Short news metals
October 27, 2011 Category Automotive Metals & Minerals, Short news metals
- China First Metallurgical Construction Corp, a subsidiary of China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), has been banned by the World Bank from participating in its projects for three years for “fraudulent misconduct” relating to an urban transport project in Bangladesh. The World Bank declined to elaborate on the nature and details of the misconduct. A MCC Spokesman said overseas operations accounted for around 8% of its total sales. He said many of its overseas projects had not been completed, so no financial gains were booked.
- Molten iron spilling from the wall of a blast furnace killed 12 workers and injured another at Nanjing Iron & Steel on October 5. A preliminary investigation concluded that molten iron at temperatures of 1,400 degrees Celsius had penetrated the walls of the furnace, which was being prepared for decommissioning. The company is a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Fosun International, a Hong Kong-listed conglomerate. Fosun derived CNY388 million, or 11.4% of its total net profit in the first half of the year, from steel production, but it accounted for 74% of total revenues.
- Baoshan Iron and Steel Co has kept prices unchanged for its main products for November delivery after increasing them for two months. Baosteel monthly pricing is often seen as a benchmark in the domestic market. It cut prices for silicon steel products by between CNY200 and CNY600 per ton. The company expects heavy pressure on the steel market in the fourth quarter. The World Steel Association said global steel demand may grow 6.5% this year and another 5.4% next year after rising 15% in 2010.
- Angang Steel Co has halted a blast furnace on weakening demand. The No 2 furnace will be shuttered for one-and-a-half months, cutting annual output by about 320,000 tons of iron. Steel prices in China have dropped to the lowest in 10 months amid the slowing global economy and weaker construction demand. Angang’s net income in the first nine months may have fallen 91% from a year earlier.
- Aluminum producer China Zhongwang will spend USD3.8 billion buying equipment to build new production facilities that will produce 3 million tons of flat-rolled aluminum annually by 2018. Zhongwang’s net income for the half year to June fell 80% on the same period for last year. The firm blamed its earnings collapse on a U.S. trade ruling in March that slapped high anti-dumping duties on some of its products after a government inquiry found cheap Chinese aluminum imports were harming U.S. producers. Bank of China Analyst Luo Rongjin called Zhongwang’s target of selling 3 million tons of flat-rolled aluminum a year risky, as the total output in China is less than 8 million tons.
- Aluminum inventories in China rebounded 30% in the past three weeks and analysts expect further increases. Stockpiles were about 300,000 metric tons in mid-October, up from a 2011 low of 230,000 metric tons on September 23, according to Huang Fulong of Guangzhou KT Commodity Information & Consulting Co. Aluminum output in China climbed to a record 1.59 million tons in June due to capacity expansion. It then fell to 1.52 million tons in September as smelters reduced output.
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