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| HOME >> Topics List >> May, 2009 >> 12 (Tue) |
| Major Events In Apr 09 Over Ferrous Raw Materials (3) |
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Apr. 21: <1Q09 iron ore imports into Rizhao 28 Mt> Iron ore imports into China's Rizhao port located in the southern part of Shandong province, being the largest iron ore importing port in the country, totaled 28.26 Mt, an increase of 16.2% from the same period of a year ago. In March alone, the port accommodated 37 Capesize vessels of 160,000-dwt class capacity, the country's CISA disclosed April 17. The port will invest 1.58 billion RMB this year in the construction of infrastructure, such as large tonnage gantry cranes and ore ship unloaders. Qingdao, Rizhao, Lanshan, Weihai, and Longkou ports are located in Shandong province, engaged in foreign trade. All exports and imports are being managed by Qingdao customs. According the foreign trade statistics of the country, iron ore imports into China in 2008 totaled 444 Mt, of which 116 Mt were customs-cleared at Qingdao customs. Further details are not revealed. Apr. 22: <Vale virtually accepts 20% discount for 2009 iron ore prices> Brazilian resource company revealed April 20 that it is making the payment terms for its long-term iron ore commercial contracts flexible, namely the Company is currently receiving 80 percent of the sales in cash and will receive 20% later when 2009 benchmark price will be settled. In other words Vale says it has accepted provisional sales prices for longterm contracts to be equivalent to 80% of 2008 benchmark prices, with the remaining 20% subject to posterior adjustments based on the outcome of 2009 benchmark price negotiations. <Lincoln Minerals to begin selling Indonesian iron ore soon> Australian Adelaide-based minerals explorer Lincoln Minerals Limited announced April 20 that requisite permits have been obtained for the transport of ore from Desa Mirah iron ore mine to Pundu Jetty in the south-central area of Indonesia island of Kalimantan (Borneo). Transport of 7,000-ton ore stockpiled at the mining site can now commence as soon as the road has been upgraded. Mining can be commenced as well. Apr. 23: <Japan's FY 2008 iron ore imports 128 Mt> According to the foreign trade statistics (preliminary) for March 2009 announced April 22 by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, iron ore imports into the country were 5.858 Mt, an approximately 50% decrease from the same period last year. As a result iron ore imports (also on a preliminary basis) by volume during fiscal 2008 totaled 128.499 Mt, a drop of 12.232 Mt or 8.7% from the previous fiscal year; and by value surpassed one trillion yen for two consecutive years at 1,330,145 million yen. Annual average import price set the first 10,000-yen mark at 10,355 yen. Apr. 24: <China's NDRC approves Valin's capital alliance with FMG> Australian iron ore supplier Fortescue Metals Group ("FMG") announced April 22 that its Share Subscription Agreement signed Feb. 25 with China's Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group Company Ltd has been granted the approval of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in the Government of China. The NDRC approval will pave the way for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Control to formalize the Share Subscription Agreement. Valin will undertake the placements by FMG totaling 260 million new shares valued at A$644.8 million, in addition to the already acquired 275 million shares from an existing shareholder of FMG. As a result, FMG will be the second largest shareholder of FMG having 535 million shares or 17.33% of total issued capital. There was an agreement between the two companies specifying the 17.55% standstill maximum shareholding by Valin. <BHPB's updated W. Australian iron ore expansion projects> BHP Billiton (BHPB) has announced its Quarterly Report on Exploration and Development Activities for the Jan. to Mar. quarter of 2009: -- RGP4 (BHPB's interest 86.2%) aims to implement 26 million tons per annum (Mt/a) of additional iron ore system capacity, boosting thereby current capacity to 155 Mt/a. This project is on schedule and budget. Engineering is over 95% complete and construction is nearing 80% complete. Initial production is targeted for the first half of calendar 2010. BHPB's share of approved capex is US$1,850 million. -- RGP5 (BHPB's interest 85.0%) aims to implement another 50 Mt/a of additional iron ore system capacity to further raise capacity to 205 Mt/a. This project is on schedule and budget. Engineering is currently 50% complete, procurement and contracting activities are advancing. Construction activities have commenced. Initial production is targeted for the second half of calendar 2011. BHPB's share of approved capex is US$4,800 million. <Good results obtained from sintering test on Mary River iron ore> Canadian iron ore developer Baffinland Iron Mines Corp announced April 20 the test results concerning its fine iron ore trial cargo shipped to ThyssenKrupp Steel in October 2008. The iron ore was consumed over an approximate two-week period by ThyssenKrupp in two sinter beds. Each sinter bed is 150,000 tonnes and is composed of various iron ores as part of ThyssenKrupp's standard sinter mix. To determine the performance of the Mary River iron ore as part of the sinter mix, all other variables are kept constant. Although the Mary River fine iron ore was just 9.6% of the total sinter feed, there was an impressive 4.5% increase in sinter productivity with excellent sinter quality. Apr. 27: <Australian WDR successfully completes beneficiation testwork> Australian mineral exploration company Western Desert Resources Limited (WDR) has announced that the results of beneficiation testwork on samples from the first drill campaign it conducted at the Roper Bar iron ore project jointly with IEDA - IMEA Exploration and Development of Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of ITOCHU's Australian subsidiary IMEA indicate that upgrading by heavy liquid separation may be technically feasible. Preliminary beneficiation testwork has been completed on three ironstone core samples from Roper Bar. The heavy liquid separation test results for the highest density liquid (SG > 4.05) are encouraging with an enhancement of the iron ore grade from 41% to 65% in two of the samples and from 53% to 65% in the third sample. In addition there is also a significant reduction of the silica content from about 15% to 4% in the higher grade sample and from about 35% to 5% in the lower grade samples. Apr. 28: <2008 world DRI production up 1.8% to 68.45 Mt> According to the April 24 announcement of U.S. Midrex Technologies, Inc., world Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) production in 2008 totaled 68.45 Mt, an increase of 1.23 Mt or 1.8% from the previous year's total of 67.22 Mt. DRI production has been tracing an upward curve for 30 straight years. Midrex Technologies is a wolly-owed subsidiary of Kobe Steel Ltd. <Vale, CSN aim at settling all existing pending matters> Brazilian resources company Vale announced April 24 that it has entered into an agreement with Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), which comprises three issues including introduction of flexibility in the execution of a contract signed on March 21, 2005 regarding iron ore supply from the Casa de Pedra mine to Vale. |
| last modified : Fri 15 May, 2009 [10:11] |
