Mittal Steel Co., which has emerged as the world's largest steel producer, is one of seven bidders vying for control of insolvent Stelco Inc., sources familiar with the matter revealed yesterday.
"It came up on Monday," said a company source. "They were identified as one of the seven."
Earlier this week, Stelco confirmed seven groups have agreed to conduct due diligence and submit binding offers for the company by Jan. 31.
[. . . . ] Another source confirmed the other bidders include rival Algoma Steel Inc., U.S. Steel Corp., Russian producer OAO Severstal and a joint $1.8-billion financing plan by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and miner Sherritt International Corp. [. . . . ]
[Sources] yesterday speculated Arcelor SA or one of several Japanese steelmakers may be in the running. [. . . . ]
How typical -- just as the price of steel looks set to soar -- after Canadian taxpayers have given money to Stelco over several years to prop it up, it might be sold. The same can be said of Noranda/Falconbridge, oil and gas resources and industries. What is planned for the mineral wealth of Canada's North? Diamonds? Think about it.
China and India have been getting cozier; China and Russia, the same; China has been buying up scrap metal and other resources around the world, particularly in the gas/oil industry; Canadian businessmen and politicians have been pushing "business", talking port expansion, et cetera. What do you think is going on?
Whenever people question what is going on in Canada and globally, I have heard of a rise in the hack attacks from these corners of the world and from the drug triangle in South America, from Mexico, and a few others. Some people apparently do not want inconvenient facts and trends to be tied together. Is it all perfectly innocent money making -- or is there something more sinister afoot?
UNION GAS - Announcement -- Again, networks are so useful -- government finance-Deputy PMO office-World Bank-energy-gas
Phil Knoll, group vice president of Duke Energy Gas Transmission, is pleased to announce the appointment of Gregory L. Ebel as president, Union Gas.
[. . . . ] Before joining Westcoast Energy in 1998, Mr. Ebel was advisor to the executive director of the World Bank Group. From 1989 to 1993, he held positions with the Government of Canada, including chief of staff to the minister of finance and deputy prime minister. [. . . . ]
Shipbuilding, Korea, China, the North Pole's Attractions
In 2004, South Korea won the title of world's largest shipbuilding nation, beating out Japan for the first time. But South Korea is already looking over its shoulder at China, which has embarked on a path toward becoming the world's largest shipbuilder by 2015. The explosion in trade in and out of China has created a worldwide shortage of ships. . . . The three major South Korean shipbuilders won almost 90 percent of the more complex and lucrative LNG tanker contracts awarded this year. But China is currently the world's third largest shipbuilding nation, winning 14 percent of worldwide orders in 2004. Japan comes in second with 24 percent. While South Korea is far ahead with 40 percent, China still plans to grow its industry. Two of its yards are already starting to build their own LNG tankers. See "Korea reigns in shipbuilding, for now," James Brooke, The New York Times at International Herald Tribune, 1/5/05
Chen Xiaojin, general manager of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, has stated his company will become the world's largest shipbuilder both in terms of production volume, and in terms of shipbuilding science and technology. China Daily's article "Shipbuilding industry advancing" presents a detailed description of China's shipbuilding sector (1/5/05).
A really cold war: Several countries are drooling over the North Pole, one of the only virgin territories left on the planet. Current research on climate change suggest that ice in the Polar Sea could disappear within 50 to 100 years. This would open up the Northwest Passage, . . . .It would also open terrain currently closed to fishing, and oil and gas reserves. Diamond finds in Canada's Nunavut have already fired a mining rush. [ Search "diamond" and "criminal" ] With the area's potential unknown, Denmark, Canada and Russia are among the countries currently trying to lay claim — just in case. . . . Canada has also started mapping the sea floor, and has taken steps to prove it could defend its territorial claim, if necessary. . . . See "Race for the Arctic," The Independent, 1/5/05.
All that from one webpage. Watch for developments in Canada.
The United States may have to get used to sharing the western Pacific with China, the world's rising naval power. China is spending $10 billion to acquire and upgrade submarines, and is buying destroyers and frigates and equipping them with modern antiship cruise missiles. . . . "The Chinese influence in the Pacific islands will be very, very big. . . . Chinese interests and the American interest will clash." See "U.S. rule of Pacific waves faces China challenge," James Brooke, The New York Times at the International Herald Tribune, 12/29/04.
