Indian government has carried out certain changes in the rates of export duty on Friday. Notification Nos 77 to 80/2008-Cus and Nos 39 and 40/2008-CE all dated June13th 2008 have been issued to implement these changes. They shall come into force with immediate effect.

A government release said that “Flat rolled products of iron and steel, including galvanized products and pipes and tubes that attracted export duty ranging from 5% to 15% ad valorem, have been fully exempted from export duty.”

It added that “The rate of export duty on long products such as bars and rods, angles, shapes and sections and wire has been increased from 10% to 15%, to improve their availability in the domestic market.

Indian government’s finance ministry’s revenue department vide notification No 66/2008-CUSTOMS dated May 10th 2008 under sub section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act of 1962 (52 of 1962), said that the central government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the goods specified in column 3 of the table and falling under Heading No of the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act of 1975 (51 of 1975), specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 of the table, when exported out of India, from so much of the duty of customs livable thereon under the said Second Schedule as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in column 4 of the table

ArabSteel - In order to control the successive price increases of reinforcing steel which reached record figures, Qatar announced freezing the steel prices within the set of basic construction materials for three years. The Saudi Ministry of Trade took measures to restrict steel exports. In Egypt, Ministry of Trade and Industry ordered producers to announce the steel selling prices to consumers and to be bound to the announced price. All restrictions and customs imposed on importing steel from abroad, either on the finished product or on the raw materials have been abolished.
The difference in prices of producers in the Egyptian market which reached about 1000,-Egyptian Pounds between Ezz Steel and the other competitors, that is, about USD187,- has created a crisis in the rebar market in Egypt. Ezz Steel’s officials think that their announced price amounting to 5.990,- Egyptian Pound (USD 1 = 5.34 Egyptian Pounds) gives good profits and that most companies are selling at the prices expected after several months and not at the real production cost. The responsibility of this crisis has been laid on the traders and contracting companies which resorted to storing big quantities of rebars to avoid any new price increases.
It is worth pointing out that Ezz Steel has achieved profits in 2007 which amounted to 3.6 billion Egyptian Pounds (672 million USD). These profits are mainly achieved due to the rising steel prices at the international level during 2007 to which the impact of the high prices of raw materials and the growing demand have contributed, either in the domestic market or in the world markets.

（Xinhua）-The producer price index (PPI) for China’s industrial products rose 8.2 percent in May over the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.
The PPI, which measures the value of finished products when they leave the factory, is 0.1 of a percentage point higher than May’s 8.1 percent.
The factory-gate prices of raw materials, fuel and power were up 11.8 percent, also 0.1 of a percentage point higher than the previous month.
Experts said higher ex-factory prices could lead to a rising CPI, as producers might seek to pass on their rising costs to consumers.
China’s CPI, a key measure of inflation, was up 8.5 percent in April, following an 8.3-percent rise in March and 8.7 percent in February, according to the NBS.
China has set an annual CPI target of 4.8 percent this year.
Factory-gate prices of crude oil surged 30.9 percent in May over the same period last year, while gasoline was up 11.0 percent, diesel 11.8 percent and kerosene 11.4 percent.
The producer prices of raw coal jumped 24.1 percent and those of steel products rose between 26.7 percent and 43.8 percent.
The purchasing prices, or costs, of fuel and power rose 21 percent, ferrous metals 22.1 percent, non-ferrous metals 3.4 percent and chemical raw materials 6.2 percent.
The PPI for manufactured goods was up 7.4 percent in the first five months of this year, while the costs of raw materials, fuel and power rose 10.6 percent.
The price index of food, a major component of the consumer price index (CPI), was up 11 percent, exceeding that for garments (2.4 percent) and daily commodities (3.9 percent). The prices of consumer durables were down 0.5 percent, said the NBS.

hebei steel group is announce to be launch a officially industry leader,and the productivity will be improved

China Securities Journal reported that Hebei’s provincial government has agreed to merge Tangshan Steel Group and Handan Steel Group to create the new Hebei Steel Group which will become China’s No 1 steel maker overtaking Shanghai based Baosteel Group.

The newspaper without giving a timeframe said that “According to the long term strategic plan by the Hebei province government, the new group will have annual productivity of 50 million tonnes of iron and steel, making it a world class iron and steel enterprise. It added that without the merger, Hebei cannot compete against domestic rivals and expand out of China.”

The newspaper said the merger and the creation of Hebei Steel Group is a first step towards helping Henan province solidifies its position as China’s top province by steel productivity.
The newspaper, citing unidentified sources familiar with the situation said that the new Hebei Steel Group will have annual productivity of nearly 32 million tonnes of iron and steel, more than that of Baosteel Group.

It said Mr Wang Yifang general manager of Tangshan Steel Group is the chief of the government led team in charge of the creation of Hebei Steel Group and Mr Liu Rujun chairman of smaller Handan Steel Group. It added that the top management of the new Hebei Steel Group will be announced soon.