Daily Steel News - 25 Mar 09

Shanghai to launch steel futures trading on 27 March
Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) will formally launch futures trading in rebar and wire rod on 27 March. The initial trading months will be September 2009 through March 2010. The exchange is likely to levy an 8% fee on each contract traded however. Lot sizes will be 10 tonnes. SHFE registered steel brands for Rebar Wire rod
Shougang Shougang
Shagang Shagang
Maanshan Iron & Steel Maanshan Iron & Steel
Xinxing Ductile Pipe Hunan Valin Steel Group
Hunan Valin Steel Group Rizhao Iron & Steel
Rizhao Iron & Steel Haixin Iron & Steel
Haixin Iron & Steel Jiyuan Iron & Steel
Pingxiang Iron & Steel Pingxiang Iron & Steel
Jiangsu Yonggang Group Jiangsu Yonggang Group

Rio sees iron ore price cut, says long-term demand strong
Rio Tinto has acknowledged that the iron ore benchmark price for 2009-10 will see a "downward adjustment" "Iron ore, unlike many other commodities, is as close to a staple as there is," Walsh told an iron ore conference in Perth on Tuesday. "You simply cannot build railway systems on the scale China envisages without steel and therefore iron ore." Speaking about the current iron ore negotiation process, Walsh said each miner had its own "benchmark" system. Rio's could include "hybrid and flexible response contracts." He played down the potential influence of Chinalco in the talks if the Chinese company is successful in obtaining an 18% stake in Rio, and 15% interest in Hamersley Iron. "Rio Tinto negotiated the highest ever price increase with Baosteel last year . at the very time when our shareholder registry demonstrated the largest single shareholder was Chinalco," Walsh said. He said the "strategic alliance" between Rio and Chinalco opened up the prospect of expansion that the miner would not otherwise have. "They include exploration through China, a major iron ore province we believe is vastly under-explored,"