By John Helmer in Moscow Deep cuts in steel output at Russian mills have been exaggerated by some steelmakers and the press and reflect attempts by some Russian proprietors, like Alexei Mordashov, owner of Severstal, to sustain profit margins, according to industry sources. “Although the market is not in the best mood right now, and […]

by John Helmer - Monday, October 13th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Russia’s biggest iron-ore miner defers public share sale due to global cash crisis Metalloinvest, the Russian steel and iron-ore holding controlled by Alisher Usmanov, has failed to fix an international market value for listing and sale of its shares. This is the market interpretation after an announcement on Thursday by […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 3rd, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Russpetstal (“Russian Special Steel”, RSS), the steel affiliate of the state-owned Russian Technologies holding, has decided to acquire up to 4 new operating mills if the price is right, and it can raise the finance from Russian state banks. Details of the targets of RSS’s 18-24 month strategy were recently […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, September 18th, 2008
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Oligarchs put hand in till By John Helmer in Moscow. It is a time of extreme paradox. In Soviet style, the US Government is nationalizing its financial instututions to stave off massive default. The Russian Government, by contrast, is encouraging free-market operations to prop up the indebtedness of the oligarchs, while the Finance Ministry, having […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Oleg Deripaska’s bid to take control of Norilsk Nickel, Russia’s premier mining company, came to an end on Monday at a meetingin Moscow. The meeting, to which Norilsk Nickel controlling shareholder Vladimir Potanin was also summoned, concluded with an unambiguous veto on Deripaska’s ambition to buy a controlling stake in […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow In Robert Louis Stephenson’s version of the way English pirates used to issue shareholder summonses for asset distributions, the Black Spot was a ink-blot, spilled on the page of a bible, and delivered by a blind-man. You could hide from the delivery, but not from the consequences. A second attack […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow The collapse of Mechel’s share price (MTL:US), following a direct attack by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the company and its owner, Igor Zyuzin, for its coking coal price tactics, has generated a market-wide apprehension that strong, and stronger, measures are in store for mill profits and their proprietors’ health. […]

by John Helmer - Monday, July 28th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Mechel metal & mining group threatened by price-rigging charge. There is an old Russian expression that the only way to run anything is “sknutom i pryanikom” — with the club or the cake. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was therefore doing what comes traditionally when, yesterday in a provincial river town, […]

by John Helmer - Friday, July 25th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Russia’s Evraz steel group makes bid for Cape Lambert iron-ore. Speculation that the Evraz group (EVR:RU), Russia’s largest steelmaker, is preparing a takeover bid for Cape Lambert Iron Ore Ltd (CFE:AU), the West Australian junior miner, drove the latter’s share price up by 9% in the first day of trading, […]

by John Helmer - Friday, July 18th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Russian steel and mining group faces government investigation after announcement of spinoff and IPO plan for coal-mining and ferroalloy units The Mechel group (MTL:US, NYSE; MTLR:RU, RTS) — Russia’s leading specialty steelmaker and one of the leading producers of coking coal in the world — has lost 5% off its […]

by John Helmer - Friday, July 18th, 2008
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