Vale and GEP team up to explore green hydrogen in Brazil
The mining giant Vale announced on Tuesday that it has teamed up with Green Energy Park to explore the possibilities for green hydrogen production within the South American nation. Brazil is looking to develop green hydrogen as part of its efforts to unlock new industries to power its energy transformation. The government has called it a "real opportunity" for the country's footprint to expand in renewables. Vale wants to concentrate on low-carbon initiatives in the steel industry, as it strives to achieve net-zero emissions of carbon by 2050. Vale…
Liberty Wins North Sea Pipe Contract
The Liberty pipe mills at Hartlepool has been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to supply steel pipeline for North Sea gas.The mills, which were acquired and relaunched by Liberty, part of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, in late 2017, have just begun making the first batch of a total order for 12,000 metric tons of 24” steel pipe from global engineers Subsea7, that will be used in the Shell Shearwater gas field over 200 miles off the coast of Scotland.Over the next few months workers at Hartlepool will make around 22 miles of heavy-duty pipe that will lie 90 meters under the sea…
US Energy Companies Fume over Rejected Steel Tariff Exemptions
The U.S. Commerce Department recently granted a tariff exemption to oil major Chevron for its imports of 4.5-inch Japanese steel tubes for oil exploration.But the department rejected a similar request from Borusan Mannesmann Pipe to exclude 4.5-inch steel pipes imported from Turkey for casing used to line new oil wells.The reason: multiple U.S. steelmakers objected to Borusan's application, arguing they could supply the product, according to the department. Chevron drew no such objections.When U.S. President Donald Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff on imported steel this spring…
China Still the Main Game for Commodity Demand: Russell
China strode like a colossus over major commodity markets in 2017, as the world's biggest buyer of natural resources made its presence felt on demand for coal, iron ore, crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG). China's influence on major commodities is likely to remain the single most important factor driving supply and demand in 2018, but that's not to say next year will simply be a repeat of what happened this year. Still, some trends established in 2017 will continue, or even accelerate, with LNG potentially the best example. LNG imports surged 48 percent in the first 10 months of the year, as Beijing encouraged a switch from coal to the cleaner-burning fuel.
Ukraine Faces Energy Crisis As Blockade Cuts Coal Supply
Ukrainian authorities vowed on Thursday to restore coal supply from the separatist-held Donbass and warned that a blockade by activists could deprive millions of heating and electricity, harm the steel industry and cost the country some $2 billion. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the blocking of a railway link in the east by opposition lawmakers and army veterans who fought against separatist factions was a "destabilising factor". The European Union and the United States called for action to prevent "a major energy crisis". "Those responsible for the blockade must cease their actions and the authorities must address this problem as a matter of priority…
Siemens, Voest and Verbund to Build Largest Green Hydrogen Site
Siemens, steel maker Voestalpine and hydropower firm Verbund are planning to build a cutting-edge plant to make green hydrogen more suitable for industrial use, the companies said on Tuesday. Utilities and industrial firms are under increasing pressure to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and they hope to use excess power generated by renewable sources such as wind or solar to create hydrogen from water with electrolysis. The hydrogen can then be stored for reconversion into power or for direct industrial use. The process might in the long term help to phase out the use of coal to make steel altogether.
Coking Coal Bubble to Deflate, Unlikely to Burst
When the price of a commodity rises by 117 percent in a mere 15 weeks, it's generally a sign that something is amiss in the market, and coking coal's recent stellar run is no exception to this rule. The spot price of Australian premium hard coking coal has surged from $83.40 a tonne on May 31 to $180.90 on Sept. So far this year, the price of the fuel used mainly to make steel has leapt by 131 percent, making it the best performer among significant commodities. As with any price surge, there are solid reasons for a rally, but the gains have now reached a point where they have entered the realms of silliness.
Rio Replaces CEO Walsh with Copper Boss
Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh to retire July 1. Rio Tinto has named its copper and coal division head, Jean-Sébastien Jacques, as its chief executive, replacing veteran Sam Walsh and marking a shift for the Anglo-Australian mining major that has long focused on iron ore. Walsh, 66, was placed at the helm three years ago after the abrupt ousting of Rio's then boss Tom Albanese. A former auto industry executive, Walsh was elevated from the iron ore division he ran. He was considered a safe pair of hands to steer the company at a time when it was battling the fallout of a string of costly investments gone sour.
Falling India Coal Import Trend to Continue
October coal imports fall 5 pct to 14.52 mln tonnes; Coal secretary says falling trend to continue. India's coal imports fell 5 percent in October in their fourth straight monthly slide as local output rose fast under the government's push to open a mine every month, keeping the country on course to become self-sufficient in thermal coal in three years. Asia's third largest economy is targeting to more than double coal output to 1.5 billion tonnes this decade, and state-run Coal India has already turned around its poor performance with record growth from old and new pits.
Big Firms Say EU Carbon Reforms Do Not Go Far Enough
Proposed reforms to the EU carbon market do not go far enough and need to be supplemented by a phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies, a group of major companies said in an open letter to European Union environment ministers meeting on Monday. The European Commission in July outlined its plans to bolster the Emissions Trading System (ETS), on which permits to pollute trade at around 8.5 euros per tonne, seen as too little to drive a shift to lower carbon energy. Environment ministers of the 28 EU states debated the proposals on Monday in Luxembourg, in one of the early steps towards turning the plans into law.
Kentucky: 'War on Coal' Yields to Hope for New Economy
When Dan Mosley became head of Kentucky's Harlan County government this year, he promised - like those elected before him - to defend the state's beleaguered coal industry. But Mosley also vowed to do something else for his county: help build a new economy based on something other than coal. "The best business I've seen in town lately has been the U-Haul business because people are moving out," said Mosley, a boyish-looking father of two, speaking after a community meeting in the century-old coal town of Benham. "The time has come to wipe away our tears," he says.
Brazil Climate Change Plan Backfires, Doubling Steel Emissions
A plan to reduce climate-changing emissions from Brazil's steel industry has failed, causing the amount of carbon pollution produced by the sector to double in less than a decade, researchers said. Brazilian steel producers switched their energy source from coal to charcoal from forests, causing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to rise to 182 million tonnes in 2007 from 91 million tonnes in 2000, according to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. "Increased global demand for steel, and a lack of available plantation forest in Brazil…
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. The Luxembourg-based steelmaker bought the two mines from Russian steel producer Severstal for $652 million in 2008…
BHP Bullish on Caval Ridge's Prospects
Yesterday BHP Billiton Coal President, Dean Dalla Valle, was joined by the Hon. Tony Abbott MP, Prime Minister of Australia, and joint venture partner Mitsubishi in a ceremony to open the US$3.4 billion Caval Ridge Mine, which has created around 500 jobs in Queensland. Caval Ridge Mine is the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance’s (BMA)1 eighth operation in the region and will initially produce up to 5.5 million tonnes per annum of premium quality metallurgical coal. The mine was delivered below budget, and produced its first coal three months ahead of schedule.
New Dawn for Mexican Steel Puts Brazil in the Shade
Mexico is emerging as the preferred choice for investors in Latin American steel making as a landmark energy reform and exposure to a U.S. recovery help outshine regional rival Brazil, where the gloom of recession has taken hold. While steel executives in Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy, call ever more forcefully for market reforms, Mexico has pushed through a major energy overhaul and other reforms which are expected to lure billions of dollars in new investment. Demand for steel, a building material used in everything from cars to pipelines to skyscrapers, is a bellwether for economic strength, especially in manufacturing.
China's Pollution Control Yields Wrong Question on Coal
Just how serious is China about cutting or limiting coal consumption? That's something that global coal miners, traders and environmentalists would love to know, but the likelihood is that it is the wrong question. Hardly a week goes by without an announcement by one of the many central or regional authorities about plans to curb the burning of coal, the fuel that meets about two-thirds of China's electricity needs and powers the world's biggest steel industry. The latest was from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, which was reported by state media as saying coal use will be banned in the six main districts of the capital by the end of 2020.
Rio Tinto Pulls Plug on Mozambique Coal Venture
Rio Tinto has agreed to sell coal assets it bought through a $4 billion acquisition of Riversdale in 2011 for just $50 million to an Indian joint venture, ending its ill-fated venture in Mozambique's coal sector. The sale of Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique to International Coal Ventures Private Limited (ICVL), includes the Benga coal mine and other projects in Tete province, assets that had a value of $71 million as of March 31 in Rio's books. In 2013, Rio Tinto sacked its chief executive and other executives directly involved in the acquisition of Riversdale and wrote off about $3.5 billion of the purchase price…
Rio Tinto Out of Mozambique Coal Venture
Rio's exit frustrates Mozambique's coal ambitions; asset sale price implies further writedown. Vale also looking to sell stake in Mozambique coal assets. Rio Tinto has agreed to sell coal assets it bought through a $4 billion acquisition of Riversdale in 2011 for just $50 million to an Indian joint venture, ending its ill-fated venture in Mozambique's coal sector. The sale of Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique to International Coal Ventures Private Limited (ICVL), includes the Benga coal mine and other projects in Tete province, assets that had a value of $71 million as of March 31 in Rio's books.
German Hard Coal Burn Down in Q1
German hard coal consumption for power generation was down by 11 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014 as the use of coal in electricity production gave way to higher renewable power production, coal importers lobby VDKI said on Friday. Healthy steel industry demand, however, helped to boost overall imports. "The increasing feed-in of power from renewable energy, namely from photovoltaics, could have a further dampening effect on coal demand especially in the summer months," VDKI said in a statement. Production of power from hard coal-fired generation plants was down 17 percent in January-March at 30 terawatt hours (TWh), compared with a year earlier, it said.
Merkel to Push Back against EU If Green Energy Support Questioned
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she would push back decisively against the European Commission if it raised further objections to Germany's system of green power subsidies. Berlin and the Commission have been at odds over the German policy under which consumers pay a surcharge to finance renewable energy while heavy industrial users are exempt. The Commission raised new objections on Monday, which led to Germany offering to change its planned reform at the last minute. "You can't simply start to question support systems which have been in place for years without thinking about how we make the transition.
