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COKE, IRON AND ALTERNATE IRON PRODUCTION HEADLINES

Process / Coke, Iron and Alternate Iron Production

Latest News:

NLMK Idles Blast Furnace for Repairs
Nov. 10, 2011 - Responding to media allegations, the NLMK Group this week reported the idling of one of its blast furnaces for planned repairs at its Blast Furnace Shop No. 1.

Mechel Launches Biochemical Cleansing Equipment at Mechel-Coke
Oct. 28, 2011 - Mechel OAO celebrated this week the launch of a biochemical cleaning facility to treat phenolic wastewater from Mechel-Coke OOO’s coke and chemicals production process.

ArcelorMittal Poland to Idle Dabrowa Górnicza Blast Furnace
Oct. 26, 2011 - ArcelorMittal Poland announced plans to temporarily shut down Blast Furnace No. 3 at its plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza.

Essar Steel India Commissions Corex Module
Oct. 14, 2011 - Essar Steel has successfully commissioned a Corex module, with a capacity of 0.87 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), as part of its expansion program for increasing steel production capacity from 4.6 to 10 MTPA at its Hazira complex.

NLMK Launches New Converter at Lipetsk
Oct. 13, 2011 - NLMK has put a new 300-tonne converter into operation at the company’s main production site in Lipetsk as part of the company’s multi-year Technical Upgrade Program

SunCoke Energy on Track for November Start-up in Middletown
Oct. 6, 2011 - SunCoke Energy, Inc. reaffirmed that start-up plans are on track for its new Middletown, Ohio, metallurgical cokemaking facility.

AK Steel Acquires Iron Ore, Met Coal Interests
Oct. 5, 2011 - AK Steel has formed a joint venture with Magnetation for the production of iron ore concentrate. In a separate transaction, AK Steel also acquired all of the stock of Solar Fuel Company, which has significant reserves of low volatile metallurgical coal.

Nippon, Kobe Start up Joint Venture Steel Mill Dust Recycling Plant
Oct. 4, 2011 - Nippon Steel and Kobe Steel announce the start of commercial operation for their joint venture steel mill dust recycling plant, Nittetsu Shinko Metal Refine Co., Ltd.

ArcelorMittal Commences Iron Ore Production in Liberia
Sep. 28, 2011 - ArcelorMittal held a launch event this week to celebrate the commencement of commercial iron ore production from its mining operations in Liberia. The company aims to ship four million tonnes of iron ore from Liberia each year beginning in 2012.

Posco Acquires Shares in Pakistan’s Tuwairqi Steel Mill
Sep. 27, 2011 - Posco has signed a deal to acquire 15.34% of the shares in Tuwairqi Steel Mill (TSML), a Pakistani steelmaker.

OSHA Cites ABC Coke Following Worker Fatality
Sep. 27, 2011 - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited ABC Coke for 27 safety and health violations following the death of a worker in March. Proposed penalties total $124,000.

Siemens Receives Third Finex Order from Posco
Sep. 26, 2011 - Siemens VAI Metals Technologies received an order from Posco Engineering & Construction for the engineering and the supply of proprietary equipment for a Finex 2.0M plant, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2013.

Vale Starts up Tecnored Demonstration Plant
Sep. 22, 2011 - Tecnored Desenvolvimento Tecnológico S.A., a Vale company, in partnership with Brazil's development bank, BNDES, and Logos Tecnocom, has started up the first pig iron demonstration plant that does not use traditional blast furnace methods, in Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo state.

MMK, Metalloinvest Sign Long-Term Iron Ore Supply Agreement
Sep. 9, 2011 - Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and Metalloinvest have signed a long-term iron ore supply agreement with pricing based on current market indicators and price dynamics on the global iron ore market.

NLMK Commences Hot Tests at New Cogeneration Plant
Sep. 8, 2011 - NLMK’s new 150-MW Recovery Cogeneration Plant has started receiving and processing BF gas from Blast Furnace No. 7 currently being hot tested. With the new plant, Novolipetsk’s (NLMK’s Lipetsk site) generation capacity will increase by 45% to 482 MW.

Sumitomo Metals Celebrates Inauguration of VSB Joint Venture
Sep. 6, 2011 - Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil Ltda recently held the inauguration of its new steelworks in Jeceaba, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, enabling Sumitomo Metals to globally supply its seamless pipe products from two bases, Japan and Brazil.

NLMK to Increase Power Generation Using By-Product Gases
Sep. 1, 2011 - NLMK announced plans to increase its use of by-product fuel gases from metallurgical processes at the main Novolipetsk site in Lipetsk by the end of the year.

New NLMK Blast Furnace Enters Hot Testing Phase
Aug. 31, 2011 - NLMK announced the launch of hot testing for its new 3.4 million tonne/year Blast Furnace No. 7, the first blast furnace to be built in Russia in the last 25 years.

BHP Billiton Initiative to Support Illawarra Community, Workers
Aug. 25, 2011 - BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal is launching an initiative that could potentially provide support to some of the people directly impacted by BlueScope Steel’s announced restructuring of its Australian operations.

BlueScope to Restructure, Exit Export Business
Aug. 24, 2011 - BlueScope Steel has announced a major restructuring of its Australian operations, including a shutdown of No. 6 Blast Furnace at Port Kembla and closure of the Western Port Hot Strip Mill.

NLMK Plans Construction of Pelletizing Plant at Stoilensky
Aug. 23, 2011 - NLMK affiliate Stoilensky has signed a contract for a new pelletizing plant with an annual capacity of 6 million tonnes of iron ore pellets. Equipment, technologies and other services will be provided by a consortium of Siemens VAI and Outotec.

SAIL Chairman Reviews Expansion Work at Bhilai Steel Plant
Aug. 23, 2011 - Steel Authority of India Limited Chairman C.S. Verma recently visited Bhilai Steel Plant to review the progress of modernization & expansion (M&E) activities currently being implemented at the plant.

Evraz Launches Construction of New Coking Coal Mine
Aug. 19, 2011 - Evraz Group S.A. has launched construction of a new coking coal mine Yerunakovskaya-VIII within its existing Yuzhkuzbassugol coal mining division in Russia’s Kemerovo region.

ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih Begins Scheduled Stoppage for Blast Furnace #5
Aug. 19, 2011 - PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih has stopped production at its Blast Furnace #5 in preparation for capital repair.

Siemens to Supply Sinter Plant to Jindal Steel & Power
Aug. 16, 2011 - Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. placed an order with Siemens VAI Metals Technologies to supply a new sinter plant on a process turnkey basis. The project is part of a new integrated steelworks currently under construction in the eastern Indian city of Patratu.

ArcelorMittal Poland to Invest PLN 1.7 m in Zdzieszowice
Aug. 11, 2011 - ArcelorMittal Poland has presented social investment plans worth PLN 1.7 m for communities near its operating facilities in the Zdzieszowice and Lesnica municipalities.

Metinvest Expands In-House Production of Coking Coal
Jul. 19, 2011 - Metinvest announced plans to increase its in-house production of coking coal, following the commissioning of Affinity Mine, owned by its subsidiary United Coal Co. The planned capacity of this coal mining unit will amount to 1.9 million tonnes of high-quality coking coal.

Posco Starts Construction of Third FINEX Plant
Jul. 6, 2011 - Posco has started construction of its third FINEX plant, and the first one with an annual capacity of 2 million tonnes. Plans call for its completion in 2013.

Outotec to Supply Iron Ore Pelletizing Plant to Samarco
Jul. 1, 2011 - Outotec has agreed with Samarco Mineração S.A. on a turnkey delivery of the world's largest iron ore pelletizing plant in Brazil. The new plant will be installed at Samarco's iron ore port in Ponta de Ubú, Espírito Santo.

Mechel Wins Subsoil License for Pionerskoye Iron Ore Deposit
Jun. 23, 2011 - Mechel OAO has won the auction for the subsoil license for Pionerskoye iron ore deposit, which has estimated reserves of 137 million tonnes of iron ore with high iron content.

Rio Tinto Invests to Accelerate Pilbara Iron Ore Expansion
Jun. 16, 2011 - Rio Tinto is accelerating its iron ore expansion program in the Pilbara region of Western Australia with US$676 million of funding for early works and procurement. Capacity expansion to 333 million tonnes per year is now expected in the first half of 2015, six months earlier than planned.

NMDC Signs Contract for India’s Largest Blast Furnace
Jun. 3, 2011 - NMDC Limited has signed a contract with Tata Projects Limited and Danieli Corus to set up India’s largest blast furnace for a 3 MTPY integrated steel plant the company is planning to construct at Nagamar.

Jindal Steel & Power Selects Energiron for Four New DR Plants
May 31, 2011 - Working together as a consortium, Tenova HYL and Danieli & C SpA have agreed with Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, India to supply the ENERGIRON ZR DR technology for four new direct-reduced iron plants.

Kobe Steel to Transfer Comsigua Shares to CVG
May 25, 2011 - Kobe Steel, Ltd. has reached agreement to transfer all of its shares in Complejo Siderúrgico de Guayana, CA (Comsigua) to Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG).

ArcelorMittal to Expand Production of Iron Ore Concentrate at AAMC
May 23, 2011 - ArcelorMittal will expand its Mont-Wright mining complex and undertake additional construction at Port-Cartier in order to expand annual production of iron ore concentrate at ArcelorMittal Mines Canada to 24 million tons by 2013.

JFE Steel Resumes Operating Fukuyama Blast Furnace No.3
May 20, 2011 - JFE Steel announced that the company completed revamping the No.3 blast furnace at its West Japan Works (Fukuyama) and blew-in the facility for its fourth campaign on May 14.

JSW Orders Corex Gas-based Midrex DR Plant from Siemens VAI
May 13, 2011 - JSW has placed a contract with a cooperation under the leadership of Siemens VAI Metals Technologies GmbH to engineer and supply a Corex gas-based Midrex® direct-reduction dual-discharge plant.

Severstal Acquires Stake in Brazilian Iron Ore Exploration Company
May 12, 2011 - OAO Severstal has acquired a 25% stake in SPG Mineração, a Brazilian company that owns highly prospective iron ore exploration licenses in the northern state of Amapa, Brazil.

Metinvest Invests in Modernization of Iron Ore Enrichment Works
May 11, 2011 - Metinvest is investing almost UAH 5 billion this year in iron ore enrichment works (GOKs) for the continuous improvement, reconstruction, and modernization of the production facilities.

Sumitomo’s Kashima Steelworks Moves toward Normal Blast Furnaces Operation
May 4, 2011 - Sumitomo Metal Industries’ Kashima Steelworks has now opened all the tuyeres of its two blast furnaces for the first time since they were struck March 11 by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Kobe Steel Reports Project Status of Mesabi Nugget ITmk3 Plant
Apr. 29, 2011 - During recent operations, Mesabi Nugget, the world's first commercial plant using the ITmk3® Process, has reached 80% nugget productivity and plant availability has improved to 85%.

JFE Steel to Resume Operation of Fukuyama Blast Furnace
Apr. 25, 2011 - JFE Steel Corp. expects to complete the revamp of No.3 Blast Furnace at the company’s West Japan Works (Fukuyama), with the blowing in for a fourth campaign to begin around May 14.

Tata Steel, Rio Tinto Sign Agreement on HIsarna
Apr. 21, 2011 - Tata Steel and Rio Tinto have signed a licensing agreement further supporting technological and commercial development of the HIsarna™ direct iron smelting process.

Siemens Starts up Second Corex C-3000 Plant at Baosteel
Apr. 11, 2011 - Shanghai Baosteel Pudong Iron and Steel recently started up its second Corex module at its steelworks in Luojing. The new Corex C-3000 Module 02 has a nominal production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of hot metal per year.

Mechel Launches Upgraded Coking Battery #6 at Mechel-Coke
Mar. 29, 2011 - Mechel OAO announces the launch of the reconstructed coking battery #6 at Mechel Mining OAO’s subsidiary, Mechel-Coke OOO.

Sumitomo Metals Restarts Second Blast Furnace, Thermal Power Station at Kashima
Mar. 28, 2011 - Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. resumed operation of its No. 1 Blast Furnace in Kashima Steelworks, and its Kashima Power Station began generating electricity on Friday, March 25.

ArcelorMittal Poland Restarts Blast Furnace No. 5 at Kraków
Mar. 24, 2011 - ArcelorMittal Poland has restarted its Blast Furnace No. 5 at Kraków, which has been undergoing repair and maintenance since August 2010.

Kashima Steelworks Restarts Operation of its No. 3 Blast Furnace
Mar. 21, 2011 - Sumitomo Metals Group’s Kashima Steelworks has restarted its No. 3 Blast Furnace, and is planning to restart the No. 1 Blast Furnace within the next several days.

AK Steel Coke Plants Recognized for Outstanding Safety Performance
Mar. 14, 2011 - AK Steel's Ashland and Middletown coke plants have received the Max Eward Safety Award from the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute. Both coke plants operated the entire year of 2010 without any OSHA recordable injuries.

Nucor Breaks Ground in St. James Parish DRI Project
Mar. 8, 2011 - Nucor has broken ground on its DRI facility that will be located in St. James Parish, La. The company also named Lester Hart as General Manager of the St. James Parish facility.

Sumitomo Metals Receives Okochi Memorial Prize for Development of Blast Furnace Technologies
Mar. 7, 2011 - Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. has received the 57th Okochi Memorial Foundation Production Prize for its “development of technologies that extend the campaign life of blast furnaces.”

NLMK to Build Pelletizing Plant at Stoilensky
Feb. 21, 2011 - NLMK has approved the construction of a pelletizing plant with a capacity of 6 million tonnes of iron ore pellets per year at Stoilensky. The plant will be able to fully cover the company’s pellet requirements as early as 2015.

Nucor Awards Tenova HYL Contract for World’s Largest DR Plant
Feb. 17, 2011 - Nucor has signed a contract with Tenova HYL for the world’s largest single DR module ever to be constructed. The 2.5 million ton per year, Louisiana-based Energiron ZR plant will supply DR to Nucor’s other steelmaking facilities.

SAIL to Develop Chiria Mines with State-of-Art Environment-Friendly Technology
Feb. 14, 2011 - Steel Authority of India Limited has been granted forest clearance for leases of Chiria iron ore mines in Jharkhand. For SAIL, the Chiria mines represent the only compact deposit that can sustain large, mechanized mines of 30-50 million tonnes per annum capacity — key for the company’s existing and future expansion plans.

Severstal’s Putu Venture More Than Doubles Iron Ore Resource to 2.4 Billion Tonnes
Feb. 9, 2011 - OAO Severstal reports that an independent mineral resource report has estimated a doubling in natural resources at its Putu iron ore project in Liberia to 2.4 billion tonnes.

Rio Tinto to Further Expand Concentrate Capacity at Iron Ore Company of Canada
Feb. 9, 2011 - Rio Tinto has given the go-ahead to an additional US$277 million investment in the next phase of a project that will ultimately raise the Iron Ore Company of Canada's concentrate production capacity by 40% to 26 million tonnes per year.

JFE’s West Japan Works Starts up Second Battery in No. 6 Coke Oven
Feb. 3, 2011 - JFE Steel Corp. recently began operating a second battery in the No.6 coke oven of the company’s West Japan Works (Kurashiki). The facility employs a special reduced-impact technology—a low nitrous oxide combustion system developed by SCOPE 21.

Sunoco Reaches Settlement with ArcelorMittal on Coke Pricing Litigation
Feb. 1, 2011 - Sunoco says it will move forward with the planned separation of SunCoke Energy now that it has reached an agreement with ArcelorMittal resolving the lawsuit over coke pricing for the Jewell facility.

Nucor Announces New Development in St. James Parish Project
Jan. 28, 2011 - The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has issued an air quality permit for Nucor Corp.’s direct reduced iron making facility that will be located in St. James Parish, La. The facility could ultimately lead to construction of a coke plant, blast furnace, pellet plant and steel mill.

NLMK Completes Equipment Installation at New Power Plant
Jan. 28, 2011 - NLMK has completed installation of the main equipment for a new 150-MW Heat and Power Plant that will use off-gas from the Lipetsk site’s new blast furnace to generate electric power.

Siemens VAI to Install Intensive Mixing, Granulation Systems for Usiminas Sinter Plants
Jan. 21, 2011 - Siemens VAI Metals Technologies will install two intensive mixing and granulation systems in Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA’s sinter plants located in Cubatão and Ipatinga steelworks in southern Brazil.

Guarantee Electrical Completes Power Assignment on SunCoke Facility in Granite City
Jan. 14, 2011 - Guarantee Electrical has completed a $20 million assignment to power and supply process / instrumentation wiring, equipment commissioning, lighting and voice/data services for a new metallurgical coke manufacturing/heat energy recovery facility built by SunCoke Energy in Granite City, Ill.

Cargill, Magnetation to Jointly Establish Iron Recovery Operations
Jan. 7, 2011 - Cargill and Magnetation reach an agreement to jointly explore opportunities to develop and utilize Magnetation's proprietary mineral processing technology. The technology allows mining operators to recover a marketable, high-grade iron ore concentrate from low-grade hematite iron deposits.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works Boosts Iron Ore Production
Dec. 29, 2010 - Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, OJSC (MMK) will have produced over 2.2 million tons of finished ore by end 2010, according to company estimates, exceeding last year’s results by 35%.

Siemens Receives Final Acceptance Certificate from Dragon Steel
Dec. 21, 2010 - Siemens VAI Metals Technologies GmbH received the Final Acceptance Certificate from Dragon Steel Corp. following the successful start-up and fulfillment of the guarantee performance figures of Sinter Plant No. 1.

Second Blast Furnace Fired Up at ThyssenKrupp CSA in Brazil
Dec. 21, 2010 - Blast furnace 2 at the ThyssenKrupp CSA steel mill in Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro state was recently fired up on schedule and without problems—five months after blast furnace 1, which is now producing more than 6,500 tonnes of hot metal per day, close to its full capacity.

Essar Steel Algoma to Vacate Arbitration Decision with Cliffs
Dec. 20, 2010 - An Arbitration Panel has decided in favor of Cliffs Mining Co. regarding an iron ore pricing dispute between Essar Steel Algoma and Cleveland Cliffs. Essar Steel Algoma intends to file a court application to vacate the award on the basis that the Arbitration Panel exceeded its jurisdiction.

Outotec Launches New CO2 Removal Pilot Plant
Dec. 20, 2010 - Outotec has commissioned a new CO2 removal pilot plant at its R&D center in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, complementing the company's circulating fluidized bed (CFB) pilot plant.

Mechel Launches West Virginia Coal Processing Plant
Dec. 14, 2010 - Mechel OAO subsidiary Mechel Bluestone has launched K2, its newest coal processing plant for washing coal mined at the Keystone Operations near Keystone, W.Va.

Mechel Begins Construction of Complex for Portland Blast-Furnace Slag Cement
Dec. 10, 2010 - Mechel OAO has begun construction of thegrinding-mixing complex for Portland blast-furnace slag cement production with 1.6 million tonnes capacity by its subsidiary, Mechel Materials OOO. Construction is on the premises of Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant OAO.

Kobe Steel and Midrex Terminate Agreements with ZincOx
Dec. 9, 2010 - Kobe Steel and its wholly owned subsidiary Midrex Technologies have terminated their Alliance Agreement with ZincOx Resources plc.

Court Reverses Power Siting Board Decision on Middletown Coke Facility
Dec. 3, 2010 - The Supreme Court of Ohio has reversed the Ohio Power Siting Board’s approval of siting for Middletown Coke Company’s proposed SunCoke Energy facility.

Avdiivka Coking and Chemicals Plant Invests in Emissions Reduction
Nov. 18, 2010 - Avdiivka Coking and Chemicals Plant has started test operation of the closed coking gas cooling unit at the second section of Collection Shop #1. This is the final phase of the coking gas final cooling system reconstruction, which reduces annual emissions of chemical substances by more than 2,000 tonnes.

ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe Builds Dedusting System
Nov. 17, 2010 - ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe has begun a project in Duisburg that it says will reduce particulate emissions by 450 tonnes per year. The company is building an additional filter to capture sinter plant dust. Completion is scheduled for October 2011.

Northland Signs Off-take Agreement with Tata Steel
Nov. 3, 2010 - Northland Resources S.A. has concluded a long-term off-take agreement with Tata Steel UK Ltd. for a total of 6 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate from the Kaunisvaara Iron Ore Project in northern Sweden. Production is scheduled to begin in 2012.

ArcelorMittal Ostrava to Resume Hot-Metal Supply to Evraz Vítkovice Steel
Nov. 3, 2010 - ArcelorMittal Ostrava and Evraz Vitkovice Steel (EVS) reached an agreement recently over the supplies of liquid pig iron from ArcelorMittal Ostrava to the steelmaking facilities of EVS. The agreement guarantees supplies of hot metal from November 20, 2010, to the end of 2011.

Nippon Steel Promotes Mozambique Coking Coal Development Project
Oct. 28, 2010 - Nippon Steel Corp. (NSC) and Nippon Steel Trading Co., Ltd. (NST) have reached an agreement whereby NSC will acquire a 23.3% economic interest in the Revuboe Project, of which NST currently holds a 33.3% interest. A bankable feasibility study will be conducted with the goal of launching full-scale development of the project.

Posco Restarts Retrofitted No. 4 Furnace at Pohang Steelworks
Oct. 18, 2010 - Posco celebrated last week the furnace firing ceremony for the upgraded No. 4 Blast Furnace at Pohang Steelworks. The company expects the expanded furnace, which now has an inner volume of 5600m3, to produce 5.31 million tonnes of molten iron per year in the future.

Nucor Selects St. James Parish for Iron Making Facility
Sep. 16, 2010 - Nucor Corp. has selected St. James Parish, Louisiana, for the construction of a planned $750 million iron making facility, subject to receipt of all requisite environmental permits. The new facility will be owned and operated by Nucor Steel Louisiana, LLC, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Nucor.

Outotec to Supply Iron Ore Sinter Plant for SAIL
Sep. 3, 2010 - Outotec has been selected by the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to design and deliver an iron ore sinter plant for the company's Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh.

ArcelorMittal Monlevade Contracts Paul Wurth Group for Blast Furnace Construction
Aug. 30, 2010 - ArcelorMittal awarded to the Paul Wurth Group a design and supply contract for the new “B” furnace and all auxiliary plants that will form the base of capacity expansion at ArcelorMittal’s Monlevade plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil. “B“ blast furnace is scheduled to be commissioned in May 2012.

AK Steel Celebrates Bricklaying Ceremony for New SunCoke Plant
Aug. 26, 2010 - AK Steel held a ceremonial bricklaying for the new $360-million SunCoke Energy plant that will be built adjacent to AK Steel's Middletown Works in Middletown, Ohio.

Corus to Rebuild Blast Furnace in Wales
Aug. 17, 2010 - Corus plans to invest £185 million into the No. 4 Blast Furnace at Port Talbot steelworks. The furnace will undergo a rebuild, starting in July 2012, that will equip it with technology to improve its safety, environmental performance, and reliability.

Outotec Awarded Contracts for Karara Iron Ore Project
Aug. 10, 2010 - Outotec has been awarded orders for Australia's Karara Iron Ore Project that include the design, supply, delivery, and installation of the complete flotation circuit along with all filtration technology.

Evraz to Implement Coal Injection at its Russian Blast Furnaces
Aug. 2, 2010 - Evraz Group has begun to implement Pulverized Coal Injection technology in the production of pig iron at its Russian steel mills Zapsib and NTMK.

Severstal Idles Hot-end Facilities at Sparrows Point
Jul. 29, 2010 - Severstal idles the blast furnace and steelmaking facilities at its Sparrows Point plant in response to weakened market demand. The shut-down took effect July 25.

NLMK raises EURO125 million for Efficiency Upgrades
Jul. 8, 2010 - NLMK signs loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to finance upgrades including a power plant that will be fired using blast furnace off-gases, and integration of PCI into its blast furnaces.

Uhde Wins Follow-Up Contract from Dragon Steel for New Coke Plant
Jul. 2, 2010 - Following the successful completion and commissioning of a coke oven plant (phase 1) for Dragon Steel of Taiwan, Uhde has been awarded a plant contract to build phase 2, which is scheduled for commissioning at the end of 2012.

Siemens to Renovate Blast Furnace 1 for ArcelorMittal Tubarão
Jun. 25, 2010 - ArcelorMittal Tubarão has commissioned Siemens VAI Metals Technologies to renovate blast furnace 1 at its Tubarão Works in Brazil. Siemens will dismantle and rebuild within a shutdown period of 80 days.

JFE Steel Expands Steelmaking Capacity of West Japan Works' Fukuyama Area
Jun. 17, 2010 - JFE Steel is now operating a new single-strand continuous slab casting machine and slab scarfing machine at the Fukuyama Works, bringing the company one step closer to its targeted annual crude-steel production capacity of 33 million tonnes.

China Steel Blows in Revamped No. 1 Blast Furnace
Jun. 14, 2010 - China Steel held a blowing-in ceremony for the 4th campaign of No. 1 Blast Furnace, following a comprehensive revamp that included revamp of the shell, cooling stave, and furnace inner lining as well as the implementation of a comprehensive integrated control system.

Ruukki Completes Blast Furnace Upgrade at Raahe, Schedules No. 2 for 2011
Jun. 14, 2010 - Ruukki successfully completes modernization of Blast Furnace 1 at the Raahe Steel Works, and has scheduled Blast Furnace 2 for a two-month modernization around midsummer 2011. Ruukki will eliminate the use of sinter for ironmaking once the second upgrade has been completed.

Nippon Steel, Kobe Steel to Jointly Recycle Steel Mill Dust into DRI
May 27, 2010 - Nippon Steel Corp. and Kobe Steel, Ltd. plan to begin construction of a plant to recycle steel mill dust into direct reduced iron (DRI). Treatment capacity will be approximately 220,000 tonnes per year; planned start-up is October 2011.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Introduces New Mass Spectrometer
May 11, 2010 - Thermo Fisher Scientific recently introduced the Thermo Scientific Prima PRO, a next-generation process mass spectrometer for online gas analysis in iron and steel manufacturing applications.

Danieli Corus Commissions Blast Furnace for Bhushan Steel
May 11, 2010 - Danieli Corus BV has successfully commissioned the Greenfield No. 1 Blast Furnace at the Meramandali steelmaking plant owned and operated by Bhushan Steel Ltd.

OSHA Proposes Fines against Tonawanda Coke for Serious Violations
May 10, 2010 - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed a total of $48,500 in fines against Tonawanda Coke Corp. for 14 alleged serious violations of workplace health and safety standards at the company's River Road plant in Tonawanda, N.Y.

voestalpine Continues to Invest in Linz
Apr. 28, 2010 - voestalpine Stahl GmbH continued its EUR 700 million investment program “L6” in the 2009/10 business year, despite the poor economic climate. About one-half of all the L6 projects, which extend the annual crude steel production from 5.5 million to approximately 6 million tonnes, were implemented.

Outotec to Deliver Technology for Bhushan Power & Steel Plant in India
Apr. 20, 2010 - Outotec has agreed with Bhushan Power & Steel Plant Ltd. on the delivery of pelletizing technology for its steel plant expansion at Jharsuguda, located in Orissa state of India. The iron ore pelletizing plant is scheduled to be commissioned in mid 2012.

Mechel CEO Attends Hyundai Steel Blast Furnace Commissioning
Apr. 13, 2010 - Mechel OAO CEO Igor Zyuzin participates in Hyundai Steel’s commissioning of a new 4 million tonnes/year blast furnace at the company’s steel mill in Dangjin.

BHP Billiton Enters Joint Venture for Indonesian Coal Project
Apr. 13, 2010 - BHP Billiton has recently entered into binding agreements to create a new joint venture for its Indonesian Coal Project (ICP) with a subsidiary of PT Adaro Energy TBK, which has agreed to acquire a 25% interest in the ICP joint venture. BHP Billiton holds the remaining 75%.

Kobe Steel to Pursue ITmk3 Project in Vietnam
Apr. 6, 2010 - Kobe Steel, Ltd. received an investment license on March 31 from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to construct ITmk3® ironmaking plants. The company plans to establish a locally incorporated company, Kobelco Iron Nugget Vietnam LLC, in April 2010, through which the project can be carried out.

EPA, NY DEC Investigate Equipment Failure at Tonawanda Coke
Apr. 2, 2010 - The U.S. EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation are investigating equipment failure at Tonawanda Coke that triggered an emergency flare this week to prevent the release of potentially harmful gas.

LKAB Works toward Start-up of Three New Iron Ore Mines
Mar. 31, 2010 - LKAB plans to open an open-pit mine at Gruvberget during the first half of 2010, and also is planning to submit applications for a project to drain the Leveäniemi open pit and for test drilling for the Mertainen deposit in the Svappavaara area.

Battery B3 Commissioned at ZKS
Mar. 29, 2010 - A celebration was recently held to mark the commissioning of the new Battery B3 at Zentralkokerei Saar GmbH (ZKS), the joint coking-plant operating subsidiary of AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke and Saarstahl AG.

AK Steel Coke Plant Recognized for Safety Performance
Mar. 29, 2010 - AK Steel's Ashland, Ky., coke plant has received the Max Eward Safety Award from the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute. Employees at the plant worked the entire year of 2009 without a single OSHA-recordable injury.

ArcelorMittal Poland Signs Contracts with Kompania Weglowa
Mar. 24, 2010 - Kompania Węglowa will supply coking coal for the next five years to two coking plants owned by ArcelorMittal Poland. Within the scope of the second contract, ArcelorMittal Poland is to supply Kompania Węglowa with mining supports.

Patriot Sells Metallurgical Coal to Asian Destinations
Mar. 16, 2010 - Patriot Coal reaches agreement to sell approximately 1.5 million tons of metallurgical coal to steel mills in the Pacific Rim, with delivery beginning in April 2010 through early 2011.

Mechel Announces Accident at Its Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant
Mar. 12, 2010 - Mechel OAO halts production at the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant Coke Shop #2 following a fatal gas explosion on Thursday, March 11.

SinoCoking Commences Construction of New Coking Facility
Mar. 12, 2010 - SinoCoking Coal and Coke Chemical Industries, Inc. recently broke ground on the construction of its new coking facility in Pingdingshan city, in Henan Province, China. The facility will have an anticipated maximum annual production capacity of 900,000 tonnes of coke.

ArcelorMittal Reacts to Kumba Iron Ore Supply Stoppage
Mar. 1, 2010 - Trading in shares in ArcelorMittal South Africa was recently halted. The company has received notification from Kumba Iron Ore that from March 1 forward it will not supply iron ore to ArcelorMittal from its Sishen iron ore mine under the terms of their 2001 supply agreement.

Outotec to Deliver Sintering Technology for JSW Steel
Feb. 4, 2010 - Outotec has signed a contract for the delivery of sintering technology for JSW Steel Ltd.'s new iron ore sinter plant to be built in Toranagallu, India. The new plant is expected to produce annually around 2.3 million tonnes of iron sinter.

Danieli to Supply Turnkey Direct Reduction Plants in MENA Region
Jan. 27, 2010 - After the successful startup of the 1.6 million tonnes per year Energiron DRI plant at Emirates Steel Industry minimill #1 in Abu Dhabi, Danieli is supplying two more new DRI plants under the Energiron technology worldwide license agreement.

Report Reveals Greater Ore Potential in Kemi Mine
Jan. 22, 2010 - Outokumpu says that the mineral resources in Kemi mine may turn out to be significantly greater than earlier estimated, based on a seismic research report by Geological Survey of Finland in late 2009.

ArcelorMittal, BHP Billiton Discuss Combining Iron Ore Interests
Jan. 20, 2010 - ArcelorMittal has entered into initial discussions with BHP Billiton to potentially combine their respective iron ore mining and infrastructure interests in Liberia and Guinea within a joint venture.

Blast Furnace Construction Progressing at NLMK
Jan. 19, 2010 - Installation of the basic structures at Novolipetsk Steel’s new blast furnace #7, with 3.4 million tonnes annual capacity, has been completed. More than 30% of the work is finished.

Kobe Steel Begins Production using ITmk3 Process
Jan. 18, 2010 - The world's first commercial plant using Kobe Steel’s ITmk3 process successfully began production of iron nuggets in the United States on January 12. Production is expected to reach the facility's annual design capacity of 500,000 tonnes in mid-2010.

Danieli, Tenova HYL to Supply Energiron DR Plant to EZZ Rolling Mills
Jan. 12, 2010 - EZZ Rolling Mills, Egypt, signs contracts with Danieli & Co. and Tenova HYL, for the turnkey supply of a 1.9 million tonnes/year ENERGIRON III direct reduction plant.

Hyundai Steel Starts Operation of No. 1 Blast Furnace
Jan. 6, 2010 - Hyundai Steel Co. has started operation of its first blast furnace, holding a furnace lighting ceremony at its new integrated steel mill in Dangjin, South Korea. No. 1 blast furnace has an annual capacity of 4 million tonnes.

Baosteel COREX-C3000 Project Awarded Luban Prize
Dec. 2, 2009 - The 2009 Luban Prize, which recognizes Chinese construction and engineering quality, was recently awarded to Baosteel Group’s Luojing Step One Project COREX-C3000 project.

Posco-Nippon Steel Joint Venture Completes RHF Factory
Dec. 2, 2009 - Posco-Nippon Steel RHF Joint Venture, Co., Ltd. completes construction of the Pohang-Gwangyang Rotary Hearth Furnace factory. The RHF factories constructed in the dump area of Pohang-Gwangyang Steelworks will use dust and sludge to produce 280,000 tonnes of direct reduced iron and hot briquetted iron.

Startup of Simetal Gimbal Top Charging System at Tata Steel
Dec. 1, 2009 - The rebuilt blast furnace ‘C’ at Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur works India has been operating with new Siemens Simetal Gimbal Top charging systems since the end of September. Tata Steel is the first steelmaker to utilize this new charging system on a blast furnace.

Corus Pilot Plant to Test CO2-Reducing Technology
Dec. 1, 2009 - Corus will test a new iron-making technology, called “Hisarna,” in a pilot plant project at its IJmuiden steelworks in the Netherlands. The technology reportedly has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions in blast furnace steelmaking by more than 50%.

ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor Granted DOE Funding
Nov. 12, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Energy is awarding ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor funding for its No. 7 Blast Furnace Gas Flare Capture project, which includes the installation of an efficient recovery boiler that uses waste blast furnace gas to produce electricity and steam onsite.

Tata Steel, New Millennium Enter Joint Venture Agreement
Nov. 11, 2009 - Tata Steel Global Minerals Holdings enters into Joint Venture Agreement with New Millennium Capital and LabMag Limited Partnership for development of the Direct Shipment Ore Project in Canada.

BHP Billiton Opens Newman Mining Hub
Nov. 6, 2009 - BHP Billiton recently celebrated the official opening of the Newman Mining Hub at its Western Australia Iron Ore operations. The hub will be the center of the operations' mining, crushing, and screening activities in the Eastern Pilbara.

Energiron DR Technology to Help Emirates Steel Boosts Green Profile
Nov. 6, 2009 - Emirates Steel’s two new Energiron direct reduction plants will feature selective elimination of CO2 from the DR plants’ off-gas stream, will allow the company to commercialize CO2 as a DR plant by-product.

Tata Steel Blows in C Blast Furnace in an All-New Avatar
Sep. 24, 2009 - Tata Steel has blown in its upgraded C Blast Furnace at Jamshedpur, which has been increased from 400,000 to 700,000 tonnes per year.

Rio Tinto Completes Sale of Brazilian Iron Ore Operations
Sep. 23, 2009 - Rio Tinto completes the sale of its Corumbá iron ore mine in Brazil and associated river logistics operations to Vale SA.

China Steel Completes Intermediate Revamping of No. 3 Blast Furnace
Sep. 9, 2009 - About 100 people took part in a ceremony for officially blowing in China Steel Corp.’s No. 3 Blast Furnace.

Severstal Dearborn Receives Award for Construction of C Blast Furnace
Aug. 24, 2009 - Severstal Dearborn and its team of contractors receive the Engineering Society of Detroit’s annual Construction and Design Award for the construction of its C Blast Furnace.

Tata Steel Celebrates 50 Years of Operation for Sinter Plant No. 1
Aug. 10, 2009 - Tata Steel celebrates the Golden Jubilee of Sinter Plant No. 1 at the Jamshedpur Works.

Posco Sets New Record for Mega Blast Furnace Restart
Aug. 6, 2009 - Posco’s No. 4 Blast Furnace in Gwangyang works resumed to its normal operation capacity within the first three days of operation, a significant accomplishment for a large blast furnace of over 5500 m3.

Posco Restarts No. 4 Blast Furnace at Gwangyang
Jul. 29, 2009 - Posco celebrates the restart of the refurbished 5500-cubic-meter No. 4 Furnace at its Gwangyang Plant, which is to produce some 14,000 tonnes of steel per day, making it the world’s largest blast furnace in terms of daily production.

NLMK Develops Creative Solutions for Assembly of New Blast Furnace
Jul. 23, 2009 - NLMK develops creative assembly operations to facilitate the ongoing construction of its new Blast Furnace No. 7 in Lipetsk, which is to have a total volume of 4290 cubic meters.

Severstal Restarts Blast Furnace No. 1 at Cherepovets Steel Mill
Jul. 20, 2009 - Restarting Blast Furnace No. 1 will bring iron production from Severstal’s Cherepovets Steel Mill back up to around 7.9 million tonnes per year.

BlueScope to Restart No. 5 Blast Furnace at Port Kembla
Jul. 17, 2009 - BlueScope Steel announces plans to restart its newly relined No. 5 Blast Furnace at the Port Kembla Steelworks.

ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih Restarts Blast Furnace No. 9
Jul. 6, 2009 - ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih announces its Blast Furnace No. 9 has been blown in, after being shut down for repairs since November 7, 2008.

Siemens to Modernize Gas Cleaning System for Ovako Wire Blast Furnace
Jun. 29, 2009 - Ovako Wire Oy Ab places order with Siemens VAI Metals Technologies to engineer and supply a gas scrubber for the blast furnace at its Koverhar plant.

JFE Steel to Revamp West Japan Works Blast Furnace
Jun. 25, 2009 - JFE Steel will revamp No. 3 Blast Furnace at its West Japan Works in the Kurashiki District.

Evraz Restarts Zapsib Blast Furnace
Jun. 23, 2009 - Evraz Group announces the restart of Blast Furnace No. 3 at its Zapsib plant in Novokuznetsk, Russia.

Mechel Commissions Block of Coke Oven Batteries at Moscow Coke and Gas
Jun. 19, 2009 - Mechel OAO celebrates the restart of a block of coke oven batteries No. 2 with an official commissioning ceremony at its Moscow Coke and Gas Plant OAO.

Essar Steel Algoma Starts up first Canadian Steel Co-Gen Facility
Jun. 17, 2009 - Essar Steel Algoma successfully starts up a new, 70-MW cogeneration facility that will be fueled with by-product gas from the operation, becoming the first integrated steel manufacturer in Canada to construct such a facility.

Vale Settles 2009 Iron Ore, Pellet Prices with Nippon Steel, Posco
Jun. 12, 2009 - Vale concludes iron ore and pellet price negotiations for 2009 with Nippon Steel and Posco.

Mechel Commissions Coke Oven Battery at Mechel-Coke OOO Subsidiary
Jun. 11, 2009 - Mechel OAO celebrates the restart of Coke Oven Battery No. 4 at its Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s Mechel-Coke OOO subsidiary.

Pig Caster Commissioned at Nucor’s PIZO Joint Venture
Jun. 11, 2009 - Economy Industrial commissions new 20 ton/hour pig caster at PIZO, a joint venture of Heritage Environmental and Nucor.

Sumitomo Starts up Second Dust Recycling Unit at Kashima Senko
Jun. 8, 2009 - Kashima Senko and Sumitomo Metal Industries start operation of the No. 2 Resource Circulation Furnace, their second rotary kiln for dust recycling.

BlueScope to Defer Port Kembla Blast Furnace Restart
May 28, 2009 - BlueScope Steel confirms that it will defer the restart of the newly relined No. 5 Blast Furnace at Port Kembla.

Meishan Iron & Steel Celebrates Startup of New Blast Furnace
May 15, 2009 - Meishan Iron & Steel celebrates the start-up of its new Blast Furnace No. 4 with an ignition and furnace startup ceremony.

NLMK Restarts Blast Furnace No. 4
May 11, 2009 - Novolipetsk Steel restarts its Blast Furnace No. 4 following a complete overhaul.

SSAB to Install Emission Control System at Oxelösund Coke Plant
May 6, 2009 - SSAB will invest approximately SEK 200 million in a Pushing Emission Control System to reduce dust and smoke emissions at its coking plant in Oxelösund.

Mechel to Acquire Bluestone Coking Coal Assets
Apr. 23, 2009 - Mechel OAO will acquire 100% of the shares and interests of the coking coal assets of West Virginia based Bluestone Industries, creating one of the largest global producers of coking coa

Cliffs to Cut Metallurgical Coal Production
Apr. 13, 2009 - Cliffs Natural Resources announces plans to cut back met coke production at its mines in West Virginia and Alabama in its effort to align production with demand.

Mechel Commissions Blast Furnace at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant
Apr. 7, 2009 - Mechel OAO officially commissions Blast Furnace No. 4, which features a new cooling system, at its Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant subsidiary.

NLMK Commences Construction of New Blast Furnace
Mar. 30, 2009 - Novolipetsk Steel begins assembly for Blast Furnace No. 7 steel structures. The new production facility, with capacity of 3.4 million tonnes of hot pig iron per year, is the first to be constructed in Russia in 20 years.

Partners Place HIsmelt Plant on 12-Month Maintenance Plan
Mar. 27, 2009 - Rio Tinto and its joint venture partners place their HIsmelt pig iron plant on a program of 12 months' care and maintenance to April 2010, due to depressed global pig iron prices and poor market outlook.

Siemens to Evaluate Hot-Blast Stoves at Four U.S. Production Sites
Mar. 27, 2009 - Siemens VAI Metals Technologies will inspect existing hot-blast stoves at four U.S. production sites and propose repair and upgrade measures.

Two AK Steel Coke Plants Both Receive ACCCI's Highest Safety Award
Mar. 19, 2009 - The American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute presents its Max Eward Safety Award to two AK Steel cokemaking plants, marking the first time in the award’s history that two coke plants won the award in the same year.

Baosteel Casting to Supply Staves for Seven Large-Scale Blast Furnaces
Mar. 18, 2009 - Baosteel Casting is awarded contracts to supply cooling staves for seven large-scale blast furnaces ranging in capacity from 3800 to 5500 m3.

LKAB, Höganäs AB and StatoilHydro to Investigate Possible Ironworks in Norway
Mar. 10, 2009 - LKAB, Höganäs AB and StatoilHydro have reached an agreement to conduct a feasibility study for a new natural-gas based DRI plant near Trondheim, Norway.

New JSW Blast Furnace Features Siemens VAI Cyclone Separator
Feb. 23, 2009 - Siemens VAI Metals Technologies reports the successful commissioning of JSW Steel’s Blast Furnace No. 3 at Toranagallu Steelworks, which features the first application of a Siemens-developed cyclone separator in the gas cleaning system.

JSW Steel Commissions India’s Largest Blast Furnace at Vijayanagar
Feb. 20, 2009 - JSW Steel commissions the third blast furnace at its Vijayanagar Works. The 4019-m3 blast furnace, India’s largest, was commissioned in 31 months.

NLMK Restarts Second Lipetsk Blast Furnace
Feb. 19, 2009 - Novolipetsk Steel restarts its 1000-m3 Blast Furnace No. 2 at its main production site in Lipetsk.

NLMK Restarts Lipetsk Blast Furnace
Feb. 13, 2009 - Novolipetsk Steel restarts the refurbished Blast Furnace No. 3 at its main production site in Lipetsk.

NLMK Decommissions Two More Coke Batteries
Feb. 6, 2009 - NLMK decommissions Coke Batteries No. 3 and No. 4 at its main production site in Lipetsk, representing a combined capacity of 0.68 million tonnes per year.

Uhde to Supply New Coke Plant for Posco’s Gwangyang Works
Feb. 3, 2009 - Uhde, part of the ThyssenKrupp Group, will provide extensive services for the construction of four new coke oven batteries at Posco’s Gwangyang Works.

Nippon Steel Adjusts Blast Furnace Output to Match Steel Demand
Feb. 2, 2009 - Nippon Steel will bank a blast furnace at Kimitsu Works and hot bank coke ovens at a number of facilities in response to sharply decreased demand for steel products.

Outotec Receives Excellence Award from Samarco
Dec. 5, 2008 - Brazilian iron ore producer Samarco Mineração presents Outotec with its Prêmio Samarco de Excelência 2008 award in recognition of its performance during implementation of the company's third pelletizing plant project.

Baosteel Starts up First Corex Slag Vertical Milling Line in China
Dec. 4, 2008 - Baosteel puts the first Corex slag vertical mill and powder milling line into operation to process slags from its new Corex-C3000 smelting unit into admixture for high-performance concrete.

JFE Steel and Foulath Sign MOU on Pelletizing Project in Oman
Dec. 1, 2008 - ABSTRACT: JFE Steel and Foulathof Bahrain sign a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly establish a pelletizingproject that could produce as much as seven million tonnes of iron ore pellets per year in Sultanate of Oman.

Peabody Energy to Sell Non-Strategic Interest in Australia Mine
Nov. 26, 2008 - Peabody Energy enters into an agreement to sell its 62.5% interest in the Baralaba Mine in Australia to Cockatoo Coal Limited.

BHP Billiton Plans Major Capacity Expansion at Western Australia Iron Ore
Nov. 26, 2008 - BHP Billiton’s Rapid Growth Project 5 will increase installed capacity by 50 million tonnes across the company’s Western Australia Iron Ore operations for a total capital investment by BHP Billiton of US$4.8 billion.

Ohio EPA Grants Final Air Permit to Middletown Coke
Nov. 26, 2008 - Ohio EPA grants Sun Coke (doing business as Middletown Coke) a final air permit-to-install that paves the way for the company to begin its construction of three heat-recovery batteries adjacent to AK Steel’s Middletown Works.

NLMK to Idle Two Blast Furnaces
Nov. 17, 2008 - Novolipetsk Steel announces plans to idle its Blast Furnaces No. 2 and 4, which represent a combined total capacity of approximately 2.5 million tonnes of pig iron.

Rio Tinto Revises Iron Ore Shipments Guidance
Nov. 12, 2008 - Rio Tinto is revising its estimate of iron ore shipments from the Pilbara region of Western Australia to between 170 and 175 million tonnes in 2008.

Tata Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for New I Blast Furnace
Nov. 4, 2008 - Tata Steel holds groundbreaking ceremony at the Jamshedpur Works for construction of a new blast furnace, helping to push the plant toward its target capacity of 10 million tonnes hot metal per year.

NLMK Decommissions Two Coke Batteries, Restarts Sinter Plant
Nov. 3, 2008 - Novolipetsk Steel decommissions two coke batteries with a combined capacity of 1.04 million tonnes per year, and re-commissions a 3.7 million tonne/year sinter machine after a complete overhaul.

Cliffs to Idle Three Iron Ore Pellet Furnaces
Oct. 29, 2008 - Cliffs Natural Resources is initiating production curtailments on two small pellet furnaces at Northshore Mining and on a small pellet furnace at United Taconite, two of the company’s six North American iron ore mines.

Posco to Acquire Stake in Brazilian Iron Ore Mine
Oct. 28, 2008 - Posco will invest $554.4 million as part of a consortium formed to acquire a 40% total stake in NAMISA, a subsidiary of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional, Brazil.

Steel Partnership Inches Closer to Namisa Acquisition
Oct. 21, 2008 - Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional establishes strategic partnership with a consortium of Asian steelmakers that would acquire 40% of the total capital of CSN subsidiary Nacional Minérios SA for the aggregate amount of approximately US$ 3.12 billion.

NLMK Starts Maintenance Work on Lipetsk Blast Furnace
Oct. 20, 2008 - NLMK starts maintenance work on the 1.3 million tonnes/year Blast Furnace No. 3 at its main production site in Lipetsk.

Danieli Corus, Tata Projects to Build Greenfield Blast Furnace for SAIL
Oct. 6, 2008 - Consortium comprising Danieli Corus and Tata Projects Limited will design and construct a greenfield blast furnace for SAIL’s Rourkela Steel Plant.

Nippon-Kobe Joint Company to Recycle Steel Dust into DRI
Oct. 3, 2008 - Nippon Steel and Kobe Steel will establish a joint company that will recycle steel dust using the FastMet process to produce usable direct-reduced iron.

Uhde Awarded Contracts for Coke Plants at JFE Steel, MCC Mitsubishi Chemical
Oct. 2, 2008 - Uhde is commissioned by OTTO Corp. to provide comprehensive services within the scope of coke plant contracts for JFE Steel and MCC Mitsubishi Chemical.

Sumitomo Celebrates Progress on New Wakayama Works Blast Furnace
Oct. 2, 2008 - Sumitomo Metals holds a furnace building, or Koteire ceremony commemorating the start of brickwork for its new No. 1 Blast Furnace at the Wakayama Steel Works.

Posco, Nippon Steel Begin Construction of Pohang RHF Factory
Sep. 15, 2008 - Posco and Nippon Steel commence construction of their joint-venture RHF factory at Posco’s Pohang Steelworks.

Vale Comments on Negotiations with Iron Ore Clients
Sep. 10, 2008 - Companhia Vale do Rio Doce reports that it is negotiating with Asian clients on the convergence of reference prices for iron ore to the same level as those charged to European clients.

Rio Tinto Reports Rail incident at Cape Lambert
Sep. 9, 2008 - Rio Tinto Iron Ore reports an incident at one of its rail car dumpers at Cape Lambert that has resulted in a partial suspension of iron ore unloading activities.

Mechel Completes Repair of Coking Battery at Chelyabinsk
Sep. 5, 2008 - Mechel OAO has completed the repair of Coking Battery No. 4 at its Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, bringing the facility’s total annual output up to 440,000 tonnes of commercial coke.

Rio Tinto Continues to Invest in Canadian Iron Ore Expansion
Sep. 5, 2008 - Rio Tinto approves a $US193-million capital expenditure to expand the magnetite plant at Iron Ore Co. of Canada, and a US$75 million investment for completion of a feasibility study on the third-phase expansion.

ArcelorMittal Expands Iron Ore Investments in Brazil
Aug. 21, 2008 - ArcelorMittal will acquire 100% of the issued share capital of iron ore miner London Mining South America Limited for approximately US$764 million, and reaches agreement with Adriana Resources for development of an 80-20 iron ore port facility in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

ArcelorMittal Ostrava Begins Overhaul of Blast Furnace No. 3
Aug. 18, 2008 - ArcelorMittal Ostrava initiates a complete overhaul of its Blast Furnace No. 3.

Essar Steel Algoma to Start up No. 6 Blast Furnace
Aug. 15, 2008 - Essar Steel Algoma will initiate startup of its No. 6 Blast Furnace, following receipt of the Certificate of Approval from the Ministry of the Environment.

Outotec to Supply Large Iron Ore Pelletizing Plant for Tata Steel
Aug. 13, 2008 - Tata Steel contracts Outotec to supply a new iron ore pelletizing plant for its steel works in Jamshedpur.

ArcelorMittal to Acquire Koppers’ Monessen Coke Plant
Aug. 5, 2008 - ArcelorMittal signs agreement to acquire the Koppers’ Monessen Coke Plant from Koppers for $US 160 million.

ArcelorMittal South Africa’s Newcastle Works Completes Blast Furnace Reline
Jul. 25, 2008 - ArcelorMittal South Africa has completed the reline of its Newcastle Works blast furnace and sinter plant ahead of plan and within budget, at an approximate cost of R300 million.

Mesabi Trust Declares Distribution
Jul. 21, 2008 - Trustees of Mesabi Trust declare a distribution of one dollar per Unit of Beneficial Interest for the second quarter, which compares to a distribution of thirty-one cents per Unit for the same period last year.

Cliffs Plans Expansion Project at Empire and Tilden Mines
Jul. 14, 2008 - Cleveland-Cliffs Board approves a capital project that will expand capacity at its Empire and Tilden mines in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Usiminas Updates Investment Plan
Jul. 10, 2008 - Usiminas is revising its capital investment plans to incorporate the construction of a third mill with a slab production capacity of 5 million tonnes/year at Santana do Paraíso in the vicinity of Ipatinga Works.

Rio Tinto Announces Iron Ore Price Settlements in Asia
Jul. 2, 2008 - Rio Tinto reaches agreement with all of its customers in Asia for iron ore deliveries from Hamersley Iron, Robe River, and Hope Downs for the contract year commencing April 1, 2008.

Nucor Names General Manager for New Ironmaking Facility
Jun. 20, 2008 - Nucor announces the Vice President and General Manager for the company’s new state-of-the-art coke and ironmaking facility.

Danieli Corus to Design Blast Furnace for Nucor’s Greenfield Ironmaking Plant
Jun. 13, 2008 - Danieli Corus will design and supply a greenfield blast furnace plant and related installation parts for Nucor’s new ironmaking facility that may be built in St. James Parish, La.

Siemens to Provide Enviro-Friendly Meros Plant for Masteel Sinter Process
Jun. 11, 2008 - Siemens Metals Technologies will install a Meros plant for Maanshan Iron & Steel (Masteel), marking the first application of this technology outside Europe.

Mitsui Mining to Be Renamed Nippon Coke
Jun. 3, 2008 - Mitsui Mining announces plans to change its corporate name to Nippon Coke & Engineering, reflecting the company’s deeper ties with Nippon Steel and Sumitomo.

Tata Steel Blows in Largest Blast Furnace at Jamshedpur
Jun. 3, 2008 - Tata Steel officially restarts India’s largest blast furnace during a blowing in ceremony at the company’s Jamshedpur steelworks.

BlueScope Steel Plans Blast Furnace Reline at Port Kembla
May 30, 2008 - BlueScope Steel receives formal approval for its planned $370 million reline of Blast Furnace No. 5 at its Port Kembla Steelworks.

ArcelorMittal Acquires 14.9% Share in Macarthur Coal
May 22, 2008 - ArcelorMittal acquires a 14.9% stake (31,611,354 shares) in Macarthur Coal Limited, an Australian producer of low-volatile pulverized coal injection coal.

Nucor Getting Closer to Site Selection for $2-Billion Ironmaking Facility
May 16, 2008 - Nucor applies for a permit to build a state-of-the-art iron-making facility in Louisiana that would produce 3 million tons/year of iron as well as power beyond its own needs through the capture and use of excess energy at the blast furnace and heat-recovery coke plant.

Siemens Modernizes Coke-Oven By-Product Plant for Isdemir
May 9, 2008 - Siemens Metals Technologies completes the expansion and modernization of a coke-oven by-product plant for Turkish steel producer Isdemir.

Iron Ore Company of Canada Settles Prices with ThyssenKrupp
May 2, 2008 - The Iron Ore Company of Canada reaches agreement with ThyssenKrupp Steel AG on prices for IOC Carol Lake iron pellets and concentrates for 2008.

ArcelorMittal, Vale Sign New Long-Term Iron Ore Contracts
Apr. 30, 2008 - ArcelorMittal signs new long-term contracts with Vale to supply approximately 480 million tonnes of iron ore and pellets to ArcelorMittal plants in Europe, Africa, and the Americas over the next ten years.

New Sunoco Facility to Supply Coke to U.S. Steel
Apr. 29, 2008 - Sunoco’s Gateway Energy and Coke Co. will build a heat-recovery coke manufacturing facility in Granite City that will supply metallurgical-grade coke and steam to the neighboring U. S. Steel plant.

ArcelorMittal Enters Off-Take Agreement with Coal of Africa Limited
Apr. 24, 2008 - ArcelorMittal reaches an off-take agreement with Coal of Africa Limited that includes a minimum of 2.5 million tonnes per annum of coking coal from the company’s two mines in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.

U. S. Steel Plans Carbon Alloy Synthesis, Co-Gen Facilities in Alabama
Apr. 21, 2008 - United States Steel files permit applications for construction of a new carbon alloy synthesis facility and cogeneration facility that has the potential to provide an environment-friendly, energy-efficient alternative carbon source for its Fairfield Works.

Outotec to Supply Iron Ore Pelletizing Technology for Shougang Jingtang
Apr. 14, 2008 - Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel contracts Outotec for the delivery of environmentally sound technology for Shougang's iron ore pelletizing plant to be built in Caofeidan, China.

VALE Concludes Pellet Price Negotiation with ArcelorMittal
Apr. 9, 2008 - Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (VALE) has now concluded blast-furnace and direct-reduction pellets price negotiations for 2008 with ArcelorMittal.

Outotec to Supply Two Iron Ore Sinter Plants for Bhushan Steel
Apr. 2, 2008 - Outotec GmbH will supply two iron ore sinter plants for Bhushan Steel's integrated steelworks at Meramandali, Orissa, India.

Danieli to Supply DR-EAF Meltshops for Suez Steel and Emirates Steel Industries
Mar. 31, 2008 - Danieli will supply an innovative integrated minimill to Suez Steel in Egypt, as well as a new steelmaking complex for Emirates Steel Industries for a complex in Mussafah, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

AK Steel Board Okays Long-Term Agreement with Sun Coke
Mar. 25, 2008 - AK Steel’s board of directors approves a 20-year supply contract with SunCoke Energy to provide metallurgical-grade coke and electrical power from a new facility to be built adjacent to AK Steel's Middletown Works.

ThyssenKrupp Steel to Restart Blast Furnace 1 at Duisburg-Schwelgern
Mar. 20, 2008 - ThyssenKrupp Steel’s Schwelgern 1 blast furnace in Duisburg is expected to begin its fifth campaign at the beginning of April, following completion of a record downtime of only 70 days.

IOC and Rio Tinto Announce Plans for Capacity Expansion
Mar. 18, 2008 - The Iron Ore Co. of Canada and Rio Tinto will invest $500 million to increase IOC's annual production of iron ore concentrate to 22 million tonnes, beginning with a phase-one expansion program targeting as high as a 50% increase in production capability by 2011.

ArcelorMittal Commences Legal Action to Resolve Wabush Mines Situation
Mar. 14, 2008 - ArcelorMittal commences legal action to require U.S. Steel Canada and Cleveland-Cliffs to respect their original commitment to the sale of their interests in the Wabush Mines joint venture to ArcelorMittal Dofasco.

Rautaruukki to Close Raahe Works Sinter Plant by the end of 2011
Mar. 13, 2008 - Rautaruukki announced plans to close down sinter plant operations at its Raahe Works in Finland by the end of 2011 as it transitions over to 100% iron pellet feedstock for its blast furnace operations.

Siemens-Midrex Consortium Starts up World’s Largest HBI Plant in Russia
Feb. 12, 2008 - Siemens Metals Technologies and consortium partner Midrex Technologies start up the world’s largest hot-briquetted-iron production facility at Lebedinsky Mining and Processing Integrated Works near Gubkin, Russia.

OAO Severstal Resumes Blast Furnace Operations at Cherepovets
Feb. 5, 2008 - OAO Severstal resumes operation of Blast Furnace No. 5 at its Cherepovets steel plant, following a fire on January 31 that resulted in the death of one Severstal employee and the injury of two others.

ArcelorMittal to Restart Seraing Blast Furnace n.6
Feb. 4, 2008 - Following its agreement to a solution to the CO2 quota allocation issue that was proposed by the federal and regional governments of Belgium, ArcelorMittal will now prepare to re-launch the Seraing blast furnace n.6 in Liège, Belgium.

AK’s Ashland Coke Plant Wins Industry Safety Award
Feb. 4, 2008 - Employees at AK Steel’s Ashland, Ky., coke plant earn the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute’s Max Eward Safety Award, in recognition of having the best safety record during 2007 for an ACCCI-member coke plant.

U. S. Steel Plans $300 Million Capacity Expansion at Keetac
Feb. 4, 2008 - United States Steel is developing a capital investment program in excess of $300 million to expand capacity at its Minnesota Ore Operations' Keetac facility by some 3.6 million additional tons per year.

ThyssenKrupp Inaugurates New Blast Furnace, Criticizes EU Climate Protection Plans
Jan. 29, 2008 - ThyssenKrupp Steel AG inaugurated its new Blast Furnace No. 8, which the company installed as part of a 340-million-euro program to secure hot metal production for its German plants.

Siemens to Supply Second Corex Plant to Baosteel Pudong Steel
Jan. 23, 2008 - Siemens Metals Technologies will supply a second 1.5-million-tonnes/year Corex C-3000 plant to Shanghai Baosteel Pudong Iron and Steel in China.

CSN Announces Mine Expansion, New Integrated Mill in Minas Gerais State
Dec. 20, 2007 - CSN signs a Letter of Intent with the Minas Gerais state government detailing projects in mining, steel and cement production over the next six years, including a significant expansion in iron ore capacity as well as the creation of a new, 4.5 million tonnes/year integrated steel mill.

ThyssenKrupp Steel Starts up New Blast Furnace at Duisburg
Dec. 17, 2007 - ThyssenKrupp Steel starts up its new blast furnace No. 8 in Duisburg, part of the company’s 340-million-euro expansion program to secure hot metal production for its German plants.

Posco Restarts 3rd Gwangyang Blast Furnace
Dec. 11, 2007 - Posco restarted the 3rd blast furnace at Gwangyang Works following a successful 55-day repair campaign.

WCI Steel Announces New CEO and President, Resumption of Operations
Dec. 6, 2007 - WCI Steel announces its new CEO and President, as well as the resumption of blast furnace operations following the Nov. 9 fire in two of the furnace's hydraulic control rooms.

Steel Dynamics Completes Purchase of Minnesota Iron Mine
Dec. 4, 2007 - Steel Dynamics completes its purchase of a shuttered Hoyt Lakes, Minn., taconite mine from Cleveland Cliffs where it will invest $165 million so it can mine and concentrate iron ore for its Mesabi Nugget venture with Kobe Steel.

ArcelorMittal to Double Capacity of Monlevade Plant in Brazil
Dec. 3, 2007 - ArcelorMittal will double the capacity of its integrated long-products Monlevade Plant located in Brazil with the addition of a second blast furnace.

U. S. Steel Proposes $1-Billion Capital Investment at Clairton Coke Works
Dec. 3, 2007 - United States Steel is considering a $1-billion capital investment program at its Clairton Plant that would include the construction of two high-tech, environmentally advanced coke batteries plus a co-generation facility.

Siemens Starts up World’s Largest DR Plant at Hadeed
Nov. 27, 2007 - Siemens Metals Technologies starts up a 1.76 million tonnes/year direct-reduction plant for Saudi Iron & Steel. Hot DRI from the new DR plant is charged directly to the EAF for an energy savings of up to 20%.

Siemens Starts up First Meros Process at voestalpine Stahl Sinter Plant
Nov. 26, 2007 - Siemens Metals Technologies starts up the world’s first Maximized Emission Reduction of Sintering (Meros) off-gas-cleaning plant on voestalpine Stahl’s sinter plant. The upgrade has already delivered a significant reduction in off-gas emissions.

Baosteel Starts Up World’s Largest Corex Ironmaking Plant
Nov. 19, 2007 - Baosteel Pudong Iron and Steel starts up a Corex C-3000 plant, with a nominal production capacity of 1.5 million tons of hot metal per year, making it the world’s largest.

ThyssenKrupp Anlagenservice to Support Salzgitter Blast Furnace Reline
Nov. 16, 2007 - ThyssenKrupp Anlagenservice is commissioned as general contractor for lining the Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH Blast Furnace C in the spring of 2008.

Pohang’s Third Blast Furnace Sets World Record for Productivity
Nov. 14, 2007 - Posco’s Pohang Works sets a new world record for furnace productivity with its third blast furnace, which produced 12,300 tonnes of molten metal a day using a “drastically increased” oxygen-enriched blast.

Siemens to Provide Blast Furnace for Tata Steel Greenfield Facility
Nov. 1, 2007 - Tata Steel Ltd has placed an order with Metals Technologies (MT), a division of the Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S), for the supply of engineering and key equipment for a new blast furnace. The parties agreed not to disclose the contract price.

Outotec to Deliver Two Sinter Plants for SAIL
Oct. 29, 2007 - Outotec will design and deliver two iron ore sinter plants capable of producing 3.8 million tonnes of iron sinter per year for Steel Authority of India.

Posco, Siemens Celebrate Six Months Operation of First Finex Plant
Oct. 29, 2007 - Posco has tapped more than 650,000 tonnes of hot metal during the first six months of operation of the first commercial Finex plant, jointly developed with Siemens Metals Technologies to operate with low-cost iron ore fines and lower environmental emissions.

GE Energy to Supply Combined Cycle Power Gen Units for Wuhan Blast Furnace
Sep. 28, 2007 - GE Energy signs contract with Wuhan Iron and Steel to supply the first large-size blast furnace gas fired combined-cycle power generation project in China.

Steel Dynamics Moves Forward on Minnesota Iron-Making Venture
Sep. 21, 2007 - Steel Dynamics moves forward with the Mesabi Nugget iron-making project at Hoyt Lakes, with the State of Minnesota helping to support project financing.

Dofasco to Install Pulverized Coal Injection System
Aug. 27, 2007 - Dofasco will build a $60-million pulverized coal injection system at its two blast furnaces in Hamilton, supported in part by a $6.05-million, 5-year loan under the Government of Ontario’s Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy program.

Cleveland-Cliffs Selects Location for Iron Nugget Plant
Aug. 17, 2007 - Cleveland-Cliffs and joint-venture partner Kobe Steel will construct their 500,000 tons per year commercial-scale iron nugget production facility at Cliffs’ Empire Mine site in Palmer, Mich.

Outotec to Provide Technology for Tata Steel Sinter Plant
Aug. 15, 2007 - Outotec will provide the design and basic engineering, supply proprietary equipment, and provide supervisory services for a new iron ore sinter plant – India’s largest to date – for Tata Steel's new Kalinganagar steel plant project.

Siemens Optimizes Blast Furnace Top-Gas Dust Recycling Process
Aug. 14, 2007 - Siemens Metals Technologies will install its new cyclone separator for dedusting blast furnace top gases at JSW Steel Ltd in India.

Algoma Steel Extends Blast Furnace Shutdown
Aug. 2, 2007 - Algoma Steel says it expects remediation work to its No. 7 Blast Furnace to take longer than originally planned, with start-up now expected to take place in mid-August.

Jury Awards Wheeling-Pittsburgh $220 Million in Lawsuit against Massey
Jul. 4, 2007 - A Brooke County, W.Va., jury unanimously awards Wheeling-Pittsburgh $219.85 million in its lawsuit against Massey Energy and subsidiary Central West Virginia Energy Co.

CVRD Signs Mining Contract for Moatize
Jun. 29, 2007 - Companhia Vale do Rio Doce announces that the government of Mozambique has approved the mining contract for the exploitation of the Moatize coal project.

Al-Tuwairqi Group Starts up Relocated Midrex DR Plant
Jun. 26, 2007 - Saudi Arabia's Al-Tuwairqi Group has successfully started up the first of two Midrex Direct Reduction Plants that were relocated from the former Corus Group facility in Mobile, Ala., to Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Cleveland-Cliffs to License Kobe Steel’s Iron Nugget Technology
Jun. 20, 2007 - Under a new alliance, Kobe Steel will license its patented ITmk3 iron-making process to Cleveland-Cliffs for use in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Brazil. The two companies are also planning to build a joint-venture iron nugget facility.

Cleveland-Cliffs to Acquire Metallurgical Coal Producer PinnOak Resources
Jun. 15, 2007 - Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has agreed to acquire PinnOak Resources, a domestic producer of high-quality, low-volatile metallurgical coal, for $450 million in cash plus approximately $150 million in debt.

Alstom’s Combined Cycle Power Plant to be Fed by ThyssenKrupp Blast Furnace Gases
Jun. 13, 2007 - Alstom has received a turnkey contract from Brazilian steel producer ThyssenKrupp CSA Companhia Siderúrgica to build a 490-MW turnkey combined cycle power plant that will be fuelled by blast furnace waste gas from ThyssenKrupp’s new steel mill.

Paul Wurth to Supply Blast Furnaces for New Hyundai Steel Plant
May 29, 2007 - Hyundai Steel recently placed an order with Paul Wurth for two new blast furnaces for its new plant in South Korea. The two 14.9-meter hearth diameter blast furnaces will be the Hyundai Group’s first blast furnaces.

Sunoco Celebrates Start of Construction at Haverhill II Coke Plant
May 22, 2007 - Sunoco held a brick-laying ceremony at its second SunCoke Energy Heat Recovery Coke manufacturing plant in Haverhill, Ohio, which will eventually supply coke to both Severstal North America and WCI Steel.

Danieli Corus to Design Greenfield Blast Furnace for AMK
May 18, 2007 - Alchevskiy Metallurgicheskiy Kombinat (AMK) has awarded Danieli Corus an order for design and supply of a greenfield blast furnace installation at its facility in southeastern Ukraine.

WCI Steel Enters Long-Term Agreement with Sun Coke
Feb. 13, 2007 - WCI Steel, Inc. has entered into a long-term supply agreement with Sun Coke Co. that will provide access

Stelco Completes Operational Improvement Program
Feb. 8, 2007 - Stelco Inc. has completed the major components of the operational restructuring that it commenced upon exiting from the CCAA process.

ICG Completes Purchase of Buffalo Coal Assets
Feb. 2, 2007 - International Coal Group, Inc. announced that its Vindex Energy subsidiary has completed the purchase of

Arcelor Mittal to Develop Iron Ore Mining in Senegal
Feb. 1, 2007 - Arcelor Mittal has signed Agreements with the State of Senegal in West Africa to develop iron ore mining in the Faleme region of South East Senegal. Total estimated reserves are approximate

Nucor Starts Up DRI Production in Trinidad
Jan. 17, 2007 - Nucor Corp. recently started up DRI production at Nu-Iron Unlimited, the company’s

Mesabi Trust Declares Distribution
Jan. 15, 2007 - The Trustees of Mesabi Trust declared a distribution of thirty-one and one-half cents ($0.315) per Unit of Beneficial Interest payable on February 20, 2007 to Mesabi Trust Unitholders of record at

Cliffs Board Approves Investment in Australian Coal Project
Jan. 10, 2007 - Cleveland-Cliffs’ Board of Directors has approved the company’s investment in the Sonoma Coal Project<

Ternium Purchases CVRD’s Ownership Stake in Siderar
Jan. 1, 2007 - Ternium SA announced that it acquired from CVRD International SA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), 16,860,000 shares, or 4.85%, of View Current Articles

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