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Dear readers,


Are we entering recession? I do not know, and probably nobody knows ! Few months earlier, we were all riding high on so called boom in the industry. All the user industries such as infrastructure, automobile, white goods, engineering were performing well, demand was growing handsomely, margins were reasonable, what else does one want ? Who had thought that the situation would take such a U turn and the crest will subside in such a short span of time ? I am sorry to say that no analyst predicted the present crisis in the global financial markets. But it did happen ! That is why I say that probably nobody knows what will happen in future.
After the initial sudden impact, I think now the industry is adjusting itself to the new world. The government machinery has also responded promptly and has taken various measures so that the industry does not feel the pinch of liquidity crunch. Though many financial institutions / banks, especially in western world are in deep trouble, Indian and Asian banks are said to be out of danger zone and I think this is very crucial from the industry perspective. This will ensure that the industry moves forward and finances will be available for the same. For the last few years, we all are seeing that the global industry is becoming more and more Asia centric and in my opinion, this process will accelerate in coming years.
As such, I feel that metals industry is such a basic necessity of not only other industries but civilization at large, it can not afford to stop functioning. Aluminium and copper are two very important metals and Extrusions are one of the very prime products of these non-ferrous metals. I believe that this industry has a great future primarily in developing countries as the usage of these products is in construction, transport and other engineering industries. More and more applications are being innovated and new production technologies and processes are being developed to produce these intricate applications. I am happy to see that the global extrusion community is gradually coming together under the umbrella of 'Extrusion Summit' and is discussing and debating the prime issues facing the industry. This year's event is being organized at Goa and I am sure it will help the industry in charting its future path.

D.A.Chandekar
Editor & CEO

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Byrnecut Mining Withdraws Bid for Hindustan Copper Mine

Chinese Coal Exports Down by 53.6% in September

CIL may Soon Buy Overseas Mines

GMR Set to Buy Coal Mine in Indonesia

LME Nickel Price Drops at USD 10,585/ ton

China Home Appliance Sector Expects Stable Copper Demand

CNMIA Urges for Copper Tolling Reinstatement and Export Tax Rebate Increase

IBC Closes Acquisition of Nonferrous Products, Inc

Hinduja Foundries to Set up New Foundry Unit in Toopran

Manganese Alloy Prices Hit Hard

Zambia Government Shortlists Vedanta to Develop Coal Mine

Metals Up in November After October Fall

South Korea Buys 5,000 ton of Copper

Vedanta Commences Rs 300-cr Township Project in Orissa

Hindalco Industries' Q2 Net up 12 %

Nalco Q2 Net up Marginally

Mincor Expects Nickel Ore to Decline in 2009

Sumitomo Metal Profit Falls

Ravensthorpe's Nickel Production Up

Russia's Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant Proposes Output Cut

Lead to Outperform Zinc on Battery Demand

FreeportMcMoRan may Delay Expansion Plan

Atacocha to Sell stake to Votorantim

ICSG forecasts rise in global copper consumption

Hindustan Copper may Start Work at Kendadih

Nalco Cuts Aluminium Prices by Rs 4500

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Byrnecut Mining Withdraws Bid for Hindustan Copper Mine

 The financial slowdown and weak copper prices have forced Australia's Byrnecut Mining to withdraw its bid to explore, develop and operate Hindustan Copper's Banwas mines in Rajasthan. The Cloverdale-based Byrnecut also lost interest after state-run Hindustan Copper delayed the selection process for almost a year.
“There have been major material changes in the industry since the date our original submission (December 2007) due to the global financial crisis and fall in copper prices," said Byrnecut Mining managing director Steve Coughlan.
The Hindustan Copper's bid had attracted many global companies such as Oxiana, Byrnecut, Anglo American, Lundin Mining and India Resources to bid for the operation of the Banwas copper mine in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. The Banwas deposit is estimated to have about 25 million tons in reserves with 1.69 percent copper content.
It has also been learnt that Byrnecut was scheduled to invest Rs 500 crore to develop the mine and also for the beneficiation of resources. According to the terms of the bidding process, if selected, Byrnecut would have been appointed contractor for operating the mine, for which the Australian company would have earned an income based on cost per ton of copper, according to sources.
The weak macro-economic situation has pushed down copper prices on concerns of a slowdown in demand for consumer goods. Copper has recently fallen to a 33-month low after the US Federal Reserve warned the US economy that it faced a financial threat and bleak economic data.  

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Chinese Coal Exports Down by 53.6% in September

China's coal exports witnessed a decline of 53.6 percent during the month of September 2008 compared to the exports in the same period last year.
The country exported 2.07 million tons of coal out of which 0.13 million tons were coking coal which is 43.2 percent less than the exports in the corresponding period last year. Similarly, in case of thermal coal exports, China witnessed a decline of 56.2 percent reaching 1.70 million tons mark during September 2008, as per the data published in Tex Report. The largest purchaser of thermal as well as coking coal from China during this period was South Korea accounting to 0.63 million tons of the total thermal exports and 0.064 million tons of the total coking coal exports. Consequently, South Korea emerged as the largest importer of coal from China which however, recorded a decline of 46.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

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CIL may Soon Buy Overseas Mines  

State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) is likely to make a foreign coal assets deal through its overseas arm in near future.
According to a CIL source, Coal Videsh is close to an acquisition in Indonesia. It is also looking for assets in other coal-rich geographies like Mozambique, Australia and South Africa. Minister of State for Coal Santosh Bagrodia said," We are working out for acquisition of coal assets in abroad. I hope to acquire one within a year or so." Bagrodia asked CIL chairman Partha S. Bhattacharyya to step up production by 20 percent year-on-year in three years from now, whereas the present growth rate is around 5 percent. This calls for acquiring coal assets overseas. CIL had produced 379.49 million tons of coal last fiscal and has set a target for itself of producing 405 million tons in the current fiscal.
CIL had produced 379.49 million tons (mt) of coal last fiscal and set itself a target of 405 mt in the current fiscal.

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GMR Set to Buy Coal Mine in Indonesia

Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure is set to acquire a coal mine in Indonesia for close to $ 100 million (around Rs 490 crore). The mine is understood have reserves of 110 million tons. GMR has recently bought 5 percent in a South African mining firm for $ 15 million. The company is considering raising stake in the African mining firm to 50 percent for $ 115 million by 2008-end.
According the company sources, the company had initially agreed at price of $ 100 million for the Indonesian mine, but was negotiating to bring down the cost by 10 to 15 percent due to the current downturn in the global economy. GMR Energy is the operational arm executing the projects and is understood to have lined up various projects with an estimated capacity of 3,300 MW over a period of time.
Currently, the company has a power generation capacity of close to 420 MW – one unit in Tamil Nadu with a capacity of 200 MW and another barge-mounted power plant capable of producing around 220 MW.
The company is on an aggressive fund-raising drive for its various power projects and is understood to have recently raised Rs 450 crore debts from Axis Bank. It is looking at raising an additional Rs 1,000 crore in the next 12 months.
GMR is also set for financial closure of its 1,050-MW thermal power plant at Kamalanga in Orissa. The project's financial closure is expected by November and the company's equity contribution will be Rs 750 crore.

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LME Nickel Price Drops at USD 10,585/ ton

London Metal Exchange nickel price dropped to USD 10,585 per ton. Since 7th October of this year, the nickel price has declined by USD 1,250 per ton and continues to show a fall trend, hitting the lowest price within the last 2 years.
Steel traders may observe nickel price dropping down to USD 10,000 per ton. Some steel traders are even expecting the price to bottom out, after which they can look forward to a fresh new rebound, leading to better dealings in the stainless steel market.

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China Home Appliance Sector Expects Stable Copper Demand

Copper consumption in China's home appliance sector is likely to remain stable next year, despite a global economic slowdown.
The country is estimated to consume about 750,000 metric tons of copper this year in the manufacture of home appliances. "The figure will probably remain stable next year," said an official with the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.
The sector accounts for about 17% of total consumption of approximately 4.5 million tons this year, estimated by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
Analysts have been concerned about the impact of the global economic slowdown on exports of China-made appliances and consequently demand for copper by the world's biggest consumer. "I don't think a significant decline in exports is very likely," Hu said, adding that most of the Chinese products are for mid- to lower-end markets, and that part of demand will remain relatively stable, especially in view of the potential in emerging markets. About one-third of China's total output of refrigerators and air-conditioners is exported, according to data provided by the Household Electrical Appliances Association.
The problem is that a quick slide in metals prices since the end of September has led to a drop in overseas orders received by appliance producers, which is worrying industry players, "but the demand is there, and people still need theses appliances," she said.

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CNMIA Urges for Copper Tolling Reinstatement and Export Tax Rebate Increase

China copper and fabricators under pressure from dropping profit margin and shrinking demand are expected to force the Chinese government to resume copper tolling and increase export tax rebates on several copper products, said an official, China Nonferrous Metals Industry.
“Dropping copper prices in October have made difficult times for the majority of smelters and fabricators within the industry. We are investing this on case by case basis and hopefully, a proposal will be submitted in early November to the central government suggesting a reinstatement of copper tolling and other incentive policies in a move to support the industry." said Zhao Bo, Deputy of the copper department with the CNMIA.
Zhao said that as for other incentive policies a possible solution many be increasing export tax rebates on certain copper products from the current 5 percent to 13 percent. Currently, an only copper tube enjoys a 13 percent export tax rebate. Mr Zhao said that China's copper smelters have not yet cut production, unlike their aluminum counterparts, because the sharp downturn in prices only commenced earlier this month.

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IBC Closes Acquisition of Nonferrous Products, Inc

International Beryllium Corporation has announced that it has successfully closed, through its subsidiary IBC US Holdings, Inc., the acquisition of Nonferrous Products, Inc., a profitable and growing Indiana based beryllium metalworking and specialty alloy processing company.
According to the Agreement, IB paid about US$10,500,000 made up of US$6,000,000 in cash, $US3,000,000 in vendor debt bearing interest at 8% and due in three years and 3,000,000 common shares (the "IB Shares") with a deemed value of $0.50 per share. The IB Shares are subject to a hold period which expires on March 1st, 2009.
“We are extremely pleased to have successfully completed the acquisition of Nonferrous," said Anthony Dutton, President and CEO of International Beryllium. "With Nonferrous 2007 revenues of US$11.4 million, IB should increase its revenue base by more than 100% and anticipates excellent growth opportunities, especially in key overseas markets and the oil and gas sector. Through our wholly owned subsidiary, Freedom Alloys," continued Dutton, "we have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial working relationship with Nonferrous and look forward to building on our shared vision of a vertically integrated global beryllium industry."
"The acquisition of Nonferrous by IB is an important milestone for our company as we join forces with a shared vision and strategy for growth," said Denis Brady, CEO of Nonferrous. "We believe Nonferrous' experience, global customer base and long standing industry relationships will make a significant contribution to the excellent potential of our combined company." We are looking forward," continued Brady, "to working closely with IB and Freedom as we pursue our combined growth strategy including additional acquisition opportunities."

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Hinduja Foundries to Set up New Foundry Unit in Toopran

Hinduja Foundries Ltd, part of the diversified Hinduja Group, is setting up its fourth foundry unit at Toopran, Andhra Pradesh. The unit is coming up on a 60-acre site with an investment of Rs 150 crore. The foundry will manufacture engine blocks and cylinder heads for Indian and foreign car manufacturers and support 30 per cent requirements for the CV and tractor segments.
Hinduja Foundries Ltd will be setting up an Industrial Training Centre at Mukkireddipalle at an investment of Rs 7 crore, to train local youth. The project is expected to create direct employment opportunities for nearly 500 people and indirect employment for another 1000.
According to V. Mahadevan, Managing Director of Hinduja Foundries, the Toopran unit would make the most sophisticated castings, engine blocks and cylinder heads at par with global standards. He added that the setting up of the new unit marked an important step in the growth of the country's automotive sector.
The Rs.150-crore foundry, coming up in two phases, will have a total production capacity of 85,000 tonnes per annum (Phase I - 48,000 tonnes per annum & Phase II - 37,000 tonnes per annum). The first phase is expected to be completed by 2010-11. With the addition of the new foundry the total production capacity of Hinduja Foundries will become 2, 25,000 tonnes per annum. Hinduja Foundries' three other units are located at Ennore & Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu and its Ductron Castings Unit at I.D.A., UPPAL near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

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Manganese Alloy Prices Hit Hard

Manganese alloys is seeing a sharp decline. Prime grade silico manganese having manganese content of 60 percent and silicon content of 14 percent sold at Rs 51-52 per kg in October end from Rs 63 per kg prevailing in September.
High carbon ferro manganese also sold in the range of Rs 70-75 per kg ex-work in October compared to Rs 87 per kg ex-work in September. The trend turned out to be worse when steelmakers called the ferro alloy producers to re-negotiate the open orders and forcibly dictated a lower price so that open order remained valid. “I was asked to lower my medium carbon ferro manganese price from Rs 123 per kg to Rs 100 per kg," said a ferro alloy producer.
Incidentally, imported manganese metal briquettes were thus available at $ 2200 per ton CIF Indian ports in October from September prices of $3800 per ton.

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Zambia Government Shortlists Vedanta to Develop Coal Mine

Zambia-based Zambia Consolidated Copper Mine Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) has shortlisted Vedanta Resources', London-based energy company Aldwych International and infrastructure firm Nava Bharat Ventures to develop and operate a coal mine and build a 400 mega watt thermal power plant in the African nation. ZCCM-IH advises that the three pre-qualified bidders will now be requested to submit their best and final offers for consideration. The entire process of allotting the rights for the Maamba Collieries mines and the power plant is expected to be completed by the end of this financial year. The power plant will supply electricity to copper mines in the country. The selected bidder will invest in the Collieries as a strategic equity partner. Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta is the majority owner of the Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), Zambia's largest copper producer. The two Indian firms were selected from 10 Zambian and foreign firms shortlisted initially. Maamba Collieries, owned by ZCCM-IH, has 78.2 million tons of coal reserves, which will last more than 70 years. The mine has a capacity to produce up to 1 million tons annually. The mine produced around 600,000 tons of coal during peak output in the 1980s. While the power demand in the mineral-rich Zambia rose due to new mines and industrial expansion, electricity supply remained erratic. ZCCM-IH had issued an international tender in 2007 asking firms to submit bids for the revamping of Maamba Collieries operations and also for the construction of a coal-fired power station that would supply electricity to the country's vast copper and cobalt mines. In April, ZCCM-IH said it would pour $12 million into operations of Maamba Collieries as it sought a permanent equity partner

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Metals Up in November After October Fall

Metals markets began positive early November after a hit in the previous month across the globe, with copper gaining more than 3 percent after its weakest monthly performance in at least 35 years in October, but dealers said the outlook remained pessimistic. “Markets currently are in positive mood with huge amount of volatility amid economic recession and low demand,” said a trader. Last month, LME copper fell nearly 36 percent, its biggest drop since at least 1970 and possibly in the exchange's 130-year history of copper trading. A fall in the dollar versus the euro ahead of another round of interest rate cuts this week by the world's major central banks gave a lift to sentiment, as did firmer equity markets. The MSCI index of stocks in the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan rose 4.8 percent, up for a fifth consecutive session after dropping 24.6 percent in October for its biggest monthly decline in the gauge's 20-year history. “I don't see any dramatic turnaround this month in commodities. Manufacturing is slowing in China. Industry is slowing down and for the next couple of weeks at least there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” said the trader. "It will be interesting to see how the winner manages to kick start the manufacturing sector. Regardless of who gets in, rising unemployment, slowing production and the 12 million homes with negative equity, will mean huge risks to the United States right though the first half of next year.

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South Korea Buys 5,000 ton of Copper

South Korea has bought 5,000 tons of copper cathode at a premium of between $130 and $135 per ton, the state-run Public Procurement Service said. LS-Nikko agreed to deliver 3,000 tons at a premium of $130 a ton over London Metal Exchange cash prices on a cost, insurance and freight basis, while Swikore International would supply 2,000 tons at a premium of $135 a ton over LME cash prices, the agency said in a statement.

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Vedanta Commences Rs 300-cr Township Project in Orissa

Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta group has started a Rs 300-crore township project with the support of a Chinese firm to accommodate its over a 1,000 engineers and technical workforce in Orissa. Claiming that the project would be comparable if not better than what Mukesh Ambani-led RIL developed at Jamnagar in Gujarat, group company Vedanta Aluminium is importing services of China's leading architect firm ECADI at a time when reality majors are reeling under a slump. The township project, a concept popularised by PSUs in India, is crucial for the overall Aluminium unit, first stage of which has already been commissioned and the second stage is targeted for completion next year, to attract and retain talent in the backward area of Jharsuguda in Orissa. The Vedanta project envisages providing sophisticated and urban living accommodations and amenities to over 1,400 employees, who are already stationed at Jharsuguda aluminium plant. The metals and mining major plans to pump in a whopping USD 4 billion to ramp up the capacity of its aluminium smelter to 1.8 million tonne by 2010. At present, its operational capacity is 2,50,000 tonne, which would go up to 5,00,000 tonne by March 2009. For meeting its power requirement, the company has set up a 675 MW power plant, the capacity of which will go up to 1,215 MW post-commissioning of the smelter's first phase expansion.

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Hindalco Industries' Q2 Net up 12 %

Hindalco Industries Ltd, India's top aluminium maker, has posted a 12 percent rise in quarterly net profit on higher sales and foreign exchange gains. The company reported a net profit of 7.2 billion rupees ($145.7 million) in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 6.43 billion rupees a year earlier. Net sales rose to 56.4 billion rupees from 49.60 billion. The company is currently executing alumina refinery at Muri, expansion of smelting capacity at Hirakud, expanding alumina refinery at Belgaum, putting up an integrated aluminium project called Aditya Aluminium project, Mahan aluminium project and the ones in Jharkhand and Utkal. It will be producing 1.6 million tons of aluminium by 2014 resulting in sales of about Rs 15,000 crore at current prices which will make the company among the top four producers in the world.

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Nalco Q2 Net up Marginally

State-run Nalco reported a marginal 1.08 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 444.46 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2008, compared with Rs. 439.73 crore in the same month quarter last fiscal, on the back of expensive coal imports. The total income rose 12.36 per cent to Rs 1,654.50 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs 1,472.54 crore in the year-ago period. The company's total income has increased in this quarter but the production cost also went up by over Rs 150 crore primarily on account of coal imports. It imported about 2.5 lakh tons of coal in the September quarter as the domestic supply remained restricted. Imported coal is as much as three times the price of the domestic coal mainly due to its low ash content and higher calorific value. The company, however, remained optimistic on better realisations in the coming quarters and hoped for a price stability as aluminium and alumina producing countries like China and US have announced a cut in output. In the backdrop of falling aluminium and alumina prices globally, Nalco had announced price cuts of the alloy as many as four times in the month of October. In the six-month ended September 30, Nalco reported a net profit of Rs 969.79 crore, a 9.41 per cent growth over the same period last year. The firm had a net profit of Rs 886.39 crore in the corresponding period. The total income rose to Rs 3,969.19 crore during the first half of current fiscal from Rs 2,556.94 crore in the same period last fiscal. It produced about 3.6 lakh tons of aluminium at the end of the last fiscal. Aerospace, transportation, construction industry are main consumers of the metal and its alloys. The non-ferrous metal is intensively used by the producers of cooking and related utensils.

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Mincor Expects Nickel Ore to Decline in 2009

Australian miner Mincor Resources NL expects its production of nickel ore to be in a range of 16,000-19,000 tons in fiscal 2009, down from an original plan of 19,500-20,500 tons, following a business review. Due to the structure of its mining business, Mincor has the advantage of a high degree of flexibility in its choice of production levels. This allows the company to tailor production to the prevailing nickel price. Nickel prices are down about 55 percent this year due to a decline in stainless steel production. The effect of the plan would be to reduce the company's cash costs to a range targeted between A$5.40 and A$5.70. It said it plans to increase production again when nickel prices recover. Minara also reported production of 4,358 tons of nickel concentrate for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 4,195.9 in the previous quarter.

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Sumitomo Metal Profit Falls

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's biggest producer of nickel and gold, slashed its profit target after posting a 53 percent decline in second-quarter earnings because of plunging metal prices. Net income fell to 21.6 billion yen ($224 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 45.9 billion yen a year earlier. Profit will probably drop 49 percent in the year ending March 31 to 70 billion yen, compared with the previous forecast for 91 billion yen, it said. Metals prices declined as the global credit freeze stifled demand for everything from copper pipes to nickel used to make stainless steel for cars. An oversupply in smelting capacity had also led to lower fees to process raw materials into metals. Sumitomo Metal Mining earlier this year agreed to a 25 percent cut in treatment and refining charges with BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company. First-half net income dropped to 52.1 billion yen in the six months ended Sept. 30, from 91.5 billion yen a year earlier, the company said.

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Ravensthorpe's Nickel Production Up

Nickel production at Australia's Ravensthorpe mine will rise to 7,000 tons in the January-June half year from 2,000 tons in the current half, owner BHP Billiton Ltd said. The mine, which started production in 2007 about nine months behind schedule, cost about $2.2 billion to build and is one of the largest nickel-making facilities in the world. Since starting, world nickel prices have more halved, pressuring BHP and other miners on costs and prompting predictions that mines will decrease rather than increase output. Nickel, which reached $51,650 a ton in May 2007, sells for around $11,900 a ton or $5.40 a pound. CLSA Pacific Markets analyst Ahmad Solihin said in a report that a lot of nickel companies would be booking losses at current nickel prices. In a presentation to analysts visiting the mine in Western Australia, BHP said about 85 percent of the operating costs were priced in Australian dollars, providing a buffer against falling U.S. dollar nickel prices. BHP said in May it would be at least two years before the Ravensthorpe mine reaches full capacity of 50,000 tons a year. BHP Chief Financial Officer Alex Vaneslow has said Ravensthorpe needed a nickel price of between $5 and $8 a pound to be cash positive at full production. Earlier, Australia's No.2 nickel miner, Minara Resources Ltd, announced a renounceable rights issue to raise A$210 million to withstand volatility in the nickel market.

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Russia's Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant Proposes Output Cut

Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant, Russia's largest producer of the anti-corrosive metal, will cut planned 2009 output to 150,000 tons due to the global financial crisis, the company's chairman said. “Tight credit has resulted in a slowdown in zinc consumption in Russia and abroad. These factors, combined with the steep decline in the price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange over the past year, force the company to adjust output accordingly and to reduce 2009 zinc output to 150,000 tons. Chelyabinsk said in a statement its output of zinc and its alloys was 130,100 tons in the first nine months of this year, a 6 percent rise on the 122,700 tons produced a year ago. Chelyabinsk produced 165,007 tons of zinc and alloys in 2007.

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Lead to Outperform Zinc on Battery Demand

outperforming zinc as consumers switch to hybrid cars and bicycles powered by lead batteries, and zinc production growth outpaces demand, the International Lead & Zinc Study Group said. Higher prices for lead than for zinc ``may become a long- term possibility,'' Paul White, head of forecasting and statistics of the Lisbon-based agency, said at a conference in Shanghai. Lead prices have tumbled 40 percent this year to $1,520 a ton while zinc has dropped 48 percent $1,227 a ton as the global lending crunch increased concern that a recession would reduce demand for commodities. There will be a “very small” surplus of lead in 2008, or about 30,000 metric tons, and there will be a very close balance in supply and demand next year, White said. The group forecasts a zinc surplus of roughly 150,000 tons this year and 330,000 tons next year, he said. World lead consumption growth will decline to 4 percent in 2009 from 5.7 percent in 2008, driven mainly by China, White said. Demand for the metal in the world's fastest-growing major economy will jump by 19 percent this year and 9.5 percent next year. Electric bike output in China soared to 50 million from 100,000 in less than 10 years, White said, citing the China Bicycle Association. Bicycles are more sophisticated, with the powerful models containing more of the metal. There has been rapid decline in China's shipments of refined lead metal over the past two years, reflecting growth in demand, White said. China's net exports amounted to more than half million tons in 2006. By next year, China's refined lead metal demand and supply will be “more or less in balance.” New capacity expansions for zinc are planned in China, Japan, Korea and South America, outpacing growth in demand.

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FreeportMcMoRan may Delay Expansion Plan

Global miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold is considering delaying an expansion project aimed at extending the life of its El Abra joint venture with Chile's Coldelco. Freeport-McMoRan and Codelco, the world's No.1 copper producer, said in July they would invest around $450 million in the so-called Sulfolix project to mine sulfides at El Abra after oxides run out in 2010, thereby extending its life by 10 years. But with global recession fears swirling and copper prices down sharply from all-time highs of over $4 per pound in July, Freeport is reviewing its expansion projects. The company is studying costs and expansion projects, but no decision has been taken. Globally, the company is looking at all expansion projects. Sulfolix is an expansion project, and so it is obviously looking at it. The El Abra mine, 49 percent owned by Codelco and 51 percent owned by Freeport, produced 166,000 tons of copper in 2007. The mine, in Chile's rich northern mining district, has some 600 million tons of copper-rich mineral in reserves. Freeport operates mines in the United States, Indonesia, Peru and Chile. Including El Abra, Codelco's copper output for the first nine months of the year was 1.107 million tons, compared to 1.201 million tons during the same period in 2007.

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Atacocha to Sell stake to Votorantim

Cia. Minera Atacocha, Peru's fifth- largest zinc producer, said shareholders agreed to sell an 84.5 percent stake in the company to Brazil's Votorantim Metais Ltda. Votorantim will pay 51.26 cents per Class A share, Lima- based Atacocha said. Votorantim, which failed in a bid to take control of Peruvian zinc and lead producer Cia. Minera Milpo SA in August, adds the shares to its 33.3 percent stake in Milpo and its controlling stake in Peru's Cajamarquilla zinc refinery. Atacocha posted a $5.8 million third-quarter loss, compared with a $18.3 million profit a year earlier. Sales declined 42 percent to $24.8 million as zinc prices dropped 16 percent from a year earlier, according to the company's earnings report on Oct. 30. Zinc is Atacocha's largest product by volume.

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ICSG forecasts rise in global copper consumption

Despite delays and defaults in construction projects due to the ongoing global financial crisis, the Portugal-based International Copper Study Group (ICSG) has estimated global copper consumption to rise 3.4 per cent in 2009. Though it is higher than the 3 per cent growth estimated for 2008, the estimate is still significantly lower than the 4.1 per cent upsurge in 2007. The drastic decline in refined copper consumption can be largely attributed to significantly lower growth in consumption in China and a decrease also in the EU-15 nations, Japan, and the United States. The growth is expected to be mainly supported by India, Egypt and the West Asian countries. India consumes over one million tons of copper annually, of which the construction sector contributes 35 per cent. This forecast by the ICSG is significant as refined copper consumption growth mirrors economic growth and hence, is the barometer of the global economic condition. ICSG's Indian unit, International Copper Promotion Council (India) [ICPCI], has, however, forecast a slowdown in the consumption of the red metal in India. “Commercial buildings, power projects and other large housing projects may be delayed due to the economic slowdown, which will have repercussions on copper demand too. Therefore, we are estimating 8-9 per cent consumption growth as against 15 per cent in the last three years,” said Ajit Advani, CEO of ICPCI. According to the ICSG projections, a modest surplus of about 100,000 tons is seen for 2008. The calculated deficit of about 125,000 tons for the first half of 2008 is expected to be overshadowed by a 235,000-tonne surplus in the second half owing to seasonally weaker second-half consumption and a downturn in global markets. Although supply continues to be constrained, consumption in the three leading regions — China, the European Union-15 nations, and the United States — continues to weaken. Preliminary projections for 2009 indicate a surplus of around 275,000 tons (1.5 per cent of usage). Global copper mine production in 2008 is expected to rise by only 1.8 per cent to 15.7 million tons, an increase of around 280,000 tons from 2007. Lower head grades, technical production problems, utility constraints, and labour unrest resulted in a lower capacity utilisation rate during 2007 and 2008.

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Hindustan Copper may Start Work at Kendadih

Hindustan Copper has decided to reopen and start operations at its Kendadih copper mine at Singhbhum in Jharkhand, a director of the company said. The Kendadih mine, spread over 1,140 ha, has remained closed for over two decades after the copper ore at the upper layer deposits dried up. The Kendadih mine had operated for some years as a small and shallow mine, and is capable of reaching an output level of 270,000 tons of ore a year, or 900 tons per day, as assessed by Roberston Research Associates of Australia. The ore reserve at Kendadih has been assessed at 17.83 million tons. The move to reopen Kendadih follows a recent decision of Hindustan Copper to go in for a major revamp of its “under performing” Khetri smelter and refinery plant at Khetrinagar in Rajasthan. “The decision to go in for reopening of Kendadih mines is part of HCL's strategy to revamp potential mines earlier closed during low realisation period,” an official said. HCL operates in three of the richest copper belts in the country—Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh, Singhbhum in Jharkhand, and Khetri and Arawalli in Rajasthan.

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Nalco Cuts Aluminium Prices by Rs 4500  

National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has cut aluminium prices by Rs 4,500 per ton due to the trend in the international markets, where prices have declined by about 40 per cent since July.
According to a foreign new report, the company would start price cut from 18 October. NALCO produced about 3.6 lakh tons of aluminium at the end of the last fiscal. Other metals like copper, zinc, steel are also declining on the softening global trend. Aerospace, transportation, construction industry are main consumers of the metal and its alloys. The non-ferrous metal is intensively used by the producers of cooking and related utensils.

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