1. Steel Manufacturing in the News
Wall Street Journal from this week

2. Cia. Vale do Rio Doce SA: Chinese Steelmaker Agrees To Pay 72% More for Iron Ore Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Mar 1, 2005. pg. 1
After announcing a string of identical deals with Asian steelmakers last week, Brazilian mining company Cia. Vale do Rio Doce SA said yesterday that China's biggest steelmaker, Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp., agreed to pay 72% more for iron ore supplied in CVRD said Baosteel negotiated the deal on behalf of the Chinese Iron and Steel Association, which is made up of 13 steelmakers holding contracts to buy 35.4 million tons of iron ore from CVRD this year. CVRD, Rio de Janeiro, is still negotiating prices for higher-quality iron pellets and lump. For CVRD, the latest price agreement for its iron ore, a main ingredient for making steel, mirrors a series of deals announced last week. Nippon Steel Corp. of Japan, Pohang Steel Corp. of South Korea and China Steel Corp. of Taiwan, were among the large Asian steelmakers agreeing to pay 72% more for CVRD's iron-ore fines in The agreements could strengthen CVRD's hand in continuing talks with other steelmaking clients.

3. Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp
Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp.: Output Growth Is Seen Slowing As Chinese Mills Stress Quality Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Feb 28, 2005. pg. 1
China, the world's top steel producer, is expected to see output growth fall by half this year as mills focus on high-quality steel for shipbuilding and trim output for construction, said the chairwoman of China's largest steelmaker, Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp.

4. Mittal Steel to Cut Jobs as U. S. Union Sees Little Threat Paul Glader
Mittal Steel to Cut Jobs as U.S. Union Sees Little Threat Paul Glader. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Feb 25, 2005. pg. A.8
Mittal Steel Co., soon to be the world's largest steel company, says it wants to cut its work force of 155,000 people by nearly one third by 2010, but the United Steelworkers union said it isn't concerned that cuts will affect North American operations.
"Maybe after five years, we'll have 110,000 employees," "We are submitting internal targets to trim 7,000 or 8,000 employees every year." He didn't specify where the cuts would take place in the company's global operations, which include plants in 14 countries on four continents.

5. Mittal Steel to Cut Jobs as U. S. Union Sees Little Threat Paul Glader
Mittal Steel to Cut Jobs as U.S. Union Sees Little Threat Paul Glader. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Feb 25, 2005. pg. A.8
Mittal Steel is in the process of acquiring Richfield, Ohio-based International Steel Group, which it expects to complete by the end of the first quarter and which would make it the No. 1 steelmaker in terms of production. When that is completed, the company will have about 21,000 workers in the U.S. Officials at the Steelworkers union, which represents those North American workers, say they are not worried about reductions at U.S. operations.