Sales of construction long products in Vietnam in June amounted to 298,000 tonnes, a fall of 23.5% from the previous month and also down 16.1% year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Steel Association(VSA)”Production of longs in June at 347,000 t was down by 20.8% m-o-m but up by 9.9% y-o-y”

Tighter monetary and fiscal policies being undertaken by Hanoi to rein in inflation are the main reasons for the fall in June’s steel figures, VSA vice-chairman and general-secretary Dinh Huy Tam tells Steel Business Briefing. "These policies are affecting steel demand more so than the current rainy season", he says

Sales of longs during the first six months of this year reached 2.42m t, up nearly 12% compared with January-June 2010. Production rose to 2.58m t, an increase of 14.8% over the corresponding period last year”

Tam describes these cumulative figures as “not too bad," but cautions that the situation this year is "tougher than the Asian financial crises”. He explains that ongoing measures such as high bank interest rates exceeding 20% per annum, difficulties faced by enterprises in obtaining loans, and a slowdown in investment spending have had a negative impact on steel consumption. GDP growth for 2011 is expected. to dip below the target of 7-7.5% set by the Vietnamese authorities at the beginning of this year", he adds.

The VSA tracks data from its member steel mills that together contribute around 85% of Vietnam's long steel production”

Hot rolled coil prices decline further in Korea

Continuing soft domestic demand has led spot prices of hot rolled coil in Korea to weaken further this week”

Retail prices of 3mm SS400 commodity grade HRC sourced from domestic mills were pegged at KRW890,000-910,000/tonne ($833-852/t) on Monday, down KRW 10,000-20,000/t ($9-18/t) from a week earlier” Some materials were being offered for as low as KRW 860,000-870,000/t”

Weak buying interest from end-users including pipe makers has led local dealers to reduce their offer prices. But high HRC inventory levels at customers' yards – and market sloth ahead of Korea’s approaching summer holidays – are unlikely to help boost their sales at present, Steel Business Briefing notes”

Spot prices for China-origin commodity grade HRC have declined too, by KRW20-30,000/t to KRW 800 - 820,000/t ($749-768/t) this week”

Another reason behind the soft HRC prices could be Hyundai Steel, which has ramped up HRC output using feeds from its two new 4m t/y blast furnaces, an industry source charges. Hyundai sold some 950,000 tonnes of HRC during May-June in Korea’s home market while Posco supplied only 719,000 t during the same period", it adds.

“The HRC market is dull for the moment," a source in Seoul admits to SBB. "Many buyers have adopted wait-and-see attitude as most have high stock levels." He adds that at the earliest HRC buyers may start replenishing their inventories from next month”

Nippon Steel deepens H-beam production cut

In a tacit admission that its production cuts have been insufficient to reduce stocks, Nippon Steel has decided to halt production on section mills at its Kimitsu works near Tokyo and its Sakai works in Osaka beyond their scheduled maintenance stoppages.

The steelmaker had earlier decided to bring forward 2-3 week stoppages for regular maintenance at its works to the July-September quarter from the initially planned October-December period, as Steel Business Briefing reported. But after it learned that H-beam stocks at end-June had again increased month-on-month, it decided to schedule an additional week of stoppages at both mills from late July”

“Stopping the mills is a direct way to decrease stocks,” a Nippon Steel spokesman noted. He was talking Tuesday after Nippon Steel announced that H-beam stocks held by its ‘Tokiwakai’ grouping of stockists at end-June had increased by 4.7% or 9,600 tonnes from end-May to 215,400 t. This took the stock ratio to 2.73 months or well above the 2-month level Nippon Steel considers “adequate”

Sections demand from small-scale construction projects is increasing but this small demand does not help to lift total delivery volumes, it admits. Regarding pricing, Nippon Steel says cutting stocks and improving market conditions are its priority so will hold H-beam prices for July contracts (unchanged from April).

Nippon Steel does not reveal its prices, but SBB believes its senior-sized beams are at around ¥100,000/t($1,250/t). This is way above prevailing Tokyo market levels of ¥78,000-80,000/t and those by rival Tokyo Steel Manufacturing at ¥76,000/t. “Nippon Steel’s high price is just like asking distributors to not buy,” Tokyo-based distributor remarked.

Source: SBB

Project in Brief:
Project Type: Metro rail system
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
Number of Metro Routes: Five
Expected Completion: 2020
Owner: Hanoi Metropolitan Rail Transport Project Board
Other Key Players: SYSTRA
Contractors: Samsung, Daewoo, Ska, Kumho and Kangnam

Hanoi Urban Metro (Hanoi Metro) is a metro rail system that will be developed in Hanoi, Vietnam, by 2020. The project is part of an integrated development programme for urban transport in Hanoi and will provide a safe, efficient and clean urban transportation system. It is the fourth-biggest project in Vietnam to utilise the Japanese Government’s official development assistance capital.

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second-largest city, with a population of about six million. Many trains, including services to Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City, depart from Hanoi station. The Union Express travels from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, stopping at cities and towns along the route.

Commuters in Hanoi use motorbikes, buses, taxis and bicycles. The metro project is part of the Vietnam Ministry of Transport's master plan, which aims to reduce the use of private transport and enhance the urban environment.

The metro system will have five routes. The main route - line 3 - will be the first metro line in Hanoi. On completion, the route will provide transport to 200,000 passengers a day. It broke ground in September 2010 and is expected to become operational by the end of 2015.

The entire project is being carried out by Hanoi Metropolitan Rail Transport Project Board (HRB), formerly known as the Hanoi Authority for Tram and Public Transport Development Management (HATD). Technical studies of the system were completed in 2009.

Project

"The 12.5km pilot line will incorporate a 5.5km single track U-viaduct and a 4km twin tunnel."

The feasibility study for a Hanoi metro pilot route / line was completed in October 2005 and design of the pilot line started in 2007. The pilot route will be an east-westbound line and will connect 12 stations in the city bewteen Hanoi station and Nhon depot.

The 12.5km pilot line will incorporate a 5.5km single track U-viaduct and a 4km twin tunnel structure. The system will include 9.6km of elevated and 2.9km of underground sections, and will use 20m metro trains top transport 900 passengers in a single trip. The trains will run at 80km/h, covering the entire route in 20 minutes.

International consulting engineers HRB and SYSTRA signed two contracts to construct the pilot line. Each contract is worth €36m and the total cost of the pilot line is about €500m.

SYSTRA will assist with the commissioning, launch and operation of the service and will supervise the construction and manufacture of rolling stock. It also provided design studies and assessed bids.

The metro's infrastructure will include a viaduct, an underground section, stations, a depot and rolling stock maintenance centre and power supply stations. The construction of line two will begin in 2011 and is expected to be operational in January 2016.

Line routes

Hanoi Metro's routes will include Nam Thang Long to Tran Hung Dao, Nhon to Hanoi station, Cat Linh to Ha Dong and Yen Vien to Ngoc Hoi.

The route connecting Nam Thang Long and Tran Hung Dao will be 11.54km long and serve ten stations. The line will include an 8.55km underground section.
"The metro's infrastructure will include a viaduct, power supply stations and a depot."

The pilot line (line 3) between Nhon depot and Hanoi station will start at Nhon and travel to Cau Giay via National Highway 32, Ho Tung Mau and Xuan Thuy. It will also pass through Kim Ma, Nui Truc and Quoc Tu Giam.

The 13km-route connecting Cat Linh and Ha Dong will travel from Cat Linh to Thai Thinh via Hao Nam and Hoang Cau. From Thai Thinh the line will move towards National Highway 6, connecting Nga Tu So, Nguyen Trai, Tran Phu and Quang Trung.

Financing

The project is being coordinated and financed by several organisations including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank.

The latter has granted a €173m loan to help fund the construction of line 3.

Part of the project is being financed by Agence Française de Développement (AFD). The money provided by AFD is being used to construct the pilot line's infrastructure.

The project is being co-financed by bilateral overseas development assistance loans. They amount to €280m, of which €200m is tied and €80m is untied.
Source: http://www.railway-technology.com