According to Mr Zhou Shengxian head of the Chinese ministry of environmental protection, the main tasks this year, co hosted by the Development & Reform Commission and the Justice Department etc, would be for steel industry, one of the high energy consuming and heavy polluting resource industries, which will receive special examination. Mr Zhou addressed that the ministry of to further guard against…

It is reported that American scrap exports totaled 2.936 million tonnes in January to February 2009 period, up by 2.2% YoY as against 2.874 million tons in the same time of last year. Among them, China was the largest import country at 807,000 tonnes, accounted for 27.5%, up by 147.9% YoY. Korea imported 446,000 tonnes, up by 2 times than the same time of last year. India imported 239,000 tonnes of scrap…

Japan's Environment Minister backed on last Monday plans to extend a coal-fired power plant, saying that it would not greatly affect a target of reducing Japanese greenhouse gas emissions by 60% to 80% by 2050. The intervention came during a government environmental assessment of chemical maker Tokuyama Corporation's plan to expand a coal plant capacity by 50% to 817,000 KW by 2012. Power firms are seeking…

The new chairman of miner Rio Tinto - Jan du Plessis said Rio's board was committed to the group's proposed $19.5 billion tie up with China's state-owned Chinalco, playing down talk the group had a plan B. Speaking at a press conference following the group's annual shareholder meeting in Sydney, du Plessis also said he had not met with BHP Billiton's chairman in the past 24 hours. There had been media…

Difficult times require to look into the future for improvement of processes and activities. KURTZ GmbH presented low-pressure casting technology at ALUCAST 08. There is the clear message that this technology reduces production costs for a wide variety of components. Low-pressure casting technology provides several advantages. Compared with conventional gravity die casting the reduction of material for…

Ashland-Südchemie-Kernfest GmbH (ASK Chemicals) the leading manufacturer of foundry resins and coatings, based in Hilden Germany, has signed an agreement with US-based Chesapeake Speciality Products, Inc. (CSP) to exclusively distribute SphereOX® in Europe. SphereOX® is a highly effective foundry sand additive for eliminating veining and most gas type defects. It improves the economy of a foundry by…

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has signed a frame agreement with BMW Group to deliver 2,100 industrial robots over five years, beginning in 2010, to support the carmaker’s operations in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. The robots will be applied in parts handling, gluing and spot welding on car-body assembly lines for BMW's 1-series, 3-series, X5-series and Mini models. “We are…

Also available in After years of impressive growth rates, the Russian metallurgy industry cannot escape the effects of the slowdown in the global economy. Despite this, the need for upgrades in the country remains tremendous and interest in innovative technologies is unwavering. Even though many investments will have to be put on ice for the moment, the market’s long-term prospects are considered excellent.…

Rautaruukki is further expanding its offering of high strength steels with the launch of Optim 1500 QC, the world's strongest hot-rolled structural steel. Optim 1500 QC will be introduced at Intermat, the construction materials & production industry fair held in Paris, France on 20-25 April 2009. This ultra high-strength steel combines extreme strength and good wear-resistance, which makes it ideal for…

Dow Jones citing Mr Andrey Laptev the company's head of strategic planning as saying that Russia's largest steelmaker, Severstal JSC expects domestic steel demand in 2009 to fall by 25% on the year. He said that domestic steel demand has been reeling because key customers in the automotive, construction, oil and gas sectors' sales have plummeted due to the economic downturn. Mr Laptev said Russian…