CATEGORIES

Motown Sales Drive Over Fuel Price Hike Bumps in May

Motown Sales Drive Over Fuel Price Hike Bumps in May

NMDC's Q4 Iron Ore Production Up 9% to 11.35 mt

NMDC’s Q4 Iron Ore Production Up 9% to 11.35 mt

Delhi NCR a Hot Favourite of Chinese Global Cos

Delhi NCR a Hot Favourite of Chinese Global Cos

Vedanta Resources Appoints New CEO of Africa Base Metals

Vedanta Resources Appoints New CEO of Africa Base Metals

Meneta Eyes 12% Growth Next Year

Indian subsidiary of Denmark-based company hopes to ride auto industry’s trajectory

Calderys India May Go South, East In The Mid-Term

Calderys India, a leader in monolithic refractories, serves industries ranging from iron and steel, cement and power to petrochemicals. However, with its main focus being on the steel industry, the latest developments plaguing the latter as well as the current macro-economic parameters are having a rub-off effect on the company too. However, Calderys India, looking into the future, is eyeing newer export geographies like Pakistan and putting more stress on the domestic cement industry where it already commands 40 percent share in monolithics, apart from upgrading its current facilities to bring in better energy efficiency and cost optimisation, Hakimuddin Ali, Chairman, Imerys India and Managing Director, Calderys BU India & Middle East, informs Madhumita Mookerji. Excerpts from an interview:

Coking Coal Offers Ease In October, May Remain Soft This Winter

Seaborne coking coal prices showed a decline in October 2017, mainly due to low procurement by China and India, amid expectations that prices may ease further in the winter months, industry sources said.

Pellet Makers Seek Total Ban On High Grade Iron Ore Exports

Concerned over rising trend in iron ore exports, pellet manufacturers have called for a total ban on exports of high grade iron ore fines from the country in the interest of the local steel industry.

Major Ports' Iron Ore Handling Up 23.5% In Apr-Sept

The 12 major Indian ports handled 326.38 million tons (mt) of total traffic during April-September, 2017, about 3.23 percent higher than 316.14 mt recorded during April-September, 2016, according to data released by the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

Can Washington Avoid Casualties Of A Trade War?

As the ominous clouds of an impending trade war between the US and China looms large, serious questions of justifications of this kind of a step are being raised in several quarters in the US itself.

Primetals Technologies Receives PAC From Arcelormittal Poland

Primetals Technologies has received the Provisional Acceptance Certificate (PAC) from ArcelorMittal Poland S.A. for the replacement of the second LD (BOF) converter at its Dabrowa Górnicza steel works.

JSW Steel Aion Emerges Successful Bidder For Monnet Ispat

JSW Steel-Aion Capital has emerged as the successful bidder to acquire Monnet Ispat and Energy (MIEL), the company said in a BSE filing.

Tata Metaliks Q4 Pat Up 35% To ₹54.65 Cr

Tata Metaliks Limited (TML) has reported a 35.3 percent rise in its profit after tax (PAT) at ₹54.65 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared with ₹40.38 crore seen in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Kalinganagar Boosts Tata Steel FY18 Output To 12.48 Mt

Tata Steel has recorded the highest-ever output of 12.48 million ton (mt) production, for the fiscal 2017-18, mainly on the back of robust performance at the Kalinganagar plant, the company said in a BSE filing.

Traffic Handled By Major Ports Up 5% In FY18

The 12 major Indian ports handled 679.36 million tons (mt) of total traffic during 2017-2018, about 4.77 percent higher than 648.39 mt recorded during 2016-17, according to data released by the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

Autoville's FY19 Starts With Sales Headed North

India’s top auto makers started the fiscal on a high as all major players posted growth in their April sales, except for Ford India, Honda and Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

Demand Spurs Steel Price Hike

Strong demand growth in the domestic market, steel producers are set to hike product prices by 1,000 a ton from March 1.

Steel Sector Margins To Shrink In FY20: Crisil

With the Indian economy caught in crosswinds, rating agency CRISIL expects gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 6.9 percent this fiscal, or 20 basis points lower than what the agency had envisaged earlier.

Fiscal Starts On A Low As Car Makers Post De-growth In Sales

The new fiscal (2019-20) started off on a low note as leading auto makers posted de-growth in sales, owing to the ongoing elections, new regulations and unfavorable exchange rates. During April 2019, all car makers barring Honda has witnessed decline in their sales graph.

Budget Revises Basic Customs Duty on Some Steel Products

Steel Insights Bureau

Global Miners Must Play Role in India's Mineral Exploration

Confederation of Indian Industry has a prescription for country’s mining sector ailments

Are We Moving Towards Steel Cartels?

So much has happened within such a short span of time! The National Company Law Tribunal-initiated insolvency proceedings have led a few of India’s largest steel companies to bid for the debtriddled assets put on the block. Does it mean a morphing is on the anvil in the steel landscape? Dr Susmita Dasgupta, Joint Chief Economist, Joint Plant Committee, Ministry of Steel, tells Madhumita Mookerji, that apart, logistics and information technology appear to be the next business opportunity areas in steel. How? These areas can be used to negotiate capacity rationalisation, increase specialisation and improve margins. Moreover, with the market for graphite expanding hugely, no one seems to be interested in producing for the steel furnaces. Here is the time then to shift towards the induction furnaces, she says. Excerpts from an interview:

Coking Coal Prices Ease In March

Seaborne coking coal prices eased in March 2018 owing to ample seaborne cargoes of the premium hard variety and lukewarm demand, but recovered early April due to concern over Cyclone Iris in Queensland, Australia, according to market sources.

Motown Ends FY18 On A High Note

The country’s top auto makers ended the fiscal on a high as all major players posted growth in their March sales, except for Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Honda Cars India.

Residential Unit Sales Drop 40% In 4 Years

From observing residential market trends over the past five years, it clearly emerges that 2013-14 was the last year where things still looked vibrant for the sector, as per a note from ANAROCK Property Consultants.

RINL May Turn Profitable (after 3-YR gap) in FY19: CMD

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), also known as Vizag Steel, is expecting to be back in the black in fiscal 2018-19 after a gap of 3 years. In the last fiscal, RINL, the second largest steel-making company in the public sector, posted an EBITDA of ₹ 200 crore. In an interaction with the media, CMD of RINL, P Madhusudan, said the outlook for the steel industry is positive, as all the consuming sectors are looking up. RINL is now reaping the benefits of expansion and modernisation, which has stabilised by now, coupled with steady markets, mostly in the southern region. Excerpts:

DRI Production In FY18 May Increase 5 Percent: SIMA

Yes, there is tremendous scope for growth of the so-called secondary sector, provided all the infrastructure development programmes of the government are implemented. And the government is also taking note of the pivotal role this segment can play in the country’s economic development. But raw material costs, especially iron ore and coal, which constitute 80 percent of the production cost for the DRI players, are a bother, Deependra Kashiva, Executive Director, Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association (SIMA), tells Madhumita Mookerji.

Copper Prices Seen Hovering At $6,000/ton By Year-End

Copper prices are not expected to go down beyond $6,000 per ton by the end of this calendar. Currently, London Metal Exchange (LME) prices are at around $6,500 per ton. Where the outlook is concerned, Santosh Sharma, Chairmancum-Managing Director, Hindustan Copper, told Steel Insights: “We expect the prices to go down to $6,000 per ton by this year-end. But I don’t expect these to go down further than this. Prices were hovering around $6,700 per ton earlier. Demand and dollar fluctuations are reasons for the slide.”

Coking Coal Offers Ease In September

After a steady rise over the last couple of months, seaborne coking coal prices started easing in September mainly due to low procurement by China, industry sources said.

NMDC Geared To Meet Iron Ore Requirements: CMD

NMDC Ltd. is bullish on the growth prospects of Indian steel industry and geared up to meet the growing iron ore requirements in the country, N Baijendra Kumar, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, said.