Vallourec has announced the expansion of its plant V&M Changzhou in China. Using a new proprietary technology, this extension will allow the production of 60,000 tonnes of seamless pipes per year to serve the local demand for power plants. The capital expenditure of this project amounts to EUR 160 million and operations are expected to begin by mid 2012. 

Steel tubular manufacturer TMK IPSCO announced today that it will open a Sales Office in Calgary, Alberta Canada on August 2, 2010. The new office will serve as TMK IPSCO's Canadian headquarters for sales and will support TMK IPSCO's commitment to better service its cross border customers with value added sophisticated products for both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration and development.  

Nippon Steel Corporation and BlueScope Steel Limited announce that they have signed a comprehensive and long-term joint technical collaboration agreement to develop the next-generation coated steel products for the global building and construction market. Recently, both companies agreed to enter into a technical collaboration agreement for the joint research and development of the next generation coated steel products for the global building and construction market. Under this collaboration, both parties will conduct further joint research and development utilizing each other's facilities for research, production and processing. Further informatikon.

JFE Steel Corporation, following extensive deliberations with JSW Steel Limited since signing a strategic collaboration agreement on November 19, 2009, announced today that as the first concrete step of a new strategic alliance, they have signed agreements for JFE Steel to take an equity position in JSW Steel and to provide the Indian steelmaker with technical assistance. JFE Steel, through its partnership with JSW Steel, now expects to participate on a full scale in the emerging market of India.  

MEPS remains quite upbeat about the prospects for global iron and steelmaking this year and next. World steel output is predicted to reach 1395 million tonnes in 2010 - up by 14 percent on the year earlier figure. A further expansion of 3.9 percent is anticipated in 2011. The bounce back in global steel mill activity this year will be strongly influenced by the recovery in industrialised countries of the world. The economic crisis in the West in 2009 resulted in their share of global steel output falling to just 25 percent. This year, the figure will climb to near 28 percent. – Further information

An interim pricing agreement between Kumba Iron Ore and ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa) yesterday, saying critical issues arising from the dispute between the parties were still unresolved. Kumba and Amsa announced that they had reached an interim pricing agreement for iron ore supplied from Kumba subsidiary Sishen Iron Ore Company after the government stepped in last week to mediate a deal. The conclusion of the interim agreement, which is in force until the end of July 2011, has seen Amsa withdraw its threat to shut down Saldanha Steel, its plant in the Northern Cape.  

International technology Group ANDRITZ has received orders with a total value of about 50 M EUR from two stainless steel producers in China. For Tianjin TISCO & TPCO Stainless Steel Co. Ltd. the ANDRITZ METALS business area will supply an annealing and pickling line for cold-rolled stainless steel strip with a maximum strip width of 1,320 mm (annual capacity 400,000 t). In order to enhance the product quality, this plant is equipped with a tension-leveller and a skin pass mill. Start-up of the line is planned for the third quarter of 2011.  

Nikkei quoted Mr Akio Mimura chairman of Nippon Steel Corporation as saying that the company hopes to produce 60 million tonnes of steel a year at domestic and overseas plants.At a lecture in Tokyo, Mr Mimura said that the company's annual domestic production capacity is currently 30 million tonnes to 40 million tonnes. He said expanding by taking over foreign firms would be difficult because of possible intervention by governments. He added that "We will expand output capacity by forming loose alliances with overseas firms."  

Outokumpu's deliveries of stainless steel increased by 26% to 339 000 tonnes in the second quarter compared to the same quarter in 2009. Base prices improved by 18%. Outokumpu's sales grew as much as 80% to EUR 1 110 million in the second quarter. Compared to the first quarter of 2010 Outokumpu's second-quarter deliveries were at about the same level and the Group's capacity utilisation remained around 75%. This combined with the positive price development, however enabled Outokumpu to return to profit after seven loss-making quarters.  

World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 119 million metric tons (mmt) in June. This is 18% higher than June 2009. World crude steel production in the first six months of 2010 was 706 mmt, 27.9% higher in comparison with the same period of 2009.  

The quarter (Unless otherwise stated, the report relates to continuing operations, i.e. excluding the tubular business

POSCO, South Korea's leading steelmaker, said Wednesday that it will expand its stainless steel production capacity in Vietnam to meet growing demand in Southeast Asian markets.The company plans to construct a plant with a capacity of 1 million tons in Vietnam in addition to the one it already operates there with a capacity of 1.2 million tons. In 2009, POSCO acquired Asia Stainless Corp., a Vietnamese steelmaker that produces around 85,000 tons of stainless steel annually. The world's third-largest steelmaker plans to expand the unit's annual production capacity to 285,000 tons by 2014. 

The Timken Company announced that it has agreed to acquire the business of QM Bearings & Power Transmission Incorporated, based in Ferndale Washington. QM manufactures spherical roller bearing steel housed units and electrometric and steel couplings used in demanding processes such as sawmill and logging operations. The addition of QM aligns with Timken’s strategy to expand its penetration in high performance applications and extend its power transmission capabilities beyond the company's original, core bearing business. The acquisition, which is expected to be accretive to earnings in its first full year, is subject to certain government and regulatory approvals. Timken expects to close the transaction by the fourth quarter of 2010. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.  

As signalled from early 2010 onwards by the steady rise in import licenses, Q1 of 2010 steel imports into the EU have risen to levels significantly above those registered in the preceding 3 quarters of 2009. This implies that imports have returned to the Q1 of 2009 level. The rising trend for total imports hides significantly diverging trends at the product level. Whereas imports of long products increased relatively modestly compared with the preceding quarters and actually fell by more than 35% YoY in Q1, imports of flat products and semis, particularly those from China, have been on a rising trend since Q3 of 2009.