The 9th China (Beijing) International Steel Tube Industry Expo 2012 (Stiexpo) aims to promote development and application of steel tube technologies. Along with presenting all kinds of high-end products and equipment, it emphasizes more the connection of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, the building of the one-continuous-line cooperative mode among production, processing and application of steel tube products, thus deepening the commercial and trading cooperation.

Tenova I2S has signed a contract with GuangHan TianCheng Stainless Steel to supply a new ZR22BE-52” precision 20 High Cluster Mill at the company’s site at Sichuan China. The new Tenova I2S 20 High Mill is a key component of this planned expansion for GuangHan TianCheng Stainless Steel, which is the largest private producer of Stainless Steel in the region.

World crude steel production for the 59 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 117 million t (Mt) in January 2012. This is -7.8% lower than January 2011. China’s crude steel production for January 2012 was 52.1 Mt, a decrease of -13% compared to January 2011. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.6 Mt of crude steel in January 2012, a decrease of -10.6% compared to the same month last year. South Korea’s crude steel production for January 2012 was 5.1 Mt, -9.6% down compared to January 2011.

Tenova LOI Italimpianti and Tenova Hypertherm begin 2012 by supplying three 350 t/h walking beam furnaces to the new Tata Steel plant in Kalinganagar, in Orissa (India). Besides confirming Tenova LOI Italimpianti and Tenova Hypertherm’s leadership position on the local market, the project is a new milestone in the on-going cooperation between Tenova and the Indian customer.

The 9th China International Metallurgy Industry Expo will take place in China National Convention Center. CIMIE 2012 will show cutting-edge technology of global Iron and Steel Industry. 30,000 professional visitors are expected. Over hundreds of upstream and downstream related enterprises from all over the world will participate in and expand the development road of metallurgy industry together.

Outokumpu has today published its online Annual Report 2011 including the Corporate Sustainability report in English. The report is available on its website at www.outokumpu.com/annualreport2011. Outokumpu's online Annual Report 2011 comprises the Business review, including a fully integrated Corporate Sustainability report, the Corporate Governance Statement, the Review by the Board of Directors and the Financial Statements 2011.

Mechel OAO, one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, reports that work was temporarily halted at Mechel Campia Turzii and Ductil Steel Buzau plants due to problems with shipping in raw materials because of severe weather conditions. Over the past few days the two plants were cut off from major transport roads due to ceaseless snowstorms. Traffic of heavy-duty trucks along Romania’s routes was halted or limited. Railway operations are also severely limited. All this made it impossible to supply billets to Mechel Campia Turzii and Ductil Steel Buzau. Ductil Steel Buzau and Mechel Campia Turzii are due to resume operations on February 22 and 24 respectively once the snowstorms’ effects are eliminated. Chief Executive Officer of Mechel-Steel Management Company OOO Andrey Deineko commented on the situation by noting that the temporary halting of Mechel’s two Romanian steel plants will not affect the company’s production plans for the year.

On 28th February a vote is scheduled in the European Parliament on a series of amendments to the Energy Efficiency Directive aimed at the “set aside” of ETS allowances. The aim of this confiscation of allowances is to artificially rise the carbon price which is, as a result of the economic crisis, at very low levels. However, in an interview with Euractiv last week, Commissioner Hedegaard said “we think it’s important to have a market-based system. None of us should be surprised when there is a huge crisis in Europe, and production is coming down, it is no wonder then that in a market-based system, that demand will come down and therefore also the price. We will be in for so much more trouble if we had a politically regulated system all the time.”

Zhang Jiagang Pohang Stainless Steel Co., Ltd (ZPSS) recently received environmental subsidies worth 1 million yuan from Jiangsu province in China in recognition of preventing pollution at Lake Taihu. The company`s wastewater renovation project (RWR facilities team) received the subsidies from the Zhang Jiagang Municipal Development, Reform Commission, Municipal Bureau of Water Conservancy, in line with local environment policies.

Eurometal Steel Net Forum will be jointly organised by Assofermet and by Eurometal. The event will take place on 10 May 2012 focussing on the Conference motto "European Steel Distribution in 2012- Challenges and changes in a difficult economic framewerk". Speakers from steel business consultancies, steel industry, steel distribution and steel trade will inform about developments and innovations.
 

The World Championship of the sixth steeluniversity Challenge took place in Brussels on 8 February 2012 with regional champions from the first round held late last year. They were invited to the grand final and were given the task of refining an order of linepipe steel, as used for oil and gas distribution. The contestants had two hours to produce the steel at the minimum cost while maintaining the levels of impurities and inclusions within specification. The lowest cost achieved at the world championship was $12.70/tonne.

Tata Steel Group recorded Profit after tax (after minority interest and share of profit of associates) of US$934 million during the first nine months of the financial year 2011-12 compared to a profit of US$906 million in the first nine months of the financial year 2010-11. The Group registered a net loss of US$114 million in Q3 FY’12 compared to a net profit of US$189 million in Q3 FY’11. Group Ebitdain 9M FY’12 was US$2.5 billion compared to US$2.34 billion in 9M FY’11. Ebitda in Q3 FY’12 came in at US$366 million compared to US$636 million recorded in Q3 FY’11. Group consolidated turnoverin 9M FY’12 was US$18.64 billion, up from the US$16.01 billion recorded in 9M FY’11. The consolidated turnover for Q3 FY’12 was US$6.24 billion compared to the US$5.48 billion in Q3 FY’11.

Outokumpu delivers stainless steel for a unique student housing project in Education City in Doha, Qatar. The planned facility puts a high emphasis on sustainability in building and aims to achieve a platinum rating in line with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System. LEED is an internationally recognised mark of excellence in sustainable construction. The stainless steel in austenitic grade 316L is delivered for Energy Tec W.L.L and will be used as cladding in the student house building for Qatar Foundation, Doha-Qatar.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel company, announced results for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2011.Highlights are: Health and safety performance improved in 2011 with an annual LTIF rate of 1.4x as compared to 1.8x in 2010; marked improvement shown in 4Q 2011 with an LTIF rate of 1.2x. FY 2011 Ebitda of $10.1 billion (+18.7% y-o-y); 4Q 2011 EBITDA of $1.7 billion (including positive $0.1 billion from sale of CO₂ credits) in challenging market conditions. FY 2011 net income of $2.3 billion or $1.46 per share; 4Q 2011 net loss of $1.0 billion due in part to $1.3 billion of non-cash charges (reduction of deferred tax assets ($0.9 billion), together with asset impairments ($0.2 billion) and restructuring charges associated with asset optimization ($0.2 billion). 4Q 2011 steel shipments of 20.6Mt down 2.5% vs. 3Q 2011 driven mainly by destocking in Europe.

Aperam announced results for the three and twelve month periods ending December 31, 2011. Philippe Darmayan, CEO of Aperam, commented: "Despite a more difficult environment than anticipated, Aperam has been able to maintain a comparable performance in Q4 2011 to Q3 2011 and to reduce debt levels significantly. Since the beginning of the year, we have started to see the signs of a rebound in the business but we continue to remain cautious considering the global economic uncertainty for 2012. Finally, we welcome recent steps towards industry consolidation and we believe that Aperam is well-positioned to benefit from it."