AMNS India acquires power, iron ore assets

Market: Electricity, Metals
04/03/20

ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel India (AMNS India), formerly known as Essar Steel, has acquired a power plant and an iron ore slurry pipeline, securing control of infrastructure that is critical to the smooth functioning of its steel and pellet plants in the country.

The joint-venture firm acquired the 500MW Bhander power plant in the west coast town of Hazira from Indian real estate investment management firm Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction. The gas-fired power plant exclusively supplies electricity to AMNS India's 8.5mn t/yr steel mill in Hazira.

It also acquired a 253km iron ore slurry pipeline that runs from AMNS India's iron ore beneficiation plant in Dabuna to its 6mn t/yr pellet plant in Paradip, both in the eastern state of Odisha. The acquisition was made from the creditors of the slurry pipeline project and approved by the bankruptcy court of Odisha.

Luxembourg-based steel producer ArcelorMittal and Japanese producer Nippon Steel acquired Essar Steel in a bankruptcy auction for $6bn last year and renamed it AMNS India. The acquisition included the 8.5mn t/yr steel mill and 14mn t/yr of pellet-making capacity on the east coast but did not include the power plant and slurry pipeline.

AMNS India has also acquired the Thakurani iron ore mines in Odisha with an estimated 179mn t of reserves in the latest round of iron ore auctions.

AMNS India has secured its power and commodity supply chain as it seeks to significantly expand its production capacity, said chief executive Dilip Oomen. The company did not disclose the financial details of its acquisitions.

By Prasenjit Bhattacharya

Related news posts

Argus illuminates the markets by putting a lens on the areas that matter most to you. The market news and commentary we publish reveals vital insights that enable you to make stronger, well-informed decisions. Explore a selection of news stories related to this one.

News

14/04/25

Funding cuts could delay US river lock work: Correction

Corrects lock locations in paragraph 5. Houston, 14 April (Argus) — The US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) will have to choose between various lock reconstruction and waterway projects for its annual construction plan after its funding was cut earlier this year. Last year Congress allowed the Corps to use $800mn from unspent infrastructure funds for other waterways projects. But when Congress passed a continuing resolutions for this year's budget they effectively removed that $800mn from what was a $2.6bn annual budget for lock reconstruction and waterways projects. This means a construction plan that must be sent to Congress by 14 May can only include $1.8bn in spending. No specific projects were allocated funding by Congress, allowing the Corps the final say on what projects it pursues under the new budget. River industry trade group Waterways Council said its top priority is for the Corps to provide a combined $205mn for work at the Montgomery lock in Pennsylvania on the Ohio River and Chickamauga lock in Tennessee on the Tennessee River since they are the nearest to completion and could become more expensive if further delayed. There are seven active navigation construction projects expected to take precedent, including the following: the Chickamauga and Kentucky Locks on the Tennessee River; Locks 2-4 on the Monongahela River; the Three Rivers project on the Arkansas River; the LaGrange Lock on the Illinois River; Lock 25 on the Mississippi River; and the Montgomery Lock on the Ohio River. There are three other locks in Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois that are in the active design phase (see map) . By Meghan Yoyotte Corps active construction projects 2025 Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Find out more

News

GM stopping, slowing Ontario EV van production

14/04/25

News

14/04/25

GM stopping, slowing Ontario EV van production

Houston, 14 April (Argus) — US automaker General Motors will stop and then reduce production of its BrightDrop electric delivery van at the Ingersoll, Ontario, assembly plant, initiating layoffs of nearly 500 workers, according to Canada's private sector union Unifor. GM will begin temporary layoffs on 14 April, with workers returning in May for limited production. After that, operations will be idled until October 2025, Unifor said. When production resumes, the plant will operate on a single shift for the foreseeable future — a reduction that will lead to the indefinite layoff of nearly 500 workers. During the downtime, GM plans to complete retooling work to prepare the facility for production of its 2026 model-year commercial electric vehicles. GM sold 274 BrightDrop vans in the first quarter, up 7pc from a year earlier. While GM remains committed to the Ortario facility with planned 2026 upgrades, its future is uncertain without stronger domestic support and fair market access, according to Unifor. "The reality is the US is creating industry turmoil," said Unifor National President Lana Payne, referring to sweeping global US tariffs. "Trump's short-sighted tariffs and rejection of electric vehicle technology is disrupting investment and freezing future order projections." By Carol Luk Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Semiconductors alter minor metal demand/supply balances

14/04/25

News

14/04/25

Semiconductors alter minor metal demand/supply balances

London, 14 April (Argus) — Evolving semiconductor technologies and growing chip consumption across a range of applications are changing demand and supply dynamics in several minor metal markets, delegates heard at the Minor Metals Trade Association's annual conference in Lisbon last week. In the hafnium market, demand from the semiconductor industry could surpass that of super-alloys for the largest share of demand in the next five years, metal and alloy producer Nanoscale Powders president Andrew Matheson said. Semiconductor demand for hafnium could climb to 64 t/yr by 2030, up by 24pc from 40 t/yr in 2024, outpacing 5pc growth in nickel super-alloy demand to 60 t/yr from 45 t/yr. This would also outpace 3pc growth in critical nuclear uses to 18 t/yr. It is unclear whether there is sufficient room to expand hafnium supply to meet the projected demand growth, Matheson said. Global production totalled about 138t in 2024, well below estimated nameplate capacity of 245t. Hafnium and compounds including hafnium oxide (HfO2) have several uses in semiconductor manufacturing, including as a gate insulator in field-effect transistors; in dynamic random-access memory capacitors to enhance capacitance, reduce power leakage and act as a protective barrier layer; and in filaments, electrodes and ultra-thin films in semiconductor fabrication. HfO2 can retain data even without power, providing potential for new types of non-volatile memory. As a result, general growth in semiconductor demand in a range of electronics, telecommunications, automotive and industrial applications is set to boost hafnium demand in semiconductor manufacturing. In addition, growing demand for memory capacity for artificial intelligence (AI), as well as new storage technologies, could drive hafnium demand further. At the same time, growing demand for standalone power generation to serve AI data centres also could lift demand for hafnium in super-alloys, Matheson said. In the indium market, the use of indium phosphide-based fibre optics to replace copper interconnects to meet the requirements of high-speed AI data transfer is creating a new source of demand. Indium-based compounds such as indium arsenide, indium gallium arsenide and indium gallium nitride are used in integrated circuits, lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for electronic and electro-optical applications. Indium alloys also are used as thermal interface materials to improve heat dissipation in electronic devices. Semiconductor applications account for about 10pc of global indium consumption, and as the liquid crystal display display market has matured, chip demand will be one of the drivers of the indium market's 2-3pc annual growth rate, according to Brian O'Neill, indium business unit manager at AIM Products. Semiconductor demand has contributed to a larger structural change in the global gallium market. Total gallium production capacity has more than tripled since 2016 from about 300 t/yr to more than 1,100 t/yr, driven by expansion in China, according to Jan Giese, senior manager for minor metals and rare earths at German trading firm Tradium. Gallium exports from China have steadily decreased since 2018, dropping further in 2023 when the Chinese government introduced export controls. This has resulted in a contraction of the share of exports in Chinese production to just 7pc in 2024 from 52pc in 2018. China is no longer dependent on exports of gallium metal, as the capacity expansion is required to support China's drive towards full downstream integration into the semiconductor value chain, Giese said. Gallium is used as a dopant in silicon-based semiconductors, as well as in compound semiconductor materials, in the form of gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN). GaAs is critical in high-frequency devices and LEDs, while GaN is used in high-power, high-frequency devices and LEDs. Adoption of GaN is growing in new AI and automotive applications, with Chinese device manufacturers and automakers leading the way in bringing GaN-on-silicon devices into automotive power electronics. China previously imported semiconductors to supply its electronics industry. But US restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors and manufacturing equipment to China since 2022, supported by the Netherlands and Japan, have prompted China to rapidly establish its own domestic semiconductor production and advance its technological development. The state-backed National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund closed a third round last year of 344bn yuan ($47.5bn), more than double the value of the previous two rounds combined, in addition to growing private-sector investment. The scale of Chinese investment in expanding semiconductor manufacturing is absorbing much of the expansion in gallium capacity and supporting the long-term competitiveness of the Chinese downstream sector, Giese said. But as US tariffs have reduced dependency on imports of Chinese gallium, along with the export controls, they have reduced the competitiveness of the US downstream sector. Some customers have relocated, cutting US gallium demand and in turn failing to spur new primary gallium production. By Nicole Willing Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Japan’s Renova boosts renewable power sales in March

14/04/25

News

14/04/25

Japan’s Renova boosts renewable power sales in March

Tokyo, 14 April (Argus) — Japanese renewable energy developer Renova's electricity sales rose in March from a year earlier, according to data published by the company on 11 April. Renova sold around 256GWh of renewable electricity in March, including solar, biomass, and geothermal. This is up by around 26pc from the same month in 2024. Electricity sales generated by biomass-fired power plants totalled around 222GWh in March. Ronova's biomass-fired power capacity was 395GW with six plants at the end of March. The company sells electricity from the 75MW Sendai Gamo plant, the 75MW Kanda plant, the 75GW Omaezaki Kou plant, and the 75MW Tokushima Tsuda plant under Japan's feed in tariff (FiT) scheme. Electricity generated by the 75MW Ishinomaki Hibarino plant and the 21MW Akita plant is sold under the county's feed in premium (FiP) scheme, based on long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs). Renova delayed the start-up of the 50MW Karatsu plant in southern Japan's Saga prefecture, which is expected to generate up to 350GWh/yr of electricity, from March to September 2025 because of technical issues. The plant will sell electricity under the FiP scheme based on a long-term PPA with its client from the beginning of commercial operations, according to the company. By Takeshi Maeda Renova's biomass-fired electricity sales in March 2025 Capacity (MW) Electricity sales (GWh) Start of operations Akita 21 13 Jul-16 Ishinomaki Hibarino 75 37 Mar-24 Sendai Gamo 75 51 Nov-23 Tokushima Tsuda 75 41 Dec-23 Omaezaki Kou 75 30 Jan-25 Kanda 75 50 Jun-21 Total 395 222 Source : Renova Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

US consumer sentiment 2nd lowest on record: Survey

11/04/25

News

11/04/25

US consumer sentiment 2nd lowest on record: Survey

Houston, 11 April (Argus) — US consumer sentiment fell for a fourth straight month in April, reaching lower levels than during the Great Recession in 2008, as inflation expectations surged to four-decade highs. The preliminary consumer sentiment gauge fell to 50.8 in April, below the 55.3 end-of-month level it reached in November 2008 during the start of the Great Recession, according to the University of Michigan's preliminary reading for April. The only lower reading in records going back to 1952 was in mid-2022 during Covid-19. Year-ahead inflation expectations surged to 6.7pc this month, the highest reading since 1981, from 5pc last month. Sentiment fell by 10.9pc from 57 in March and has lost more than 30pc since December 2024 "... amid growing worries about trade war developments that have oscillated over the course of the year." "Consumers report multiple warning signs that raise the risk of recession: expectations for business conditions, personal finances, incomes, inflation, and labor markets all continued to deteriorate," the survey said. The index of current economic conditions fell to 56.5 in April from 63.8 the prior month. The index of consumer expectations fell to 47.2 this month from 52.6 in March. The proportion of consumers who expect unemployment to rise in the year ahead rose for a fifth month and is more than double the November 2024 result. Interviews for the report were done between 25 March and 8 April, ending prior to the 9 April partial reversal of US tariffs. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more