According to analysts in India Ratings, Tata Steel's investment in its European unit has not delivered returns according to the management's expectation. This prompted the firm to writedown $1.6 billion asset in its European unit, Rakesh Valecha, Senior Director at India Ratings feels. Tata Steel attributed the writedown to "weak economic and market conditions" in Europe and it expects this situation to continue "over the near- and medi
Category: Materials
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Capacity of proposed Afghan steel plant reduced
Considering the lack of evacuation and other infrastructure, an Indian consortium led by SAIL decided to reduce the planned capacity of an upcoming steel plant in Afghanistan. The consortium of three state-run and four private Indian players decided to set up a smaller plant with a capacity of less than 2 million tonne (mn t) to cater to Afgh
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India consumes 3.5% more steel in April
Data from Joint Plant Committee (JPC), an arm of the union steel ministry, shows that the country's steel consumption grew 3.5 percent to 5.6 million tonne (mn t) in April 2013 from 5.4 mn t in the same month. Steel consumption in April 2013 is slightly more than the average 3.3 percent growth in 2012-13. The Indian economy consumed 73.3 mn t steel in the previous fiscal compared to 71 mn t in 2011
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Subdued demand may hit margins of steel firms
Owing to subdued demand for steel, earnings of companies in the sector may remain under pressure despite decline in the cost of coking coal and iron ore, the two key raw materials. Some analysts feel that earnings of steel firms may not improve in the next quarter and may recover only from the second half of 2012-13 as demand revives once cons
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JSW Steel-Ispat merger clears legal hurdle
On May 3, 2013, the Bombay High Court cleared the Composite Scheme of Amalgamation and Arrangement between JSW Steel and JSW Ispat Steel, both the firms informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Post-merger, promoters of JSW Steel will hold 35.12 per cent in the merged entity, while company's second largest shareholder JFE Steel holding will come down to 14.9
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SBI sees relief in exposure to steel firms
In an interview to a leading media, Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) said the bank's entire exposure to the steel sector which were either NPA or restructured have now become standard. The stress on the bank's asset in this sector got reduced because of improvement in the supply of raw material to steel companies. It may be noted that the sup
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India plans to import tariffs on steel products
In order to safeguard the interests of local producers from huge imports, primarily from China and Italy, India plans to impose tariffs on some iron and steel pipes, tubes and profiles. This information is said to be sourced from a filing of India in the World Trade Organization. According to the guidelines of WTO, member countries can impose such tariffs on a temporary basis if they can sho
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Tata Steel to reline blast furnace in UK plant
Tata Steel plans to reline the Queen Anne blast furnace at its Scunthorpe, UK, plant at a cost of $77 million, or over Rs 400 crore. The project may be completed before the plantÂ’s 60th anniversary in April 2014. Relining will raise efficiency and capacity of the furnace as it involves replacement of the brick and refractory lining, replacement of copper mantle plates and copper stack cooling plates
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Stainless steel: Applications in Railways
Stainless steel consumption in the railway sector has been gaining steadily, on account of its duraÂbility, higher strength-to-weight ratio, aesÂthetics and corrosion resistance qualities.
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Regulatory measures do cause delay in commissioning of projects
Domestic iron ore scenario has recently improved and at present, iron ore is available. This is reflected in the softening of prices in the last few days, says CS Verma, Chairman, Steel Authority of India