On 28th, Wuhan Pingmei Wisco Joint Coking Company was established.
Chen Jiansheng, board chairman of Henan Pingdingshan Coal Company (Pingmei), said in a speech, “The establishment of the joint company is an important step for both companies’ further cooperation and construction of economic union. The new company will help Pingdingshan Coal to expand the coking capacity and the product mix, and construct new type energy chemistry group. On the other side, the new coking company will secure the raw material supply for Wisco (Wuhan Iron and Steel Company), and help strengthening and lifting the influence in the iron and steel industry.”
Li Chunming, vice governor of Hubei Province, said, “Wisco has advantages on professionals, fund and technology, while Pingmei is one of the largest coking coal production base, with the fullest specifications. The strategic cooperation of the two is in accord with the national industry policy, and is a win-win cooperation and helps both companies’ sustainable development. Hubei provincial government will support the new company and provide good services.”

(Xinhua)– ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading metal and mining company, is investing in China to establish a new automotive-oriented steel joint venture in the central Hunan Province.
The new company was expected to produce 1.2 million tons of automobile steel sheet annually, ArcelorMittal’s China office told Xinhua here on Saturday.
ArcelorMittal, the Hunan-based Valin Group and Valin Steel Tube and Wire Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation contract on Friday for investing 5 billion yuan (725 million U.S. dollars) to set up the Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive Steel.
ArcelorMittal, Valin Group and Valin Steel Tube and Wire hold a stake of 33 percent, 33 percent and 34 percent, respectively, of the joint venture scheduled to turn out products by the end of 2010.
Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of the Luxembourg-based steel titan, said the move was part of its global and China strategy, aiming to better serve both global as well as domestic automotive clients through offering high value-added products with the support of ArcelorMittal technology.
Li Xiaowei, chairman of Valin Steel Tube and Wire, one of China’s top 10 steel makers, said the company’s development was boosted by the technological platform jointly set up with ArcelorMittal. He added it was improving the product mix and targeting high-end products.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) predicted the steel automotive application would reach 12.55 million tons this year nationwide and possibly climb to 21.76 million tons by 2015.
CAAM said although the country’s top steel manufacturers, including Baosteel and Angang Steel, had started producing auto-use steel products, China still needed to import a large quantity of high-tier steel products, boosted by its surging domestic auto demands.
Dirk Matthys, CEO and country manager of ArcelorMittal, forecasts that the total number of vehicles in China will rise from the current 10 million to 18 million in 2017.
ArcelorMittal also has a stake in the Hong Kong-listed China Oriental Group Co. Ltd., a domestic iron and steel maker.

Due to the increases in export taxes for primary iron and steel products, the appreciation of RMB and the inflation in Vietnam and so on, Yunnan Province exported 50,000 tons of iron ores during the first five months of 2008, with an export value of 36.90 million Yuan, down 88.2% and 80.6% respectively from those (425,000 tons and US$ 190) of the same period in 2007.
According to an official from Customs of Yunan Province, in early 2008, the national government implemented export taxes for 113 iron and steel products out of the 203, including billet (25%), ferroalloy (20%), and wire rod and deformed steel bar (15%), which are the main products for export in Yunnan. Therefore, the export volume of iron and steel products from Yunnan Province had a considerable decline in the first five months. From Jan to May of 2008, the main exported iron and steel products from Yunnan include wire, deformed steel bar and ferroalloy, which took a share of 90%, but the volume and value decreased by 56.8% and 28.7% from those of the same period in 2007.

The supply of coal used in power generation will continue to face a shortage, said an official with the China Electricity Council.

“The supply of coal, which fuels over two-thirds of China’s power plants, is still tense nationwide, causing big pressure for the country’s power plants as well as the total power supply in the country,” said Xue Jing, director of the department of statistics and information under the China Electricity Council.

In Shandong province, local media reported that at present power plant reserves, which should usually have enough coal for at least 15 days of operation, only had reserves for 11 days.

As a kind of primary energy source, coal supplies will continue to face difficult times in the future, said Xue.

The relatively limited capacity of China’s coal companies and transportation also caused the shortage, she said,

The summer, which is China’s highest energy consumption period, will also bring about intense pressure on coal supplies, she said.

To ensure supplies, China sold less coal abroad in the first five months of the year, said the General Administration of Customs. Between January and May, China exported 18.5 million tons of coal, a decline of 4.1 percent from the same period last year.

But the export value rose 48.3 percent to $1.68 billion as the average price was up 54.68 percent to $90.8 per ton upon stronger demand worldwide.

Although the country announced it will raise the power tariff in July, this cannot totally offset power companies’ losses mainly caused by rising coal price, said Xue.

“To power companies, this price hike can offset some 50 yuan increase in the coal price per ton, however, in some regions coal prices have increased by as much as 100 yuan per ton,” she said.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in July said electricity charges for commercial units would increase by 0.025 yuan per kWh from July 1.

But urban and rural residents and the farming and fertilizer production sectors were exempted from the increased electricity charges. Areas in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu hit by the May 12 quake, too, have been exempted, the NDRC said.

The price of coal will be brought under government control temporarily, the NDRC said, because soaring coal price is the main factor behind higher electricity charges. (Source: China Daily)