SAIL raw material division logs record iron ore output, despatches volumes

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SAIL raw material division logs record iron ore output, despatches volumes

10th july 2018

The raw material division (RMD) of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has logged record growth in iron ore production and despatch volumes in the April-June quarter of this fiscal.
The captive iron ore deposits under RMD’s control produced 5.19 million tonnes of iron ore, growing 15.4 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth. Despatches of ore too rose 16.7 per cent in the June quarter to 5.11 million tonnes. The maharatna PSU’s RMD oversees operations of iron ore mines- Kiriburu, Meghahatuburu, Gua, Chiria in Jharkhand, and Bolani, Barsua, Taldih, Kalta in Odisha. The mines have also achieved the best ever monthly production of 1.85 million tonnes in June. RMD’s Bolani ores mines has individually clocked the highest ever loading of 151 rakes in June.
SAIL ascribed the healthy growth in production and despatch numbers to a string of systemic changes. The shrinking of loading time of rakes at mines and turnaround time of rakes from steel plants resulted in the highest ever despatch of 1,463 rakes in the June quarter from the RMD mines. Operations at Barsua mines also boosted output.
The RMD is ramping up its iron ore production to meet the increasing demand SAIL’s steel plants. In the current fiscal RMD’s iron mines in Odisha and Jharkhand are set to produce about 24.50 million tonnes of iron ore.
Source: BUSINESS STANDARD

NMDC iron ore output in June at 6.87 MT

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NMDC iron ore output in June at 6.87 MT

10th july 2018

State-owned NMDC said it produced 6.87 million tonne (MT) iron ore in the month of June. While the output from Chhattisgarh mines stood at 4.78 MT, mines in Karnataka produced 2.09 MT iron ore, it said.
The company sold 6.84 MT iron ore during the month.
On June 26, NMDC had said the prices of its lump ore and fines will continue to be at Rs 3,050 a tonne and Rs 2,660 a tonne, respectively, for about a month.
The state-run PSU had raised the price of lump ore by Rs 150 to Rs 3,050 per tonne on May 23.
The rate of fines was also hiked by Rs 100 to Rs 2,660 per tonne.
Iron ore is the main ingredient used in making steel. NMDC is India’s single largest iron ore producer, presently producing about 30 MT of iron ore from three fully mechanised mines.
The company is involved in the exploration of wide range of minerals, including iron ore, copper, rock phosphate, lime stone, dolomite, gypsum, bentonite, magnesite, diamond, tin, tungsten, graphite, beach sands etc.
Source: PTI

NMDC cuts base price of ore by Rs 300 per tonne in Karnataka

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NMDC cuts base price of ore by Rs 300 per tonne in Karnataka

10th july 2018

After a long-drawn battle with Karnataka’s steel producers, the state-owned National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) Ltd has cut the base price of iron ore by Rs 300 per tonne.
Steelmakers of the southern state have welcomed the snip in the floor price, but said there was a need for further correction in ore prices to bring it at par with prices in Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
T R K Rao, director (commercial), NMDC, has confirmed the price-slash in an email response to queries sent by DNA Money.
“Yes, NMDC in Karnataka has reduced the base price of iron ore by Rs 300 per tonne,” he wrote back.
R K Goyal, president, Karnataka Iron & Steel Manufacturers’ Association (Kisma) and managing director of Kalyani Steel, said local steel producers have been informed about the slash in the ore prices, which will reflect in the e-auction document expected to be out soon.
“We have been told the base price will be cut by Rs 300 per tonne. This will be reflected in the prices that will be mentioned in e-auction documents to be held shortly,” he said.
For instance, iron ore with 63% Fe content was sold at base price of Rs 2,700 per tonne for fines and Rs 3,000 per tonne for lumps in the last auction. Both will be lowered by Rs 300 a tonne in the next auction. The reduction in the floor price of ore will be across all grades.
M V S Seshagiri Rao, CFO and joint managing director, JSW Steel, lauded the NMDC move but said it did not close the gap between prices of same grade iron ore of Karnataka and Odisha.
“It’s a welcome step. Karnataka steel industry has been looking for iron ore prices being brought in line with Odisha. In Karnataka, a 59.5% grade iron ore loaded into wagon, including the taxes/royalties, is priced at Rs 3,306 per tonne. The same grade of iron ore is available in Odisha at around Rs 900 per tonne. That is the kind of difference in prices while the reduction is only Rs 300 per tonne. So, we still have a long way to go,” he said.
There has been a stand-off between the steel producers and miners over pricing of ore for some time now.
The former has accused the latter of taking advantage of shortage and charging a premium on the commodity.
Miners, on the other hand, have alleged that with steel producers lifting iron ore from other states, they were finding it difficult to find buyers for their ore stock at auctions in Karnataka.
R K Goyal also echoed similar sentiment as JSW’s Rao.
“It is still much higher compared to the same grade iron ore in other states. It’s (base price cut) not bad but it’s not substantial either. There is still a difference of over Rs 1,000 per tonne. We request the miners to reduce it further and bring it at par with Chhattisgarh and Odisha,” he said.
According to him, the price-cut would do little to improve margins as steel players have lately been dealing with rising coking coal prices. He said coking coal prices have shot up by around $50 per tonne in the last one month.
Goyal said Kalyani Steel was looking at hiking steel prices in October when the company’s contract with original OEMs) comes up for renewal. “Coke (coking coal) prices are going up so a price-cut will not improve our margins. It will only provide some relief in terms of cost,” he said.
Source: DNA

World crude steel production saw an increase of 6.6% in May

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World crude steel production saw an increase of 6.6% in May

10th july 2018

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 154.9 million tonnes (Mt) in May 2018, a 6.6% increase compared to May 2017.
China’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 81.1 Mt, an increase of 8.9% compared to May 2017. Japan produced 9.1 Mt of crude steel in May 2018, up 1.8% on May 2017. India produced 8.8 Mt of crude steel in May 2018, an increase of 7.6% compared to May 2017. South Korea’s crude steel production was 6.2 Mt in May 2018, an increase of 3.0% on May 2017.
In the EU, Italy produced 2.2 Mt of crude steel, up by 3.7% on May 2017. Spain produced 1.3 Mt of crude steel, up by 7.0% on May 2017. France produced 1.3 Mt of crude steel, a decrease of 6.5% compared to May 2017.
Turkey’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 3.3 Mt, up by 0.5% on May 2017.
Crude steel production in Ukraine was 1.7 Mt this month, up 2.9% on May 2017.
The US produced 7.1 Mt of crude steel in May 2018, an increase of 3.0% compared to May 2017.
Brazil’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 2.7 Mt, down by 8.6% on May 2017.
The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 64 countries in May 2018 was 77.7%. This is 4.2 percentage points higher than May 2017. Compared to April 2018, it is 1.0 percentage point higher.
Source: WORLDSTEEL

China’s steel sector PMI strengthens in June

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China’s steel sector PMI strengthens in June

10th july 2018

China’s steel sector purchasing managers’ index (PMI) increased by 1 percentage point from a month earlier to 51.6 in June on the back of a rise in domestic and export orders.
But the key steel production sub-index fell by 0.4 points to 52.5, indicating output growth slowed in June compared with May, said the China Steel Logistics Professionals Committee (CSLPC), which produces the index. China’s crude steel output hit an all-time high at 81.3mn t in May, crossing 80mn t/month for the first time, so any gain from June would still take production to a new high. Steel mills increased imports and stocks of raw materials, mainly iron ore and coking coal, in June.
The official PMI for China’s manufacturing sector dipped to 51.4 in June from 51.9 in May, as both the new orders and production sub-indexes slipped.
Steel production growth is likely to slow in July and August because of hot and wet weather in south China and central government environmental inspections in some steelmaking areas, including checks on any resurgence of scrap-fed induction furnaces.
The new domestic orders sub-index grew by 1.1 points from a month earlier to 52.7 in June. New orders increased quickly in the first half of June but growth slowed in the second half of the month as rainy weather in south China hindered construction work. Credit availability to industries has tightened, curbing downstream steel demand, said the CSLPC. The steel market continued to get support from a buoyant real estate market in June.
Steel exports are likely to rise month-on-month in June, as in May, after mills possibly booked more orders in April. Domestic demand for construction steel increased around late April after remaining slow in March and in the first few weeks of April. China’s steel exports are unlikely to drop sharply in the second half of 2018, despite a 25pc duty being imposed on Chinese steel sales to the US, as Chinese exporters expand sales to regions such as Africa and South America.
Source: ARGUS

Shanghai steel prices sag as U.S. tariffs loom

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Shanghai steel prices sag as U.S. tariffs loom

10th july 2018

Chinese steel prices dropped on Friday ahead of the United States imposing tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods in a few hours, with further losses likely as the trade row between the world’s two largest economies threatens market stability.
President Donald Trump confirmed that the United States would begin collecting the tariffs at 12:01 a.m. Washington D.C. time (0401 GMT) on Friday and warned that subsequent rounds could see tariffs on more than $500 billion of goods, or roughly the total amount that the United States imported from China last year.
“The Trump administration’s trade war is finally upon us, and by all accounts, we’re headed for an unparalleled trade conflict between the world’s largest economies,” Stephen Innes, head of Asia Pacific trading at OANDA brokerage, said in a note. “If this moves off the tit for tat battleground into a full out trade war, it will not only threaten market stability but could compromise relations between Washington and Beijing.”
The price of construction steel product rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 0.7 percent at 3,748 yuan ($563) a tonne by 0205 GMT.
Hot rolled coil, used in manufacturing, fell 1 percent to 3,819 yuan.
Other risky assets from commodities including oil and copper were also weaker and Asian stocks were subdued with investors on edge ahead of the U.S. tariffs taking effect.
A drop in weekly steel inventory in China suggested demand remained firm in the world’s largest consumer and producer. Total steel stocks dropped 154,600 tonnes to 10.098 million tonnes this week, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed.
That followed a two-week increase which came after a 14-week decline.
Prices of steelmaking ingredients were steady to weaker, with iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange up 0.1 percent at 456 yuan a tonne and coking coal flat at 1,143 yuan. Coke fell 1.3 percent to 1,984.50 yuan.
Source: REUTERS

China’s steel base to further slash capacity

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China’s steel base to further slash capacity

10th july 2018

Hebei Province is to continue huge capacity cuts in the next three years, according to a government plan announced on Wednesday.
The province will slash capacity of steel and iron, coal, concrete, and coke by 40 million, 30 million, five million and 10 million tonnes respectively next three years, according to the plan.
Since 2013, Hebei shifted its energy and industry structures from coal and steel to emerging, high-end industries. From 2013 to 2017, the province cut capacity of steel, iron and concrete by 70 million, 64 million and 71 million tonnes respectively.
China plans to eliminate 100 million to 150 million tonnes of crude steel capacity and 500 million tonnes of coal in the five years from 2016.
Source: XINHUA

JSPL Q1 India steel sales up 46% YoY, flat QoQ

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JSPL Q1 India steel sales up 46% YoY, flat QoQ

10th july 2018

Jindal Steel and Power Limited said steel sales volumes in India rose 46% in Apr-Jun quarter to 1.18 mln tons compared to the year ago.
The sales number is at a similar level to the preceding Jan-Mar quarter, when the company had sold 1.18 million tons.
In terms of production, there was an increase of 36% on year at its two India locations, at 1.23 mln tons. This was slightly lower than the 1.26 mln tons reported for Jan-Mar.
On the global front, Jindal Shadeed – JSPL’s subsidiary in Oman, had its highest ever crude and finished steel production and sales during April–June 2018.
The company also has a 9 MTPA pellet production plant, billed as India’s largest single-location pelletization complex. The quarterly output of the plant was not disclosed.
“JSPL is on course to translate its blueprint for enhancing capacity utilizations and efficiencies across all its steel plants,” sadi NA Ansari, CEO of Steel Business for JSPL.
“While the ramp up at our 6 MTPA steel plant at Angul is on desired trajectory, the steel plant at Raigarh has set new benchmarks of exceeding excellence,” he added.
“We are confident of further accelerating the growth momentum, both in production as well as sales, in the forthcoming quarters to record FY 2018-19 as the best ever year in JSPL’s history.”
The company has a 6 million ton per year plant at Angul in Odisha, which it said achieved the highest ever billet and TMT rebar production in its history in the month of June 2018.
Its second plant, at Raigarh in Chhattisgarh, had the best ever monthly production at two units — Blast Furnace 1 and Medium & Light Structural Mill (MLSM). Moreover, the quarter also saw record sales by the Rail Mill and MLSM units during June.
Jindal Shadeed’s 1.5 MTPA Bar Mill – the largest in the world, set a new world record of highest single day production of over 5000 tons in June, it said.
Source: ULTRA NEWS

JSW Steel to spend ₹7,500 crore to raise production capacity

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JSW Steel to spend ₹7,500 crore to raise production capacity

10th july 2018

JSW Steel, a part of the diversified $13-billion JSW Group, announced on Wednesday that it planned to increase the annual steel manufacturing capacity of JSW Vijayanagar Works in Karnataka to 13 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) at a cost of ₹ 7,500 crore.
The expansion is likely to be over by March 2020, according to a company statement. At 12 MTPA currently, JSW Vijayanagar Works is the largest state-of-the-art single location steel manufacturing unit in India.
The company will also set up a 1.5 MTPA coke oven plant at Vijayanagar to bridge the current and expected gaps in coke availability. This is likely to be commissioned by March 2020.
The coke oven unit is expected to provide significant cost savings for the company over the longer term. It will also modify and enhance capacity of its steel melting shop, the flat and long products mills, along with allied facilities to utilise this additional hot metal.
The company’s current project to revamp and upgrade the capacity of blast furnace-3 at JSW Vijayanagar Works is on track, a release said..
“With steel consumption in India expected to grow, these capacity enhancement initiatives will ensure our readiness to promptly service emerging customer demand,” said Vinod Nowal, deputy managing director, JSW Steel.
JSW Steel has also started operations at two iron ore mines (Tunga & Nandi Mines) in Karnataka for which it has already received statutory clearances.
The cumulative capacity of these two iron ore mines is 0.71 MTPA. For the remaining three mines, JSW Steel expects statutory clearances and approvals during the current fiscal.
The annual production capacity of the five mines acquired by JSW Steel, through 2017 auction, is approximately 4.66 MTPA. Once all five mines are operational, they are expected to fulfil approximately 20% of the iron ore requirement of JSW Vijayanagar Works steel manufacturing unit.
All these five mines are located within 20-35 kilometers from the Vijayanagar unit giving it an advantage of lower logistics cost. Historically, JSW Steel was completely dependent on the external market to meet its iron ore requirements.
JSW Steel remains strategically focussed on enriching its product mix by increasing the share of value added & special steel products, according to the statement.
Source: THE HINDU

Indian steel demand may double to 170 mt by 2025: BHP Billiton

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Indian steel demand may double to 170 mt by 2025: BHP Billiton

10th july 2018

Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton has forecast Indian steel demand will double by 2025, even as it termed the government’s steel production target of 300 million tonnes by 2030 as “aspirational”.
“Steel is going to be a great enabler for the Indian growth story, particularly for the downstream sector,” Huw McKay, vice-president, analysis and economics, at BHP Billiton, said on phone. “Using 2016 as the base, we expect the demand to double to roughly around 170 MT by 2025,” McKay told ET.
India produced 97 million tonnes of crude steel in 2016-17.
McKay said construction and infrastructure would occupy the “lion’s share” of this growth in demand, with steel consumption growing almost at the same clip as the sector—at 8% till 2025.
But the economist maintained that the government’s steel output target of 300 million tonnes by 2030 is “aspirational”. He, however, conceded that the acceleration of insolvency proceedings should assist the sector and will also give it an upside.
The company, which also exports copper concentrates to India, said the shutting down of Vedanta’s 400,000-tonne plant at Tuticorin amid bloody protests in May has impacted its shipments to India, but the international price of copper has stayed strong. “This speaks of the resilience of the copper market,” said McKay.
An international trade war sparked by the US imposing import tariffs of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminium, respectively, has countries guessing its effects and coming up with their own strategies to counter a likely dumping in their respective countries. McKay, however, said there is enough demand in the world to absorb the steel.
“There is a very broad-based growth of demand in the global economy,” he said, adding that with India exporting to neighbouring economies rather than “far flung markets”, there is not much cause of worry. McKay said BHP is not in favour of any kind of protectionism.
Source: THE ECONOMIC TIMES