Norex Daily Steel News
MMK goes on with Plate Mill 5000 Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Magnitogorsk, Russia; 24 Nov 2008 - MMK continues with its major investment project, Plate Mill 5000. According to MMK Chairman Victor Rashnikov, in order to finalize the construction it is planned to borrow funds from Russian banks and commission the plate mill in 2009. Russian companies are interested in completion of the project. MMK Vice president for sales Vladimir Shmakov said that the company's management is justified to state that the production of the plate mill will enjoy demand of the Russian market in the first line. The mill is set to produce plates up to 4800 mm wide with X120 strength characteristics for oil and gas industries, shipbuilding, machinery building and construction of bridges. 'Agreements with TMK and Chelyabinsk Pipe Mill (ChTPZ) to take off our products are in place, as well as there is an agreement on cooperation with Gazprom regarding production of large-diameter pipes', said Mr. Shmakov to journalists. Serious steps are bound to be taken to develop ship building in Russia; the first shipbuilding company has been created. A comprehensive programme has been worked out to develop bridge building. This all is bound to boost demand for the production of the plate mill [more ...][read more]
World Steel Association - September 2008 crude steel production Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Brussels, Belgium; 22 Oct 2008 - World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 108.4 million metric tons (mmt) in September. This is 3.2% lower than the same month last year. Total world crude steel production was 1,035.8 mmt in the first nine months of 2008, a 4.6% increase over the same period in 2007. In September 2008, the world crude steel production moving annual total (MAT) growth rate further slowed to 4.7% from 5.6% last month. China's crude steel production [more ...][read more]
Timken Increases Precision Offerings With New Thin-Section Bearings Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Canton, Ohio, USA; 20 Oct 2008 - The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) today announced that it is expanding its offering of thin-section ball bearings to provide a standard line of bearings that can perform with greater precision and resist corrosion. The new bearings have a minimum precision level that meets ABEC 5 and ISO P5 standards for bearing tolerance. Prior to Timken's introduction of the new series, thin-section bearings meeting these tolerances were not available as a standard offering [more ...][read more]
Mechel Reports Its Operational Results for the First Nine Months of 2008 Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Moscow, Russia; 16 Oct 2008 - Mechel Management OOO Chief Executive Officer Vladimir Polin commented on the operational results for the first nine month of 2008: 'Mechel continues to implement its long term strategy of transitioning to the manufacturing of downstream products with high added value in its steel segment and increasing production efficiency in all of its business segments. Consolidation of Yakutugol OAO enabled us to significantly increase our coal output and coal concentrate production. Due to our acquisition of Romanian producer Ductil Steel in Spring 2008, we also increased steel product output and strengthened our positions in the promising Eastern European market. An insignificant reduction in our coke production was due to the planned overhaul of coke oven battery No. 4' [more ...][read more]
Third World Steel Association Sustainability Report 2008 published Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Washington DC, USA; 07 Oct 2008 - A new report released today by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) outlines the challenges faced by the industry, reaffirms its commitment to sustainable development and presents the industry's progress. The 2008 Sustainability Report is based on a survey of 500 stakeholders located in Europe, North America, South America, Australia, Asia and Africa. The report captures indicator data from 38 companies and two regional associations in 2006, representing 520 million metric tons of steel, or 42% of world production, and US$ 410.3 billion in annual revenues. Speaking at the steel industry annual conference, Director General Ian Christmas said [more ...][read more]
Rautaruukki raises EBIT target and expects continued growth in company's main market areas Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Helsinki, Finland; 01 Oct 2008 - Rautaruukki's management expects continued growth in the company's main market areas, especially in Central Eastern and Eastern Europe. The company believes the impact of the current general factors of uncertainty in the global economy is likely to be less in its core market areas - the Nordic countries, Central Eastern Europe and especially in Russia and Ukraine [more ...][read more]
Mechel Announces Commissioning of New Mining and Processing Plant At Voskhod Chrome Ore Deposit Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Aktyubinsk, Kazakhstan; 22 Sep 2008 - Mechel OAO, one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces the commissioning of its new mining and processing plant at the Voskhod chrome ore deposit in the Aktyubinsk Region, Kazakhstan. Today, the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, and the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, officially opened Mechel's mining and processing plant at the Voskhod chrome ore deposit in the Aktyubinsk Region, Kazakhstan. The official opening ceremony took place during the exhibition held as part of a Forum for the leaders of the border regions of Russia and Kazakhstan in Aktyubinsk, Kazakhstan, attended by the Presidents of both countries [more ...][read more]
IISI: August 2008 Crude Steel Production Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Brussels, Belgium; 19 Sep 2008 - World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) was 112.2 million metric tons (mmt) in August. This is 2.9% higher than the same month last year. Total world crude steel production was 926.3 mmt in the first eight months of 2008, a 5.6% increase over the same period in 2007. In August 2008, the world moving annual total (MAT) growth rate further slowed to 5.5% from 5.8% last month. In the first eight months of 2008, China produced 351.1 mmt of crude steel, an increase of 8.3% compared to the same period in 2007. In August 2008, China's MAT growth rate continued to slow further to 8.6%, compared to its MAT growth rate peak of 26.3% in January 2006. China's crude steel production for August 2008 was 42.6 mmt, an increase of 1.3% on August 2007. Overall, Asia produced 63.8 mmt of crude steel in August 2008 compared to 62.2 mmt in August 2007, a 2.4% increase in crude steel production. India showed a 6.9% increase in August producing 4.7 mmt of crude steel. In August 2008, the EU produced 15.8 mmt of crude steel, an increase of 1.8% and in the first eight months the EU produced 142.1 mmt, a 0.8% increase over the same period in 2007. Belgium showed a 16.5% increase producing 0.9 mmt of crude steel in August. The UK produced 1.1 mmt, a decrease of -3.5% compared to the same month last year [more ...][read more]
Stainless steel production for first half of 2008 declines further - but recovering Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Brussels, Belgium; 15 Sep 2008 - Preliminary figures released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) show that stainless steel crude steel production has decreased in the first half of 2008 by 1.8% compared to the same period of 2007. The decrease was 2.9% in the first quarter but just 0.6% in the second. All major regions have shown lower production volumes in the first half of this year [more ...][read more]
Timken Provides Repair Services for Steel Producer Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:55 GMT [Steelonthenet.com] Canton, Ohio, USA; 02 Sep 2008 - The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) announced today that it is providing industrial services to Sparrows Point, a fully integrated steel mill based in Baltimore. As a full-service supplier to Sparrow's Point, Timken performs bearing repair, chock repair, roll repair and other lifecycle services for the steel producer. Timken provides service on approximately 50 different bearing part numbers for use in cold and hot steel mills at Sparrows Point [more ...][read more]