SAIL, NMDC and RINL hope to meet cumulative INR 15,820 crore target

SAIL RINL NMDC to achieve INR 15820 crore CAPEX target in FY14 Business Standard reported that having failed to achieve their capex targets last fiscal, three major state owned firms SAIL, NMDC and RINL hope to meet cumulative INR 15,820 crore target set for the current fiscal. Expressing hope of achieving their targets at a meeting with Finance Minister Mr P Chidambaram recently, Steel Authority of India has said that its INR 11,500 crore capex target for the current fiscal was on track. Similarly, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and country's largest...

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Mr Naveen Jindal chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited

JSPL Angul plant to be commissioned by Jan 2014 end Orissa Diary reported that Mr Naveen Jindal chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited met Odisha Chief Secretary Mr JK Mohapatra and discussed about the development of JSPL’s Angul plant. Later speaking to media Mr Naveen Jindal said that JSPL’s Angul plant to be commissioned by January end 2014. Investment of more than INR 20,000 crore for JSPL in Angul. About 20,000 persons are working for the project on a war footing. The Coal Gasification Plant and DRI plant will be commissioned by the...

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Iron ore ports in Australia

Cyclone Christine heads inland after battering iron ore ports in Australia Reuters reported that Australia's Pilbara iron ore shipping and mining region, the world's largest, faced cyclonic winds and torrential rains on Tuesday after a cyclone made landfall after intensifying over the last few days in the Indian Ocean. The key shipping ports of Dampier, Cape Lambert and Port Hedland bore the brunt of the storm after clearing dozens of iron ore freighters and evacuating staff over the weekend. Reports of damage were not immediately available. Cyclone...

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Stainless steel from China

Vietnam imposes antidumping taxes over imported stainless steel from China Xinhua reported that Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade recently issued a decision on application of provisional antidumping measures on certain imported cold-rolled stainless steel. The ministry said on its website on Friday that the decision was issued on Wednesday, defining the details on application of provisional antidumping duties on certain cold-rolled stainless steel imported into Vietnam originating in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and China' Taiwan. Cold-rolled...

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Indian steel player profitability

Demand slowdown overcapacity loom large on Indian steel player profitability The Hindu reported that as end user demand for steel in India continues to fall, CRISIL Research estimates domestic steel demand to grow at a subdued rate of 2 to 4% in 2013 to 14. Due to execution delays owing to environment clearances, many construction and infrastructure projects have not taken off as expected. Slowing economic growth has also put the brakes on consumption-driven sectors such as automobiles and consumer durables. While near-term demand is expected...

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ArcelorMittal Temirtau

ArcelorMittal Temirtau to cut 2500 jobs in 2014 - Union ArcelorMittal Temirtau is going to reduce the number of jobs by 2,500 in 2014. Mr Viktor Schetinin vice chairman of Zhaktau steel workers union said that scheduled shutdown of several no longer demanded units is the key reasons behind the personnel axing in ArcelorMittal Temirtau. He said that "Several shops, that are technologically no longer need, were be shut down. (...) However, these are not actual cuts: these 2,500 jobs will be outsourced.” Every employer annually plans the number...

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VAT on iron and steel items

Punjab government slashes VAT on iron and steel items In a relief to secondary steel makers, Punjab government announced to slash VAT rate from 4.95% to 2.5% on iron and steel items. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal gave nod in this regard after holding a meeting with the delegation of furnace, iron and steel rolling mills. An official release said that the new proposed VAT regime on iron and steel industry is aimed to enable it to compete with neighboring states and increase in revenue. As per decisions taken, the rate of VAT...

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Domestic steel market

Flat steel to vibrate in China amid weak performance later this year Last week, domestic steel market edged down slightly as a whole with few market transactions. Social inventory began to increase, weakening the market confidence. Among them, flats price is relatively stronger than that of construction steel. Price of HRC and medium plate in key cities endured ups and downs while HRC in most areas remained stable. Mr Wang Jinsheng vice chairman of Tianjin Association of Metal Material Trade, pointed out that the price of medium plate began...

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Demand of long steel in India

Lending rate surprise roll over might kindle demand of long steel in India Coming in the backdrop unrelenting inflationary pressure pushing WPI to 7.52% in November, the fastest since September 2012 and 7.05% in October RBI announced roll over of lending rate. It sends an affirmative signal about the desperation inherent in policy makers to let lose credit lines to ignite production and demand. Achilles heel CPI inflation surged to a record 11.24% giving nightmares to the government. Realistically the inflation in food items is an off shoot...

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Chinese steel market in limbo

Production drop and low winter off take keeps Chinese steel market in limbo Latest production release by CISA shows downtrend in production of steel in early December. December (Dec. 1-10) this year the average aggregate daily crude steel output of large and medium-sized steel enterprises in China totalled 1.6951 million tonnes, down 0.81 percent compared to late November (Nov. 21-30). Meanwhile, the average aggregate daily crude steel production of all steelmakers in China in early December was estimated at 2.0129 million tonnes, indicating...

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Rebar and billet market

Sluggish rebar and billet market takes toll of steel scrap purchase Ironically winter seems to be freezing the scrap transactions this year. Traditionally winter has been a period of brisk scrap business followed by improved price levels owing to shortage and inventory buildup by Turkish mills before the winter holidays in Europe, USA and Russia. However this year tide has ebbed prematurely with scrap levels stagnating around USD 397-400 per tonne, CFR, Turkey levels for over a week. Likewise offers at hiking the levels of A3 scrap from Russian...

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Iron Ore Price

Iron ore price levels collapse with dwindling demand from Chinese mills Chinese iron ore market seems set for low phase with heavy hand of Chinese government falling over the steel production and ensuing demand of iron ore from the mills. A recent notice from municipal government to cut down power consumption by 50% from the average level in the first ten months of this year during December has plummeted buying by the mills. Iron ore inventory at 43 Chinese ports stood at 84.45 million tonnes as of December 13th down 0.95 million tonnes from...

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Chinese steel price

Chinese steel price stabilize on production fall and dipping inventory Chinese steel mills are whimpering under the recent fait accompli of local governments to cut down on power consumption during December by 50% to reduce pollution. Impacting the steel hubs of Hebei production has suffered in November is likely maintain downtrend in December as well. According to the figures from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China has produced 712.86 million tonnes of crude steel in the first eleven months of this year, up 7.8 percent year on year. However...

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Demand zero duty on stainless steel

Plant & Machinery and capital goods manufacturers in the country have demanded zero% duty on stainless steel and special steel due to steep devaluation of Indian Rupee. Mr V P Ramachandran, Secretary General of Process Plant and Machinery Association of India said that “The Capital Goods manufacturing companies exporting Process Plant machinery have urged the Union Ministry of Finance and Commerce to remove duties on import of high grade stainless steel hot rolled sheets, coils and cold rolled products not currently manufactured in India....

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