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| MAY 2004 | |
| From the CEO's Desk | |
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The Loksabha elections concluded recently were unique in many ways. Not because it dethroned BJP led NDA and brought Congress led coalition in the power but because it brought a lot of new and young faces in the house. Many veterans were rejected by the voters indicating a possible ‘end of the road’ for them and an advent of new, young era in Indian politics. It also put a big question mark on the authenticity of exit as well as opinion polls. We wholeheartedly welcome Shri.Ram Vilas Paswan as the new Minister for Steel and hope that the industry continues to progress under his leadership. As on today it appears that these political changes will not have any direct impact on iron & steel industry. But a lot depends on how strongly the new government persues infrastructure development programme. This includes projects like development of national highways, ports, dams, major rivers joining programme etc. As we all know, this single factor can give the biggest push to steel demand in this country. Another subject in which the present government’s policy is completely different from previous one is ‘disinvestment of PSUs’. The major PSUs in this sector are SAIL, RINL, VISL, IISCO, MOIL etc. and if at all there was any thinking about disinvestment in these enterprises, it will now be stopped. The disinvestment ministry has been abolished and in his first appearence before the press, Mr.Paswan has clearly said, instead of selling, he will rather try to bring the loss making PSUs out of red. Out of these, MOIL is a profit making company. RINL has already turned around last year while SAIL is expected to do so in this fiscal. In case of other units, some solution has to be evolved. Presently, the steel industry is witnessing an upswing and thus implimenting any solution may be slightly easier as compared to other periods. D.A.Chandekar |
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| Headlines
JSPL reports 110 per cent net profit surge Decline in ore prices not a solution Jindal Stainless increases Chinese export quota TSIL to set up 1-mn steel plant Conference on the use of rebars Ram Vilas Paswan takes over as steel minister Steel in limelight in RBI report Stainless steel consumption up globally Taiwan may remove H-beam AD duties Brazil to add 10 million tpy output Pakistan Steel face severe coal shortage Chinese SS boom bubble may burst by 2005 Eastern European flat product sales to double at Arcelor Arcelor projects bright SS future in China LNM gets nod to buy South African steel producer - Iscor 2010 football World Cup: A boon for South African steel 18 iron ore loaded ships stranded in China Steel firm proposes duty cut, ISA denies
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JSPL reports 110 per cent net profit surge Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSPL) announced a whopping 110 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 305 crore in 2003-04, as compared to Rs 145 crore in the previous fiscal. Net sales during the period under consideration went up by 44 per cent to Rs 1419 crore, while exports spurted by 2167 per cent to Rs 81.4 crore. The company also announced a final dividend of 125 per cent, amounting to Rs 6.25 per each share of Rs 5 taking the total dividend for the year to 200 per cent. The astonishing results are mainly attributed to improved operational efficiency, higher production and better price realisation. Profit after tax for the quarter ending March 2004 went up by 705 per cent to Rs 116 crore, as against Rs 14.49 crore in the year ago period. Net sales for the quarter jumped by 58 per cent to Rs 481 crore against Rs 304 crore during the year ago period. |
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Steel Authority of India Ltd., the largest public sector steel producer, has seen its project sales more than double last year as a result of higher infrastructure activities across the country, reports said. For Sail, which started competitive bidding on projects only recently, projects accounted for sale of close to a mt of steel in 2003-04, a 105 per cent jump over corresponding period in 2002-03. This amounted to slightly over 10 per cent of its total domestic steel sales of 8.8 mt in 2003-04. Compared to this, project sales amounted to 5 per cent of domestic sales of 8 mt in the previous financial year, 2002-03. In volumes, Sail’s project supplies in 2003-04 more than doubled to 8.5 lakh tons, worth about Rs 2,150 crore, compared to projects supplies of 4.13 lakh tons in 2002-03. Sail’s decision to bid for project orders is part of a well-thought-out strategy to ensure a definitive outlet for its products. In turn, this has helped increase volume sales and achieve a better market share for the steel major. Among the main products supplied to projects were plates, structurals, and TMT bars. In addition, rounds, rails, hot rolled and cold rolled (HR/CR) sheets and galvanised plain and galvanised corrugated (GP/ GC) sheets were also supplied. |
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Essar Steel has clocked a 45.4 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 98 crore for the Q4, 2004 as against Rs 67.4 crore in the same quarter last year. Sales of the company for the reporting quarter showed a 43 per cent increase at Rs 1323 crore as against Rs 925 crore last year. It recorded a net profit of Rs 60 crore for the year ended March 31, 2004 as against a loss of Rs 56.3 crore last year. Total income for the year was Rs 4025 crore as against Rs 3013 crore for the corresponding previous year, representing an increase of 33.6 per cent. Interest and depreciation were Rs 397 crore and Rs 403 crore, respectively, for the year ended March 31, 2004 as against Rs 394 crore and Rs 368 crore during the previous year. The improved result is attributed to the persistent efforts of the company especially in the last two years to reduce debt, cost of production, increase volume and improve the product mix coupled with the buoyancy in the steel market. Sales grew in volumes term by 12 per cent at 1.92 mt for the year ended March 31, 2004 as compared to 1.72 mt in the previous year. |
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Decline in ore prices not a solution In comparison with the iron ore price movement in the domestic market, that in the international market have dived around 40 per cent, to $40 per tonne. Industry watchers have attributed this to the unrealistic highs — $70-75 a tonne — that spot prices had reached after the sudden surge in demand for steel. An official from an Indian steel company has described the fall in spot prices of iron ore as a ‘correction’. The impact, in terms of lower steel prices, if any, would be felt over 1-2 months. However, spot prices do not affect the cost of producing steel for large manufactures, as they have long-term contracts with ore suppliers. Industry officials also pointed to over buying by traders in the international market, particularly in China, resulting in clogging at ports. Traders are now trying to make a quick exit, thus hammering down prices. The downward trend will continue, and may spill over to the long-term contracts, as supplies are likely to increase in the medium term. Because of the unattractive margins, iron-mining companies had not invested in increasing capacities by developing the mines for a long time. Today, mining companies are developing more mines to increase their production. |
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Jindal Stainless increases Chinese export quota Jindal Stainless Ltd has inked a long-term marketing agreement with Minmetals Steel Co Ltd of China, reports said. As per the agreement, Minmetals Steel will purchase around 50,000 mt of hot-rolled/cold-rolled stainless steel coils, valued at more than $60 million, from Jindal Stainless Ltd. The order will be executed in 12 months time. The agreement is in line with Jindal Stainless’s strategy to strengthen its foothold in the Chinese market, which is the largest consumer of stainless steel in the world. The company itself has two offices in China. India has a huge advantage in raw material-based industries such as steel and aluminium as there is an abundant supply of good quality iron-ore, chrome, manganese and silicon in the country, Xu Qiang, Managing Director of Minmetals said. China is consuming stainless steel like never before for its infrastructure requirements with big events such as the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Shanghai Expo in 2010 lined up. The country has huge raw material deposits but they are of low grade and cannot be used in many cases. Hence, Chinese imports are expected to rise in line with its increasing requirements and their fascination for stainless steel in the coming years. |
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TSIL to set up 1-mn steel plant The Tata Sponge Iron Ltd (TSIL) has plans to set up a Rs.1,000—crore expansion project within the next 10 years including a one million tonne steel plant. It is the largest sponge iron producer in eastern India located at Joda in Orissa’s Keonjhar district. The steel project would be through the electric arc furnace (EAF) route to convert sponge iron into mild steel billets for manufacturing long products, the company’s managing director Ashok Pandit said in Bhuvaneshwar recently. The expansion programme included establishment of three kilns and a power plant requiring investment of Rs 300 to 400 crore while the steel project would need about Rs 600 crore. “We’ll follow the sponge iron route for steel making as it is cheaper than that made through the blast furance and coke oven route”, he said. TSIL, which has been making profits consistently for the past 12 years and paying dividends, had earned a profit before tax of Rs 53.07 crore against a total income of Rs 210 crore. The company set up in 1983-84, which incurred losses initially, started to make profit by 1995-96. |
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Conference on the use of rebars Hindustan Zinc is organizing "Galvanising - A time tested solution to Steel Protection from corrosion" at the end of June which will focus mainly on the use of galvanised reinforcement bars (rebars) in construction to counter corrosion. This conference will deal with the various issues facing the steel industry especially related to corrosion of rebars which results in the loss of thousands of lives and millions of properties every year around the world. The conference will discuss about the various methods to protect steel against corrosion. Galvanization of reinforcement bars will be discussed briefly with the benefits, production process, the cost benefit analysis and supply chain issues covered in-depth. The test reports of the tests conducted by the Torsteel Research Foundation, Bangalore and other research institutes will be deliberated on. The users will be sharing their experience and opinion about the product. |
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Despite facing price volatility on the raw materials front including iron ore and coke, Ispat Industries Limited is going ahead with its plan to jack up production capacity at its Dolvi complex in Maharashtra to 3.2 million tonne within a year from 2.54 mt in the current fiscal at an expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore. This is worth mentioning that the raw material prices are jacking up on every contract due to supply restraint from Australia and the supply is going to be smooth in the near future. The company had been facing volatility in price of raw materials but that will not stop us from expanding our capacity, company sources said. Our focus area is to get raw materials at a cheaper cost and we are looking within the country and abroad to acquire captive iron ore mines,” managing director of the company, Vinod Mittal said. He added that with the balancing and de-bottlenecking, the capacity of the plant producing hot rolled items, would go upto 3.6 mt in the next fiscal. Admitting that the volatile price of iron ore and coke had cast its shadow on the company’s profitability, Mittal said, “Ispat would have posted more profit had it not faced a steep hike in raw material prices.” He was, however, confident that Ispat which had already acquired a coke plant in Bosnia and had reached long-term contracts with Chinese companies for supply of coke, would improve profitability in the current financial year. |
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Ram Vilas Paswan takes over as steel minister In the recently formed government, Ram Vilas Paswan has got a new birth in the Cabinet as Union Minister of Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers, not after long time but after putting ample of political efforts. The minister is rich in experience of various departments but this is a new challenge for him to please all gamut of diverse areas. After assuming his dream chair the enthusiastic minister said, "The steel industry has a great future and with the development of the infrastructure sector, the consumption of the steel in the country is expected to grow". Shri Paswan was briefed by the Secretary and senior officials on the activities of the Ministry. Talking to the newsmen, he stated that the country at present is producing 32 mt of steel, of which 4 mt are being exported. There are 12 Public Sector Undertakings in the Ministry. The largest Public Sector Undertaking Steel Authority of India Limited (Sail) with 7 Units is producing nearly 12 mt. Out of these units, Salem, VISL and ASP, the loss making units have been slated for disinvestment. The Minister informed that he would look into the problems of these units at the earliest. Two profit making units; Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL) and Sponge Iron India Limited (SIIL) are also in the process of disinvestment. The Minster said that he would visit the units and review their performances before taking any decision on disinvestment. Regarding the three loss making steel PSUs in the disinvestment list of the previous government, Paswan said these companies would also be reviewed to make them profitable and there about 7,000 employees’ needs would be taken care of. The three loss-making entities are Salem Steel Plant, Alloy Steel Plant and Vishweshwaraiya Steel plant, whose combined annual loss stood at Rs 400 crore, he said. Paswan said the Ministry has a vision to increase production to 100 MT by 2020, which would help India to become a developed economy. All necessary steps will be taken to facilitate the growth of the industry, he said. On the issue of the price rise, and availability of steel to Small Scale Sector, the Minister said, he would go into the matter on priority basis. He emphasized on efficient industrial relations and a healthy working atmosphere in the sector. |
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Steel in limelight in RBI report It’s just not fuel prices, rising prices of iron and steel have contributed to a fourth of headline inflation in ‘03-04, according to the RBI report on macroeconomic and monetary developments in 2003-04, reports said. Domestic iron and steel prices rose 34.2% in ‘03-04. The key movers of headline inflation in ‘03-04 besides iron and steel were cotton textiles, fuel group, sugar and milk. These items, which have a weight of 30% in the overall WPI, accounted for 66% of headline inflation during the year. Rising prices of iron and steel, cotton textiles and international crude prices posed inflation concerns in the second half of the year, according to the RBI. The report said the trend in domestic iron and steel prices reflects the movements in international prices which were driven up by increased Chinese demand for metals and rising input costs. |
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Stainless steel consumption up globally Global apparent consumption of stainless steel has grown at an annual rate of 4.5 per cent from 9.84 million tons in 1990 to 19.4 million tons in 2003, Chai Zhiyong, general manager of Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Co, said. China’s stainless steel consumption has grown rather faster: by 26.9 percent since 1990 and by 30.7 percent since 2000. The 1990 figure was 190,000 tons; the 2003 figure was 4.2 million. China became the world’s largest stainless consumer in 2001 and exceeded the consumption of the USA and Japan combined in 2002. China’s imports of stainless steel have been growing at similar rates. In 1996, the country imported 553,600 tons, of which 302,300 were cold rolled sheet. The equivalent figures in 2003 were 2.96 million and 734,200. Self-sufficiency in CR is improving, as CR imports fell from 920,700 in 2002. Chinese production totalled 1.78 million tons in 2003, up 56 percent from the previous year. Domestic output represented 42.3 percent of the market in 2003, compared with 35.1 percent the previous year. Chinese production was only 460,000 tons in 2000, less then 25 percent of consumption. These figures display an enormous surge in China’s stainless production and consumption. In the 1990s output in China grew by a mere 2.5 percent per year. “According to the International Stainless Steel Forum, China will be self-supporting in meeting its domestic demand by 2010,” he said. In fact his predictions showed China could become a substantial net exporter. The four largest stainless CR producers in China, are Taigang with 1.42 million tons, the Zhangjiagang joint venture with Posco with 835,000 tons, the Sino-Japanese joint venture Baoxin with 543,000 tons and Shanghai Krupp Stainless with 155,000 tons. Private sector investment is leading the way in stainless production growth with private companies produced a total of 500,000 tons of stainless steel in 2002 and this figure rose to 800,000 tons in 2003. |
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Taiwan may remove H-beam AD duties Taiwan is likely to remove anti-dumping tariffs on Korean, Polish and Russian H-beam imports this month that have been effective since December 1998. Taiwan’s International Trade Commission (ITC) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced recently that it had recommended to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) that the imposition of duties on beams from the three countries be ended. Though the MOF was expected to make a final decision within ten days of receiving ITC’s report, an MOEA official in Taipei said that the MOF would most probably approve the removal of the anti-dumping tariffs within two weeks. Taiwanese H-beam producer Tung Ho Enterprise Corp successfully filed a complaint with the Taipei government in the late 1990s that resulted in beam imports from the CIS being subject to an AD duty of 34.65 percent, those from South Korea 31.48 percent and those from Poland 6.12 percent. The levies were imposed in December 1998 and under WTO rules would have been automatically withdrawn last December had Tung Ho not petitioned the MOF seeking an extension of the duties. |
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Brazil to add 10 million tpy output The Brazilian steel sector plans to invest around $7.4 billion in the 2004-8 period in raising crude steel capacity by 30 percent from the current 34 million tpy to 44 million tpy, Brazilian steel institute IBS said. However, this includes some $4.17 billion future investments which have not yet been given the final go-ahead. The expansion programmes only include extensions of existing works, and not completely new projects. These extensions include CST‘s 2.5 million tpy No 3 blast furnace due on stream in 2006, a new 2.5-3 million tpy blast furnace and slabs plant at CSN, widely expected to be confirmed within the next few months, a current 500,000 tpy steel shop expansion at Belgo Mineira‘s Piracicaba works and a 100,000 tpy expansion at Gerdau‘s Acos Finos Piratini. It was not immediately clear whether a blast furnace project currently under feasibility study to double Gerdau Acominas‘ capacity from 3 million to 6 million tpy crude steel was being included in the list. Other projects that are not part of the study include the Baosteel-Arcelor-CVRD plan to build a major new slabs for export plant in Maranhao state, which could reach more than 3 million tpy capacity. IBS said the $7.41 billion of investments foreseen include $1.81 billion which is currently being disbursed and $1.43 billion which has already been classed as viable. In 2003 Brazil‘s crude steel production rose 5.2 percent over 2002 to 31.1 million tons and product exports were up 11.1 percent to 13 million tons. |
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Pakistan Steel face severe coal shortage India was not only the country which was worst hit by lack of coking coal supply from Australia and other countries. In fact, Pakistan Steel was forced to run its blast furnaces at 59 percent of capacity during March and April, down from the usual 97 percent, owing to a severe lack of coking coal. Pakistan Steel faced and successfully surmounted the worst crisis of its history in the last few months, the company said in a statement. The most frightening aspect of these crises was not the sky-rocketing prices of both raw materials and freight, but the total non-availability of coking coal at any price, as well as international freight companies and suppliers defaulting against contracts [that had already been] concluded. Availability of iron ore and coal for the current year had since been secured at 100 percent and 70 percent respectively. Pakistan Steel Mill hopes to resolve the remaining 30 percent coal shortage over the next couple of months. Large stockpiles of dumped coke breeze were sieved to retrieve approximately 50,000 tons of useable small-size coke. |
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Chinese SS boom bubble may burst by 2005 The rapid growth seen in the Chinese stainless steel market is unsustainable in the long run and may flatten out by 2005, according to Li Cheng, executive president of the Stainless Steel Council of China Special Steel Enterprise Association. Speaking at the China Nickel Outlook conference in Shanghai on May 20, Li told delegates that while domestic demand for stainless steel is still rising, the year-on-year demand increase has already started to show signs of falling. For 2003, Chinese stainless steel apparent consumption saw a year-on-year increase of only 31.3 percent, compared to 2002’s 42 percent in the same comparison. China’s average per capita consumption of stainless steel would reach 4.1kg by 2005. Most developed countries all saw a similar trend where stainless steel demand grew at a fast pace before reaching a stable consumption level at a certain point, he said, adding that China’s consumption of stainless steel would reach a level of 5-6 million tons by 2005. Another trend that may appear in the Chinese stainless market is increased use of ferritic and special alloy stainless steel such as duplex. The austenitic stainless market share may fall given the current high nickel prices in the international market. |
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Eastern European flat product sales to double at Arcelor Arcelor’s flat carbon steels division (FCS) is planning to nearly double sales into Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia to 1 million tpy by 2008-2010, reports said. The group’s European mills supplied 520,000 tons of carbon strip to the region in 2003 and are targeting 800,000 tons for 2006. In market terms, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia are the most important new member states to have joined the European Union, according to Arcelor. It refers to the four countries as its Peco market, or “Pays d’Europe Centrale et Orientale”. Arcelor’s target for flat carbon steel is to increase its share of the Central and Eastern European market, from 7.5 percent to 10 percent. |
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Arcelor projects bright SS future in China The world’s biggest steelmaker, Arcelor, expects China’s stainless steel consumption to increase and it may raise product prices in the second half to reflect global demand and likely gains in nickel prices. Measures to slow China’s economy will not change the long-term growth of China, company source said. A drop in orders from China and sales of nickel inventories by traders will last a couple of months and then come back, he said. China’s banking regulator last month told some banks to stop lending to aluminium, cement and steel producers on concern over inflation. It added textile, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries to the list last week after inflation rose to a seven-year high in April. Higher nickel prices are not squeezing Arcelor’s profit because the market is good and prices for stainless steel are high, the company may raise prices for stainless steel products in the second half of this year. |
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LNM gets nod to buy South African steel producer - Iscor The South African Competitions Commission has given the nod for London-based British Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal to take over former state-owned steel producer Iscor, reports said. Releasing its long-delayed judgement, the commission said it had no concerns regarding the merger between Mittal’s company LNM Holdings and Iscor. The commission recommended unconditional approval to the Tribunal of the Commission, which has to take the final decision on the stake hike. This is expected within a few weeks, but analysts here expect that this will be a mere rubber-stamping of the recommendation. LNM Holdings, which is led by Mittal, has been waiting for a government decision since December last year on an application to raise its stake in Iscor from 49% to more than 50 per cent. A majority stake will allow LNM to introduce proprietary technology at Iscor and thereby improve efficiencies there. LNM had earlier confirmed that it would not seek to go beyond 60 per cent, at which stage it would need to make an offer to minority shareholders. |
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2010 football World Cup: A boon for South African steel The 2010 football World Cup will prove a boon to South Africa’s steel industry as Olympics proved for China as the hosts race to get stadiums and transport infrastructure ready for the biggest worldwide sporting event outside the Olympics. South Africa has committed itself to building four new state-of-the-art football stadiums and upgrading a further nine by 2007. Other steel-consuming projects include a new rail link (Gautrain) in the main province of Gauteng and a slew of new hotel and other tourist-related ventures are expected. South Africa’s biggest steel producer said it expects to be a leading supplier for the tournament. “Iscor generally exports around 50 percent of its steel production and this could be diverted easily to the domestic market to meet the huge expected demand required for the 2010 World Cup construction projects,” said Iscor spokesman. The tournament’s opening game and final will be played at Soccer City in Johannesburg where seating capacity will be increased to nearly 95,000 at a cost of 212 million rand ($32 million), just part of an overall 1.5 billion rand expected to be forked out on stadia. New floodlights, turnstiles, surveillance equipment and new giant scoreboards are also expected to consume more steel. The new stadia will be a 40,000-seater at Kimberley, Northern Cape province; 41,000-seater at Rainbow Junction, Pretoria; a 49,000-seater at Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape province and a 40,000-seater at Mbombela in Nelspruit near the Kruger National Park. |
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In the international market, billet prices have fallen to below $300 per ton fob in the international market, traders said. CIS export business has been seen in the $290s and material from Turkey has been sold at $300 per ton fob, according to CIS traders. Four weeks ago the price was closer to $340 fob. Middle East re-rollers are buying billets at $310 to $320 per ton cfr. Billet prices are following the drop in the ferrous scrap price, which has dropped $50 in a month to $140 per ton cfr for Black Sea A3 to Turkey. Rebar is also following the trend. “Rebars have slipped to $370-380 per ton fob Black Sea from $450 a month ago,” said a trader in Germany. |
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18 iron ore loaded ships stranded in China Some 18 Indian-origin ships loaded with iron ore for China have been stranded in Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzen ports for over a month, unable to offload their cargo, which was loaded at ports of the Vizag and Haldia. Sources said that due to traffic jam these ships have been stranded. But media sources said that the ships can not be offloaded because the iron ore does not meet the desired specifications, with a number of containers allegedly filled with stones, mud and sand. The iron content in the transported ore varies between 63.5 and 63.59 percent Fe. All these consignments are said to be within the permissible limit. These ships are carrying around 90,000 tons of iron ore each. The only way out for them is to sell their cargo at nominal rates. Most of the ore-bearing ships are carrying cargo from Indian Iron & Steel Co (IISCO), a subsidiary of Steel Authority of India, according to sources at Kolkata Port Trust. But IISCO sources refuted these claims. |
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Steel firm proposes duty cut, ISA denies Downstream steel companies are expecting a lot from the congress-led new government in the form of lower import duties on steel. There is a shortage of 1.3 mt of hot-rolled coils in the country, according to the government’s statistics. At the same time, Indian hot-rolled coil prices are $100 per ton more than that in the US, the European Union or China. For almost a year now, downstream steel companies, especially cold-rolled steel makers and integrated steel producers, have been at loggerheads with hot-rolled steel makers over the prices of steel. While cold-rollers have alleged that hot-rolled steel producers have been diverting exporting their produce in order to ramp up prices in India, the latter have argued that the prices had to be raised on account of rising input costs. The NDA government had responded in February by reducing the customs duty on hot-rolled steel from 20 per cent to 15 per cent, while the country’s leading hot-rolled steel producers, represented by the Indian Steel Alliance, had agreed to hold their prices till June. However, the Indian Steel Alliance has opposed any further cut in the customs duty rate. |
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Posco has cut domestic prices of nickel stainless bands and cold-rolled coils by 8 per cent with immediate effect. The 8 per cent cut translates to a reduction of 200,000 won ($170) per ton for hot bands, bringing Posco’s list price for 300s series bands to 2,433,000 won ($2,060) per ton and a cut of 240,000 won (about $200) for CR to take this list price to 2,910,000 won ($2,470) per ton. Meanwhile, Taiwanese stainless CR producers Tung Mung Development and Chien Shing Stainless Steel have reportedly called upon their domestic and foreign suppliers of HR bands to cut price in the wake of falling nickel prices, sources said. Tung Mung, Chien Shing and other downstream producers are experiencing cost pressures from softening stainless demand in both Taiwan and China. |
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This is a compilation of news from
various dailies, magazines, trade publications and Press Releases. |
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