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May 2012
24 May 2012
Xstrata Copper is speculating that copper demand will improve in China in the second half of the year, and is going ahead with its plans to increase production by 60% in 3 years – while rival miners become more cautious and curb spending plans.
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22 May 2012
The race to acquire the London Metal Exchange has been narrowed down to just two bidders, the exchange announced on Tuesday May 22.
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22 May 2012
Anglo American and Codelco have suspended legal proceedings to explore the possibility of negotiating a deal in relation to Anglo American Sur, the copper project in Chile over which the two partners have been fighting since last year.
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22 May 2012
Glencore has taken majority control of Mutanda Mining and its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a $340 million share purchase deal.
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22 May 2012
The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation into the proposed €2.7 billion ($3.45 billion) merger of stainless steel makers Inoxum and Outokumpu, it said on Tuesday May 22.
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21 May 2012
Australian-based IMX Resources has taken ownership of the Nachingwea nickel project in Tanzania, after buying Canadian junior Continental Nickel, its joint-venture partner on the project.
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21 May 2012
Glencore has paid $118.5 million for a 28.5% stake in Brazilian miner Mineração Caraíba, Metal Bulletin has heard.
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19 May 2012
ThyssenKrupp AG might have to take a big haircut on its Steel Americas operations if it hopes to find a buyer in the near term, analysts and industry observers said.
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18 May 2012
British-based steel stockholder Barrett Steel has acquired two stockholding subsidiaries of the Murray Group, saving more than 40 jobs across the two sites, a spokesperson for the group said on Friday May 18.
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18 May 2012
Indian miner Vedanta’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the full year to March 31 came to $4 billion, on increased volumes and the integration of recent acquisitions.
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18 May 2012
South African thermal coal producer Continental Coal has secured an exclusive option to buy a 50% joint-venture interest in a hard coking coal mine in Colombia.
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18 May 2012
None of the bidders looking to buy the London Metal Exchange plan to make substantial changes to the exchange's date structure, warehouses or open-outcry trading ring, Metal Bulletin understands.
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18 May 2012
India’s industrial conglomerate Hindujas Group is seeking a strategic investor for its domestic mining business to exploit major opportunities that may arise once the New Delhi government implements plans to reduce the bureaucracy surrounding mining authorisation.
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16 May 2012
ThyssenKrupp AG has agreed to sell its U.S. foundry business to private equity firm KPS Capital Partners LP.
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16 May 2012
NYSE Euronext has been knocked out of the bidding for the London Metal Exchange after submitting a proposal that valued the exchange at around £800 million ($1.28 billion).
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16 May 2012
ThyssenKrupp AG said it is mulling "strategic options" for its Steel Americas operations as it calls into doubt its business model of shipping slab made in Brazil to finishing facilities in Mobile, Ala.
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15 May 2012
The 2011 dollar volume of significant acquisitions within the metals industry totalled $47.4 billion, down 4% compared with the year before, according to Metals Economics Group (MEG).
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15 May 2012
Metals X, Australia’s biggest tin producer, has agreed to buy gold-copper miner Westgold Resources, creating a A$330 million ($329.8 million) miner with tin, gold, copper and nickel interests the companies said on Monday May 14.
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14 May 2012
Investors in mining stocks are beginning to price in the end of the commodity super cycle, analysts at Liberum Capital said in a note on Monday, May 4.
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11 May 2012
Two bidders are likely to be left in the process to buy the London Metal Exchange after the board got to grips with the bids on Thursday, metal market sources said.
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11 May 2012
Malaysia’s Southern Steel (SSB) has formed a joint venture with Belgian company Bekaert for the manufacture and sale of specified steel wires in Southeast Asia.
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10 May 2012
Natixis will wind down its commodities brokerage business, including its London Metal Exchange ring-dealing unit, as part of broad restructuring operations responding to the eurozone debt crisis, the French bank announced on Wednesday May 9.
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09 May 2012
A takeover in the Austrian scrap metal sector involving Scholz Austria now looks likely to go ahead after the deal secured competition approval from the European Commission.
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09 May 2012
BHP Billiton will consolidate its aluminium and stainless steel materials units into a single business named aluminium and nickel, which it believes could benefit from economic development in emerging economies in the future, the diversified mining company said.
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09 May 2012
Ivanhoe Mines said three of its directors resigned, while it had appointed four new directors and expected to appoint a chairman later this week.
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08 May 2012
German aluminium smelter Voerde Aluminium has declared insolvency after financial difficulties caused by low aluminium prices since July 2011 and high production costs.
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08 May 2012
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx) reported a 7% decline in net profits for the first quarter of 2012 on Monday May 7, as average daily turnover fell.
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07 May 2012
Australia’s Whitehaven Coal has offered to buy the remaining 82.7% stake that it does not own in coal explorer Coalworks for A$142 million ($145 million), the company said on Monday May 7.
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04 May 2012
The London Metal Exchange wants to expand its presence in Asia and will be “investing heavily” in the region and adding staff at its Singapore office, chief executive Martin Abbott said at the first LME Asia Metals seminar.
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04 May 2012
BlueScope Steel Ltd. has divested part of its U.S. portfolio in a move that appears to leave the rest of its North American building products operations still in the fold of the Australian steelmaker.
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03 May 2012
Canadian firm Pan Terra Industries has bought its second copper mine in Namibia, the Kombat copper project, with plans to rehabilitate the mine in the north of the country within the next 18 months.
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03 May 2012
When the London Metal Exchange board assesses bids after the May 7 deadline for submissions, it will consider how the suitors plan to operate the exchange and the benefits they can offer to users, as well as the outright price they are willing to pay for the LME, Metal Bulletin understands.
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02 May 2012
Pacific Steel & Recycling has purchased an Idaho-based steel distributor and scrap processor for an undisclosed sum.
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02 May 2012
A total 13.56% of Xstrata shareholders voted against Glencore ceo Ivan Glasenberg’s re-election to the company’s board at its annual shareholder meeting held on Tuesday May 1.
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02 May 2012
Reserve Management Group (RMG) has bought the assets of steel mill and foundry by-products processor Akron Iron & Metal LLC, the company said.
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01 May 2012
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) is participating in the bidding process for the London Metal Exchange, the exchange’s board confirmed ahead of a deadline for second-round bids due on May 7.
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01 May 2012
Australian exploration firm Legacy Iron Ore has halted trading in its shares ahead of announcing proposed acquisitions of coking and thermal coal projects in Queensland, the company said in a filing to the Australian Stock Exchange on Tuesday May 1.
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April 2012
30 April 2012
Flat-rolled metal processor Precision Strip Inc. has completed its acquisition of the assets of a Worthington Industries Inc. processing facility in Vonore, Tenn.
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30 April 2012
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets have given Rio Tinto stocks an outperform recommendation on the company’s strong copper growth profile.
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30 April 2012
Oleg Deripaska, ceo of Basic Element and United Co Rusal and president of En+ Group, and Zhang Guoqing, president of China North Industries Corporation (Norinco), have signed a framework agreement on strategic co-operation for the implementation of joint projects in engineering, mining and metals.
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28 April 2012
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. has consistently tried to grow the value-added, high-margin component of its business. Now it’s doing so with its acquisition choices, but it’s paying more in the process.
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27 April 2012
Two silicon powerhouses emerged as successful bidders of Timminco Ltd.’s assets Thursday.
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27 April 2012
Russian private freight operator Globaltrans has agreed to buy the transport unit of Russia’s largest iron ore producer, Metalloinvest, for $540 million, the companies said in a joint statement on Friday April 27.
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27 April 2012
Supply chain consolidation, characterized by three "blockbuster" deals in the past year, is likely to continue among both producers and processors of aerospace materials, a top aviation analyst said at AMM’s 6th Annual Aerospace Materials Conference in Pittsburgh.
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26 April 2012
United Co Rusal has begun operating a joint venture with China’s Norinco Group to market the Russian company’s aluminium in China.
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26 April 2012
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets have issued an outperform recommendation for mid-tier copper miner Inmet, as the $169 million sale of a 20% stake in its Minera Panama operation to Korean Panama Mining Corp (KPMC) closes.
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26 April 2012
Vedanta Resources’ Skorpion zinc mine and refinery is seeking a definitive agreement to jointly mine the recently discovered Gergarub zinc sulphide deposit with Rosh Pinah zinc and lead mine.
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25 April 2012
A Russian court has chosen May 24 for the hearing on merits of the lawsuit that blocked the A$554 million ($570 million) acquisition by Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel (MMK) of Australian iron ore miner Flinders Mines, MMK said on Wednesday April 25.
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25 April 2012
A merger between stainless steel producers Acerinox and Aperam is still unlikely, analysts told Metal Bulletin this week.
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24 April 2012
Tenaris has paid nearly $700 million to delist its Brazilian welded pipe subsidiary Confab Industrial from the São Paulo Stock Exchange, Bovespa.
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24 April 2012
The purchase of Anglo America’s Scaw Metals by a consortium led by the Industrial Development Corp (IDC) is a sound move by the South African government in its attempts to gain a stronger foothold in the country’s steel industry, analysts told Metal Bulletin.
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24 April 2012
The Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) has agreed to buy a 29.9% stake in Winsway Coking Coal for HK$2.4 billion ($309 million).
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24 April 2012
Anglo American will sell integrated steelmaker Scaw South Africa for $440 million to an investment consortium led by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), the London-based company said in a statement on Tuesday April 24.
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20 April 2012
Viktor Vekselberg is unlikely to sell his shares in United Co Rusal in the wake of the litigation with the aluminium producer, Rusal ceo Oleg Deripaska said, during a press conference in London on Friday April 20.
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19 April 2012
Investor Carl Icahn slashed his stake in Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) following an unsuccessful bid to acquire the steelmaker, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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19 April 2012
Tenaris has revised upwards its offer for ordinary or preferred shares in Brazilian welded pipe maker Confab.
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19 April 2012
Ivanhoe Mines founder Robert Friedland stepped down as ceo as the company signed a financial agreement with majority stakeholder Rio Tinto to develop the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia.
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19 April 2012
Russian steelmaker Severstal’s earnings fell by 25% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2011, due to lower prices and volumes, the company said on Thursday April 19.
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19 April 2012
The Argentinian government’s decision to renationalise its largest oil company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF), could jeopardise future foreign investment in the steel sector, analysts told Metal Bulletin this week.
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19 April 2012
Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is ready to complete its A$554 million ($575) acquisition of Australian iron ore miner Flinders Mines as soon as the court order blocking the deal is lifted, the company said on Tuesday, April 18.
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18 April 2012
Boleslaw plans to replace its zinc supply with an acquisition in Serbia by the end of 2012, as its supply from the Pomorzany mine is set to run out in 2016, economic and commercial director at the Boleslaw complex, Andrzej Szary told Metal Bulletin.
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16 April 2012
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a settlement order allowing the merger between specialty metals producers Carpenter Technology Corp. and Latrobe Specialty Metals Inc.
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16 April 2012
Italian equipment supplier Danieli has acquired scrap equipment manufacturer Akros Henschel through a strategic share buyout, according to a company statement.
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16 April 2012
Rio Tinto is in no hurry to sell its Pacific Aluminium unit and is evaluating all options, a company spokesman said.
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16 April 2012
Australian Stock Exchange-listed coal producer Whitehaven Coal has completed its $2.2 billion takeover of fellow coking coal producer Aston Resources.
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12 April 2012
Outokumpu’s planned acquisition of ThyssenKrupp’s stainless steel unit and the leading role of stainless producer Aperam in recent quarterly ferro-chrome pricing talks have raised questions over who will negotiate prices with ferro-chrome suppliers Xstrata and Glencore in the future, and whether the benchmark system itself will last the year.
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11 April 2012
Gécamines, the state-owned miner in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has denied reports that it is selling its 40% stake in the Kipoi copper and cobalt project to Australia-listed junior miner Tiger Resources.
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11 April 2012
First Quantum Minerals is at the centre of new takeover speculation, as market participants say at least three of the big five mining and metals companies could be interested.
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10 April 2012
Iron Ore Holdings (IOH) has completed the sale of its Lamb Creek and Yandicoogina Creek iron ore tenements in Australia to Mineral Resources for A$21 million ($21.6 million).
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05 April 2012
Tata Metaliks, a subsidiary of Tata Steel has called off a $36.73 million deal to sell its 300,000 tpy pig iron plant at Redi to one of Goa’s major exporters of iron ore, Fomento Resources, due to “irreconcilable issues”.
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05 April 2012
South African miner Exxaro plans to start iron ore production at its newly acquired Mayoko project in the Republic of Congo in 2014, the company’s business development manager, Ernst Venter, told Metal Bulletin.
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05 April 2012
Exxaro is actively looking for opportunities to invest in copper, and the company is in the process of identifying assets around the world for possible investment, Ernst Venter, executive general manager of business development for the company, said.
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04 April 2012
Finnish stainless steel producer Outokumpu Oyj said it has entered into a revolving credit facility worth €400 million ($525.3 million) to cover working capital needs following the completion of its proposed merger with ThyssenKrupp AG’s Inoxum stainless arm.
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04 April 2012
Poland’s state treasury has received a single expression of interest for its 25.5% stake in flat and long steelmaker Huta Pokój.
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04 April 2012
Metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. continues to grow with the acquisition of National Specialty Alloys LLC (NSA), a specialty alloy processor and distributor of stainless steel and nickel alloy bars and shapes.
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04 April 2012
JMC Steel Group Inc. plans to combine the former Lakeside Steel Inc. with its own energy tubular assets to form a new division called EnergeX Tube.
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03 April 2012
JP Morgan Cazenove senior banker Ian Hannam has been fined £450,000 ($720,591) by the UK’s banking watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), for passing on confidential information to prospective clients, according to a statement released by the regulator on Tuesday April 3.
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03 April 2012
The A$554 million ($577 million) acquisition of Australian iron ore miner Flinders Mines by Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) has been blocked by a lawsuit filed by a minority shareholder, the Russian company revealed on Tuesday April 3.
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03 April 2012
South Africa’s competition tribunal has allowed two participants in the silica market to take part in appeal hearings to determine whether a blocked sale of the SamQuarz silica mine and operations should have been allowed.
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02 April 2012
The Capital Assets Management Agency of the Republic of Slovenia has received no bids for the 25% stake in Slovenian Steel Group (SIJ) it offered for sale, a source close to the situation told Metal Bulletin on Monday April 2.
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02 April 2012
Namibia’s competition commission (NCC) is “still investigating” Glencore International’s takeover of the Rosh Pinah zinc and lead mine and no decision has yet been made on the transaction.
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March 2012
31 March 2012
JMC Steel Group Inc. has completed its acquisition of Canadian steel pipe and tube maker Lakeside Steel Inc.
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31 March 2012
Proler Steel International LLC has made another acquisition, as well as signing an agreement with a trader to market all of its material.