Orissa’s iron and steel industry performance dips

August 15th, 2009 RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's steel production increased by 28.5 percent last month compared with June, the Iron and Steel Institute said. Brazil is the biggest producer and exporter of steel in Latin America and the world's 15th-largest steel exporter.

August 13th, 2009 Minister: China wants more say over iron pricesBEIJING — China affirmed its determination Thursday to tighten control over its huge steel industry and press foreign miners to cut iron ore prices, announcing a three-year ban on new mills and saying it wants more influence over costs. Industry Minister Li Yizhong complained that "disorderly competition" has pushed up iron ore prices, caused a glut of production capacity and caused "serious losses." China's steel industry is the world's largest but has failed to translate that into clout in negotiating iron ore prices.

July 31st, 2009 China says iron ore suppliers disrupting marketBEIJING — China's steel industry association accused foreign iron ore suppliers on Friday of disrupting supplies and price talks by encouraging importers to buy more on the global spot market. The association's latest blast at miners came as the two sides are locked in talks on long-term supply contracts, with China pushing for big price cuts.

July 29th, 2009 BHP Billiton cuts ore prices for some customersSYDNEY — BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company, said Wednesday it has agreed to sell 23 percent of its contracted iron ore at a one-third discount to last year's prices. The Melbourne-based company said in a statement that another 30 percent of its iron ore will be sold based on a mix of quarterly negotiated pricing, spot market and index-based pricing.

July 15th, 2009 Major bribery alleged in Rio Tinto caseBEIJING — A government-owned newspaper alleged Wednesday that executives from all 16 Chinese steel mills participating in iron ore price talks this year were bribed by Rio Tinto employees. The English-language China Daily quoted an unnamed "industry insider" saying that the Anglo-Australian mining giant bribed China's largest steel companies, all members of the China Iron & Steel Association, to get access to industry data.

July 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will speed up the process of granting iron ore mining licenses to various steel companies, including South Korea's Posco, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said here Wednesday. "We are planning to almost double the production of steel and for that we have to speed up greenfield projects," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a steel conference.

July 7th, 2009 German iron, steel output falls 45 percentFRANKFURT — German iron and steel output for June fell sharply as the world recession continued to cut into demand for the country's machinery and car exports, the Federal Statistical Office reported Tuesday. The Wiesbaden-based office said Germany's producers made 1.44 million metric tons (1.59 US tons) of iron for the month, a 45 percent decline over the same month last year, while they made 2.5 million metric tons (2.76 US tons) of steel, a 41 percent decline.

July 1st, 2009 China iron ore pricing talks miss deadlineSHANGHAI — Pricing talks between Chinese steelmakers and global iron ore suppliers dragged on Wednesday after they failed to reach agreement by a June 30 deadline, reports and industry officials said. China's steel industry group has rejected iron ore price agreements negotiated between Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and Japanese and South Korean mills.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Geologists have discovered 'Asia's largest' iron ore deposit in northeast China's Liaoning province, with an estimated reserve of more than 3 billion tons. The newly-found deposit, mainly between 1,200 meters and 1,860 meters underground and spanning a four-km-long, three-km-wide area, is at the Qiaotou Township, Pingshan District, Benxi city, according to Yu Wenli, head of the Liaoning Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Exploration.

June 11th, 2009 MUMBAI - Any hike in steel prices is unjustifiable as the cost of iron ore and coking coal have come down since last year, Steel Secretary P.K. Rastogi said here Thursday.

June 10th, 2009 Report: Iron ore shipments down on Great LakesCLEVELAND — Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes are down substantially because of the low demand for steel, a report from a trade association of cargo ships said Tuesday. The Lake Carriers' Association said iron ore shipments in May totaled only 3 million tons, a decrease of nearly 60 percent compared to a year ago.

June 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh Wednesday pushed for divestment of stake in companies under his ministry and said he would take up the issue of adequate supplies of feedstock for steel units with the states concerned. "If the policy of disinvestment is approved, we have some companies on our mind, Singh told reporters while presenting his ministry's agenda for the next 100 days.

June 9th, 2009 EU steel makers seek probe into BHP-Rio dealBRUSSELS — European steel makers called Tuesday for European Union antitrust regulators to probe a joint mining project between the world's No. 2 and No. 3 iron ore miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto PLC.

June 3rd, 2009 China launches trade probe of US, Russia steelBEIJING — China is investigating imports of U.S. and Russian steel under anti-dumping rules amid a rise in Chinese imports of the metal.

January 1st, 2009 RAIPUR - Bhilai Steel Plant concluded April-December with the best-ever performance as its production touched 4.04 million tonnes (MT) of hot metal, 3.87 MT of crude steel and 3.31 MT of saleable steel, a company official said Friday. The plant, located some 30 km west of Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur, is the flagship unit of the state-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL).