don’t have captive iron ore mines, we did not want to invest a higher amount. The proposed JV requires us to invest only INR 150 crore to INR 175 crore as equity and works out better for us.”

He said the company would form a separate company to take up the project with RINL. Apart from selling the ductile iron spun pipes in the domestic market, the JV company will also export to European countries as there is a big demand for it. He added that “We already have a captive jetty at New Mangalore Port and it will be cost effective for us to export our products.”

KIOCL plans to build the DISP plant adjacent its existing pig iron plant in Mangalore on the west coast. The proposed plant will utilize the superior pig iron with low phosphorus and low sulphur already produced by the company.

KIOCL had floated global tenders for this project twice in the last two years and both the occasions, Larsen & Toubro had emerged as the L1 bidder. But last week the KIOCL decided to drop the plan of going with the private player to build the DISP plant.



(Sourced from Business Standard) (http://www.steelguru.com/news/indian_news/MTQwNDc4/KIOCL_to_form_JV_with_RINL_for_Mangalore_plant.html)

Cos look at building a 5-million-tonne plant in Jharkhand.

FINEX technology likely to lower the production cost

Actual production to start in 2 or 3 years

Recently in Ranchi

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korean steel major, Posco, for entering into a joint venture for steel production using its FINEX technology in order to bring down the cost of production.

The proposal has been cleared by the board sub-committee of the company, according to Mr A.S. Mathur, Executive Director In-charge, Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel (RDCIS), the corporate R&D wing of SAIL. “We are going for a FINEX plant in joint venture with Posco. We have already signed an MoU with them and that has been cleared by the board sub-committee,” Mr Mathur told Business Line.

The FINEX technology uses non-coking coal fines and fines of iron ore, which are easily available to produce iron to produce high grade steel which could be further processed by SAIL to make specialised steel, he said. “The feasibility study has been conducted, the actual production might start in the next two-to-three years,” he said. The finer details of the deal such as the nature of joint venture, and the estimated investments were still to be worked out, he added.

The two companies are believed to be looking at a joint venture to build a 5-million-tonne plant in Jharkhand. Posco, which has been facing repeated delays in its proposed steel project in Orissa due to land acquisition and mining lease-related problems, has been scouting for alternative opportunities.

Low production cost

The cost of production of iron by using the FINEX technology was expected to be lower than the normal process as it would not require the conversion of coal into coke. “Usually iron is made in blast furnace using iron lumps and coke (which we get from conversion of coal). The conversion cost of coal to coke is substantially high. However, in this technology there would be no need to convert coal into coke as it is capable of using non-coking coal fines and iron ore fines (no sintering or pelletisation will be required for iron ore fines),” said an industry expert.

Close to 30 per cent of the ore obtained from mining were lumps while the rest 70 per cent were fines, Mr Mathur said.

BusinessLine (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/04/10/stories/2010041050880300.htm)

11 Apr 2010

The silver colored material spewing gamma radiation that slipped into a scrap dealer’s shops causing at least six persons to fall ill has exposed gaps in India’s mechanisms to preserve radiological safety.

Department of atomic energy official said that the scrap dealer and five workers have fallen ill with symptoms of radiation exposure after they tried to work with scrap that contained a highly radioactive element called cobalt 60.

Cobalt 60 is used as a source of radiation in cancer radiotherapy and in industrial inspection equipment, but scientists investigating the incident said the origin of the material found in the scrap dealer’s shops was still unknown.

An official said that a team of atomic energy scientists and technicians shielded, packed and removed from two of the scrap dealer’s shops eight bunches of junk containing cobalt 60 shaped like wires.

Mr Swapnesh Kumar Malhotra a DAE spokesman told The Telegraph that “The radioactivity varied from bunch to bunch, but even the lowest level was millions of times higher than the background radiation.”

Scientists familiar with operations said the radioactivity levels in the scrap dealer’s two shops were so high that each person involved in extricating the material was allowed to stay inside the shops for only four seconds.

The material has been sent to the Narora Atomic Power Station where it will be analyzed. The radiation in the affected area has returned to normal background levels.

The scrap dealer who has been in the Apollo Indraprastha Hospital here since April 4 with severe bone marrow suppression has told police the material was embedded in a consignment of imported scrap. He had acquired the scrap about two weeks ago and stored it in a drum. A DAE official said it was unclear how many persons were exposed to the radiation during this period.


SG

are u reading lot of materials books for ur Mtech now a days?

Do u know about the steel scrap we get from abroad and its processing in India?

are u reading lot of materials books for ur Mtech now a days?

No :) Steel is a vital ingredient for Industrialization so I felt like starting a thread.


Do u know about the steel scrap we get from abroad and its processing in India

Well I only know that Steel scrap which is imported is checked for Radioactive substances.There are guidelines available as to how much the radioactivity must be limited to.It would be a disaster if they used reprocessed steel for packaging food items.

I had to read "" Michael F Ashby"" for materials selection in design during my studies here. NIce read.

Selection of material is vital to design

This scrap business is very big in India, we get lot of scraps

Tuesday, 13 Apr 2010

TATA Steel said it is not against iron ore exports as that is against free market norms as also because domestic steel demand is expected to go up by 10% to 12% this fiscal.

Mr HM Nerurkar MD of TATA Steel when sought his reaction to the demand for banning iron ore exports said that "We are an open economy, so why do you ban exports? Also exports will come down if the demand in the country increases due to more steel consumption.”

TATA Steel had earlier opposed exports of iron ore saying it would be harmful to the development of domestic steel industry.

Mr Nerurkar said the prices of iron ore and coking coal, the two major inputs for steel making, are expected to rise by 80 to 90% during the year.

Speaking about the steel demand scenario in the domestic market, he said the demand is expected to be 10 to 12% during the year. He added that "Demand for more steel will come mainly from India, China and Brazil adding global steel demand is expected to improve and may arrive at the pre crisis level.

(Sourced from ET) (http://www.steelguru.com/news/indian_news/MTQwODc0/TATA_Steel_not_against_ore_export_-_Mr_Nerurkar.html)

Euromast You have nay Idea about cold formed steel industries in India,you design metal structures So I reckon you will have some idea abou tit.:)

I had to read "" Michael F Ashby"" for materials selection in design during my studies here. NIce read.

Selection of material is vital to design

This scrap business is very big in India, we get lot of scraps

Exactly it makes the most important part of any design,one can cut down cost significantly while also ensuring safety.As structural engineers the choice lies with us to go for the type of material,Euro I feel Cold formed steel structures have not gained enough patronage in India yet,may be due to lack of knowledge about its behaviour especially its liability to the Local buckling.

Composite construction has not gained any popularity as well.Conutries like Korea(South),Japan make heavy use of Concrete filled In steel tubular structures which have shown to perform exceptionally well during seismic activity,circular steel tubes ensures confinement of concrete hence increses the shear capacity of concrete and also delays the buckling phenomena by changing the mode of buckling to outwards(no question of inward buckling).


Indian steel industries must cash on into such concepts and popularise them.

Posco allowed to export iron ore from India: A Sai Prathap

Press Trust of India (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/posco-allowed-to-export-iron-oreindiasai-prathap/93583/on)/ New Delhi May 7, 2010, 16:36 IST

The government today said that steel giant Posco has been permitted to export iron ore to South Korea from the captive reserves it will be allocated to feed its proposed Rs 51,000 crore project in Orissa.

"Posco India is allowed to export iron ore from Orissa as per conditions of MoU," Minister of State for Steel A Sai Prathap informed the Rajya Sabha.


The Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation Act, 1957, governs allocation of captive resources like iron ore. Such minerals are alloted only for dedicated consumption by the end-use project. Sale and export of minerals from such deposits are normally not allowed.

Giving details of the agreement signed between the Orissa government and the firm in 2005, the Minister said Posco will need about 600 million tonnes of iron ore to run its proposed 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) plant for the next 30 years. Iron ore is a vital raw material for making steel.

"The company may swap certain quantities (not exceeding 30 per cent of the total requirement of the Paradeep plant annually) of such iron ore which have high alumina content with equal quantity of low alumina content iron ore.


Any export of iron ore by way of swap will be allowed only after an equivalent quantity of ore has been imported for the plant," he added.

Prathap also said, "Export of additional 400 million tonnes of iron ore from India for existing steel plants of Posco in South Korea would be regulated by the prevailing Export-Import (EXIM) policy."

The quantity of iron ore to be exported and imported will be within the framework of EXIM policy, he said, adding, "No minable reserves would be provided purely for the purpose of the direct exports."

"It is clarified that no export of iron ore will be allowed from the captive mine except by way of full replacement through import of equal quantity of high grade ore," he added.

As per the MoU with the state, Posco was to commission the first phase of its project, comprising 6-MTPA capacity, by July, 2010, and the whole project was to get off the ground by July, 2016.

However, Posco has been facing delays in the launch of the proposed plant for about five years now on account of problems in acquiring land and regulatory clearances. Its application to mine iron ore in Orissa is stuck in litigation.

In the wake of such delays, the company is exploring the option to set up a Rs 30,000 crore plant in Karnataka. It is also in talks with state-owned SAIL to build two multi-billion dollar plants in India in a joint venture.

Orissa govt asks Posco to give up private land
BS Reporter / Bhubaneswar May 21, 2010, 1:15 IST

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.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik attended by local MP B P Tarai, agriculture minister Damodar Rout and three other MLAs of the district.

This decision was taken as the villagers of Dhinkia, the epicentre of the anti-Posco movement, are opposing the project tooth and nail.

Simultaneously, discussion will also be held with the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) at the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) level.

Talking to the media after the meeting, Rout said since the people of Dhinkia are opposed to the project, it was decided that Posco should not insist on the 300 acres of private land.

“It was unanimously decided that the Posco project will come up, as this is an important proposition for the state. However, all possible care would be taken to protect the interests of the displaced.”

The PPSS had proposed to have talks with the government if invited by the chief minister. As a measure in that direction, a meeting with the representatives of PPSS would be held soon. The meeting would be chaired by the RDC and if things remain unresolved, a meeting with the chief minister would be arranged. Other rehabilitation work would go on as usual, said Rout.

Chief secretary Tarunkanti Mishra, RDC P K Mohapatra and industry minister Raghunath Mohanty were also present in the meeting.
BS (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/orissa-govt-asks-posco-to-giveprivate-land/395640/)

Essar Steel to commission phase 1 expansion next month

Friday, 21 May 2010
ET reported that Essar Steel will commission the first phase of its INR 13,000 crore expansion project by the end of next month.

Mr Malay Mukherjee CEO of Essar Steel Business Group told reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI Steel Summit that "The first phase of our expansion 1.8 million tonne per annum will be commissioned by June end which is in line with our target of having a run rate of 8 million tonne per annum by March 2011.”

Asked about the delay in setting up the expanded capacity, Mr Mukherjee said that "The expansion project is more or less on track. The company is working to install a 10 million tonne per annum capacity. Moreover, the company is keenly looking at merger and acquisition opportunities overseas for expanding its business.

Mr Mukherjee said that Essar's new steel plant will be based on the traditional blast furnace and the eco-friendly COREX furnace route of steel making. Its present mill is an electric arch-based unit.

While going with the traditional blast furnace route the firm will need coking coal besides iron ore to produce steel. In the COREX route, Essar will have to procure non coking coal with the advantage of using the emitting gas to generate power.

Mr Mukherjee said that "The company may import some of its coal requirement to feed the expanded capacity this fiscal.”

The company has an installed annual production capacity of 4.6 million tonne per annum in Hazira, Gujarat. Earlier the company had set a target to install an additional 5 MTPA production line by March 2010.

(Sourced from ET) (http://www.steelguru.com/news/indian_news/MTQ2NDE5/Essar_Steel_eying_Kandil_Steel_in_Egypt_-_NDTV_Report.html)

Don't acquire excess land: Steel Minister to industry

NEW DELHI: Amid agitation against land acquisition for the Rs 54,000-crore Posco steel project in Orissa, the Centre today warned the industry against creating a land-bank in excess of requirement.

"I fully endorse ... I support the opposition that the land more than the required, should not be acquired," Singh told PTI in an interview on completion of a year of the UPA-II government.

The comments come amid strong political protests against land acquisition by global steel majors Posco and ArcelorMittal, whose much-touted multi billion dollar projects are still awaiting ground-breaking.

He, however, said the Rs 1.5 lakh crore projects of Posco and ArcelorMittal have remained stuck for the last nearly five years because of the bottlenecks related to land acquisition in Orissa and Jharkhand.

The issue needs to be resolved by striking a balance between the "welfare of the tribals and the genuine land requirement by the investors", he said.

With change in technology and plant design, big size equipment requiring huge tracts of land is not required.

"Now it is no longer necessary to acquire that much of land," the Minister said.

Paradip, where the South Korean giant Posco has proposed to set up a 12-million tonnes plant has been in the grip of violent protests by farmers and Left-backed Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti against land acquisition for past several weeks.

Faced with protests, ArcelorMittal was also forced to shift plans to set up the project in Bokaro from Khunti-Gumla in Jharkhand. ArcelorMittal has sought 8,000 acres of land.

Under pressure, the Orissa government has agreed to reduce the sanction of land by 300 acres out of 4,004 acres sought by the company.

Singh said there must be an audit of the land demand. "There must be an assessment whether what they are asking for is actually required," he said.

Referring to his recent meetings with ArcelorMittal and Posco chiefs-- L N Mittal and Chung Joon-yang respectively, the Minister said he had asked them "to be generous to the tribal people as they are very much attached to their land."

Asked about the delays in the big-ticket projects, Singh said the issue was related to state governments of Orissa and Jharkhand and his Ministry was in constant touch with them.

"Prime Minister has also written letters to state governments to expedite the matter... We are facilitators, we try to remove hurdles," he said, hoping for a breakthrough in the next 4-5 months.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/steel/Dont-acquire-excess-land-Steel-Minister-to-industry/articleshow/5958414.cms

Jindal Steel acquires Oman's Shaheed Iron for $464 m

Our Bureau

New Delhi, May 20

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) on Thursday announced that it has completed the acquisition of Oman-based Shadeed Iron and Steel Co LLC (Shadeed).

The acquisition was completed for $464 million, which includes the assumption of liabilities and was carried through by JSPL's 100 per cent subsidiary, Jindal Steel and Power (Mauritius) Ltd (JSPLM).

FUNDING THE BUY

For the acquisition, JSPL has tied up $400 million in debt financing from international banks while the rest of the amount would be from internal accruals.

The Shadeed facility is engineered by Kobe Steel (Japan) and Midrex (US), which are among the global leaders in the field of direct iron technology. This is also the same technology JSPL will be using in its Orissa facility.

Shadeed is also installing 1.5 million tonnes a year gasbased hot briquetted iron plant at Sohar Industrial Port area of Sohar, Oman.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/05/21/stories/2010052152150201.htm

VISA Bao to launch metallurgy unit in 2011

By Ritwik Mukherjee May 20 2010 , Kolkata
Tags: VISA Bao, Industry
VISA Bao, a joint venture between Kolkata-based Rs 5,000 crore VISA Steel and Bao Steel, one of the world’s largest producers of stainless steel, has now set a target of October, 2011 to com*mence commercial pr*oduc*tion at Kalinganagar plant.

VISA Bao incidentally is the first Sino-Indian joint venture in metallurgical industry, where VISA Steel now holds 65 per cent while Bio Steel holds 35 per cent.

The ferro chrome plant with a capacity of 1 lakh tonne per annum is being set up with a capital outlay of Rs 260 crore, Visa Steel chairman Vishambhar Sar*an said. Visa Bao also plans to set up chrome ore beneficiation and pelletisation facilities and also get into mi*ning of chrome ore through backward integration.

"We have 525 acres land in our possession for the project. We will complete the financial closure by June-end. Of the Rs 260 crore investment, as much as Rs 91 crore is the equity of the promoters," Saran said. Baosteel Resources will offtake 70 per cent of the ferro chrome production for its stainless steel plant in China. Discussions are also on with Baosteel for jointly venture into stainless steel and speciality steel manufacturing, he said.

The firm is planni*ng to set up a 2.5 million ton per annum integrated steel pla*nt at Raigarh in Chhati*shg*arh. "We need around 1,000 acres for the project, of wh*ich 250 acres have already been acquired," Saran said.

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/industry/visa-bao-launch-metallurgy-unit-2011-355

Press Trust of India / New Delhi July 12, 2010, 15:38 IST

The Steel Ministry today voiced for "completely banning" export of iron ore, saying the mineral is a non-renewable resource like coal and petroleum products, and should be preserved.

"It will be good to completely ban iron ore exports as these are non-renewable resources, once you exhaust them, you won't get them.

"How coal, gas, petroleum products are different from iron ore. Why don't we export them? You can't have different standards," Steel Secretary Atul Chaturvedi told PTI. Iron ore is primary input in steel making.

India produced about 230 million tonnes of iron ore in the last fiscal, of which around 106 million tonnes were exported, mainly to China.

"(Iron ore-rich) Karnataka had recently written for ban on iron ore exports. Now, states are themselves asking for banning iron ore exports. The Mining Ministry has to take a call on this. We have been saying that iron ore should not be exported," he said.

Both the ministries of Steel and Mines have been at loggerheads over the issue of exports of iron ore, on which the latter have been opposing any move to put a blanket ban on the overseas shipments of the mineral.

Mines Minster B K Handique had earlier said that banning iron ore exports could render thousands jobless.

Also, the Mines Ministry had said that the country does not possess technology to make steel from iron ore fines and thus exports should continue. Miners mainly export iron ore fines to China which is technically equipped to make steel from the powdery variant of iron ore.

However, the steel ministry have been pitching for hiking export duty on iron ore and exports of value-added products like steel, which will create jobs in the country.

At present, export duty on iron ore fines is 5 per cent and on lumps it is 15 per cent. Steel Ministry has also been demanding a flat 20 per cent export duty on both the segments of iron ore.

"We should not be exporter of primary products, we should be exporter of value-added products. Production of value-added products will help in creation of employment here, else jobs will be created in China. You should create employment in India rather than creating it somewhere else," he said.

BS (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/steel-ministry-for-banning-iron-ore-exports/101063/on)

Cross-posting from Salem thread. Courtesy: satishanu

http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/11/images/2010071153400601.jpg

The Rs. 1,902-crore expansion project of the Salem Steel Plant (SSP), a special steels unit of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), is expected to be commissioned by September this year.

The commissioning will enable SSP to get into the production of stainless steel slabs.

SSP pioneered the supply of wider-width stainless steel sheets and coils in India.

It also had the country's first top-of-the-line stainless steel blanking facility with a capacity of 3,600 tonnes of coin blanks, utility blanks and circles. SSP is also well-known for the production of a variety of specially designed finishes which find application in architectural uses like, cladding of building facades, doors, windows, kitchen sinks, staircases and elevators, decorative steel laminates as also in panelling of buses and EMU coaches.

SAIL sources told The Hindu that commissioning of few of the equipment had been done and the “remaining equipment will be commissioned in a phased manner in about two months.” While the equipment in the steel melting shop will be commissioned at one-go, those in the cold rolling mill will be commissioned in phases. Power problems have held up the execution of the expansion project.

The project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in September 2008 after getting its environment clearance in April. Kajamalai Reserve Forest is located four km south of the project.

----
----
The expansion plan envisages increase in capacity of hot rolled coils and sheets from three lakh tonnes now to 3.7 lakh tonnes, and a doubling of the 70,000-tonne capacity of cold rolled coils and sheets and one-lakh tonne capacity of hot rolled annealed and pickled products. Coins and blanks capacity would remain same at 6,000-tonne annually.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/13/stories/2010071362261700.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/11/stories/2010071153400600.htm

Cross-posting from Salem thread. Courtesy: anirudhswetha

Salem Steel unit on stream

The Hindu SAIL Chairman C.S. Verma (right) with Director (Personnel) B.B. Singh at a press conference in Salem on Monday.
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) Chairman C. S. Verma on Monday commissioned a new 70,000 tonnes per annum tension levelling line at the Salem Steel Plant (SSP) here.
Installed at a cost of Rs.39.40 crore as part of the SSP's modernisation and expansion plan, the tension levelling line, supplied by Redex of France, is a value-addition process that will enhance flatness in stainless steel coils.

Mr. Verma was here on his maiden visit to SSP for an appraisal of the facilities that had come up under the plant's the Rs.2,000-crore expansion-cum-modernisation project.

Mr. Verma mooted the concept of ‘mine development operator' to ensure production quality and ‘long-term raw material security'.

The concept of adopting mine development consultant would ensure 30-35 per cent increase in procurement of quality raw materials, he added.

This move, besides SAIL's Rs.1,500-crore expansion programme for domestic coking coal mines, would aim to reduce the dependence on import of key inputs, which had been a main factor behind fluctuating prices. “We have evolved a package including new mining leases to source the coal,” he said and pointed out that the new projects would enhance the availability.

Existing captive coal mines at Chasnalla, Jitpur and Ramnagore would be developed to enhance production.

Outlining the recently unveiled SAIL's major expansion programme, Mr. Verma said that about Rs.60,000 crore had been earmarked to transform the company into a ‘more competitive entity against global players.' This would become a reality as SAIL had joined hands with steel giants like Posco and other leaders in the market for new ventures.

The target would be an annual production of 23 million tonnes by 2012 from the present 14 million tonnes. By 2020, it should touch 60 million tonnes.

Mr. Verma said SAIL could see the price behaviour of steel stabilising in the last two weeks promising good tidings in the days to come. Despite sluggish market conditions and flooding of Chinese products, SAIL registered a sales turnover of Rs.9,931 crore in the first quarter of the current year, showing an increase of 2 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

On SSP, he said the expansion of the plant would enhance the production capacity to 1.80 lakh tonnes of slabs, 3.64 lakh tonnes of HR coils, 1.46 lakh tonnes of cold rolled stainless steel and salable steel from 1.75 lakh to 3.40 lakh tonnes. “The expansion is right on schedule and soon will have a formal inauguration,” he said and added that “the thought of privatisation is not in the minds with regard to SAIL.”
Director (Personnel) B. B. Singh, ED, Chairman's Secretariat N. Kothari, GM (Corporate Affairs) R. K. Singhal, Salem plant Executive Director Pankaj Gautam and other senior officials were present on the occassion.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article561444.ece?homepage=true


Anirudh
salem

The biggest Steel Industry in India is in West Bengal

Published on Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 09:54 | Updated at Wed, Aug 11,

India is looking at new technologies to produce steel. But there are doubts about their efficacy
http://business.in.com/media/images/2010/Aug/img_32272_briefing.jpg

The 23-feet-high Ashoka Pillar inside Delhi’s historic Qutub Minar complex has, over the years, fascinated tourists and metallurgists. The tourists pose beside it. The technically inclined touch it with awe and respect. For the 1,600 year-old Pillar is testimony to the metallurgical skills of India’s earliest steelmakers.

The Ashoka Pillar is made of wrought iron, or iron alloy, a form of steel that had formed the backbone of the industrial revolution in Europe. Evolution in the process of steelmaking saw wrought iron surviving till the 1960s. Its production was finally stopped as it was expensive compared to the plain ‘carbon’ steel and its properties didn’t allow for welding or forging. Evolution of technologies in the last two centuries have not only helped making cost-effective steel but also invented ways to alter its properties to suit the needs of its consumers. Steel can be welded, forged, flattened and rolled.

mg_32272_briefing_280x210.jpgIn recent years though, steel making companies around the world have looked for solutions to new-age problems. Setting up steel plants takes a lot of time and money. And once the plant is put up, more investments are needed to source raw materials, mainly iron ore and coal. The process of first getting molten iron from the ore and then converting it to steel also generates a lot of carbon dioxide, causing pollution. In India, the new steel projects face an additional problem — delay in getting land. And traditional steel plants need huge tracts of land, as much as 5,000 acres for a 5 million tonnes per year facility.

That’s why state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is looking for new technologies that could replace the traditional blast furnace route to make steel. It is in talks with two steel companies that are known for their technical expertise — Kobe Steel of Japan and Posco of South Korea. Over the last few years, both these companies have developed a new steelmaking technology — Kobe’s ITMK3 and Posco’s Finex — that promises to make steel making both green and less expensive.

In the traditional blast furnace route, iron ore and coal (as fuel) are fed into a furnace from which molten iron comes out. This hot metal is then passed through a converter to produce finished steel. In India, most steel companies follow this route. “But the blast furnace route needs high grade iron ore with an iron content of over 62 percent. As a result, a lot of lower grade iron ore lies unused,” says Jitendra Singh, owner of ISG group of companies. Almost 60 percent of the iron ore mined in India constitutes of these low grade iron ore, or fines, which are either exported to China or are left unused, causing environmental harm.

Following calls to limit export of iron ore and fines, as a better economic sense, attempts have been made to process these fines into pellets. These pellets can be used in plants that make DRI or sponge iron, another steel raw material. Posco’s earlier technology called Corex also uses pellets instead of iron ore. Its new Finex technology claims to go a step further. Under it, fines can be directly fed into the plants. Kobe’s ITMK3 also promises the same. These technologies help in consuming the unused fines, and also do away with the need to set up a processing plant to upgrade these low grade iron ores.

This also makes the two technologies cheaper. A conventional steel plant using the blast furnace route costs more than Rs. 4,500 crore per tonne to set up, industry experts say plants using the new technologies will be “much cheaper.” The two technologies also use lower grade coal and experts say steel plants can save as much as 20 kg of coal per tonne. One argument in favour of these technologies is the lower emission of green house gasses in the plants using them. Both Posco and Kobe have tested these technologies in pilot projects. Posco operates a 1.5 million tonne a year capacity in South Korea using Finex technology. It also plans to use the technology for its upcoming multi-billion dollar steel plant in Orissa. Kobe has set up two pilot projects, in Japan and USA.

“While these two technologies have promise, they are yet to be tested using raw material found in India. Iron ore and coal differ in grade and properties in each country. So before they are used in India, this check is needed,” says T. Mukherjee, former joint managing director of Tata Steel and a known metallurgist.

That may not be the only shortcoming. Steel companies are looking to build mega plants for economies of scale, and experts say the benefits of the new technologies might erode if the facility’s capacity crosses a million tonnes. “In fact, as you increase the scale of the production unit, the blast furnace route turns out to be more cost effective on the per tonne basis,” says S.K. Gupta, a director at JSW Steel.

He also thinks that Indian steel companies should not become “guinea pigs” by risking the use of a new technology. “As a businessman, only if Posco or Kobe agrees to share the equity needed for the investment, will I come forward to use the technology,” says Gupta. He would know. JSW Steel was one of the first to use Posco’s Corex technology in its Karnataka steel plant and “almost burnt its fingers” before mastering it. Will SAIL take the bait?

Forbes (http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/features/steel-technology-india-has-new-aspirations_477005.html)

For all the steel technologists,here is an article make sense and enjoy.

The biggest Steel Industry in India is in West Bengal
Nice joke man ...another one from you...Thanks..
Jokes apart...here are the real figures (Can someone validate this).


http://www.energymanagertraining.com/Plot/images/Iron_Steel.jpg

^^^^

vishal Ji :

According to the following Statistics from World Steel, India Produced 56.608 Million Tonnes in 2009.

Crude Steel statistics Total 2009 (http://www.worldsteel.org/?action=stats&type=steel&period=latest&month=13&year=2009)

Now in the Six Months Period January – June 2010 the Indian Steel Production is 32.529 Million Tonnes.

According to your posted chart the Installed Capacity is 24.197 Million Tonnes.

What gives?

Cheers :cheers:

^^^^

vishal Ji :

According to the following Statistics from World Steel, India Produced 56.608 Million Tonnes in 2009.

Crude Steel statistics Total 2009 (http://www.worldsteel.org/?action=stats&type=steel&period=latest&month=13&year=2009)

Now in the Six Months Period January – June 2010 the Indian Steel Production is 32.529 Million Tonnes.

According to your posted chart the Installed Capacity is 24.197 Million Tonnes.

What gives?

Cheers :cheers:

Probably then, the link that i have referred is dated and needs to be updated. I can rely more on the Worldsteel link than the paper that I have referred.
I have validated it from the Ministry of Iron and Steel website too (http://steel.nic.in/Annual%20Report%20(2009-10)/English/Annual%20Report%20(2009-10).pdf) and your figures you have represnted are perfect. The report in the link above contains the entire detail for Production Year 2009-10 and is pretty detailed.


Thanks.

Probably then, the link that i have referred is dated and needs to be updated. I can rely more on the Worldsteel link than the paper that I have referred.
I have validated it from the Ministry of Iron and Steel website too (http://steel.nic.in/Annual%20Report%20(2009-10)/English/Annual%20Report%20(2009-10).pdf) and your figures you have represnted are perfect. The report in the link above contains the entire detail for Production Year 2009-10 and is pretty detailed.

Thanks.

vishal Ji :

Many thanks for the Indian ministry of Iron and Steel Website.

It does explain the difference as there is a Huge Production Capacity of "OTHER" Steel Producers.

Thanks again

Cheers :cheers:

Families displaced by Tata Steel record 96 per cent surge in income

The work on the proposed six million tonne steel plant of Tata Steel at Kalinganagar is yet to take off, but the people who were displaced for the project are already a richer lot with perceptible improvement in their standards of living over the past five years.

While the annual income of the first batch of displaced families of 2006 under Tata Steel Parivar Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) scheme nearly doubled (a growth of 96 per cent), in the post-displacement period, the value of assets held by the first batch of the displaced families went up by nearly 300 per cent during this period.

On the whole, the average asset value of the families displaced in the first batch, increased from Rs 1.39 lakh in 2006 to Rs 5.47 lakh in 2010. Similarly, the average annual income of the families rose from Rs 37430 in 2006 to Rs 73413.

Company empowers 300 SHGs
As many as 5000 families belonging to more than 300 Self Help Groups (SHGs) in Orissa have benefited from the concerted efforts made by Tata Steel, through Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS) to empower women. The initiative to organize village women and form SHGs has enabled them to find alternative livelihood opportunities.

The support provided by Tata Steel to the Tejaswinis, the members of the women SHGs, have enabled them to sell their products not only in the local market but also outside. The SHGs have been formed in Kalinganagar, Bamnipal, Sukinda, Joda, Belpahar and Gopalpur among others.

Importantly, more than 95 percent of these SHGs are women SHGs. The SHGs are engaged in income generating activities like poultry farming, gardening, stone carving, saura painting and in setting up of small industries like phenyl and pickle making among others. Besides facilitating credit linkage for the self help groups (SHGs), TSRDS is also facilitating the marketing of their products.

for more http://sify.com/finance/families-displaced-by-tata-steel-record-96-per-cent-surge-in-income-news-news-kjlckuhcfeg.html

:banana::banana::banana:

About Tata Steel's Kalinganagar project in Orissa, he said the construction work of the plant would start in October and the company plans to commission the plant in 2014-15.

"It normally takes three years to set up a plant, so we expect commercial production from it by 2014-15."

more http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/steel/Tata-Steel-not-selling-African-unit-Nerurkar/articleshow/6519386.cms

Tata Steel to raise up to $5.5 bn debt

The company had said last month it was looking to refinance existing debt based on the extension of the period and flexibility of terms. It had reported net debt of $9.5 billion at the end of the June quarter.
Nerurkar did not name or quantify the banks with which the company was in talks and also did not specify any timeframe.

Last month, Tata Steel lagged market estimates for its June quarter profits and said it expected industry fundamentals to remain cautious in the second half of the 2010/11 financial year.

Tata Steel's European operations account for two-thirds of its global capacity of about 30 million tonnes, while the Indian operations contribute a quarter. It also has units in South East Asia and Africa.
more http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/tata-steel-to-raiseto-55-bn-debt/108036/on

JSW Steel targets 16-mn tonnes capacity by 2014

JSW Steel today said it targets to double its production capacity to 16-million tonnes by 2014.

The steelmaker hopes to expand its capacity to 11-million tonnes from the present 7.8-million tonnes by March 2011.

"We have lined-up a capex of Rs 15,000-crore to have a 16-million tonne capacity from 11-million tonnes by 2014. JSW Steel will continue to expand its capacity in the future," JSW Steel Group's Joint Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, M V S Seshagiri Rao, told reporters here.
"We will expand the capacity of our Vijaynagar plant to 10-million tonnes from present 6.8-million tonnes by March 2011," Rao said.

The company's plant in Tamil Nadu at present has 1-million tonne capacity.

JSW Steel hopes to begin construction of its 10-million-tonne steel plant at Salboni in West Bengal by 2011. "The work on the boundary wall has already started," he said.

The company sees an over 10 per cent consumption in the domestic market and hopes demand would pick-up in the future.

"We expect demand to pick-up in long products now onwards and consumption would be much better in the next six months," he said.

On pricing, JSW Steel's Director (Commercial & Marketing), Jayant Acharya, said, "Steelmakers are likely consider a price hike in October."

Owing to higher international prices and input costs, steel-makers across the board had raised prices in September and JSW Steel hiked prices by 3-4 per cent with effect from September 1.

"Demand from the auto, infrastructure and real estate sectors will continue in the coming quarters," Acharya said.

On the Mining Bill, Rao said, "It is a welcome step by the government. The Bill will help companies to set up greenfield projects."

Last week, a 10-member ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived at a consensus on the Mining Bill, which makes it mandatory for companies to share 26 per cent of profits from mining with project-affected people. The Group of Ministers (GoM) will meet soon to clear the final draft of the Bill.

The new Bill has proposed that companies share 26 per cent of the profits from mining with locals whose land will be acquired for the project.

Tata Steel rebrands Corus as Tata Steel Europe

Tata Steel today said it has rebranded Corus, which it acquired in 2007 for over $12 billion, as Tata Steel Europe.

"Corus is adopting Tata Steel as its new identity from today. The Tata Steel name and logo will begin to appear on the company's transactional documents, product deliveries, locations and vehicles," the company said in a statement.

The rebranding, however, will be a gradual process and "not everything will change immediately" the global steelmaker said.
Tata Steel had acquired Corus in April 2007 for over $12 billion in a transaction that created one of the world's largest steelmakers, with a major presence in Europe as well as Asia and had started the rechristening exercise some two years back.

Tata Steel Europe (formerly Corus) MD and CEO Kirby Adams said: "This is the right time to enter a new era under the Tata Steel name, now that we have successfully returned the company to profit following the global financial crisis. This brand migration will lead to the Tata Steel name becoming much more prominent and widely recognised across Europe."

Tata Steel Europe is Europe's second-largest steel producer. With main steelmaking operations in the UK and the Netherlands, the company supplies steel and related services to the construction, automotive, packaging, material handling and other markets worldwide.

It is a subsidiary of Tata Steel and the combined Group has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and about 80,000 employees across four continents.

Corus was formed following merger of British Steel and the Netherlands' Koninklijke Hoogovens in 1999 is now the largest steel producer in Europe with an annual revenue of around 12 billion pound.

SAIL-Posco plant to start in three years

The three million tonne per annum steel plant proposed to be set up jointly by public sector Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and South Korean steel major Posco is likely to be operational in around three years.

The joint venture agreement between SAIL and Posco for the project, which would come up at Bokaro (Jharkhand), will be finalized within a couple of months.

The detailed project (DPR) for the integrated steel plant involving a cost of Rs 12,000-15000 crore, is being processed and would be readied within two months, SAIL chairman Chandra Shekhar Verma told reporters on the sidelines of a National HR Conclave organized by the city-based KIIT School of Management.
The steel plant will commence operations is three years from the finalization of the joint venture agreement, he added.

SAIL and Posco had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up the steel plant in May this year.

Asked if SAIL would have the majority stake in the joint venture, Verma said, “While SAIL would like to have the majority stake, we are also open to Posco having the controlling stake in the JV. Nothing has been decided as of now.”

In parallel, SAIL also hopes to stitch a joint venture pact with the Japan-based Kobe Steel within two months for setting up a speciality steel plant at Durgapur on around 100 acres of land.

The joint venture agreement with Kobe Steel would be finalized in two months, said Verma.The speciality steel plant which would produce 0.5 million tonnes of iron ore nuggets per annum with an iron content of 95 per cent, would entail an investment of Rs 5000 crore. These nuggets can be manufactured without using coking coal, one of the vital inputs of steel making in the country.

Meanwhile, SAIL's Rs 80,000-crore massive capacity expansion plan which would see the PSU's steel output go up from the existing 14 million tonne per annum (mtpa) to 24 mtpa by the end of 2013-14 is on the fast track.

Orders worth Rs 50,000 crore have already been placed for the capacity expansion plan which would be met by and large through the company's internal resources, the SAIL chairman stated.

Asked on SAIL's forthcoming Follow on Public Offer (FPO), he said, “The merchant bankers for the FPO have been finalized. The timing of the FPO would depend on market conditions.”

Expressing optimism over the country meeting its steel output target 0f 124 million tonnes by the end of 2012, Verma said, the country is going to witness a quantum jump in steel production in the next 7-8 years.SAIL, the country's largest steel maker has an annual turnover of $10 billion (around Rs 47,000 crore) and a market cap of $20 billion (around Rs 940,000 crore). The steel PSU has over four lakh shareholders and employs about 125,000 employees.

BUSINESS STANDARD

ArcelorMittal splits Jharkhand plant

Hopes to complete land acquisition in first few months of 2011.

As a part of its revised plan to focus on smaller plants, ArcelorMittal has split its proposed 12 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel plant in Jharkhand into two. The world’s largest steelmaker has decided to set up a 6-mtpa plant at Petarwar in Bokaro district. The company will look for a separate location in Jharkhand itself for the remaining capacity.

"As per the revised strategy, we want to start production as soon as possible; therefore, we are looking at developing smaller steel plants," the company’s India spokesperson told Business Standard.

The company has started acquiring 2,500 acres of land in Petarwar for its plant. It hopes to acquire 1,000 acres by this December and the rest by the first few months of 2011. The company, according to its original memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government, had asked for 11,000 acres of land for its 12-mtpa plant.

It said the 6-mtpa plant would be built in two phases of 3 mtpa each. "The land acquisition has already begun and we are targeting to complete the process by early 2011. The plant construction should start by mid-2011. The steel production at the site from the first phase of 3-mtpa is expected to commence in 2013."

Earlier this week, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer L N Mittal told the Financial Times in Tokyo that: "My plan is now to have two to four sites rather than concentrate everything on large plants."

Land acquisition for such a mega plant is time-consuming, as the company is in talks with land owners directly without any government intervention. The company maintains that once land is acquired, the plant construction will begin in full swing, as the company is flush with funds. Moreover, it was delay in acquiring the 11,000 acres in one go that prompted the steelmaker to alter its strategy and go for smaller modules.

The spokesperson said the state government itself advised the company to look at the land in Petarwar as there was enough water to set up at least a 3 mtpa plant. "Our feasibility report shows a larger plant can be set up at the site and, therefore, we have started to acquire 2,500 acres of land in the region. Bokaro site will see a 6-mtpa plant from ArcelorMittal," the spokesperson said.

The company maintains that its MoU with the state government for the 12-mtpa plant still remains in terms of capacity. The steelmaker said it would start looking for a second location for the remaining 6-mtpa capacity in due course of time. "The feasibility study is continuously updated and if it shows that this plant at Bokaro can be scaled further up with all the necessary requirements like water, etc, fulfilled, we might increase the plant size."

The company, however, hasn’t planned smaller steel mills in Orissa so far. It said, "Since in Orissa, we have completed (discussions ) eight out of the 15 gram sabhas we were supposed to, there is no plan at the moment to split the 12 mtpa production into smaller plants."

The steelmaker is looking to set up another 6 mtpa plant in the Bellary district of Karnataka.

source (http://sify.com/finance/arcelormittal-splits-jharkhand-plant-news-equity-kkojvxddhbb.html)

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article892266.ece

The Salem Steel Plant has won the prestigious National Sustainability Award for the year 2010 from Indian Institute of Metals.

A press release stated that Virbhadra Singh, Union Minister of Steel, gave away the award, which was received by Pankaj Gautam, Executive Director of Salem Steel Plant. The award was given on November 14 at the 48th National Metallurgists' Day celebrations in Bangalore.

The plant has also won the first prize among the Secondary Steel Plants/ Alloys Steel Plants category for the year 2010.

The Salem Steel Plant has bagged the award consecutively for the seventh time and 14th since the inception of the award in 1991.

“The award symbolizes SSP's commitment to quality and the value of its brand, Salem Stainless,” the release adds.

The National Metallurgists' Day is being celebrated on November 14 every year as a tribute to the important role played by metallurgists in the industrialisation and economic development of India.

...

India clears $12b S Korean steel plant

India yesterday gave the final clearance to South Korean steel giant POSCO's proposed $12 billion plant in eastern Indian state of Orissa, ending months of uncertainty over the country's biggest foreign investment in a single project.

Indian Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh gave the permission for diversion of 1253 acres of forest land for building the plant but attached the condition that the South Korean company should export raw material from the project site.

The project has faced stiff opposition from local population and green activists.

The POSCO deal was originally announced in 2005 and was seen as a test case for foreign investors eager to enter one of the fastest-growing economies of the world.

Ramesh said the approval was conditional on POSCO regenerating an equal area of forest in an area decided by the government of Orissa state, as well as paying for the land.

The plant had "considerable economic, technological and strategic significance," the minister said, adding "at the same time, laws on the environment and forests must be implemented seriously."

Ramesh said he believed 60 conditions imposed on POSCO would protect the ecology and livelihoods.

While POSCO India Vice President Vikas Sharan welcomed the Indian government's decision, Madhuresh Kumar, national organiser for anti-POSCO National Alliance of People's Movements, called the government's decision "deeply unfortunate".

"The government is neglecting its own committee reports on the project and granting clearance. The decision is completely illegal and unconstitutional," Kumar said.


SourcE : Link (http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=183962)

SAIL game plan to become a global player

Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) hopes to emerge as a global company in the next few years, Chairman Chandra Shekhar Verma said. Even as the company races to complete its Rs.72,000-crore modernisation plan, it has put in place a perspective plan to increase the capacity to 60 million tonnes by 2020 from the present 14 million tonnes. “Our target is to take the company from being a domestic player to a global brand,'' Mr. Verma told this correspondent.

Global ambitions

Mr. Verma said the stakeholders of the company would see the emergence of a global SAIL in the months to come. To realise this game plan, the company was working on multiple fronts at the international level by adopting the inorganic route and going in for strategic tie-ups aimed at backward, forward and lateral integration. The strategy hinged on ensuring domestic and overseas raw material security through the acquisition route while marking a footprint overseas through greenfield units in mineral-rich countries. On the scanner are countries like Mongolia and Indonesia for units and Australia for acquisition of properties. At least one deal for coking coal was likely within this fiscal, he said.

In times where securing raw material supplies are central to existence, tie-ups with rival domestic companies are no longer a taboo and Mr. Verma said discussions had been held with Tata Steel, JSW, JSPL, RINL and Bhushan Steel and others for the Hajigak mines in Afghanistan where SAIL had already bid.

SAIL secures iron ore from its captive sources and the recent environmental clearance given by the government for mining in the Chiria mines in Jharkhand had also strengthened its position, Mr. Verma said. In Chiria, SAIL had sought forestry clearance for about 25 per cent (595 hectares) of the total leasehold area to start mining operations, for which stage-I forestry clearance had been provided. Environment clearance for Budhaburu, the biggest lease of Chiria (824 hectares), had also been granted.

Development activities for setting up a 14 million tonnes per annum (run-of mine) mechanised mine were under progress at Rowghat to meet the Bhilai Steel Plant's long-term iron ore requirement. Only 30 per cent of the coking coal requirement was met from indigenous sources he said. To reduce dependence on increasingly costlier imported coal, SAIL had laid a thrust on developing the coal-blocks allocated to it by the government besides expanding production from captive collieries.

The ongoing phase of modernisation to increase the capacity from 13.82 million tonnes to 23.50 million tonnes with an investment of about Rs. 72,000-crore, including modernisation and expansion of iron ore mining capacity, would be completed by 2012-13. A milestone-based monitoring system was being put into place, Mr. Verma said. Referring to the 2020 plan, Mr. Verma said that dovetailing with the government's plans to increase the domestic steel production capacity to 180 million tonnes by 2020, SAIL too was putting a perspective plan in place to raise the production capacity to 60 million tonnes by 2020.

“Our target is to take the company from being a domestic player to a global brand. SAIL also plans to increase its share in the domestic market from the present 19-20 per cent to one-third of the market for steel.''

On SAIL's strategy for staying ahead at a time when its competitors too are racing ahead with their expansion plans, Mr. Verma said the company's people-focus had led to highest-ever labour productivity of 241 tonnes a man. SAIL also planned to increase the share of value-added products in its product basket, from the present 38 per cent to around 50 per cent.

Mr. Verma said SAIL had tied up with top steelmakers such as Nippon Steel, POSCO and Kobe Steel for joint ventures. SAIL was working with Kobe Steel of Japan to install a 1.5 million tonnes steel plant based on gas-based DRI technology and using electric arc furnace for steel-making with value-added products at Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh. The feasibility of setting up a 1,000-MW gas-based power plant was also being examined.

“SAIL is in talks with different governments like Mongolia and Indonesia for setting up steel projects. We are aggressively pursuing equity participation with existing leading coal mining companies. Due diligence of some coal assets is in progress and we hope to finalise these shortly. At present, I would not like to comment on any proposed tie-up with Arcelor.''

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article2059727.ece

Occasional sparks rekindle hopes of Indian steel firms

The steel industry, which suffered a blow during market meltdown is recovering steadily with occasional sparks rekindling the hope of steel-makers.

Steel production and consumption are one of the major indices of economic growth and development but production and consumption depends on the extent to which market supports such drive. Before meltdown, the steel market was upbeat for long during 2003-08, a good luck period for a steel-maker. The period was marked by a quantum jump in output of crude steel across the world from 970 million tonnes in 2003 to 1,329 million tonnes in 2008 accounting for 37 per cent increase.

Global steel market

Taking advantage of the feel-good factor in the steel sector, many new companies mushroomed with steel making facilities in greenfield as well as brownfield expansion. It suffered a jolt due to the turmoil in the global economy and since then the steel market is witnessing a sluggish growth. Worldwide steel production and consumption started the upward swing from 2009.

During 2010, global steel market remained sluggish due to higher growth of around 15 per cent in production of crude steel, de-stocking and buyers adopting ‘wait and watch' approach. In the current year, crude steel production is likely to grow by 5 per cent as against 15 per cent in the previous year.

This rate may also get affected due to slackening of appetite for growth in China and Japanese mills suffering on account of tsunami and its after-effect.

In the international steel market, it will not be a question of excess availability of finished steel, as in last year rather it will be an issue of consumption.

Given the forecast of rate of consumption being around 5 per cent, international market, except for seasonal drop, will look up during this year. On the world market, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) P. K. Bishnoi, when contacted said: “China, India, Brazil and South Korea will continue to drive global growth in steel. With Western countries registering positive consumption and growth, the steel market is bound to come out of sluggishness”.

Good sign

The good sign is that the domestic market during 2010-11 was quite subdued but the domestic prices of steel have been ruling more than the international prices.

During the last fiscal, steel market in India started moving up only from December 2010.

An interesting feature from the behaviour of steel market was the response to international scrap price instead of coking coal. Coking coal price on an average rose by $89 a tonne in 2010-11. There was no upward movement in the market but when scrap prices in December 2010 rose by $50 from $425 to $475 a tonne, steel prices started moving up and it stopped rising once scrap prices dropped to $427 a tonne in mid-February 2011.

T. K. Chand, Director (Commercial), RINL, points out that 74 per cent of production in long products remained with thousands of secondary producers. He also said that yearly steel cycle generally started moving up from the middle of third quarter of the year. However, in 2010-11, it started moving up only from December 2010, mainly due to sluggishness in the international steel market.

On the prospects of domestic steel market this year, he predicted that it is bound to look-up given the gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection of 9-9.5 per cent and industry, infrastructure, housing, construction, power and automobile sectors registering reasonable growth rates. However, he said that the margins of steel producers might be greatly eroded due to steep increase in the prices of key raw materials such as coking coal by around $105 a tonne and iron ore by around $30-40 a tonne, which might affect the growth of the steel sector, unless suppliers take a reasonable approach.

In this see-saw game of steel market, it is quite rewarding to review the growth of RINL, one of the main producers located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, which was once upon a time reported to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), but bounced back to become first a miniratna and now a navratna company. It is also encouraging to note that the company has no key captive raw materials like iron ore and coking coal, yet the company is progressing by its sheer efficiency in value addition.

In the last fiscal, the company has recorded a higher sales turnover of Rs.11,517 crore, a jump of more than Rs.1,000 crore over that of the previous year. Again in 2011-12, RINL is faced with a gigantic task of achieving a target of over Rs.13,600 crore of sales turnover.

Director (Projects) A. P. Choudhary is quite optimistic about completing the expansion scheme in time.

Mr. Choudhary also indicated that secondary refining facilities in steel-making like ladle furnace, electro-magnetic stirrer and RH de-gasser are being set up, which facilitate production of cleaner steel of high-end value addition, suitable for applications such as axles, seamless tubes and automobile components.

On strategies to meet the market challenge, the RINL CMD said that RINL was focussing now on a dynamic market mix with more emphasis on customisation of products and services. He points to the recently concluded ‘Partners' Summit-2011” in taking the customer on-board.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article2059728.ece

India slips to world’s 4th largest steel maker’ spot in 2010

India slipped one step to become the fourth largest steel producer in the world in 2010 with 68.3 million tonnes (MT) production, according to World Steel Association (WSA).

India had produced 63.5 MT steel in 2009.

Marching past India and Russia, the US became the third largest producer of the alloy with 80.5 MT output in 2010. It was the fifth largest steel maker in 2009.

However, there was no change in the first two slots. With 626.7 MT production, China remained on top while with 109.6 MT output, Japan was the second highest producer in 2010.

Despite 6.9 MT additional production, Russia also closed the year one notch down to become the fifth highest maker of the alloy in the world. It produced 66.9 MT steel in 2010.

WSA’s figures, which list the top 65 steel-making nations accounting for 98 per cent of the global steel output, reveal that the total global steel output in 2010 was 1,413.5 MT, up from 1,230.9 MT in 2009. China had produced 573.6 MT in 2009.

The association represents around 180 steel producers, including 18 of the world’s 20 largest steel companies. Its members produce around 85 per cent of the global steel.

There were no Indian firms among the top-five producers of the alloy in the bygone year. The main producers were ArcelorMittal, Baosteel, Posco, Nippon Steel and JFE and their cumulative contribution was 236.7 MT to the world’s total production. These five were the top-five steel makers in 2009 as well.

ArcelorMittal produced 98.2 MT, Baosteel 37 MT, Posco 35.4 MT, Nippon Steel 35.4 and JFE 31 MT in 2010.

Tata Steel’s 23.2 MT production was the world’s seventh largest in 2010. Steel Authority of India (SAIL) was at the 18th position with 13.6 MT production, WSA said.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article2147661.ece

India to be 2nd-largest steel producer by 2013: minister

Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma today exuded confidence that India would become the world's second-largest producer of the alloy by 2013, with an installed annual production capacity of 120 million tonne.

"Currently, India has the fourth-largest steel sector in the world, both in terms of capacity and production. By 2013, India will be the second-largest steel producer in the world. It is estimated that India will have a production capacity of 120 million tonne," Verma said at an Assocham event here.

India's production capacity currently stands at around 80 million tonne and the minister said the capacity was expected to rise to over 150 million tonne by 2020. The steel-making capacity of the country was just 51 million tonne in 2006.

Meanwhile, Steel Secretary PK Mishra said by the end of the current financial year, the steel manufacturing capacity of the country might reach around 90 million tonne.

"This is likely to cross 110 million tonne by next financial year when the brownfield capacity addition projects of SAIL, JSW Steel and Tata Steel get commissioned," Mishra said.

The secretary said that growth in steel demand averaged 10% over the last seven years and there was a likelihood that the trend would continue at least for the next decade.

"There are expectations that steel demand in the country may exceed 10% at times, during the next 10-15 years horizon. In such a scenario, our steel production capacity should reach 150 million tonne by 2018," he said.

Mishra hoped that the country would be able to meet steel demand through domestic production at least for the next five years.

source (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-to-be-2nd-largest-steel-producer-by-2013-minister/142358/on)

India to become 2nd largest steel producer by 2015

India is expected to become the world's second largest producer of crude steel by 2015, riding on expansion plans of domestic players like SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL), the government said today.

Chairing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma said annual demand for steel is likely to grow at an average of over 10% in the next five years as compared to 8 per cent growth during 1991-92 and 2010-11.
India slipped one rank to become the fourth largest steel producer in 2010, with 68.3 million tonne (MT) of output. It produced 63.5 MT steel in 2009.
China is the number one producer of steel, followed by Japan and the US at second and third places, respectively.

"India also maintained its lead position as the world’s largest producer of direct reduced iron (DRI) or sponge iron," the official statement said, adding the per capita steel consumption during the last six years has risen from 38 kg in 2005-06 to 55 kg in 2010-11.
The steel sector contributes nearly 2% of the GDP and employs over 5 lakh people.

Expressing concerns over exports of iron ore, a fast depleting resource, Verma said iron ore is a non-renewable natural resource and his Ministry is of the view that it should be conserved for long-term utilisation of domestic steel industry.
"Our policy should, accordingly, aim at value addition of iron ore within the country instead of exporting iron ore," he said. National Steel Vision and strategy paper are being finalised for promoting steel sector, he said.

The Minister also elaborated on expansion plans of PSUs like SAIL, RINL etc.
"The major thrust of the modernisation and expansion plans is to adopt the best modern technology, which in addition to being cost effective should also be energy efficient and environment-friendly," he said.

State-run SAIL has undertaken a massive expansion drive to increase its steel production capacity from current 14 MT to about 24 MT, with an investment of about Rs 70,000 crore.

Source : Link (http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/india-to-become-2nd-largest-steel-producer-by-2015_590726.html)

First they said by 2013, now 2015... It goes on :|

^^
India's growth in steel production is there but the rank will also depend on how Japan/US perform. Their production is going down.

Also the slowdown is there !!

BANGALORE: Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL), a government of India enterprise under the Union Ministry of Steel, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Limited (KSIDC), a government of Kerala undertaking, for identifying various mineral related industrial opportunities especially in the steel industry.

KIOCL Ltd Chairman and Managing Director K Ranganath and KSIDC Ltd Managing Director Alkesh Sharma signed and exchanged the memorandum of Understanding in the presence of Union Minister of Steel Beni Prasad Verma� and Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy in New Delhi. �

The memorandum of understanding between the two companies involves some of the important aspects like the establishment of a mineral complex and a mega steel plant complex in the mineral-rich state of� Kerala.

IBNLive (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kiocl-signs-mou-with-ksidc/188222-60-115.html)

Essar Hazira now 10million tonnes per annum, 4th largest in world. (http://business-standard.com/india/news/essar-turns-4th-largest-single-location-flat-steel-maker/155661/on)

Essar Projects (EPL) today formally handed over 5 million tonne per annum plant here to Essar Steel, making it the world's fourth largest single location flat steel complex with 10 million tonne capacity.

"To support the plant, Essar Projects has built associated facilities in Hazira that include a 30 million tonne tonne annum all- weather port, two power plants with an annual capacity of 1,015 MW, oxygen and lime plants, a fabrication facility and a self-contained township," EPL Chief Executive Officer Alwyn Bowden said.

Essar Steel has now become the fourth largest flat steel maker at a single location in the world after Baosteel, Posco and Riva. EPL is engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) arm of the multi-billion Essar Group.

"I am proud to be part of the company that created 10 million tonne integrated steel project, the single largest in India and fourth largest in the world, with a total investment of Rs 37,500 crore," Bowden said.

"Essar Projects has handed over the plant to us after completing the expansion project to 10 million tonne steel," Essar Steel CEO & MD Dilip Oommen said.

"The next step would be consolidation. The thrust will now be to ramp up the steel production capacity to 80% by 2013, and thereafter reach cent per cent," he said.

On the outlook for steel demand in the country, Oommen said, "demand in India per say will be healthy."

According to the Steel Ministry, the country production capacity is expected to reach 200 million tonne by 2020, with per capita consumption projected to reach 150 kg.

:cheers:

PTI Mar 16, 2012, 04.11PM IST

NEW DELHI: The steel sector has plenty to cheer in the Budget 2012-13, as it has proposed increasing the import duty on flat-rolled steel to 7.5 per cent and reducing duty on plant and machinery imports for iron ore beneficiation to 2.5 per cent.

Finance minister Pranab Mukheree has also reduced basic customs duty on coating material for the manufacture of electrical steel from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent; and nickel ore and concentrate and nickel oxide from 2.5 per cent or 7.5 per cent to nil.

He also enhanced export duty on chromium ore from Rs 3,000 per tonne to 30 per cent ad valorem.

Presenting the Budget today, Mukherjee proposed to enhance the basic customs duty on non-alloy, flat-rolled steel from five per cent to 7.5 per cent.

A long-pending demand of the steel makers, this move would discourage imports and thus and go a long way in protecting the interests of the domestic industry.

The domestic steel industry has also been demanding a blanket ban on iron ore exports and lending ear to their requests, the government has increased duty on iron ore exports to 30 per cent for all kinds of iron ore within a year from as low as five per cent.

However, the finance minister did not go for hiking the export duty this time, in stead, he has proposed to provide incentives for beneficiation of iron ore domestically aimed at preserving the steel-making raw material.

"To encourage enrichment of low-grade iron ore, of which we have huge reserves, I propose to reduce basic customs duty on plant and machinery imported for setting up or substantial expansion of iron ore pellet plants or iron ore beneficiation plants from 7.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent," he added.

Mukherjee has also proposed to reduce basic customs duty on coating material for manufacture of electrical steel from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent; and nickel ore and concentrate and nickel oxide/ hydroxide from 2.5 per cent or 7.5 per cent to nil.

Enhancement of export duty on chromium ore from Rs 3,000 per tonne to 30 per cent ad valorem would also augur well for the steel industry.

Full Coverage on Budget 2012: Budget 2012» Rail Budget 2012» Pre Budget 2012» Budget News 2012»

TOI (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-16/budget-analysis/31201127_1_cent-ad-valorem-iron-ore-export-duty)

Kolkata, Mar 26, 2012, PTI:

The steel ministry is set to begin the process to formulate an interest rate subsidy scheme for value-addition in iron-ore fines and energy efficiency in the secondary steel plants, an advisor to the ministry said.

“Both the plans for offering interest rate subsidy for iron ore processing and introducing energy-efficient systems in secondary steel plants has received in-principal approval of the Planning Commission. Now we are going to begin the process to formulate the scheme details,” Steel ministry Advisor (industrial) ACR Das said.

Speaking on the sidelines of ‘Iron Ore Pellet Conference 2012’ organised by OreTeam, Das said the ministry had recommended for a five per cent interest rate subsidy for both the plans. “We are holding first meeting on March 28 on deliberating on energy efficiency in secondary steel plants.

While, I have begun seeking inputs on iron-ore processing scheme,” he said. The government was mooting to offer interest subsidy for iron-ore fine processing like pelletisation, benificiation and agglomeration of iron-ore. Once the schemes are ready, these would be sent again for Planning Commission’s nod and then to Finance Ministry, Das said. There is huge mismatch in use of iron-ore fines domestic consumption and production due to lack in pelletisation.

Deccan Herald (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/237418/steel-min-interest-subsidy-pelletisation.html)

Posco completes construction of $240 mn mill in Maharashtra (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/posco-completes-construction240-mn-mill-in-maharashtra/166178/on)
Still awaiting clearances to begin work on its much-hyped $12 billion project in Orissa, South Korean steel major Posco has completed construction of its first steel mill in India at a cost of $240 million.

"Posco has completed construction of its first steel plant in India -- a 0.45 million tonne per annum continuous galvanised line (CVL) facility at Maharashtra," a company official, who did not wish to be quoted, told PTI.

"The facility was inaugurated by Posco-India chairman and managing director Yong-Won Yoon yesterday and a brief test run was done. It will be fully operationalised as soon as a minor clearance, which is pending, is given by the state government," the official added.

The project entailed a total investment of $240 million (Rs 1,339.35 crore), the official said adding the hot galvanised plate facility would cater to the high-end galvanised coil needs of automakers in and around Pune besides those of home appliances.

The world's fourth largest steelmaker is set to start production any day and supply products to automakers in Pune.

Maharashtra is home to a host of automobile plants including that of Volkswagen, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, General Motor, Audi, Mercedes Benz, Skoda, Premier Auto and Bajaj Auto.

Posco has also plans to set up an electric steel plate facility and a cold-rolled mill in Maharashtra.

About much-hyped $12 billion (Rs 52,000 crore) plant at Jagatsingpur in Orissa, the official said work would begin on the project soon after the state government hands over the required land.

In a setback to Posco's Orissa project, the country's single largest FDI, the National Green Tribunal on March 30 had suspended the green clearance granted on January 31, 2011 to the much-awaited project. The tribual directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to review afresh the clearance.

The Tribunal pointed out that memorandum of understanding between the Orissa government and Posco states that the project is for steel production of 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) but the environment impact assessment (EIA) report has been prepared only for 4 MTPA in the first phase.

The Tribunal decision came close on the heels of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assuring South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul earlier this year that the project will be implemented and there was progress on it.

The steel plant, proposed at Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa, is hanging fire for over six years now due to land acquisition hurdles. It requires 4,004 acres of land for it.

Related:


POSCO's first plant in India opens
By Lee Hyo-sik (Korea Times, May 29)


POSCO, the world’s third largest steelmaker, has opened a first plant in western India, establishing a strong foothold in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

The company said Tuesday that it held an opening ceremony for the facility capable of producing 450,000 tons of galvanized steel plates annually in Maharashtra Province, about 120 kilometers from Mumbai.

POSCO Chairman Chung Joon-yang and other company executives, along with officials from the Maharashtra provincial government, took part in the event held Monday.

``It is meaningful that we have finally set up a continuous galvanizing line in India,’’ a POSCO spokeswoman said. ``The plant will produce highly-valued steel plates for multinational companies manufacturing cars and other household goods in the area.’’

Toyota, Honda, General Motors and many other multinational automakers operate factories in Maharashtra Province capturing large market share in the rapidly growing Indian automobile sector.

``Our customers will be carmakers and manufacturers of other industrial goods that need galvanized steel plates. The newly-opened factory will help turn Maharashtra into a global automotive center,’’ she said.

POSCO currently operates a galvanized steel plant in Mexico and plans to complete a third in southern China by the end of this year.

``When our China factory begins operation, we will have a galvanized steel plant in the world’s three major emerging economies, where main production bases for multinational automakers are located. We will further boost the production of highly-profitable galvanized steel and capitalize on soaring demand for cars in the rapidly growing regions,’’ POSCO said.

The steelmaker plans to complete an electrical steel sheet plant, capable of producing 1.8 million tons annually, also in Maharashtra Province, in October 2013. The company will also open a cold-rolled mill there in June 2014.


http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2012/05/123_111946.html

Tata Steel plans Rs 30,000 cr plant in Karnataka’s Haveri district (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tata-steel-plans-rs-30-000-cr-plant-in-karnatakas-haveri-district/959305/)

Tata Steel announced a big-ticket investment for Karnataka on the first day of the state’s second Global Investors Meet committing to a Rs 30,000 crore, six million ton per annum capacity steel plant in Haveri district.

The second global investors meet organised by the BJP government is hoping to do better than the first meet in 2010 when commitments of Rs 3.92 crore investments were made — primarily in the iron and steel sector but with little subsequent materialisation of agreements due to various reasons, including land acquisition problems.

The BJP government which is into its last year of the current tenure is targeting an MoU signing spree that amounts to a commitment of Rs 6 lakh crore worth of investments this time around.

Among other big-ticket announcements the Aditya Birla Group’s Kumar Mangalam Birla proposed investments of Rs 7,000 crore, including a four million tonne per annum capacity cement plant at a cost of Rs 2,750 crore.

Wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Group signed an expression of interest with Karnataka to develop 2,500 MW of wind power capacity between 2012 and 2017 at a cost outlay of Rs 15,000 crore.

GE India made a Rs 300 crore commitment to set up multi-disciplinary research and development and technology centres by expanding GE India’s existing technology centre at Bangalore to include experimental labs and its infrastructure.

At the inauguration, Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said 72 per cent of the 389 proposed investments made in 2010 had fructified although unofficial estimates say only 40 projects have materialised.

JSW to raise Rs 3,000 cr debt for auto steel plant


JSW Steel Limited, the country’s lowest-cost steel producer, plans to set up a 2.3 million tonne per annum (mtpa) cold rolling mill complex to manufacture high-grade automotive steel at Toranagallu in Bellary district.

The project is being implemented in phases at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore with Phase-I getting operational by March 2013 and Phase II by December 2013.

In addition to the CRM complex, JSW has also signed an MoU with the state government for setting up a 3.42 MTPA coke dry quenching (CDQ) plant to produce steel. The third new investment project planned by the company is a 1.20 MTPA DRI (direct reduced iron) plant. The total investment on the two plants is Rs 2,400 crore.

Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director and group CFO of JSW, said the company would explore the option of ECA (export credit agencies) backed loans, available at competitive rates to fund about 50 per cent of the cost. “As 50 per cent of the project involves import of technology and equipment, the ECAs in Japan and Europe would be available for us to raise loans. We are looking to raise about Rs 3,000 crore from Japanese Exim Bank to fund our project. We are importing technology from JFE Steel Corp of Japan for the CRM project and the equipment will come from companies both in Japan and Europe,” he said.

He said the ECA loans are available at a competitive interest rate of 3.2 per cent for Dollar denominated loans for a longer tenure of 10-13 years. The loans would be drawn as and when the import of equipment happens, he said, adding the company has placed orders for the equipment for CRM project.

Though the company can access funds at lower rates, it would result in its debt position further going up close to Rs 20,000 crore. Presently, its net debt stands at Rs 16,600 crore. The company has already tied up finance from domestic banks for its DRI project, Rao added.

“We have signed an MoU with Karnataka to set up three projects at the global investors’ meet recently. There will be a lot of demand for automotive grade steel in India in the coming years. Presently, the country requires about 6-8 MTPA automotive steel and JSW Steel intends to produce a third of the requirement once we commission our new plant next year,” Vinod Nowal, Director and CEO, JSW Steel, told Business Standard.

The project includes a 1.9 MTPA cold-rolled annealed and skin passed coils plant and a 400,000 tonnes per annum hot dip galvanised coils plant. The major features of the CRM complex are: pickling-cum-coupled tandem cold rolling mill, continuous annealing line, galvanising-cum-galvannealing line, Auto packaging line and Coil Tracking and Transport System and Yard Management systems.

JSW Steel, presently, operates a 10-mtpa steel plant at Vijayanagar in Bellary district. In 2010, it entered into an agreement with Japan’s JFE Steel Corp to collaborate in automotive steel manufacturing.

“Companies like Tata Steel, SAIL and Essar Steel are in the process of setting up facilities to produce automotive grade steel. Tata Steel is the first mover in this field, which is likely to commission its facility next year ahead of JSW Steel. These companies would produce about 5-6 MTPA of automotive steel in the next two years,” Ritesh Shah, senior analyst, Espirito Santo Securities, said.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/jsw-to-raise-rs-3000-cr-debt-for-auto-steel-plant/480499/

Making India a China-style hotspot for steel (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/making-indiachina-style-hotspot-for-steel-/483184/)

The Metal Bulletin (MB) annual listing of the world’s top steelmakers in terms of their liquid metal production is routinely awaited with much curiosity. This is because the ranking reflects changes in geographical pattern in steel production like untamed capacity growth in Asia as producers in the European Union (EU) are required by demand fall to idle more capacity. The 2011 list with a cut-off point for inclusion at an output of over two million tonnes (mt) is a handy way of tracking swapping of positions among the featured 128 groups. That the estimated crude steel capacity of about 90 mt in India remains largely fragmented is borne out by only six groups finding places in the MB listing. However, one significant capacity consolidation happened in December 2010, when JSW Steel acquired the debt-ridden Ispat Industries to put it back on the rails.

Benefits of capacity consolidation in terms of adjusting production to changing demand, resilience in product pricing and raw materials procurement at best prices are widely known. In fact, driven by this consideration, New Delhi has visited the subject more than once. But every time it has drawn a blank. A case of economic reason falling a victim at the altar of narrow politics. Like Andhra politicians will not countenance the thought of Vizag Steel, which though fully owned by the central government, being merged with Steel Authority of Indi a Ltd (SAIL). Not very long in the past, we saw the country’s leading mineral group, NMDC, scuppering attempts by Vizag Steel to unite the two corporates under one roof. In a major restructuring move, the government wanted Vizag Steel, which is badly in need of ownership of iron ore deposits, to acquire Odisha-based Neelachal Ispat. Besides owning a 1.1-mt integrated steel unit, the Odisha company has ownership of 110 mt of high quality ore. But, MMTC, with its ownership of 49.78 per cent of Neelachal playing hardball, Vizag Steel is getting nowhere. At the present share valuation, MMTC is not ready to part with Neelachal. Till the issue is resolved, Neelachal will be denied funds and management inputs for its restructuring and expansion that Vizag Steel is ready to provide. So, while on the one hand, the family-controlled steel groups abounding in the country remain not enthusiastic about consolidation, in the public sector domain, politics and in the case of Neelachal inter-ministerial problems are playing spoilsport.

China, for the size of its steel industry, needs very fast capacity consolidation. Besides capacity fragmentation, the Chinese industry’s problem has been compounded by the presence of 110 mt of dispensable capacity. No doubt because of the nature of the regime in China, it has had a measure of success in capacity consolidation and also weeding out uneconomic and environment damaging capacity. But what has been achieved falls way short of the target. Many private Chinese steel groups, to avoid becoming takeover targets, grew capacity at a breakneck speed. For example, Rizhao Steel grew capacity 10-fold to 12 mt in eight years. Further, Anshan Steel’s much-hyped merger with Benxi Iron and Steel has been hitting one bureaucratic hurdle after another.
Even then, if any country can throw up a steel group with the capacity of 100-mt plus to match ArcelorMittal, then it has to be China. In the MB listing, Hebei Iron with production of 59.19 mt in 2011 is next only to ArcelorMittal with output of 91.89 mt. The gap between the largest and the second biggest producer is huge. But a takeover or two, maybe nudged by Beijing, will see the world’s next 100-mt group emerging in China. Thanks partly to capacity consolidation, of the first 10 places in the list, Chinese groups occupy five.

China’s Shandong Iron lost the 10th MB slot to Tata Steel by less than half a million tonnes. The Indian group’s climb to that height was, however, due to its 2006 acquisition of Corus, in a dramatic shoot out with rival bidder CSN of Brazil. Besides Tata Steel, the other Indian groups finding places in the MB chart are SAIL (13.8 mt), JSW (7.43 mt), Essar Steel (4.35 mt), Vizag Steel (3.192 mt) and JSW Ispat (2.39 mt). In view of India targeting steel production of up to 200 mt by 2020, in which leading local groups will be making major contributions by way of expansions, the future MB listings will see Indian ones already there moving up in ranking, while there will be many new entrants.

MB bemoans that Indian per capita consumption of steel at 55 kg in 2011 is way behind the world average of 206 kg, not to mention China’s 427 kg in a progress from 72 kg in 1995. It, however, says in the same breath that “with its population size approaching that of China, it evidently has the potential for substantially greater steel consumption, and for becoming a China-style hotspot for steel in future”. Multinational investments in steel like Tata Steel buying Corus have become the order of the day. No doubt, for India to become the next steel hotspot, it will have to facilitate realisation of projects proposed by the likes of Posco and ArcelorMittal.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/jsw-to-raise-rs-3000-cr-debt-for-auto-steel-plant/480499/

Mahesh Kulkarni / Chennai/ Bangalore Jul 16, 2012, 00:24 IST

JSW Steel Limited, the country’s lowest-cost steel producer, plans to set up a 2.3 million tonne per annum (mtpa) cold rolling mill complex to manufacture high-grade automotive steel at Toranagallu in Bellary district. The project is being implemented in phases at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore with Phase-I getting operational by March 2013 and Phase II by December 2013.

In addition to the CRM complex, JSW has also signed an MoU with the state government for setting up a 3.42 MTPA coke dry quenching (CDQ) plant to produce steel. The third new investment project planned by the company is a 1.20 MTPA DRI (direct reduced iron) plant. The total investment on the two plants is Rs 2,400 crore.

Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director and group CFO of JSW, said the company would explore the option of ECA (export credit agencies) backed loans, available at competitive rates to fund about 50 per cent of the cost. “As 50 per cent of the project involves import of technology and equipment, the ECAs in Japan and Europe would be available for us to raise loans. We are looking to raise about Rs 3,000 crore from Japanese Exim Bank to fund our project. We are importing technology from JFE Steel Corp of Japan for the CRM project and the equipment will come from companies both in Japan and Europe,” he said.

He said the ECA loans are available at a competitive interest rate of 3.2 per cent for Dollar denominated loans for a longer tenure of 10-13 years. The loans would be drawn as and when the import of equipment happens, he said, adding the company has placed orders for the equipment for CRM project.

Though the company can access funds at lower rates, it would result in its debt position further going up close to Rs 20,000 crore. Presently, its net debt stands at Rs 16,600 crore. The company has already tied up finance from domestic banks for its DRI project, Rao added.

“We have signed an MoU with Karnataka to set up three projects at the global investors’ meet recently. There will be a lot of demand for automotive grade steel in India in the coming years. Presently, the country requires about 6-8 MTPA automotive steel and JSW Steel intends to produce a third of the requirement once we commission our new plant next year,” Vinod Nowal, Director and CEO, JSW Steel, told Business Standard.

The project includes a 1.9 MTPA cold-rolled annealed and skin passed coils plant and a 400,000 tonnes per annum hot dip galvanised coils plant. The major features of the CRM complex are: pickling-cum-coupled tandem cold rolling mill, continuous annealing line, galvanising-cum-galvannealing line, Auto packaging line and Coil Tracking and Transport System and Yard Management systems.

JSW Steel, presently, operates a 10-mtpa steel plant at Vijayanagar in Bellary district. In 2010, it entered into an agreement with Japan’s JFE Steel Corp to collaborate in automotive steel manufacturing.

“Companies like Tata Steel, SAIL and Essar Steel are in the process of setting up facilities to produce automotive grade steel. Tata Steel is the first mover in this field, which is likely to commission its facility next year ahead of JSW Steel. These companies would produce about 5-6 MTPA of automotive steel in the next two years,” Ritesh Shah, senior analyst, Espirito Santo Securities, said.

SC allows 18 mines in Karnataka to resume operations news

03 September 2012

The Supreme Court today allowed 18 mines to resume mining iron ore in Karnataka with certain conditions following a suspension of over a year on environment concerns.

A three-judge forest Bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam accepted the report of the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which had said the 21 operational and 24 non-operational leases of Category 'A' leases be allowed to carry on their business as they have not violated any rules.

However, the ban on mining of iron ore for the remaining leases will continue.

In its report, the CEC had categorised the mines in the area into three categories as A, B and C. The mines with the least or no irregularities were marked as 'A' category and those with the most illegalities were put in 'C' category.

The order will lead to opening up of about 5MTPA of ore production again. The output from the re-started mines will be in addition to state-owned NMDC's 1 million tonnes per month, which was permitted by the Supreme Court on 5 August 2011 (See: Supreme Court allows limited mining by NMDC in Bellary). The order was confined to two NMDC mines in the Bellary-Hospet area.

However, the apex court, had imposed a clear ban on exports from such production. The ban on mining in the region by private companies was allowed to continue.

Surana Ind to invest Rs 4,500 cr


BSE-listed Surana Industries Limited (SIL) is planning to invest over Rs 4,500 crore in expanding its steel manufacturing capacity and in power projects. To support the investment, the company is planning to raise around $120 million from private equity (PE) companies, including Sycamore Ventures LLC (Sycamore), New York.

Mauritius-based investor IndiaStar (Mauritius) Limited, a PE fund managed by Sycamore Ventures, currently holds around 24 per cent of the capital of SIL, post the conversion of the foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth $25 million issued to it in 2007.

“The company has, among others, engaged Sycamore to tie-up the funding of $60 million for the steel expansion project,” said a source.

SIL has embarked on an expansion programme for addition of 1.4 million tonne of steel production a year at its existing facilities at Raichur in Karnataka and Gummindpondi in Tamil Nadu. The present aggregate steel manufacturing capacity of the company is 0.4 million tonne a year in these facilities.

The company has already been allocated 99.4 acre at Raichur for the proposed expansion and the total production at the project site is expected to go on stream by March 2014.

Of the total Rs 1,253-crore investment, the promoters and private equity investors would infuse Rs 401 crore, while the company will pump in Rs 100 crore from internal accruals and Rs 752 crore by way of debt, according to a senior official of the company.

The company’s subsidiary Surana Power Limited (SPL) is also planning to raise $60 million through the private equity route to support its Rs 2,400-crore, 2x210-Mw thermal power plant at Raichur. SIL has already infused a capital contribution of Rs 375 crore and the foreign PE investors and their associates and others are expected to bring in their share of Rs 300 crore in due course, the company official said.

The company has achieved financial closure, and as on March 31, 2012, it has spent around Rs 1,030 crore in the project. This has been met out of the equity contribution of Rs 300 crore and a term loan of Rs 770.84 crore. The project implementation is on schedule and is expected to go on stream by April 2013.

SIL’s step down subsidiary, PT Borneo Mines and Minerals, has acquired mining rights in the Sassanga coal mines in Indonesia. This will ensure regular supply of coal to both SPL as well as SIL. The price of coal will be very competitive and this will ensure greater viability for the company.

Surana Green Power, the renewable energy company of SIL, is planning to set up wind mills, which can generate 101 Mw of power. Meanwhile, the company has ruled out any possibility of entering the solar energy space.

The company has clocked revenues of Rs 1,351.42 crore during the year ended March 31, 2012, as compared to Rs 1,223.02 core a year ago. Its net profit stood at Rs 32.76 crore, as against Rs 56.55 crore.

Steel firms in state plan to up capacity

Mahesh Kulkarni / Chennai/ Bangalore Aug 06, 2012, 00:52 IST

The recent decision of the Supreme Court capping iron ore production at 30 million tonnes per annum in Karnataka has not deterred iron and steel companies from expanding their capacities. Both the existing and new steel companies have lined up expansion plans as well as set up greenfield steel plants in the ore-starved Karnataka state.

While, the new-comers like Arcelor Mittal and Posco are still awaiting allotment of captive mining leases before commencing work on their respective six million tonne per annum Greenfield steel plants in the state, existing manufacturers like JSW Steel Ltd, BMM Ispat Ltd and Kalyani Steel among others have planned expansion.

During the recent Global Investors’ Meet (GIM 2012) organised by state government as many as eight companies have signed memorandum of understanding to make a combined investment of Rs 91,782 crore in the iron and steel sector in Karnataka. These are NMDC, JSW Steel Ltd, JSW Projects Ltd, BMM Ispat Ltd, Mukand Ltd, Zeenath Transport Company, Tata Steel Ltd and Kalyani Steels Ltd. Among these companies, JSW Steel Ltd, BMM Ispat Ltd and NMDC are in various stages of implementing their projects. While, NMDC and BMM Ispat have their own captive mining assets, JSW Steel Ltd, which is the single largest investor in the private sector in Karnataka, does not have captive mines.

JSW Steel currently operates a 11 million tonne per annum steel plant at Toranagallu in Bellary district of Karnataka, BMM Ispat Ltd operates a 2.4 million tonne per annum steel plant at Hospet in Bellary district. BMM Ispat Ltd, the second largest steel producer in Karnataka, has proposed to set up a 3 million tonne per annum natural gas-based steel plant and a 440-Mw gas-based captive-cum-merchant power plant. It presently operates a 2.4 MTPA steel plant at Hospet. “We are presently setting up a 1.3 MTPA beneficiation plant along with blast furnace, coke oven and sinter plants with an output of 2 MTPA. We have tied up with a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India for a loan of Rs 4,200 crore for this project,” an official spokesperson of BMM Ispat said.

He said the company has already received an approval from the State High Level Clearance Committee for its project and would approach the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) once the Supreme Court settles all mining issues. BMM requires about 4.8 million tonnes of iron ore to meet its expansion plans. It already procures about 4 million metric tonnes of iron ore per annum for its existing plants.

K'taka begins process to allot mining lease to Arcelor Mittal

Mahesh Kulkarni / Chennai/ Bangalore Aug 18, 2012, 00:14 IST

Even as decks are being cleared for recommencement of iron ore mining in Karnataka, following the clearance from a Supreme Court panel, the Karnataka government has initiated the process of allotting fresh mining lease to Arcelor Mittal India.

Arcelor Mittal has proposed to set up a six million tonne per annum steel plant and a 750-Mw captive power plant at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore in Bellary district. It signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government during the Global Investors’ Meet in June 2010.


“We have once again started the process of identifying a suitable mining lease for Arcelor Mittal after they withdrew their earlier application for captive iron ore mining lease citing poor quality of ore. We would be conducting the hearing once again with the company before sending our recommendation to the Centre for approval,” MN Vidyashankar, principal secretary, department of commerce and industries, told Business Standard.
He said the government would conduct a fresh survey of mining belt in Bellary before finalising the new mining lease to the company.

Earlier, the Karnataka government had earmarked an area in the Donimalai region of Bellary district for allocating to Arcelor Mittal and had also sent a recommendation to the government of India for approval in mid-2010. However, the company surrendered the proposed area stating its exploration in the deposits found very low-grade iron ore (below 35 per cent Fe grade) and was not suitable to make steel.

In an official communication to the state government last year, Arcelor said it found poor quality of iron ore in the area with Fe (iron) content ranging between 30 per cent and 38 per cent, which was unfit to make steel.

“We have carried out substantial exploratory programme in the area and the studies have revealed that the Fe content (iron) in the ore is between 32 per cent and 38 per cent. The ore found here is mainly haematitie quartzite. It is not feasible for us to use such low-grade ore to produce steel and we have requested the state government to allot captive mines in some other location where the iron content is higher,” Arcelor Mittal India spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the state government has acquired and transferred around 1,828 acres to Arcelor Mittal India at Kuditini village in Bellary district to set up its steel plant. The company requires about 4,000 acres land to set up its plant and it has deposited Rs 260 crore with the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) for land acquisition. Of this, 2,786 acres is enough to build the steel plant, while the remaining land would be used for the power plant and township, the company had said.

There are 166 mining leases operational in Karnataka. The Supreme Court, in a recent judgement, ordered for cancellation of 49 leases after it found rampant illegal mining by them. The court has also cleared 16 mining leases to restart mining and fixed a combined capacity of 8.24 million metric tonnes per annum.

Last year, the state government also recommended to the Centre for allotting captive mining leases to JSW Steel, Posco, KIOCL and Bhushan Steel among others. All these companies have plans to set up mega steel plants in Karnataka.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ktaka-begins-process-to-allot-mining-lease-to-arcelor-mittal/483556/

JFE to share tech with JSW for auto steel

MUMBAI, AUG. 20:
JFE Steel Corporation said it has signed an agreement with its strategic partner JSW Steel to provide technology for the production of automotive steel in India.

JSW Steel is setting up a 2.3-million-tonne a yera cold rolling mill complex to manufacture high-grade automotive steel at its Vijayanagar plant in Bellary.

The project, which is estimated to cost Rs 4,500 crore, is expected to go on stream by March.

JSW Steel operates a 10-mt a year steel plant in Bellary. JFE Steel holds 15 per cent stake in JSW.

The automotive steel is used to make the body parts of passenger cars.

The auto grade steel is largely imported. India requires about 6-8 mt a year of automotive steel.

PROVIDE ASSISTANCE

On Monday, JFE said in a press release that it would provide assistance to develop various grades of steel, including steel for external panels for automobiles in high strength viz JFE-Hiten, Jaz, zinc-coated steel sheets with lubrication and so on, to meet demands from automakers with production bases in India.

Besides providing technical assistance for 2.3 mt a year cold rolling mill, JFE will also assist in 1.9 mt a year continuous annealing lines and 400,000 tonnes a year continuous galvanizing line.

JFE is one of the large suppliers of steel to Japanese automobile companies such as Toyota Motor Corporation and Nissan Motor Company.

JSW Steel need not go through the entire process of qualifying to supply steel to these companies in India since it will be using JFE’s technology, said an analyst.

JFE Steel would also strive to leverage its strategic collaboration with JSW Steel in providing steel products and pursue its growth strategy in the Indian automotive steel sheet market, JFE said in the press release.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/article3799852.ece

Good old days are back in bellary. :cheers:

Baldota group set to start gold mining in Karnataka next year

Will become the first private company to mine the yellow metal in the country
Mahesh Kulkarni / Bangalore Aug 31, 2012, 00:07 IST

Hospet-based Ramgad Minerals and Mining Ltd (RMML), a Baldota Group company, is in advanced stages of beginning gold mining operations in the Gadag district of Karnataka. The company is awaiting forest permits from the state government to execute its lease for one of the eight gold mining blocks explored in the district, a top company official said.

“We have secured approvals from the state government for setting up a 1,000 tonnes per day (TPD) gold ore processing plant in Gadag district. The plant is being set up in technical collaboration with a South African gold mining company, Turnberry. It will come up at Attikatti village in Gadag district at an initial investment of Rs 300 crore. We are planning to start operations at Sangli village by July 2013,” B L Jain, vice-president, told Business Standard.

The company has been granted mining rights in an open cast mine at Sangli village, about 32 km from Gadag. The mine is spread over 98 hectares.
As operations begin next year, RMML would become the first private sector gold mining company in India. Presently, only one public sector company, Karnataka government-owned Hutti Gold Mines Company Ltd, is operating a gold mine in the Raichur district of Karnataka. The other gold mining company, Bharat Gold Mines Ltd (BGML) has wound up operations at Kolar Gold Fields near Bangalore.

Jain said the exploration carried out by the company in eight villages of Gadag have shown that 2.8 grams of gold could be extracted from every tonne of ore. “We will be operating one of the low-grade gold mines in the country. Due to very high prices of gold in the market, it makes sense for us to extract gold at these deposits,” he said. Hutti Gold Mines extracts about five grams of gold per tonne of ore.

Established in 1961, the Baldota Group has been in the business of exploration, mining and marketing of minerals. It operates a 1.2 million tonnes per annum pellet plant in Koppal district and is also in the process of setting up a 1.2 MTPA integrated steel plant.

The company has been exploring in the Gadag district for the last six years and has been allotted eight villages to explore. It is now in the final stages of securing mining lease for one of these. Other gold mining blocks in the region are Kabuliyatkatti south and main blocks, Mysore mines, block 23, Nabhapur south, central and north blocks.

“The Sangli mine is estimated to contain 2.4 million tonnes of gold ore and each tonne is expected to yield 2.8 grams of gold. At this rate, we will produce 8,000 kg of gold from this mine alone,” Anirban Sen, deputy general manager, MSPL Ltd, another Baldota group company said. MSPL extracts and exports iron ore.

http://business-standard.com/india/news/baldota-group-set-to-start-gold-mining-in-karnataka-next-year/484915/

All mineral news to be posted here.

ArcelorMittal gets land in K'taka, steel plant still a long way to go



The company has got the entire 2,700 acres of land near Bellary, Karnataka

ArcelorMittal has finally crossed the biggest hurdle in setting up any project in India -- land. The company has got 2,569 acres of land out of the total need of 2,705 acres near Bellary, Karnataka, required for its steel plant from the state government.

ArcelorMittal spokesperson said, “We have made progress on land acquisition in Karnataka. The Karnataka Government has transferred the 2,569 acres of private land in the company's name and the process to transfer another 136 acres of government land is underway. The process of getting various clearances including crucial environment clearance is underway. We have also applied for mining leases which are critical for the project. We are focusing on getting all relevant clearances.”

Bellary is the rich iron ore district of Karnataka where most of the steel plants, including the 10 million tonne plant of JSW Steel is located. The land has been acquired by the Karnataka government through Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and the company had deposited Rs 260 crore with the government for the same.

However, construction of the plant is still nowhere near as the company is waiting for a clarity on the iron ore mines allocation policy. Sources said that the construction will not begin unless the company gets a definitive word on iron ore.

In 2010, during the global investors’ meet in Karnataka, ArcelorMittal and various other steelmakers like Tata Steel, NMDC-Severstal, JSW Steel, POSCO, Essar Steel, to name a few had signed the memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the state government to set up steel plants in the state. However, the iron ore mining ban by the Supreme Court due to the ill-effect of illegal mining in the state slowed down the progress of the MoUs.

Even now, steelmakers, including ArcelorMittal, are yet to get the iron ore leases for their plants. The company has cleared that the steel plant construction will not begin unless the iron ore mine leases are in place. This could particularly continue to delay the Rs 30,000 crore 6 million tonne steel plant by ArcelorMittal and other companies in the state as the debate is currently raging in the country on the future of natural resource allocation.

The Supreme Court has currently put a cap of 30 million tonne of iron ore mining in Karnataka which is sufficient for the 16-19 million tonne steel capacity that is presently installed in the state. Any new capacity, like ArcelorMittal, will need the 30 million tonne cap to be relaxed or iron ore be brought from other states.

ArcelorMittal’s fate in states like Jharkhand and Odisha still hang in air as the company has failed to achieve any progress. It has plans to set up 12 million tonne each steel plants in the two states.

http://business-standard.com/india/news/arcelormittal-gets-land-in-ktaka-miles-to-go-for-steel-plant-/193928/on

Two Category A mines restart iron ore mining in K'taka

Third likely to restart production next week, bringing about 1.5 million tonne of iron ore to the auction platform
Mahesh Kulkarni / Bangalore Nov 02, 2012, 16:31 IST

Iron ore mining has restarted in Karnataka’s Bellary and Chitradurga districts, one year after it was suspended following the Supreme Court direction. Two mining leases in Category A, which have secured all statutory approvals, have started mining, giving hopes of regular supply of iron ore to the ore-starved steel industry.

According to Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) officials, two mining leases – R Praveen Chandra in Chitradurga and B Kumar Gowda in Bellary districts have commenced mining. Nadeem Minerals, which has its mine in Bellary, is likely to restart mining next week. These mines together would bring about 1.5 million tonne of iron ore to the auction platform in about two weeks’ time.

In addition to these, another lease – VESCO - is likely to secure necessary approvals to commence mining in the next one week, FIMI officials said.
On September 3, 2012, the Apex Court cleared 18 Category A mines to restart mining.

Mineral Enterprises Ltd, which was the first mining company to secure all clearances, operated its mine in Chitradurga for one month and produced about 35,000 tonne before shutting down operations as its mining lease expired on October 6, 2012.

Mining had stopped in Karnataka in July 2011 after the Apex Court ordered for suspension after the investigation by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) found rampant illegalities by several mining companies. However, the Court had allowed e-auction of about 25 million tonne of iron ore from the stockpile to help the steel industry tide over the crisis.

Based on the CEC report, the Supreme Court, in its order on September 2, 2011 permitted monthly auctions of 1.5 million tonne of iron ore from stockpiles in the state. It had allowed public sector mining giant NMDC Ltd to carry out mining at its mines in Bellary district and extract up to one million tonne per month.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court had ordered for setting up of a three member monitoring committee comprising Deepak Sharma, Additional principal chief conservator of forests, H R Srinivasa, director, department of mines and geology and U V Singh, chief conservator of forests to supervise the e-auctions.

The Court also appointed public sector MSTC to conduct the auction. Since the first auction held in September 2011, about 33 million tonne of ore has been auctioned and sold to steel companies in Karnataka that include JSW Steel, BMM Ispat, Kalyani Steels and Kirloskar Ferrous Industries among others. This includes ore from NMDC, which was allowed to conduct mining.

Around 14 million tonne of iron ore from Bellary, seven million tonne from Chitradurga and 4 million tonne from Tumkur districts were put on auction. The buyers of iron ore, however, were restricted from exporting the iron ore as directed by the Supreme Court.

http://business-standard.com/india/news/two-categorymines-restart-iron-ore-mining-in-ktaka/194177/on

Minera Group is coming up with India's first pellet plant for 0.6 MTPA with straight grate technology from VT CORP

Minera Steel and Power Pvt. Ltd., Bellary, Karnataka has placed the order on VT CORP PVT LTD for 0.6 MTPA Iron Ore Pellet Plant on Straight Grate Technology. VT CORP will supply this plant in collaboration with URALMASH, Russia. Technology and Indurating machine will be supplied by URALMASH. Engineering and Supply of other core equipment by VT CORP. The plant is scheduled to be commissioned in 16 month.

VT CORP is focusing on smaller to medium capacity pellet plant based on URALMASH technology. VT CORP offers pellet plant from 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 2.0 and higher capacity.

http://www.steelguru.com/indian_news/Minera_Group_is_coming_up_with_Indias_first_pellet_plant_for_06_MTPA_with_straight_grate_technology_from_VT_CORP/290595.html

Tata Steel awaiting iron ore allocation to start work on Karnataka plant

New Delhi: Tata Steel has said it will start work on the proposed plant in Karnataka only after getting the allocation of an iron ore mine that has at least 300 million tonnes of reserves.

"We have identified the land, something like 2,400 acres, in Karnataka. People have agreed to give us the land. We are waiting for the iron ore allocation to be done. Unless iron ore is available to us, we are not going to start work," Tata Steel Managing Director H M Nerurkar told PTI.

In January, the company announced plan to set up a six million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel plant with Rs 30,000 crore investment in Haveri district of the Southern state. It proposed to build the facility in two equal phases.

Nerurkar said the state government was considering the proposal for an iron ore mine which has reserves of at least 300 million tonnes, sufficient to meet the raw material demand for at least 30 years of the plant life.

"The state government is considering our proposal. I think it should happen shortly, that is what our understanding is. Unless we have the surety of raw material supply, we are not going to go (start)," he said.

Tata Steel has 6.8 mtpa capacity at its Jamshedpur plant. It is increasing the capacity at the plant by three mtpa. In addition, it's three mtpa capacity through a new facility at Kalinganagar in Odisha is set to go on stream in 2014.

Nerurkar hinted that the company is unlikely to face any problem with regard to land acquisition for the plant

He said the people from the identified area of the proposed facility have already visited Tata Steel's Jamshedpur plant and were satisfied with the way the company looks after the people in areas adjoining the mines and the plant.

"People are comfortable. They know how we will look after them," Nerurkar said.

Asked what would be the product-mix in the new plant, he said, "We have not finalised that yet. Once we have the surety of iron ore and finalise the land acquisition, we will decide all these."

ET (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-10-14/news/34449031_1_iron-ore-mtpa-kalinganagar)

MSPL to invest Rs 300 cr for gold mining in Karnataka

MUMBAI, NOV. 21:
MSPL plans to commence gold mining at Gadag in Karnataka by August. The company, through its subsidiary Ramgad Minerals and Mining, is to invest Rs 300 crore for infrastructure development to roll out the business.

Speaking to Business Line here on Wednesday, Shrenik N. Baldota, Executive Director, MSPL, said the company has completed the ground work at the mine after receiving the Government approvals, and production is expected to start from August next year.

“We target to produce one-and-a-half tonnes of gold in the first year of operation. Depending on the progress, we will gradually increase the output,” he said

GOLD ORE PROCESSING PLANT

The Hospet-based company, which will become the first private sector gold mining company in India, plans to set up a gold ore processing plant at Gadag district, in collaboration with a South African gold mining company. MSPL plans to produce about two tonnes of gold a year through the mine life of 20 years. The mine was allotted to MSPL in 2008.

“The Gadag mine area covers about 10 sq. km. We had to drill every 100 km to explore the quantity of gold content in the ore before it could be mined ,” said Baldota.

Though MSPL has expertise in open cast iron ore mining, it has to gain know-how from foreign companies for underground gold mining. Besides, the company has to process a huge quantity of ore to retrieve the gold content. Given the high gold prices, this would still be a profitable proposition, said an analyst.

The Karnataka Government-owned Hutti Gold Mines in Raichur district is the only operational gold mine in the country. HGML, which was the first Indian company to become the member of the World Gold Council, has two plants in Hutti and Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

Kolar Gold Fields, the once most popular mine operated by the State-owned Bharat Gold Mines, had to wind up operations. China is the world’s largest gold producer, followed by Australia and the US. Last year, China produced 361 tonnes of gold, which was six per cent higher than the preceding year. In 2011, over 1,800 tonnes of gold was mined in the top 10 countries.

Machines back in action in Bellary

Heavy machines spluttered to life after a gap of 18 months in the mines of the district on Saturday.

Activities resumed in the mines belonging to B Kumar Goud Mining Company and Nadeem Minerals, after they undertook reclamation and rehabilitation measures as ordered by the apex court.

Extraction of iron ore had been banned by the Supreme Court, following allegations of illegal mining.

The mining firms had been categorised as ‘A,’ ‘A+,’ ‘B,’ ‘B-1’ and ‘C’ categories, by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) set up by the Supreme Court, based on the extent of illegality by them.

The CEC had also recommended that steps should be taken to prevent the irregularities and to reclaim areas affected by mining, after conducting extensive surveys of areas ravaged by mining.

A team of the Council of Forestry Research Education had also conducted surveys and recommended that the Supreme Court could grant permission for mining only to those firms that are in the A category and have taken reclamation and rehabilitation measures.

Srinivas, manager of the B Kumar Goud Mining Company, said their 220 employees had not been removed from their jobs, even after the cessation of mining by the firm. Residents from nearby villages were now making enquiries for jobs, he said.

However, permission is yet to be given to transport the mined ore and even the process to distribute permits has not yet been started. Permission would be given for selling ore only through the e-auction process, deputy commissioner A A Biswas said.

While B Kumar Goud Mining Company in the Swamimalai mines in Sandur taluk has been granted permission by the apex court to mine 6.4 lakh tonnes of iron ore a year, Nadeem Minerals can extract 4.5 lakh tonnes.

The Kumar Goud firm earlier used to mine 20 lakh tonnes a year. The Tiffin Barryates, another ‘A’ category company in Bellary taluk has also been given permission to extract ore and it is expected to begin operations soon.

With mining activities likely to resume in nine more A category mines soon, those looking for jobs see a glimmer of hope. Firms in other categories will get the sanction to extract ore after they complete the reclamation and rehabilitation measures.

Category breakup

There are a total of 21 mining companies in category A in the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur. The number of firms in the ‘A+’, ‘B’ and ‘B1’ categories are 24, 65 and seven, respectively.

The Supreme Court had stated that 16 ‘A’ category companies (12 in Bellary, three in Chitradurga and one in Tumkur) could be allowed to resume mining in the initial stages, if they adhered to reclamation and rehabilitation measures.

The licences of companies in ‘C’ category have been recommended for cancellation and allotment to others.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/295749/machines-back-action-bellary.html

:banana:

Machines back in action in Bellary


The licences of companies in ‘C’ category have been recommended for cancellation and allotment to others.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/295749/machines-back-action-bellary.html

:banana:

Does this mean that Arcelor-Mittal will get mines? If so then it is a great news.

Does this mean that Arcelor-Mittal will get mines? If so then it is a great news.

Yes but depends on the ore quality they are looking at....

TATA metalliks(land acquisition on),NMDC(have their own mines&land),Arcellor mittal(land acquired)

Even if these big ones get through apart from other smaller units, North Karnataka is going to rock!!!!:banana: A big push for karnataka's economy.Give us some 5 years.

JFE to provide technology for CRNGO to JSW Steel

JSW Steel, an integrated steel manufacturer and Japan's JFE Steel Corporation signed a joint agreement where JFE will provide technology for the production of non-oriented electrical steel sheets (CRNGO) at the JSW's Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka.

By leveraging JFE Steel's well-established manufacturing technology for electrical steel, shall produce CRNGO grade electrical steel and supply to its customers, including local companies as well as Japanese, European and US-affiliated companies doing business in India.

The electrical steel sheet products are primarily imported in India due to technological constraints and JSW Steel shall be in a position to cater to fast growing consumer and industrial applications market.

JSW Steel plans to start up its new annealing and coating line for electrical steel sheets in latter half of 2014. The initial annual output is projected to be 200,000 tonnes, which will be increased to 0.6 million tons per year in phases.

India's steel production grows at fastest pace (http://business-standard.com/india/news/indias-steel-production-grows-at-fastest-pace/201702/on)

India outpaced all major steel producing nations, including China in terms growth rate till November last year, but its position in the world order may still remain at number four.

India had produced 70.115 million tonne (MT) steel till November 2012, clocking 4.2% growth over the first 11 months of the last year, according to the World Steel Association (WSA) data.

The second highest growth was recorded by the US at 3.2%, followed by Russia at 3%. China's steel production grew by 2.9 per cent. In South Korea, it grew by 1.6%.

Steel production growth is unlikely to swing very far in the annual figure to be released by WSA a fortnight from now.

During the January-November period of 2011, India's steel production had grown by 5.6% to 66.056 MT.

Barring Japan, which was hit by a super cyclone, all the major steel producing nations had staged a better show in 2011, growing by up to 17.9 per cent, compared to their January-November, 2012 performance.

The world order of steel production is also set to remain unchanged with China at the top, followed by Japan and the US, placing India at its last year's place - fourth.

Till November 2012, China produced 660.125 MT steel. Japan's production was at 98.658 MT and the US at 81.442 MT.

Russia and South Korea are closely contesting to be the fifth largest steel producer in the world. Till November 2012, Russia had produced 64.763 MT steel, and South Korea, 63.497 MT.

India's 5-year steel output 2nd highest in the world


NEW DELHI: India's 33 per cent growth in steel production in the last five years was second only to China among the top-five producing nations.

China's production grew by 39 per cent during 2008-2012, the latest World Steel Association (WSA) data has revealed.

India's production grew constantly in the last five years from 57.8 MT (metric tons) in 2008 to 63.5 MT in 2009, 69 MT in 2010, 73.6 MT in 2011 and 76.7 MT in 2012. China, which produces nearly half of world's steel, had output of 512.3 MT in 2008, 577.1 MT in 2009, 638.7 MT in 2010, 694.8 MT in 2011 and 716.5 MT in 2012.

World's steel production grew to 1,548 MT in 2012, up from 1,341 MT in 2008, recording a growth of 15 per cent.

Russia, which holds the fifth rank in the world order of steel production in 2012, had clocked a mere three per cent growth in output during the last five years.

In 2008, it had produced 68.5 MT and in 2012, it stood at 70.6 MT.

Japan and the US, which occupy the second and third ranks respectively since 2010, have, in fact, produced less steel in 2012 than what they had produced in 2008.

Japan's production fell to 107.2 MT in 2012 from 118.7 MT in 2008. Similarly, production in the US slipped to 88.6 MT in 2012 from 91.4 MT, the WSA data revealed.

India is projected to grab the second slot in the world of steel production within a year or two on new capacity expansions, mainly through the brownfield route.

The government expects the country's installed steel production capacity to go up to 200 MT by 2020 from around 90 MT now.


LINK (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Indias-5-year-steel-output-2nd-highest-in-the-world/articleshow/18183356.cms)

Nova Iron & Steel to set up 1.5 MTPA steel mill in Chhatisgarh (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods/svs/steel/nova-iron-steel-to-set-up-1-5-mtpa-steel-mill-in-chhatisgarh/articleshow/18275941.cms)
NEW DELHI: Nova Iron & Steel today said its board has approved an expansion plan besides setting up of 1.5 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel plant at existing facility in Chattisgarh.

"The Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on January 31, 2013 approved the proposal of expansion and setting up of 1.5 MTPA integrated steel plant at existing plant site at village Dagori Bilaspur," the company said in a filing to the BSE.

The board also approved setting up of captive 356 MW power plant there, it added.

Malaysian EPC Oil and Gas signs agreement with VTM Group



PTI: CHENNAI, JAN 25 2013, 13:51 IST

Chennai: Malaysia-based EPC Oil and Gas Sdn Bhd, has signed a deal with city-based VTM Ltd to operate six Greenfield Oil Blocks in Russia and set up iron ore pelletisation plant at Bellary in Karnataka.

The company has been appointed as the "exclusive entity to represent EPC Oil and Gas", a VTM release today said.

VTM Group deals with exports and imports, and is also engaged in manufacturing and marketing spice powders, apart from having an iron ore division.

"This collaboration will operate in the oil blocks of Saratov region in Russia with their appointed drilling contractor. EPC Oil and Gas has been appointed by Q Lotus Holdings Incorporated, USA, to manage six blocks of greenfields oil concessions in Saratov," it added.

Further, EPC Oil & Gas Sdn Bhd has agreed to fund VTM Group USD 150 million to finance their Iron Ore Pellet Plant at Bellary in, Karnataka, the company said, adding, the greenfield Oil Blocks in Saratov region in the Volga Ural, are among the prominent oil reserves that will cater to the world's oil requirement in the future.
"This collaboration will authorise all aspects of the project, focusing on finance management and promoting a successful resource development for effective sharing of resources revenue," it said.

Financial Express (http://www.financialexpress.com/news/malaysian-epc-oil-and-gas-signs-agreement-with-vtm-group/1064796)

Land acquisition for Posco plant begins in Odisha (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/land-acquisition-for-posco-plant-begins-in-odisha-325829)
Paradip: Land acquisition for the Rs. 52,000 crore Posco steel plant today started in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district after a gap of more than one year amid allegation by anti-project activists that protesters were lathicharged and detained by police.

"We have begun acquisition of land at Gobindpur village this morning. Betel-vines and land of those who had already given their consent are being acquired," Additional District Magistrate Surjit Das said.

Though leaders of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), agitating against the project since 2005, alleged that about six people, including women were injured in lathicharge by police, Das refuted the charge saying no force was being used during the fresh land acquisition drive.

PPSS leader Abhay Sahu also alleged that about seven persons were taken by police to some unknown place, but police denied having detained anyone.

The fresh operation aims at acquiring an additional 700 acres of land required for the mega project by the South Korean steel giant, the ADM said, adding the administration had earlier taken into possession 2,000 acres.

India’s Karnataka to Resume Iron Ore Supplies From Seven Mines

India’s Karnataka, the nation’s second-richest iron-ore producing state until a court ruling restricted mining in 2011, will resume supplies from seven mines that restarted operations after the ban was lifted.

Initial supplies from the mines will start in the next two weeks, said H.R. Srinivasa, the state’s mining director and head of a committee appointed by the top court. Combined shipments may reach 2.5 million metric tons by March, he said.

The Supreme Court in September partially lifted a year-old ban on mining in Karnataka and allowed 18 mines to restart after securing required approvals. The court had halted mining in August, 2011 to probe violations of environmental norms, allowing only state-run NMDC Ltd. (NMDC) to mine 1 million tons a month and ruling all sales to be conducted via online auctions.

The seven mines have started operations and their current output of about 1 million tons will be sold in phases, Srinivasa said. Three more mines are expected to start this month, he said.

The court-appointed committee has sold about 28 million tons of ore through online auctions last calendar year and is targeting a similar quantity in 2013, enough to meet demand, Srinivasa said. JSW Steel Ltd. (JSTL), which runs its largest plant in the state, expects to operate its factory at 75 percent to 80 percent capacity, enough to achieve 8.5 million tons of production, Seshagiri Rao, group chief financial officer, said in an earnings call on Jan. 28.

The Mumbai-based steelmaker, India’s third-largest producer, is expecting supplies to rise in the coming weeks, should the court allow more mines in the state to start, Rao had said. The court on Feb. 1 said it will hear the Karnataka mining cases on a day-to-day basis from Feb. 18.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-02-04/india-s-karnataka-to-resume-iron-ore-supplies-from-seven-mines

Surya Roshni - Outcome of Board Meeting
Surya Roshni Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on February 05, 2013, inter alia, has considered the following:

1. Expansion in existing steel plant at Malanpur (M.P.)

Board of Directors have In-Principal approved the expansion in existing steel plant at Malanpur (M.P.). Detailed Project Report will be approved in the next Board Meeting.

2. Setting up of new steel plant at Karnataka

Board of Directors have In-principal approved the setting up of new steel plant at Tumkur in Karnataka. Detailed Project Report will be approved in the next Board Meeting.

3. Appointment of Shri Utkarsh Dwivedi as an Whole-time Director of the Company by the Board of the Company w.e.f. February 05, 2013. He had worked as ED (Exports) & given excellent Growth.

Additionally, the Board discussed in brief on the ways and means of enhancing value for stakeholders of the Company and has appointed professional consultants for preparing a roadmap on value creation and Business Re-organization of the Company in the best interest of its stakeholders.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/stocks/stock_market/corp_notices.php?autono=637475

ArcelorMittal seeks mining leases in Karnataka (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/312712/arcelormittal-seeks-mining-leases-karnataka.html)

New Delhi, Feb 17, 2013, (PTI):

World's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal has said it has sought mining leases in Karnataka even though new grants have been put on hold in the state.
"The Company has applied for mining leases, although following a recent Supreme Court order relating to illegal mining activities in Karnataka, and new mining legislation proposed by the Government of India, the allocation of new mining leases in Karnataka has been put on hold", the global steel giant said in a recent report.

ArcelorMittal has not been able to make much headway in USD 30 billion (over Rs 1.3 lakh crore) India projects.

The company had explored USD 6.5 billion investment opportunities in Karnataka after its proposed 12 million tonnes (MT) plants each in Jharkhand and Odisha had been been delayed "because of challenges relating to securing necessary mining rights, land and construction permits and regulatory approvals," it said.
ArcelorMittal said it has completed all necessary steps to acquire the land and has received possession certificates for 2,659 acres of private land following the acquisition of 1,827 acres and 832 acres in December 2011 and October 2012, respectively.
"This leaves a balance of 136.33 acres of land owned by the Karnataka government, which is being processed for allocation," it said, adding that the government has also approved the project's use of water from the Tungabhadra River but leases are pending.

"A draft feasibility report for the contemplated steel plant is currently being prepared, and hydrological and environmental impact assessment studies have been initiated," the company has said.

The company had entered into a pact in June 2010, with Karnataka government for construction of a six-million tonne steel plant with a captive 750 megawatt power plant.

The Luxembourg-headquartered company is struggling to move ahead with its USD 30 billion projects in India for last several years.
In 2005 and 2006, it had entered into agreements with Jharkhand and Odisha governments to build large-scale integrated steel plants.

Both the projects have been marred by problems like opposition by the local people on land acquisition and regulatory delays forcing the company to shift focus on Karnataka.
However, the linkages for iron ore, a key steel-making raw material, is still awaited.
In May last year, ArcelorMittal Chief Lakshmi Mittal had said India plans might not materialise for "5 to 10 years".
Supreme court seems to be too slow on this

Online single e-window for proj proposed in new steel policy (http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/economy/online-single-e-window-for-proj-proposed-in-new-steel-policy_69905.html)

Last Updated: Sunday, February 10, 2013, 21:43

New Delhi: Concerned over delays in new projects due to requirement of clearances from multiple agencies, the draft steel policy has proposed an online single e-window system and sought enhancement of powers of the existing Inter-Ministerial Group, among other issues.

"To overcome these constraints, the government will consider introduction of a transparent and easy system for submission and tracking of status of applications for grant of resources/clearances from multiple governmental agencies through an online single e-window in consonance with national e-governance plan," the draft national steel policy said.

The new policy assumes significance as steel projects, including those planned by ArcelorMittal, Posco and many others, worth around Rs 3 lakh crore could not take off because of various issues such as land acquisition and delay in environmental clearances, among others.

The draft policy has identified involvement of a large number of agencies in project clearances as a major hurdle in "creation of green field steel capacities."

It termed "strong social resistance to land acquisition and conversion of agricultural land to industrial land even at adequate offer of monetary compensation and securitisation of employment of the displaced directly or indirectly" as another major hurdle.

Suggesting enhancement of the powers of the existing Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) for more effective co-ordination to cut delays in project implementation and resolution of conflicts, it expressed hope that the new land Acquisition Act, R&R Policy and provisions of the proposed MMDR Act will address the issues soon.

The policy said that "there is a need to eliminate potential conflicts arising out of the various policy documents so that transparency is brought about in every aspect of the policy framework" and assured that the government will take appropriate steps in this direction.

At the same time, it has suggested the need for proper identification of project sites/areas to balance requirements of business, society and service providers saying "many steel projects have not taken off due to conflicting interests of various stake-holders."

The draft policy has pegged the country's steel making capacity at 300 million tonnes (MT) by 2025-26 to ensure a projected production level of 275 million tonnes by then.

The Steel Ministry has sought comments from stakeholders and the public by February 20.

The policy seeks to replace the existing one that was formulated in 2005, and suggest ways to create an environment conducive for the growth of the industry that is plagued by issues such as land acquisition and raw material scarcity.

PTI

IISCO steel plant begins trial run (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/iisco-steel-plant-begins-trial-run/article4422993.ece)

Kolkata, Feb. 16:

SAIL’s IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) Burnpur has begun trial productions at some of its new units – coke oven battery No.11, a by-product unit, a sinter plant and a sinter disposal facility.

Having been delayed for around two years now, parts of the 2.5-million-tonnes-a-year project are now becoming operational in stages.

“The new battery is now primed to contribute significantly in improving the overall bottom line of the company,” said Narendra Kothari, Chief Executive Officer of IISCO Steel Plant. The battery was activated this week.

A consortium led by Giprokoks of Ukraine installed the 0.882 million tonnes 7-metre-tall battery with 74 ovens and a cooling plant. McNally Bharat Engineering Co along with DMT of Germany erected a matching by-product plant. The units, it says, comply with the Central Pollution Control Board’s norms.

The coke dry cooling plant, a first at SAIL, eliminates quenching emission with heat recovery to generate power.

Instead of conventional water quenching, the facility uses inert gases to cool the red hot coke.

Earlier this month, ISP had conducted a hot trial of the new sinter unit.

The first lot of about 600 tonnes of sinters was sent to the Bokaro Steel Plant.

The sinter disposal system, which is also now functional, consists of 700-cubic-metre storage silo whose outlet is provided with a belt feeder with a variable capacity of 600-1,200 TPH to feed a rake of wagons.

While some of the main packages at Burnpur are almost ready to be commissioned, the remaining are in advanced stages of completion.

The major facilities that would make ISP a new integrated steel-making unit include a coke oven battery, two 204-sq-m sinter machines, a blast furnace of 4,161-cubic-m {+t} volume with a coal dust injection system, and three 150-tonne BOF converters.

It also has two 6-strand billet casters and one 4-strand bloom-cum-beam blank caster, a 0.6-mtpa heavy section mill, a 0.5-mtpa wire rod mill and a 0.75-mtpa bar mill.

jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated February 17, 2013)

Not adequate coordination between Centre,states: ArcelorMittal (http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/not-adequate-coordination-between-centre-states-arcelormittal-113021500667_1.html)

Due to delays, ArcelorMittal has already put Odisha project on backburner, while it is yet to acquire land fully in Jharkhand

There is "not adequate" coordination between the Centre and state governments for setting up projects in the country, said a top official of ArcelorMittal, which is struggling to move ahead with its $30 billion projects in India for last several years.

"We need also more intensive interaction between the Central government and state governments, which I think is not adequate particularly with respect to Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka," company's Vice President and CEO for greenfield projects in India Sanak Mishra said here.

Speaking at a steel round table, organised by industry chamber CII, he also suggested setting up a National Steel Council, having Chief Ministers or Chief Secretaries as members to sort out the issues impacting the sector.

"This needs to be institutionalised, my suggestion is, through a National Steel Council where the Chief Ministers can play an important role or Chief Secretaries play very important role," he said.

The Lakshmi Mittal-led steel giant has failed to make much progress so far in India, despite announcing two mega steel projects of 12 million tonnes (MT) each way back in 2006.

The two projects, one each in Jharkhand and Odisha, have been marred by various issues, including stiff opposition by the local people on land acquisition front and regulatory delays. The two projects were supposed to get about $24 billion investments.

Due to delays, ArcelorMittal has already put Odisha project on backburner, while it is yet to acquire land fully in Jharkhand.

The problems also led to company shifting its focus on Karnataka, where it intends to set up a 6 MT plant for about $6 billion. However, here also, only land acquisition has been completed and several other regulatory clearances, including iron ore linkage, are still awaited.

In May last year, ArcelorMittal chief Lakshmi Mittal had told company shareholders during the annual general meeting that India plans may not materialise for "5 to 10 years" and it does not figure in the priorities of the company.

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to get Rs 2,500-cr loan from SBI (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/visakhapatnam-steel-plant-to-get-rs-2500cr-loan-from-sbi/article4452613.ece)

Visakhapatnam, Feb. 25:

State Bank of India is lending Rs 2,500 crore to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (the Visakhapatnam steel plant) for the expansion project and the procedural formalities will be completed on Tuesday, according to SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri.

...

He said the SBI’s loan to the RINL “is the biggest contribution we are making to the industrial development of this region in particular and Andhra Pradesh in general. So many ancillaries will be coming up in the vicinity of the RINL and the SBI’s contribution therefore cannot be overemphasised.” He said the rate of interest would be 9.7 per cent or 9.95 per cent for the loan.

...


Steel imports grew 17.5% to 6.567 MT during April-Jan (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/steel-imports-grew-175-to-6567-mt-during-apriljan/article4452484.ece)

Budget 2013: Tata Steel MD praises Union Budget (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods/svs/steel/budget-2013-tata-steel-md-praises-union-budget/articleshow/18736715.cms)

28 Feb, 2013, 10.44PM IST, PTI

JAMSHEDPUR: Given the global economic scenario, the Union Budget announced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram has made an attempt to achieve inclusive growth and a sustainable economy, Tata SteelBSE 0.77 % Managing Director H M Nerurkar said today.

The thrust given to the infrastructure industry through investment allowance of 15 per cent and various steps for mobilising funds for the growth are welcome initiatives, he said.

Nerurkar appreciated the extension of full exemption from export duty for galvanised steel sheets, stating that this will help the steel industry greatly and enable it to be more competitive in the international market.

"We are also looking forward to the announcement of a PPP policy framework for increasing production for coal which will help reduce imports and achieve raw material security in the longer run," he said.

Tata Steel MD, however, expressed concerned that the steel industry demands to reduce import duty on iron ore and other raw materials for steel were not met.


Budget incentives to galvanised steel makers (http://www.business-standard.com/article/budget/budget-incentives-to-galvanised-steel-makers-113022800311_1.html)
Budget 2013: Small stainless steel cos to pay Rs 10k extra excise duty (http://www.moneycontrol.com/smementor/mentorade/starting-up/budget-2013-small-stainless-steel-cos-to-pay-rs-10k-extra-excise-duty-832306.html)

Kennametal India seeks land for expansion (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/kennametal-india-seeks-land-for-expansion/article4478374.ece)

BANGALORE, MARCH 5:
Kennametal India promoter Kennametal Inc. (US) has sought land from the Karnataka Government to expand, modernise and relocate its operations.

The company said that it is filing an application with the State Government agency — Karnataka Udyog Mitra — seeking assistance to identify and allot a suitable parcel of industrial land for the purpose of expansion.

The company is seeking land allotment by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) within a radius of 40 kilometres of the existing location of the company’s current manufacturing facility.

Bhagya Chandra Rao, Managing Director, said: “This expansion plan would allow us to build on our robust position and serve the growing demand in India’s industrial and infrastructure sectors.”

BMM Ispat order a new combi caster from SMS Concast

BMM Ispat from Hospet, Karnataka Province, India, has ordered a combined-caster from SMS Concast, Switzerland. The caster ensures improved machine availability and increases productivity for BMM Ispat. With the new caster, BMM Ispat will produce 1.1 million tonne of billets and rounds per year.

In the first phase of BMM Ispat’s expansion plan, SMS Concast supplies a high-speed 1 x 5- (optional six- strand) combi-caster, which produces different sections in both square and round formats.

This machine is fully equipped to cast challenging steel grades like spring steel, free-cutting steel, bearing steel, pipe grades, microalloyed and structural steels. High product quality is ensured by using copper mold tubes with CONVEX technology ® by SMS Concast.

The new caster will give BMM Ispat a competitive edge in achieving a lower conversion cost.

The expansion project includes the plan to increase annual steel manufacturing capacity to about 2 million t in two phases. With the capacity expansion, BMM Ispat will become the second largest steel producer in the state of Karnataka, India.

Commissioning of the combi-caster is scheduled for November 2013.

www.steelguru.com/indian_news/BMM_Ispat_order_a_new_combi_caster_from_SMS_Concast/304591.html

JSW Steel puts Rs 35k crore West Bengal steel project on hold (http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/jsw-steel-puts-rs-35k-crore-west-bengal-steel-project-on-hold/article4663250.ece)

JSW Steel has put on hold plans to set up a 10 million tonnes steel plant in West Bengal as it has not been able to secure long-term iron ore supplies for the Rs 35,000 crore project.
“It is stalled right now, it’s on hold. Unless we are going to fix the iron ore matter, unless we have the visibility of iron ore, we can not move ahead. It’s on hold,” JSW Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal told PTI.
JSW is working with the Centre and state government to secure iron ore mining lease, he said, adding, long-term visibility of iron ore is required to begin construction of the plant.
When asked about any timeline for the project, he said: “Nothing (is) in my control. The project is stalled at the moment.”
The West Bengal project of JSW, first announced in 2007, has been getting delayed for various reasons. This included a land acquisition row with the state government after Mamata Banerjee-led government took charge in 2011. The issue has now been resolved and land acquisition has been completed.
However, the company has not been willing to move further on any new project, including the ones in West Bengal, without securing either long term iron ore supply agreement or a captive iron ore mine due to its experience in Karnataka.
In Karnataka, the company runs a 10 million tonnes (MT) steel plant but it neither has any captive mine nor any long term iron ore supply agreement and the company has to source the ore from open market.
For more than one and half years now, JSW has been running the Karnataka plant at a reduced capacity due to iron ore crunch in the state.
Currently, all ore in the state gets auctioned due to a Supreme Court direction, thereby increasing the raw material cost for the company.
According to original plan, JSW’s West Bengal project was envisaged to have a 10 million tonnes steel plant along with a 1,600 MW captive power plant at a total cost of Rs 35,000 crore, which requires about 4,300 acres of land.
In the first phase, the company had plans to set up a 3 MT steel plant and a 300 MW captive power plant with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore. The first phase was proposed to be financed at a debt-equity ratio of 65:35.
Deallocation of Gourangdih ABC coal block last year by the Coal Ministry is also an issue JSW is facing. The block, allocated to JSW and Himachal EMTA jointly in July, 2009 would have provided coal for the captive power plant of the Bengal plant.
JSW has challenged the deallocation of the coal block in court and the matter is currently sub-judice.