ArcelorMittal Invests $47 mln to Overhaul Bosnia Plant, Curb Pollution
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, said on Friday it was investing 75 million Bosnian marka ($47 million) to overhaul a blast furnace at its steel plant in Bosnia to extend its lifespan and improve environmental standards. Environmentalists have long complained about high levels of pollution caused by the plant in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, which has a workforce of 2,200 people and is Bosnia's top exporter. Work will start in coming days on what will be the biggest overhaul at the plant since 1989 and should extend the lifespan of the plant for another 15 to 20 years…
Sanjeev Gupta to Buy US-based Steel Assets in 2018
British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta is in talks to purchase and build more U.S.-based steel and industrial assets next year, after buying ArcelorMittal's Georgetown Steelworks at the weekend. Gupta, executive chairman of GFG Alliance which is a $10 billion metals, industrials and energy group, has been snapping up distressed industrial assets in Britain, Australia and the United States in the past few years. Last week, GFG Alliance struck a deal with UK-based tidal power firm Atlantis Resources to form a listed company that marked Gupta's first step onto the stock market…
Saudi Aramco in Deals with Foreign Firms in Push for Local Content
State oil giant Saudi Aramco signed deals with several foreign companies as part of a drive to expand the kingdom's industrial base and manufacture a bigger share of products domestically. Deals include setting up joint ventures with U.S.-listed firms Rowan Companies and Nabors Industries to own, manage, and operate drilling rigs in Saudi Arabia. Aramco also signed agreements in local manufacturing development with Jubail Energy Services Company (JESCO) and ArcelorMittal in Jubail on the Gulf coast for tubes used in oil and gas production.
Hwangwe Colliery in Coal Talks with Glencore
Zimbabwe coal producer Hwange Colliery said on Monday it was negotiating to supply coal and coke to global miner Glencore and a deal could be reached at the end of this month, its managing director said. Thomas Makore said Hwange, which mines in the northwest of the country and is the biggest coal supplier to state-owned electricity producer Zimbabwe Power Company, was currently exporting coal to ArcelorMittal South Africa. "Discussions are happening right now with Glencore to supply coal and coke and we want to reach a conclusion by the end of this month," Makore told Reuters.
ArcelorMittal Selling Sole Russian Asset
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer, is selling its sole asset in Russia, a Siberian coal-mining operation, documents from the federal anti-monopoly service (FAS) showed. The steel giant is selling Severny Kuzbass (North Kuzbass), which operates two coal mines in the south west of Siberia, to private coal trader National Fuel Company, according to documents posted on the FAS website on Friday. ArcelorMittal declined to comment on Monday. The FAS did not specify the value of the deal, or any reason for the sale.
Italy Energy Watchdog Extends Gas Supply to Ilva
Italy's energy watchdog has extended to Jan. 31 an emergency gas supply scheme that had been due to end on Monday which allows troubled steel producer Ilva to keep its doors open. Oil major Eni said earlier this month the agreement under which it supplied gas to Ilva would end in December. Under the scheme it can make up potential losses on sales to Ilva through energy bills to other clients. After Jan. 31, Eni can continue to supply gas to Ilva until the end of September, but it must find appropriate guarantees or bear the risk of not being paid, the energy authority said in a statement. Eni had no comment.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rise, Despite Call for Cuts
Greenhouse gas emissions by the world's top 500 companies rose 3.1 percent from 2010 to 2013, far off the cuts urged by the United Nations to limit global warming, a study showed on Monday. The top 500 firms by capitalisation accounted for 13.8 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions and 28 percent of gross domestic product in 2013, according to the report, drawn up by the information provider Thomson Reuters and BSD Consulting, a global sustainability consultancy. "Almost all of us use products from these companies," said Tim Nixon, Director of Sustainability at Thomson Reuters.
ArcelorMittal Looks to Make Up Lost Time
ArcelorMittal SA , the world's largest steel producer, is looking at ways to make up for lost time in the expansion of its Liberia iron ore project after the Ebola outbreak in the region, the company's head of iron ore said on Monday. ArcelorMittal will announce a new time frame for the project in the first quarter of next year, Kleber Silva, Arcelor's head of iron ore, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Rio de Janeiro. The company had originally been targeting an expansion to 15 million tonnes by December 2015, from 5 million tonnes this year.
EU Leaders Seek Climate Deal, But Divided Over Costs
European leaders aim to agree a new decade of energy policy to cut climate-warming gas emissions to 2030 at an EU summit on Thursday, but sharp differences over sharing the costs mean that securing a deal is likely to prove difficult. The 28 member states want to set the pace for a global pact to be hammered out in Paris next year with industrial powers from Asia, North America and the rest of the world. That pact would aim to improve on two decades of stuttering cooperation and rein in carbon dioxide emissions blamed for a disruptive rise in temperatures.
Glencore Courts Guinea's Iron Ore Treasures
Miner and commodity trader Glencore has expressed interest in iron deposits in Guinea, a presentation obtained by Reuters shows, although the company said it had not pitched for a stake in Simandou, the country's largest deposit. Glencore is the latest mining major looking to invest in iron ore assets in Guinea. Most interest is focused on Simandou, one of the world's biggest deposits. Any potential investors in Simandou are treading carefully, however. Israeli-owned BSG Resources, which was stripped of its license to develop part of Simandou following a Guinean corruption investigation…
Britain Funding South African Carbon Trading Scheme
Britain will expand funding for a program to help coal-rich South Africa develop a carbon trading market in an attempt to rein in its rising greenhouse gas emissions. The British High Commission in Pretoria last week said it will fund a pilot emissions trading program from next year to help companies prepare for a 120-rand-per-ton ($11.21) carbon tax that is expected to come into force in 2016. The value of the grant was not disclosed. The launch of South African's carbon tax, which would apply to major emitters including steel giant ArcelorMittal…
Czech Miner NWR's Shares Slump Again
Shares in New World Resources (NWR) plunged again on Thursday, taking losses over two days to 55 percent after the Czech coal miner revised a capital revamp proposal and detailed the expected share dilution. The loss-making company made a new pitch on Wednesday to get bondholders to back a capital restructuring plan that will cut debt and raise 150 million euros of new equity and include a 118 million rights issue to stave off insolvency. As part of the plan, it said existing shares would only make up 4 percent of total shares after the equity raising…
