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Steel and Stainless Steel Industries

About the Ring’s chromite: Wanted — Smarts, determination and a Northern Ontario refinery – by Don Wallace (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – June 4, 2016)

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/

As time passes and we approach the 10th anniversary of the discovery of the Ring of Fire, there still remains a void of information about the intentions of senior government. Rather than celebrating a bonanza, both levels of government seem to be avoiding critical decisions regarding what to do about some $60 billion worth of chromite lying deep in the wilderness of Northern Ontario.

The feds and Queen’s Park blame one another and the continued silence is exasperating and provokes one to ask why pay taxes for governance when it doesn’t exist? Chromite, or chromium oxide, is the only ore of chromium. It is mined, concentrated and then transformed by smelting into ferrochrome. Then it is added to molten iron (one part of ferrochrome to six parts of iron) to produce a hard, lustrous, corrosion-resistant metal known as stainless steel.

Given its rare distribution and limited supply, most experts feel that the high-grade Ring of Fire chromite deposit will, sooner or later, find room in the world market. However, to derive full value requires a complex multi-stage process managed by skilled and experienced people.

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[China steel dumping] Congressmen want White House action on imports – by Karen Caffarini (Chicago Post-Tribune – May 17, 2016)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky and another ranking member of the Congressional Steel Caucus are seeking a private meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss the import surge facing the American steel industry. “Congress has acted to support the American steel industry. It is now time for the administration to take the next step,” Visclosky said.

Kevin Spicer, communications director for Visclosky, D-Merrillville, said the White House has confirmed receipt of the letter, which was written by Visclosky, who serves as vice chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, and U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., the caucus’ chairman, and sent by email and post on May 11.

He did not say whether the president would meet with the two congressmen. In the letter, the congressmen state that despite the industry’s significance to the nation’s economy and national security, an unprecedented surge in illegally traded imports have resulted in numerous mills across the country to close their doors, causing more than 13,000 employees to be laid off this past year.

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China admits overcapacity not yet falling in bloated steel sector – by Ruby Lian and David Stanway (Reuters U.S. – May 16, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING – Massive overcapacity in China’s steel industry is not yet falling, a vice minister said on Monday, as the country’s leading steel companies conceded that current output was unsustainable and blamed the restart of mills previously shut.

China is facing anger and calls for trade penalties to block its exports by global rivals, who say it is dumping cheap exports after a slowdown in demand at home.

The world’s biggest steel producer has vowed to cut production capacity by 100 to 150 million tonnes over five years from around 1.1 billion tonnes, although its efforts have been complicated by a recovery in domestic steel prices.

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Cone of silence descends on Essar Steel Algoma sale process – by David Helwig (SooToday.com – May 16, 2016)

https://www.sootoday.com/

It’s getting harder and harder to report on the latest news from the Essar Steel Algoma restructuring. A court-ordered sales and investment solicitation process (SISP) is underway to identify a new purchaser or investor.

Everyone involved has been made to sign non-disclosure agreements. The latest papers filed with Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice are covered with blacked-out sections intended to keep the sales process under strict secrecy.

Confidentiality is considered especially important in this case because Essar Global Fund Ltd., the Cayman Islands-based parent company of Essar Steel Algoma, is known to be a possible bidder for the Sault steel operations.

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In bold move, U.S. Steel launches campaign to stop China imports (Reuters U.S. – April 27, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

U.S. Steel Corp (X.N) has launched a campaign to prevent imports from China’s largest steel producers, it said on Tuesday, the boldest step yet by a U.S. company as a trade brawl with the world’s largest steel producer escalates.

In a complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the U.S. steelmaker called on regulators to investigate dozens of Chinese producers and their distributors for allegedly conspiring to fix prices, stealing trade secrets and circumventing trade duties by false labeling.

Analysts said it could be the most significant development in U.S. steel trade in a quarter of a century, and will likely ratchet up tension between China and major steel producing nations, as the global industry grapples with chronic oversupply and sluggish demand.

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How a Canadian tech magnate plans to save Britain’s steel industry – by Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – April 27, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Sir Terry Matthews made a fortune in the technology sector with a string of companies including Mitel Corp., Corel Corp. and Newbridge Networks, which he sold in 2000 for $7-billlion (U.S.) in stock. Now, Sir Terry is returning to his roots in Wales for what may be his greatest challenge yet: trying to revive Britain’s largest steel plant.

Sir Terry has created Excalibur Steel UK Ltd., and he’s rounding up investors to buy the troubled Tata steel mill in Port Talbot near Swansea. Tata put its British operations up for sale in March, saying the division, which includes three steel-making facilities, was inefficient. The Port Talbot plant is the largest, employing roughly 15,000 people directly and indirectly.

The challenge for any buyer is daunting. The integrated plant, which makes strip steel used in auto manufacturing, construction and appliances, is outdated and losing about $2-million a day. Energy costs are twice as high as elsewhere in Europe and steel prices have plummeted because of oversupply from China.

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OUTOKUMPU OYJ PRESS RELEASE: Outokumpu sites in Finland recognized as prime example of circular economy (April 22, 2016)

Outokumpu’s ferrochrome and stainless steel production sites in Tornio, Finland, have worked systematically towards a zero-waste-to-landfill production system for decades. Outokumpu’s business is in fact based on recycled steel scrap as main raw material of the produced stainless steel.

The goal of circular economy is to put an end to waste through recycling and salvaging valuable materials from processes. In the 2015 Paris Climate Talks, the Kemi-Tornio area of Northern Finland was presented by research institute Nordregio as a prime example of an industrial region implementing the circular economy approach.

Today, the Tornio mill is able to commercialize a full 100% of slag side streams which can be sold to private companies and households or reutilized in Outokumpu’s own processes and construction projects.

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[Canada steel] Sheehan co-chairs all-party steel caucus – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – April 18, 2016)

http://www.saultstar.com/

Sault MP Terry Sheehan says he’s hoping Canadian steel producers will see some progress made soon that will offer them some relief to the issues that face them.

Sheehan is co-chairing an all party Parliamentary steel caucus with Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MP Bob Bratina.

The committee had its inaugural meeting last week and included the Canadian Steel Producers Association and steelmakers including Essar Steel Algoma, U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal Dofasco, Evraz and Tenaris Tubes.

Essar Steel Algoma and U.S. Steel, based in Hamilton, Ont., are both in creditor protection and undergoing restructuring plans.

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Action for American steel: We must not let unlawful dumping ruin an industry – by the Editorial Board (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – April 14, 2016)

http://www.post-gazette.com/

Steel dumping, principally by China, has become an American national crisis with particular importance to southwestern Pennsylvania. It requires a decisive U.S. government response on an urgent basis.

The problem is as complex as the world’s steel industry, involving production, consumption and international trade. In recent years America has been home to seven major companies, with 149,000 people employed in mills and 69,000 in foundries. Some 13,500 steelworkers are facing layoffs today. U.S. steel imports last year reached a record 29 percent of U.S. consumption.

There are many reasons for this dilemma. One of these is global steel overcapacity, estimated at 700 million metric tons, seven times U.S. production. China’s government-controlled industry leads the way in excess. Its production climbed from 2000 to 2014 by 540 percent, even as the Chinese economy’s own demand for steel has slumped.

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Ontario needs a bold new steel strategy – by Carter Vance (Rabble.ca – April 12, 2016)

http://rabble.ca/

The fallout from the recent chaos in the British steel industry should look familiar to many Ontarians. Major steel producers in the province, most prominently U.S. Steel Canada in Hamilton and Essar Steel Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, have shed jobs and filed for bankruptcy protection in recent years and there is little sign of ongoing slow-drip of bad news being halted any time soon.

Much of this continued pain for workers, pensioners and community rests on the lack of action by governments. Just as Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has proposed a bold plan to save the Port Talbot facility of Tata Steel, so too should Ontario’s leaders in all levels of government look to a develop a robust, strategic response to our own crisis in steel.

The development of a steel strategy must begin with a recognition of the critical place in direct and indirect employment that the steel industry has in communities across Ontario, most notably Sault Ste. Marie and the Hamilton region.

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Trudeau takes protectionist tone as pressure grows for Buy Canadian program – by John Ivison (National Post – April 9, 2016)

http://news.nationalpost.com/

Ottawa is coming under increasing pressure to introduce a Buy Canadian program to accompany its multi-billion infrastructure plan that its proponents claim would maximize jobs and growth by freezing out foreign producers.

Justin Trudeau was in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Friday, where the issue is of particular concern since the city’s largest employer, Essar Steel Algoma Inc., is under creditor protection and trawling for new owners.

Trudeau was asked if the planned infrastructure blitz offered the 115-year-old Algoma plant the opportunity to win business without being undercut by cheap foreign steel. “We are concerned with the practice of dumping into the Canadian market and are working with different levels of government,” he said. “Building new infrastructure requires new steel. There is a strong future for the steel industry in Canada.”

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Bidder has old-fashioned hopes for U.S. Steel Canada – by Greg Keenan (Globe and Mail – April 4, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

One of the bidders for the assets of U.S. Steel Canada Inc. is proposing to revive the steel industry model of 19th-century tycoon Andrew Carnegie and establish a fully integrated steel maker in Canada that would also own iron ore and coal mines.

Tom Clarke, a Virginia-based environmentalist and health care executive, said he is bidding for U.S. Steel Canada and the Wabush iron mine in Labrador. The bid is being made through his ERP Compliant Fuels LLC, which already owns coal mines in West Virginia.

The Globe and Mail reported last Friday that ERP Compliant is one of the bidders for Essar Steel Algoma Inc. in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., but Mr. Clarke said he is less interested in Essar Algoma than he is in U.S. Steel Canada.

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Exclusive: Brazil’s Vale mulls sale of Thyssenkrupp steel venture stake – by TATIANA BAUTZER AND GUILLERMO PARRA-BERNAL (Reuters U.S. – April 1, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK/SAO PAULO – Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA is finalizing a proposal to sell its 26.87 percent stake in a steel slab plant that cost nearly $10 billion to build to Germany’s Thyssenkrupp for $1 plus the assumption of some debt, a source close to the deal said.

Under the draft plan, which has yet to be approved by Vale’s (VALE5.SA) board, the company would also assume 10 percent of the contingent liabilities of the money-losing venture, CSA Siderúrgica do Atlántico.

The plant, Brazil’s most costly foreign investment project ever, reported 2.6 billion euros in total liabilities at the end of the 2015 fiscal year. Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) is aware that a proposal is underway, and negotiations with Vale are in “their final stages,” a second source said. Both companies declined to comment.

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Bidders eye U.S. Steel Canada-Essar Algoma deal, sources say – by Greg Keenan (Globe and Mail – April 1, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A deal that would combine Essar Steel Algoma Inc. and U.S. Steel Canada Inc. into a single steel maker is emerging as a potential path out of creditor protection for the two companies.

At least three bidders for Essar Algoma are also kicking the tires at U.S. Steel Canada, sources familiar with the restructuring discussions said, believing that putting the two companies together would create a strong steel maker that would flourish in the Canadian and U.S. markets. The combination of the two companies would be capable of producing more than five million tons of steel annually, ranking it fifth-largest among North American based producers.

New York-based industrial restructuring funds KPS Capital Partners LP and Bedrock Industries, as well as ERP Compliant Fuels LLP, a company set up by a Virginia environmentalist and health-care investor, are proposing to unite the two steel makers, sources said.

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