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STI may june COVER_Layout 1 5/16/12 11:20 AM Page 1 May/June 2012 – Vol.36 No.4 – www.steeltimesint.com NEWS ANALYSIS & TESTING RUSSIA CONFERENCE REPORTS STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – May/June 2012 STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – Vol.36 No.4 – Vol.36 may june contents_Contents_STI_Mar10 5/18/12 8:25 AM Page 3 May/June 2012 Contents Vol.36/No.4 Front cover image courtesy of Tenova EDITORIAL Editor Tim Smith PhD, CEng, MIM Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855154 [email protected] Deputy Editor Greg Morris Tel:+44 (0) 1737 855132 Production Editor Analysis & testing – Page 17 Transport market – Page 23 Annie Baker SALES International Sales Manager Paul Rossage [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855116 Area Sales Manager Anne Considine [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855139 Sales Director Ken Clark [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855117 Marketing Executive Annie O’Brien [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855012 Advertisement Production Martin Lawrence [email protected] Rolling – Page 29 Know your steel – Page 45 SUBSCRIPTION Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855033/034 Email [email protected] News Steel Times International is published eight times a year and is available on subscription. News – Consumption growth to slow in 2012 2 Annual subscription: UK £155.00 Statistics & Events – March global steel production up 1.8% 8 Other countries: £222.00 (US$342) (€269) USA Update – American steel industry taking manufacturing out of recession 10 2 years subscription: UK £279.00 Other countries: £399.60 (US$615.60) (€484.20) Latin America Update – Single copy (inc postage): £35.00 The value of Brazil’s steel industry to the economy by boosting demand for other industries 12 Email: [email protected] China Update – Chinese steel companies focus on logistics to improve profits 14 Published by: USA Steel – American Iron and Steel Institute calls for further Government intervention 16 Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, England. Analysis & testing Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000 Monitoring the lifeblood of your steel operation 17 Fax: +44 (0)1737 855033/855034 www.steeltimesint.com Fast and advanced inspection of rolls/New in-line profile gauge for long product mills 18 Steel Times International (USPS No: 020-958) is published Concentration measurement made easy 20 monthly except Feb, May, July, Dec by Quartz Business Media Ltd and distributed in the US by DSW, 75 Aberdeen New laser triangulation thickness gauge/Combined hardness tester 22 Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER send address changes to Steel Times International c/o PO Box 437, Emigsville, PA Transport market 17318-0437. The demands of the automotive market in USA 23 Printed in England by: Pensord, Tram Road, Pontlanfraith, Ruukki provides HSS for conveying ore/Bloodhound – TWI bonding in 1000mph ‘car’ 26 Blackwood, Gwent NP12 2YA, UK ©Quartz Business Media Ltd 2012 Others Design for integration of roll grinding shop 29 MMK completes structure for high value added steels 34 Severstal: The Russian company breaks new ground in liquidity management 36 AISTech 2012 – An event bolstered by an improving US economy 37 The basics of iron and steel-making – Part 2 Producing iron and steel 45 ISSN 0143-7798 History: Astley Green – The last surviving monument of Lancashire coal 48 www.steeltimesint.com Steel Times International – May/June 2012 – 1 STI may june news_Layout 1 5/16/12 3:09 PM Page 1 News in Brief World News www.steeltimesint.com Indian gas call The Minister for Steel has called on Consumption growth Eurofer the New National Steel Policy to ensure sufficient supplies of natural gas to gas based DRI producers. to slow in 2012 forecast Supplies have been restricted in the past by the Ministry of Petroleum & Global and Chinese steel con- than in 2007. Eurofer’s Q2-2012 economic and Natural Gas. sumption growth will slow in 2012, “China has approached the top steel market sees recessionary India is the world leader in the pro- hit by weaker economic growth in inflection point, when growth pressures in the EU gradually eas- duction of DRI, producing 23.25Mt top consumer China and uncer- starts to slow down. After a long ing from Q2 onwards. in FY 2010-11 of which 6.19Mt was tainties about the debt crisis in the period of strong (steel consump- However, the strength and tim- from gas-based plants operated by euro zone, the World Steel tion) growth of around 10% now ing of an economic turnaround Essar Steel in Gujarat, Ispat Association said. we forecast 4% growth,” Basson remains surrounded by uncertain- Industries in Maharashtra and Global steel consumption will added. ties and risks. Most of them stem Welspun Maxsteel also located in grow by 3.6% to 1.422bnt in 2012 In the US apparent steel con- from internal problems and struc- Maharashtra. and by 4.5% to 1.486bnt in 2013, sumption is forecast to grow by tural imbalances in the EU. The remaining 17.0Mt of DRI was down from 5.6% growth last year, 5.7% in 2012 and by 5.6% in 2013, Eurofer director-general produced in coal fired rotary kilns of the World Steel Association when it should reach a level of Gordon Moffat said: “The recent which around 80 companies operat- (worldsteel) forecast. 99.5Mt, or 92% of the 2007 level. trend in the indicators is consistent ed in 2010-11. “Our key negative is uncertainty “The US seems to be on the way with a stabilisation in economic over the euro zone,” said Edwin to recovery: they have got the fundamentals after months of BHP merges stainless unit Basson, the association director financial sector under control and weakening; this could pave the way BHP Billiton is to consolidate its general. the housing market is starting to for a cautious recovery later in the stainless steel materials and alumini- Worldsteel expects EU apparent recover; this will stimulate con- year. Owing to solid order back- um divisions into a single business steel consumption to contract by sumption growth,” Basson said. logs and support from the weaker unit of larger scale, ready to benefit 1.2% this year to 150.9Mt as the Worldsteel forecasts India’s con- euro on export markets, activity from future growth in emerging sovereign debt problems continue sumption to grow by 6.9% in 2012 across EU’s manufacturing sector economies. to act as a major drag on econom- to 72.5Mt and by a further 9.4% in has been holding up well.” BHP said the new aluminium and ic activities in the area. 2013, on the back of urbanisation Activity in the steel using sectors nickel customer sector group, to In 2013 it forecasts 3.3% steel and infrastructure investment. is seen falling by less than 1% in include all its current nickel and alu- use growth in the area, which Steel use is expected to contract 2012. minium assets, would be based in would push consumption up to in Japan by 0.6% this year and by Perth, Australia, under the leader- 155.8Mt, or only 79% of the 2007 2.2% the next, despite reconstruc- ship of Glenn Kellow, currently presi- level. An economic growth slow- tion efforts after the March 2011 dent of stainless steel materials. down in China is also going to earthquake as currency apprecia- Guinea Together, BHP’s stainless steel mate- have a negative impact on steel tion will likely continue to have a rials and aluminium units made an consumption, according to the negative impact on the country’s underlying operating loss of $66M industry body, which expects steel economy and industrial sectors. project at the half-year to the end of use in China to grow by 4% in both The Middle East and North December, compared to BHP’s 2012 and 2013 to 648.8Mt and Africa will see steel consumption underlying operating profit of 674.8Mt respectively. According to rebound by 5.7% this year after a $15.7bn. this forecast, in 2013, Chinese 2% drop last year on the back of consumption will be 61% higher political turmoil. Manufacturing boost The UK manufacturing sector is showing signs of bouncing back from the fragile conditions seen at Baosteel considering the end of 2011 and start of 2012, and sentiment has improved for the first time in a year, UK’s CBI reports. relocating from Shanghai Rio Tinto and Chinalco’s sub- sidiary, Chalco, have completed China’s coke output to slow Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp its sales revenue to RMB70bn a the formation of their joint venture China’s coking industry is likely to may consider moving its produc- year by 2015. (JV) to develop and operate the see slower growth at the rate of tion base out of the city in In addition, Baosteel is prepar- Simandou iron ore project in output and sales in 2012 on the response to environmental con- ing to produce iron and steel in Guinea, following the completion slowing worldwide economy and cerns about its operation. Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. of all Chinese regulatory slack demand from the steel indus- Xu Lejiang, chairman of The plan is awaiting approval from approvals. try, says the China Coking Industry Baosteel, said local officials had central government. As a result, a consortium led by Association. once treated his company as if it Experts said Baosteel will be Chalco has made a payment of The association forecasts that were some kind of a ‘fortune cook- able to expand in the steel business US$1.35bn, in line with an agree- China’s apparent consumption of ie’, but that it has recently become by seeking development opportu- ment reached with Rio Tinto in crude steel may exceed 700Mt in a piece of ‘smelly tofu’ in their nities outside Shanghai.