India's steel production is likely to surpass the domestic requirement by 2011-12, easing pressure on prices of the alloy, which has been adding to the spiralling inflation. "We shall achieve 124 million tonnes of steel capacity by 2011-12, well exceeding the requirement that would be to the tune of about 110 million tonnes at that point of time,' steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

Anil Agarwal will tell you that he likes all his metals

Government is believed to have decided to impose 15% export duty on iron ore, used for making steel, which has seen a 50% increase in prices since January, thereby fuelling inflation. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) on May 30, a highly placed source said. The CoS has also decided to roll back export duty on steel, barring primary and semi-finished products, in return for the Rs 4,000 per tonne reduction in prices announced by them early last month.

The tribals est the sleepy village of Kalyandi in Jharkhand depend on fish farming for living. However, till last year, the hectic activity would come to a grinding halt in May. The reason: non-availability of water in the ponds. This May, fish farming is on in full swing and the ponds are swarming with fish

THE Union government is "looking into" the issue of banning iron ore exports as demanded by the steel makers, Steel Secretary R S Pandey said today. "The issue was being looked into by the government," Pandey told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The Orissa government is all set to recommend the Khandadhar iron ore mines to South Korean steel major Posco. Its recommendation letter is likely to be dispatched some time in the first week of next month as all formalities related to the hand-over have been carried out. There were as many 237 applicants for the mines. The state government on December 26, 2006, recommended Posco India to the Centre for a licence to carry out prospecting over 6204.352 hectares of the Khandadhar mines in Sundergarh district. The Centre initially rejected the state government's recommendation of Posco.

JSW Steel Not To Export This Fiscal; Essar & Ispat Look To Reduce HRC Shipments By 60% STEELMAKERS have decided to cut down exports significantly in the wake of the 15% export duty imposed on hot rolled coils (HRCs). While JSW Steel has decided not to export at all this fiscal, some others like Essar and Ispat are looking to reduce HRC exports by almost 50-60% this year. The increased availability of HRCs is expected to check steep price increase of steel in the domestic market which has been putting pressure on inflation in the recent past.

Karaikudi: Non-ferrous metals major Vedanta Resources is in talks with three steel companies from Japan, Europe and India to be its partner for its proposed entry into steelmaking. The London-based Vedanta's chairperson Anil Agarwal said the group is even open to offering a majority stake in the venture to the new partner who would be bringing in the technology for making steel. The steel venture would mark Vedanta's foray into ferrous metals.

The growth of six core infrastructure industries declined to 5.6 per cent in 2007-08 from 9.2 per cent in 2006-07. However, in March , the growth in these sectors stood at 9.6 per cent compared to 10.5 per cent in March 2007, according to the latest data released by the Government here on Thursday.

Rio Tinto last night slammed Chinese steelmakers over increasingly aggressive negotiating tactics, after the China Iron & Steel Association called for its members to boycott the Anglo-Australian mining group's spot sales of iron ore. The steelmakers have failed to agree a 2008-09 annual contract price with Rio and BHP Billiton despite months of talks. Earlier this year, the Chinese authorities delayed issuing permits needed to import some shipments of Australian iron ore, a move that was also considered a negotiating ploy.