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» Blog Archive » Commissioners Comment on Status of Alcoa Negotiations - 1 views

insidestanly.com/?p=6103#comments

shared by Yadkin River on 05 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Alcoa has stated they will provide financial assurances (up to $1.2 million) for the life of the license.  However, Alcoa has failed to inform the public these assurances are not worth the paper they are written on without sufficient enforcement measures included in the agreement.  Alcoa has refused to accept any language we have put forth that would provide sufficient remedies for the County to receive “financial assurances”, if Alcoa does not live up to its end of the bargain.
  • In fact, the proposal Alcoa presented includes an escape clause for any responsibilities due from the company, but it does not allow for review of the hydroelectric license once the license has been awarded.
  • As Alcoa’s latest offer stands, there is no efficient or cost effective way for the County to hold Alcoa accountable for its promises of jobs and investment
  • ...17 more annotations...
  • This is not “compelling”… it is unreasonable.
  • It is not proper for parties to share incomplete information via the press in these types of proceedings until the discussions yield an agreement or officially cease.  Neither has occurred.
  • From the beginning, the County’s goals have been to ensure: (1) that the river is environmentally protected for generations to come, (2) that the use of water from the Yadkin River is best determined by citizens of North Carolina, and (3) that the flow of the river is used to maximize the impact of its resources for the benefit of its citizens.  
  • The goal of environmental protection is being addressed in the state 401 water quality permit process and includes the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Alcoa/APGI, Stanly County and the Yadkin Riverkeeper.
  • he County believes its intervention in this process will lead to numerous water quality improvements.
  • (1) The Board of Commissioners is legally responsible for the public health and well-being of its citizens.  These basic environmental protection measures will lead to cleaner surface and ground water for our citizens now and for generations to come.  It is impossible to put a price tag on the value of one citizen’s life or well-being.   (2) The value of water will only increase as growth demands in the Charlotte region, Piedmont Triad and along the I-85 corridor strain our available water resources.  Regional organizations to the east and west of the Yadkin River basin are planning for water use over the coming decades and our citizens need to be doing the same. (3) The water of the Yadkin belongs to the people and has tremendous value from an electrical generation perspective.  The benefits should not simply be given away to a global corporation to support its operations in other states and foreign countries. This simply transfers wealth out of our community and that is unacceptable. 
  • The County is seeking fair and reasonable compensation for the long-term use of the river.
  •   However, without long-term financial assurances these jobs and the associated taxable investment will remain over the course of a 30, 40 or 50 year license term, it would not be wise to simply drop our reasonable demands.
  •   Should our citizens accept a static amount for a settlement when the value of the resource will increase exponentially over the term of the license?
  • We, as Commissioners, will continue to seek the best outcome for Stanly County.
  • I’m so proud of (and awed by) the Commissioners for thinking of the bigger picture and the long term needs of the community. This is nothing short of blackmail — and failing that, bribery! –on Alcoa’s part. The only reason they’ve ever offered anything is because of the Commissioner’s strong stand against a massive corporate giveaway. Good for you Commissioners! I salute you.
  • Stanly County upheld its end of the bargain for 50 years. It’s time to reclaim use of the water for the betterment of all Yadkin Valley communities. Looks to me like Alcoa is the one stalling, not the commissioners.
  • We must put our fate in our own hands not with a corporation who has no responsibility to our region or our state.
  • I applaud the Commissioners’ continued resolve to do what is in the best interests of our citizens. Future prosperity in Stanly County depends on the Yadkin hydropower. Since the beginning of time, communities have only thrived because of their access to water …for drinking, recreation, trade and fuel. Had our water not been under the control of Alcoa for the last 50 years, we would be in much better shape economically. By leveraging the Yadkin hydropower, we could have already replaced our lost manufacturing jobs with higher paying jobs that reflect the needs of the 21st century. We would be absolute fools to once again relinquish control of our waters to Alcoa for another 50 years. We need to reserve the flexibility to control our own destiny—not “outsource” it to a multinational corporation that has a poor record of stewardship and corporate responsibility in our region.
  • “Since the operation of the Badin smelting works is dependent upon the availability of power supply, Carolina Aluminum must regard its smelting activities at Badin to be limited to the term of the license of the Yadkin Project, which is its source of power supply. In formulating its plans, and weighing the advisability of the $37,000,000 program, the management of Carolina Aluminum had to assume, therefore, that power would be available from the Yadkin Project at economically feasible rates only during the original license term. Under Section 14 of the Act, any project may be “recaptured” at the expiration of the license term. In formulating its plans, therefore, the management of Carolina Aluminum could not rely upon any assured source of power supply after the expiration of its license for the Yadkin Project”
  • The “project properties” are held in trust by the Government for the people. It is the “project properties” that a multi-national, foreign controlled, private enterprise is trying to “hijack” away from “we the people”.
  • Alcoa has never owned “the riverbed”. The do pay taxes in an attempt to lay claim to the riverbed. The state constitution and federal law does not support their claim. With that said, refer back to the 1958 license agreement. Alcoa gave up rights to the submerged land “the project property” in exchange for the monopoly use of the water as free fuel for a guaranteed profit for 50 years. Article 14 of the The Federal Power Act clearly spells out the option Alcoa gave the Federal Government in exchange for the use of the “peoples waters”.
Yadkin River

Whose water is it anyway!? - 0 views

www.yesweekly.com/...whose-water-is-it-anyway_.html

water Alcoa Yadkin Commissioners Governor Legislators

shared by Yadkin River on 06 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • COALITION OF CITIZENS, POLITICIANS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS BATTLE ALCOA TO RETURN THE YADKIN RIVER TO THE PEOPLE
  • “The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life,” Roosevelt told Congress in 1907.
  • Naujoks referred to Teddy Roosevelt’s well known opposition to corporate monopolies and his firm belief the nation’s natural resources belong to the people. Naujoks cited Roosevelt’s philosophy to highlight the disparity between the legendary president’s philosophy and FERC’s policies
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  • Gov. Beverly Perdue officially came on board with the Yadkin River Coalition — a group of local businessmen, citizens and politicians who oppose Alcoa’s re-licensing efforts — last September and her influence has proved invaluable to the cause.
  • The governor’s office filed papers with the FERC “seeking return of the right to plan the use of the Yadkin River flows and the Yadkin hydroelectric project for the benefit of the people of North Carolina,” according to a press release
  • Recapturing the water rights to the Yadkin is essential to the health and well being of the citizens of the nearly 25 counties that comprise the Yadkin River Basin, Perdue stated.
  • “Given the Yadkin River’s broad impact on the state, we believe strongly that the state is the most appropriate body to plan use of this invaluable natural resource, to help assure the region’s municipal water supply and quality and to facilitate future growth and development,” Perdue stated.
  • “Given the Yadkin River’s broad impact on the state, we believe strongly that the state is the most appropriate body to plan use of this invaluable natural resource, to help assure the region’s municipal water supply and quality and to facilitate future growth and development,” Perdue stated.
  • The Badin Works aluminum smelting plant did bring 1,000 jobs to the area after Alcoa applied for its water rights license in 1958. But Alcoa, a multi-billion dollar corporation and the world’s largest producer of aluminum, ceased operations at the plant in 2007. The plant employed only 377 people when it shut down, said Alcoa spokesman Gene Ellis.
  • One of the first legislators to take their side was NC Sen. Fletcher L. Hartsell Jr., who represents Cabarrus and Iredell counties. Hartsell came on board with the Yadkin River Coalition two years ago after meeting with Dick, Jim Nance, a former board member of the NC Department of Transportation, and Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant at his legislative offices in Raleigh.
  • But after he studied the Federal Power Act, he became fascinated with the issue of Alcoa attempting to maintain its monopoly over the 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin. Convinced of the appropriateness of the coalition’s cause, Hartsell signed on and recruited fellow Republican state senator, Stan Bingham.
  • “As far as I’m concerned, Alcoa got the gold mine and we got the shaft,” Bingham said
  • “The little town of Denton is having to pay [Alcoa] for the use of the water coming down the Yadkin for drinking,” Bingham said. “The way that’s calculated is they charge because it’s a loss of power generation…. This whole thing was done many, many years ago, and a lot of people didn’t think about the people they were dealing with at the time.”
  • “Alcoa and others keep talking about it being a ‘taking’ [of property],” Hartsell said. “It’s not a taking; it’s not even close to it. All we’re asking Alcoa to do is to fulfill the obligations that were identified in 1958 that they agreed to.”
  • “They acknowledged when the license was up, they no longer had the right to use the property,” Hartsell explained. “We’re saying there needs to be an equivalency for the run of our river, and when I say ‘our,’ I mean everybody’s. It’s not a private entity. The feds and the state have had control of the run of the rivers since the beginning of the republic.” The language of the Federal Power Act includes a stipulation that the controlling entity, in this case Alcoa, must estimate the recapture value of the resource in the event it must surrender the rights to that resource, Hartsell said. “There is a statutory formula for how you calculate recapture and Alcoa computed it to be $24.2 million in 2006,” Hartsell said.
  • Yadkin River Trust Bil
  • The bill clearly outlines the three primary issues at stake — A) who controls the waters of the Yadkin for the next 50 years; B) the environmental issue related to the condition or quality of the water itself and the immediate environs; and C) the use of the electricity generated by the run of the river.
  • “[Alcoa] signed an agreement. We’re just asking them to live up to their own word,” he said. “The state of North Carolina intervened 50 years ago on Alcoa’s behalf to assist them to get a 50-year license and operate the plant at Badin, but conditions have changed dramatically. If they’re going to use it, what is the return to the people of the state on the state’s investment in the raw material, which is the water? That water is owned by the people.”
  • Alcoa’s re-licensing application represents “the mother of all incentives,” Hartsell said. “They want the state to concede they should have $1 billion in benefit over the next 50 years and provide nothing to the state,” he said.
  • “Why should we give it away?” Hartsell continued. “From an economic development perspective, energy is the major issue associated with job growth and development regardless of the industry.”
  • He pointed out that Alcoa is capitalizing on the hydroelectric energy generated by the Yadkin by selling electricity “on the grid” rather than investing in the local communities.
  • “We’re dealing with John Dillinger and Al Capone,” Bingham said. “Alcoa reaps [millions] in profits each year and North Carolina gets zilch.”
  • An environmental study commissioned by Stanly County and conducted by professor John Rodgers of Clemson University last year established a connection between contami nation of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in fish and soil samples taken from Badin Lake near Alcoa’s Badin Works operation. Rodgers’ findings led the Yadkin River Coalition to appeal the waterquality certification issued by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or DENR. Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster granted an injunction on May 26 prohibiting DENR from issuing a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa until the full appeal is heard.
  • The state issued a fish-consumption advisory for Badin Lake between Stanly and Montgomery counties last February due to elevated levels of PCBs found in largemouth bass and catfish
  • Alcoa attempted to block the advisory by filing a legal appeal. The company claimed that the state “changed its stated evaluation criteria after the study was complete and held Badin Lake to a different standard than the other lakes and rivers in North Carolina,” according to a posting on a company website.
  • Bingham said Alcoa’s objection to the posting of the fish-consumption advisory speaks volumes about their concern for the people who swim and fish at Badin Lake.
  • “It just tells me how they do business,” Bingham said. “They fought the fish-advisory signs; they say we’re taking their property and we have no rights to the water. We’re stuck with the bastards, at least for the moment, but I feel good about the direction of the fight we’re taking on in the future.”
  • Naujoks said he’s concerned about the high concentration of PCBs in the landfills and dumping sites near Alcoa’s four hydroelectric dams. Naujoks said Alcoa has not been entirely forthcoming about the number of waste dumping sites in and around their facilities.
  • They’re not showing us where all the buried bodies are found. As we start digging down through the layers, we’re going to find much more.”
  • “Alcoa knows they can’t hide these dumping sites,” Naujoks said
  • A PROMISING FUTURE Bingham said once Perdue joined the Yadkin River Coalition, it changed everything. “It’s been wonderful; it’s been extremely important,” he said. “We were facing a multi-billion-dollar corporation, but when the governor lis tened to our pleas, they began to take this extremely seriously. They realized they’re in for a fight.”
  • Bingham said the coalition will never quit until the Yadkin River is returned to the people of North Carolina.
  • “Our legal case could take years to resolve, but the campaign to support the legislation through the coalition and FERC re-licensing could be decided within the next year,” he said. “We will work on a targeted campaign to unify and strengthen grassroots efforts of local governments, public interest organizations, businesses and individuals to reclaim the waters of the Yadkin River to benefit the public interest.”
  • Bingham said he can see a day in the near future when the Yadkin is returned to the people and the economy of the 25 counties in the Yadkin River Basin begin to flourish.
  • The NC Department of Health and Human Services issued a fish-consumption advisory last February on Badin Lake after high levels of PCBs were found in fish tissue samples. Alcoa unsuccessfully filed a legal challenge to the advisory last April. The advisory remains in effect.
  • We can offer industry power at a reduced rate and that plays a big part in manufacturing,” he said. “That would be a tremendous incentive. For years, we’ve stood by the sidelines and watched industries go elsewhere. We don’t have anything to offer industry
Yadkin River

The Jamestown Foundation: China Makes Strides in Energy "Go-out" Strategy - 0 views

www.jamestown.org/...single

china goabroad GOINGOUT yadkin Alcoa

shared by Yadkin River on 19 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Yet this new strategy is taking the shape of a formula of “loans-for-energy,” which involves a mix of state-owned and private actors.
  • hese complex arrangements indicate that China’s expansion of overseas-energy assets is a long term goal and that it is increasingly interested in securing Chinese outward investments from its international partners.
  • China’s new venture with Kazakhstan deviates from the “oil-for-loans” formula. The $5 billion loan from CNPC will give Chinese oil firms a 50 percent stake in the joint purchase of MangistauMunaiGaz (MMG), Kazakhstan’s biggest private oil and gas company (Reuters, April 17). This deal is more like a “loan-for-oil assets” transaction than one of “loan-for-promised-oil supply," which characterizes the previous three contracts, and CNPC will receive half of the oil that will be produced by the jointly owned MMG (the other 50 percent will be owned by the Kazak state-owned firm KazMunaiGas).
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  • his model is more in line with the Chinese government’s preference for financing acquisitions, since it gives Chinese NOCs direct ownership of resources. In contrast to the other three deals, Chinese NOCs could only extend loans to foreign NOCs for guaranteed oil supplies or possible special access to future exploration projects.
  • Put more of China’s $2 trillion foreign reserves into hard assets -- Zhang Guobao, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission and head of the NEA, had pointed out in a signed article published in December 2008 in the People’s Daily (a strong indication of being authoritative statements of government policy) that China should seize the timing of the oil price slump on the  international market to increase imports and Chinese enterprises are encouraged by the government to expand overseas (China Daily, March 9).
  • he global economic crisis has presented China with a rare opportunity to trade its abundant foreign currency reserves for oil, mineral and other resources around the world. China now has roughly $2 trillion in foreign exchange, ranking number one in the world, and many state firms are also flush with funds (The Associated Press, February 18). Beijing is considering setting up an oil stabilization fund to support purchases of overseas resources by Chinese oil companies. The plan was submitted at NEA’s National Work Conference on Energy held in March 2009 (Xinhua News Agency, March 2).
  • The recent large energy activities are not the first time Chinese NOCs have entered “loans-for-oil” deals. In 2004, Chinese banks financed Rosneft’s acquisition of Yuganskneftegaz with a $6 billion loan and CNPC received a pledge of long-term supply contracts via rail in exchange (Platts Community News, February 19)
  • These “loans-for-oil” activities will remain an active component of the Chinese overseas resource acquisition strategy given the current global economic and energy conditions.
Yadkin River

Alcoa's Chinese JV Targets Need for High Quality Aluminum in Booming Market -- Trefis - 0 views

www.trefis.com/...2011-09-16

chinese ALCOA YADKIN aluminum CleanTech CHINA joint venture

shared by Yadkin River on 20 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • 1 of 12 Alcoa’s Aluminium Supply Deal with Embraer Could be First of Many 2 of 12 Alcoa Sambas to $16 with Embraer Deal for Jet Development 3 of 12 Alcoa: Revised $16 Price Estimate, Long-Term Outlook Still Solid 4 of 12 Alcoa Restructuring Midstream Business for Emerging Market Growth 5 of 12 Demand for Lightweight Autos Boost Alcoa’s Aluminum Business 6 of 12 Alcoa Aims for $18 by Investing in ‘Green’ Initiatives 7 of 12 Aluminum Demand, New Products Lift Alcoa’s Earnings 8 of 12 Alcoa’s JV in Saudi Arabia Gets Funding 9 of 12 Alcoa Could Get Boost from New Alloys 10 of 12 Alcoa Gains from Fuel Efficiency Focus at Paris Air Show 11 of 12 Alcoa Shines on Solid Aluminum Demand 12 of 12 Alcoa’s Growth Estimates for Aluminum Justify Additional Upside Relevant Articles on TREFIS Alcoa’s Chinese JV Targets Need for High Quality Aluminum in Booming Market September 16th, 2011 by Trefis Team +93.03% Upside 8.53 Market 16.47 Trefis pricesBarBlock artMa
  • The JV will focus on the technical expertise of both the companies to leverage this growing market. Further official information on the joint venture is awaited.
Yadkin River

Office of Investment Security - 0 views

www.treasury.gov/...cfius-index.aspx

ALCOA chinese CHINA ownership Foreign

shared by Yadkin River on 21 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Office of Investment Security   Page ContentCommittee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) CFIUS is an inter-agency committee authorized to review transactions that could result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign person (“covered transactions”), in order to determine the effect of such transactions on the national security of the United States.  CFIUS operates pursuant to section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended by the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 (FINSA) (section 721) and as implemented by Executive Order 11858, as amended, and regulations at 31 C.F.R. Part 800.  The CFIUS process has been the subject of significant reforms over the past several years.  These include numerous improvements in internal CFIUS procedures, enactment of FINSA in July 2007, amendment of Executive Order 11858 in January 2008, revision of the CFIUS regulations in November 2008, and publication of guidance on CFIUS’s national security considerations in December 2008. Further information about each of these reforms is available via the links to the right.
  • Yadkin River on 21 Dec 11
     
    Prior to any FERC re-license of the Yadkin. FERC policy needs to include CFIUS review in light of rapid globalization and existing known multi-national partnerships to any FERC licenseholder
Yadkin River

The big questions for 2012 - FT.com - 0 views

www.ft.com/...16-11e1-b7ec-00144feabdc0.html

2012 outlook -

shared by Yadkin River on 04 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • With America gazing inward, some will look to China for money and leadership. This began visibly to happen in 2011, when European officials ended an EU summit by jetting straight off to Beijing, in a humiliatingly unsuccessful effort to drum up Chinese interest in buying more European debt.
  • But the leadership of China’s Communist party will also spend much of the year jostling for position. While the identities of the new president and prime minister are widely assumed to be known – with Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang slated respectively for those positions – the slots just below the top two are up for grabs. China’s urge to concentrate on domestic affairs will be accentuated by a growing nervousness about political and economic instability at home.
  • and growing social unrest in China’s manufacturing heartlands
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  • But it will also ensure China has little energy to devote to elaborate international co-operation.
  • Economic inequality: Peaceful acceptance of deep differentials is coming to an end
  • The big debate of 2012 will be over the role of government in the economy,
  • Although this sounds like an economic issue, it is really about politics.
  • Public v private: The state starts to run out of time on how big it should be
  • Headlines such as this recent one in the Los Angeles Times – “Six Walmart heirs are wealthier than US’ entire bottom 30 per cent” – epitomise the new mood. Such scrutiny of the lives and deeds of the “1 per cent” will become obsessive.
  • Yet there is compelling evidence that high inequality is also bad for a nation’s health: it leads to higher political instability and more violence and it hurts competitiveness and growth.
  • This year, elections will take place in the US, France, Russia, Taiwan, Mexico, Egypt and South Korea. China will also change leadership.
  • In Russia, shame among educated classes that Vladimir Putin is just the latest tsar, combined with growing economic desperation and corruption in rural areas, makes another Russian Revolution plausible if not probable. And I would not be surprised to see mass protests in several central Asian countries, in Pakistan, again in Iran, in Algeria, Mexico, Venezuela or Cuba.
  • The difference from traditional technology is speed, scale and resilience. The immediacy, apparent veracity and emotional power of words and images that are instantly transmitted to thousands and then millions of people can transform existing currents of dissent into a raging flood
  • Social unrest: Technology to power rolling disruption to outright revolution
  • Energy: Fuel’s decisive shift in supply will boost security – at a price
  • Energy efficiency in the advanced countries has risen sharply, implying that their demand has peaked, and vast, commercially exploitable discoveries of oil and gas – especially gas – have been made in politically stable areas, including in the US. This suggests that in future gas will account for a much larger proportion of world energy supply. While these developments are positive for geopolitical stability, they may pose difficulties for the climate.
  • This is positive because gas is much cleaner than coal.
  • This means it will reclaim its role as the world’s biggest energy producer and, incredibly, become a net energy exporter.
  • Even in 2040, respected forecasts now envision that fossil fuels will still supply 80 per cent of the world’s energy needs.
  • However, energy security and national security for much of the world will be improved, as the influence of rogue oil states diminishes.
Yadkin River

» Blog Archive » Central Park Poll Results of Yadkin Project - 0 views

insidestanly.com/?p=6338

DEC2011 Water Alcoa Yadkin CleanTech

shared by Yadkin River on 10 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • A survey of 500 registered voters across North Carolina indicated that most North Carolinians overwhelmingly oppose such an agreement.
  • Many environmentalists and state and local officials in the region have remained steadfast in their belief that the river should be controlled by a publicly held trust in order to provide better benefits to the region and state. 
  • Alcoa lost a critical water quality permit last year when internal company e-mails showed that officials withheld information that downstream waters may not meet state standards. In addition, although elevated levels of PCBs produced by Alcoa have been found in fish in the river, Alcoa fought the installation of signs along Badin Lake warning people not to eat the contaminated fish, which infuriated many local lake residents.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • According to Nancy Gottovi, Executive Director of Central Park NC, the December 15 deadline looks like an attempt to apply enormous political pressure on local officials and the Governor to drop their opposition to the 50-year license
  • 72% of North Carolina registered voters said no to Alcoa being granted a new 50-year license, while 76% stated that they would prefer that a “public trust” control the Yadkin River and use the hydroelectricity as an incentive to bring jobs to North Carolina. The majority of voters (60%) also indicated that they were usually skeptical when a multinational corporation like Alcoa tells a community they will provide permanent jobs. The majority of voters (58%) also agree with the statement “Every effort must be made to protect our water resources, even if it makes recruitment of industry more difficult.”  An overwhelming majority of voters (74%) support Governor Perdue’s opposition to a new 50-year license for Alcoa to control the Yadkin River because she believes the waters of the Yadkin River belong to the people of North Carolina and should be used to help create new jobs and economic opportunity for the region.
  • We were concerned that the Yadkin relicensing issue was being seen as a local Stanly County issue, and that the opinions of residents throughout the entire river basin were not being heard.  We also see this as a major public policy issue that has implications for the entire state.  The control of water resources is immensely important as we plan for future growth in terms of drinking water, but also for clean, renewable energy. 
Yadkin River

China's 'go abroad' policy produces effects - People's Daily Online - 0 views

english.peopledaily.com.cn/...7443645.html

china GOINGABROAD goabroad yadkin

shared by Yadkin River on 19 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Dong Songgen, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that Chinese enterprises' cumulative outbound direct investments stood at 260 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2010. The pace of Chinese enterprises' "going abroad" will be further accelerated during the 12th Five-Year Plan period. According to a recent report released by the U.S.-based Asia Society, China's gross overseas investments are expected to reach 2 trillion U.S. dollars by 2020.
  • Data shows that Chinese enterprises have established 13,000 enterprises in 177 countries and regions.
  • In terms of countries and regions, the United States is still the largest investment destination for Chinese enterprises, with 28 percent of Chinese enterprises surveyed planning to invest in the United States
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  • Xu said that the foreign investment of China's enterprises cover various kinds of industries. Of them, the industry in which China invests in most heavily is the manufacturing industry, and the proportion of China's foreign investment in this industry to total foreign investment is 78 percent in developed countries and 71 percent in developing countries.
  • In addition, more than 30 percent of the enterprises have adopted the mode of founding a joint venture.
  • The number of China's enterprises that invest in foreign countries through mergers and acquisitions is also growing, and their investment accounts for 22 percent and 15 percent of the total in developed countries and in developing countries, respectively
  • Ma Yu said that the main part of China's foreign investment is still done by state-owned enterprises currently. According to statistics, the foreign investment from state-owned assets plays an absolutely dominant role.
Yadkin River

Steel chief hits out at US-China plant critics - FT.com - 0 views

www.ft.com/...59-11df-a860-00144feab49a.html

Correnti steel CleanTech hydro china chinese Investors

shared by Yadkin River on 04 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • plan to build a steel plant in the US partly funded by one of China’s biggest steel companies has hit out at his critics, saying that objections to the scheme are a “ploy” by established US companies to block fair competition.
  • John Correnti, chief executive and part owner of Steel Development, which intends to construct a $168m plant in Amory, Mississippi, with the aid of investment by state-owned Anshan Iron & Steel, dismissed as “ludicrous” a claim by a group of US congressmen that the involvement of a Chinese company could potentially damage US national security.
  • Mr Correnti’s project in Mississippi – which he says is part of a bigger $2bn scheme to build a total of four steel plants in undisclosed locations US-wide – comes at a difficult time for the country’s steel industry which was severely affected by the 2008-09 economic crisis and is recovering only slowly.
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  • It also exacerbates tensions between the US and China.
  • Parts of the US business community are concerned at what they regard as a “mercantilist” approach to industry by Beijing, under which the country is said to use levers such as the undervalued renminbi to help Chinese companies.
  • Tom Danjczek, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, a trade group, which represents most of the large mini-mill companies, said his members “particularly objected” to the presence in Mr Correnti’s investment group of Anshan. That was on the grounds that the company benefited from Beijing’s assistance, in the form “of easy access to government loans and an artificially low currency”. State-owned Anshan benefited from such government help in a way that was denied to its competitors in the US, he said. In a letter sent in July to Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, a group of Congressmen representing steel producing districts claimed the planned involvement of Anshan in the Amory project could threaten US national security.
Yadkin River

Alcoa and Chinese Rival Buy 12% Stake in Rio Tinto - New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...02mines.html

chinese ALCOA YADKIN GOINGOUT

shared by Yadkin River on 19 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • SHANGHAI — The state-owned giant Aluminum Corporation of China and the Aluminum Corporation of America stunned analysts and investors Friday by buying a minority stake in Rio Tinto, the world’s third largest mining company.
  • “The Chinese are probably the best capitalists that communism will ever have given birth to,” said Michelle Applebaum, head of an independent steel equity research firm in Chicago.
  • Last year, China’s state-controlled sovereign wealth fund — another increasingly visible and controversial measure of the new wealth of the nation — invested in the private equity firm Blackstone. Later, it paid about $5 billion to buy a small stake in Morgan Stanley.
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  • Now, China appears to be making another bold play to capture the natural resources it needs to fuel its fast-growing economy.
  • Most of the $14 billion came from Chinalco, which is ultimately controlled by the government in Beijing. Alcoa, which is based in Pittsburgh, contributed only about $1.2 billion to purchase the Rio stake.
  • "We believe that the Chinese recognize that control will likely be elusive — if not impossible — and that ownership of its raw material resources is key to the future.”
  • The statement, analysts say, was a hint that the two could team up with other companies or entities, possibly from China, to bid for all of Rio and wage a tough takeover battle with BHP, driving up the price of Rio shares.
  • partly because of suspicions that the Chinese government could be behind the deal.
  • Neither Chinalco nor Alcoa have the cash or stock to make a $150 billion bid, analysts say. Shares of Alcoa are worth about $30 billion and Chinalco shares in China are worth about $50 billion.
Yadkin River

U.S. Steel Industry Says Get Ready, Chinese Government Companies Are Coming To America - 0 views

www.manufacturingnews.com/...steel109.html

steel industry chinese government yadkin

shared by Yadkin River on 18 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • "In essence, after creating, developing and nurturing massive 'national champions,' the Chinese government is now strategically deploying these entities overseas to execute the government's agenda: to acquire natural resources and raw materials, obtain technology and expertise, gain entry into new markets and increase China's economic and political influence on a global scale."
  • Such ownership is deemed illegal under the World Trade Organization rules. Yet China has defied them. The Chinese government owns most of the shares of the major steel producers. It is involved in making the business decisions within virtually all of China's major steel companies.
  • The Chinese government has directed its Anshan Iron and Steel Group to directly invest in the United States. On May 17, 2010, the company announced a joint venture with Steel Development Co. of Amory, Miss., to build up to five new steel plants in the United States. "Anshan's investment in SDC is the direct result of China's industrial policies," notes Wiley Rein. The 100-percent state-owned enterprise became China's fourth largest steel producer "through government mandated mergers and the receipt of massive government subsidies." China's 2009 "Revitalization Plan," "explicitly identifies Anshan as a recipient of extensive government support in order to strengthen its international competitiveness and to assist Anshan in acquiring strategic resources and establishing operations abroad. . . Anshan is now investing in the U.S. steel market, with the full force and encouragement of the Chinese government." China is stepping up its global strategy. China's government said it invested $43.3 billion overseas in 2009. Through June 2010, overseas investment had reached $55.2 billion. The OECD says these figures are "substantially" underestimated. Chinese foreign mergers and acquisitions have increased by more than 50 percent in the first half of 2010, according to report from China Daily Online. "Chinese investment into the United States jumped 360 percent in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period last year," according to the Wiley Rein report. "In 2009, Chinese enterprises announced new direct investment in the United States of approximately $5 billion, up from $500 million in 2008, and despite a significant global downturn in such investments. Moreover, Chinese firms acquired or announced that they were starting more than 50 U.S. companies in 2009."
Yadkin River

Should the US Government Allow a Chinese Steel Mill to Invest in Steel Technology They ... - 1 views

agmetalminer.com/...vest-in-steel-development-corp

chinese steel development armory ms Correnti

shared by Yadkin River on 18 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • [Ed. Note According to a May 24 AMM post, the investment will also go toward building four re-bar plants (not one) and one flat rolled product mini-mill, all based in the US)
  • Dive under the surface a bit, and the investment by Anshan raises serious concerns not only among steel producers but also for any US manufacturing organization in general.
  • American national security infrastructure projects’ through the investment.”
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Let’s examine rebar consumption. First, we’ll examine apparent consumption (apparent consumption is net domestic consumption plus imports) and then we’ll calculate capacity utilization: 2007 – 9.824m short tons 2008 – 8.374 m short tons 2009 – 5.359 m short tons 2010 – based on current 2010 run rates, the industry will ship 5.1m short tons If you compare the peak of the market (2007) with today, the US rebar industry operates at a 62% capacity utilization rate; the overall steel industry operates at a 72.9% capacity utilization rate as of June 26, 2010. Two rebar facilities are currently shut down, one in New Jersey and one in Oklahoma. Many of the other facilities that run both mixed merchant/rebar mills are also running at less than capacity If we were to develop a map of the United States and mark US rebar plant locations by geography (assuming each mill can ship up to a 300 mile
  • First, the last time the US steel market was at 120m tons of consumption was in 2006. The 2009 estimated steel consumption was 59m tons, data courtesy of the USGS. Prior to 2006, the only other year in which apparent steel consumption met or exceeded 120m tons was in 2005. The rest of this past decade, steel consumption hovered in the lower 100m ton range (e.g. less than 110m tons)
  • the question of technology transfer ought to be considered heavily
  • –Lisa Reisman
  • we’d see a glut of capacity in the US Southeast. The only argument one could make for building a rebar mill may be to move it somewhere out West, but even that may be a tenuous argument
  • And we all know that US construction markets (the biggest application for rebar products) remain in troubled waters. Take a look at annual expenditures for both commercial and residential construction here. Incidentally, 2010 data is tracking 8% below 2009 numbers. In other words, rebar capacity utilization rates are even less than overall steel industry capacity utilization rates
  • We can’t see the business case to add rebar capacity in the US. Clearly the PE firm involved in Steel Development Corp is banking on the management team.
  • If our politicians think this is about jobs, we can assure them that this may be a short term win (in terms of new jobs in Mississippi) – but they will result in a net loss for US manufacturing, as the current US domestic rebar industry has already laid off thousands of workers. And by giving this technology to the Chinese, well, we know what that will mean long term….
Yadkin River

Alcoa: News: News Releases: Alcoa Inc. and Aluminum Corporation of China ("Chinalco") t... - 0 views

www.alcoa.com/...news_detail.asp

alcoa yadkin chinaalco financing

shared by Yadkin River on 19 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Chinalco and Alcoa jointly announced today that the two companies intend to explore opportunities to expand their commercial relationship by identifying strategic ventures that will benefit from the companies’
  • n connection with these matters, Alcoa and Chinalco have also entered into an agreement by which Chinalco will redeem the convertible note issued by Shining Prospect Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinalco, to Alcoa last year for the funding of Shining Prospect’s purchase of ordinary shares in the London-listed Rio Tinto plc. The original principal amount of the note would have been payable on February 1, 2011. Under the terms of the agreement entered into today, the note will be redeemed by Chinalco for a total of US$1.021 billion payable to Alcoa in three installments (over a period ending on July 31, 2009), and Alcoa’s lien on and indirect interest in Rio Tinto shares held by Shining Prospect will end. The total redemption amount represents the discounted net present value of the principal amount of the note (and the total redemption amount will be further discounted if any installment payment is made earlier than contemplated by the agreement). The agreement also provides that Alcoa's pro rata portion of the dividends paid by Rio Tinto to date since the issuance of the note as and when recovered by Shining Prospect will be paid to Alcoa.
Yadkin River

Alcoa, CPI Announce Letter Of Intent To Develop Joint Venture Producing High End Alumin... - 0 views

www.thestreet.com/...igh-end-aluminum-products.html

CHINA joint venture chinese ALCOA YADKIN aluminum

shared by Yadkin River on 20 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • CPI President Lu Qizhou added, “I am excited to see our partnership taking a further step. Deeper cooperation in high-end aluminum fabrication will definitely broaden the space for both companies' development and accelerate our
  • common endeavor to move forward.”
  • About CPI China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) is one of the five Gencos in China and a comprehensive energy group integrating industries of power, coal, aluminum, railway and port. It is the only enterprise in China possessing assets in hydropower, thermal power, nuclear power and new energies at the same time, and is one of the three companies in China that are authorized to develop, build and operate nuclear power plants. By the end of 2010, CPI had installed capacity of 70.72GW, of which 17.74GW was hydropower, which ranked first among the five Gencos. Clean energy accounted for 30% of the total portfolio, the highest among the five Gencos. Meanwhile, CPI had coal production capacity of 72.75 million tons and aluminum production capacity of 2.08 million tons.
Yadkin River

WFAE 90.7 FM - 0 views

www.wfae.org/...1_87_316.cfm

alcoa yadkin hydro Commissioners wfae

shared by Yadkin River on 04 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Mr. Stickler is correct when he states, “We don’t put $300 million of investment in the ground and remove those assets in a couple of years,” says Stickler. HE AND HIS HOPEFUL INVESTORS JUST DO NOT MAKE THE INVESTMENT IN THE 1ST PLACE. His last “Proposed” Rebar plant (http://www.steeldevelopment.com/home.php) was in Amory, MS…… They committed to “DECADES” in Amory, MS, only to spend about 3 million dollars in grading and to leave when their “Equity Investors” , apparently Chinese, pulled out. Commissioner Dennis and the rest of the Commissioners have just reason to be concerned. I have spoken to people involved in the Amory MS project as well as Ontario, OH, where good people acted in good faith and listened to the “Stickler Pitch”… This time and in this community, Officials are aware of the previous dealings that this group “Proposed” and did NOT deliver on. It seems as if ALCOA has a big problem on their hands attempting to Introduce Clean-Tech to the Community. It makes you wonder if they conducted their due diligence, or did they? I stand firmly behind the County Commissioners and it is my hope Governor Perdue and Sec. Crisco are aware of the very questionable ability of Clean-Tech to perform considering that they DID NOT in Armory, MS. Comment by JohnMullis - September 30, 2011 9:10 PM
  • The jobs and revenue produced for the public by publicly controlled hydropower, where public entities have control of the FERC license for the hydroelectric dams is well documented on the Stanly County website. http://www.co.stanly.nc.us/ALCOARelicensing/tabid/176/Default.aspx This website has links to key documents information about the Alcoa situation which ought to be read by anyone seeking to be informed about the issue or desiring to make an intelligent comment based on knowledge, not ignorance. In particular, take a look at the links on the Stanly County website to about the large numbers of jobs and revenue for the localities produced by the agreements struck between Alcoa and the New York Power Authority in December 2007 and between Alcoa and Chelan County, Washington, in June 2008. http://www.co.stanly.nc.us/ALCOARelicensing/tabid/176/Default.aspx In addition, opponent's of recapture of the Yadkin Project ought to look at industrial recruitment advantages that South Carolina enjoys with low cost electrical power produced by Santee-Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, and the state’s largest power producer. https://www.santeecooper.com/portal/page/portal/santeecooper/homepage Comment by WaterPatriot - September 27, 2011 2:13 PM
  • Yadkin River on 04 Dec 11
     
    Alcoa, Stanly County Square Off Over JobsJulie Rose Monday September 26, 2011
Yadkin River

Chrystia Freeland | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters.com - 0 views

blogs.reuters.com/...jeff-immelt

analysis thomson reuters Chrystia Freeland China Jeff JefferyRImmelt Reindustrialization

shared by Yadkin River on 21 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • “Our only destiny can be as a high-tech exporter, that creates jobs, high-paying jobs … Export-led growth is the key to national success.”
  • it is suggested that this “business model that works for them” is Communist authoritarianism. “That has been very effective,” he said. “They’re in their 12th five-year plan and they’ve done quite well.”
  • ” The China challenge, in Immelt’s view, is about much more than a manipulated exchange rate and “cheap labor.” “It is the adaptability, it is the speed with which they move, it is the unanimity of purpose, it is the productivity of thought,
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • In the U.S. public discourse, the big strain in the American-Chinese economic relationship is the yuan, and what many Americans view as the government-manipulated undervaluation of the Chinese currency.
  • “It is going to be the biggest economy in the world,” Immelt said of China. “The only question is when.”
  • the American consumer was the definitive driver of the global economy.” But Immelt said the future will be different. For the next 25 years, he said, the American consumer “is not going to be the engine of global growth. It is going to be the billion people joining the middle class in Asia, it is going to be what the resource-rich countries do with their new-found wealth of high oil prices. That’s the game.” A lot of that game will be played in China. At a moment when it is compulsory on the American right to pay homage to the exceptionalism of the United States, Immelt, a life-long Republican, is matter-of-fact about China’s inevitable rise.
  • Yadkin River on 21 Dec 11
     
    Jeffery Immelt on American going "ALL-IN" interview with Chrystia Freeland
Yadkin River

State lawmakers approve Calisolar incentives package - The Dispatch - 0 views

www.cdispatch.com/...article.asp

CleanTech columbus Correnti Mississippi

shared by Yadkin River on 23 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • John T. Correnti, former CEO of SeverCorr (now Severstal) of Columbus, has served as chairman of the company''s board of directors since 2010 and reportedly has maintained close ties with Mississippi. The company has been in negotiations with Ohio officials since April, but the deal fell through in July when company representatives told the Mansfield News Journal in Mansfield, Ohio, that they were unable to meet a September construction deadline to qualify for a $275 million federal loan guarantee. Higgins said Lowndes County''s ability to meet Calisolar''s high power needs (nearly 170 MW of power, or roughly 40 MW more than the entire city of Columbus), along with Mississippi''s status as a right-to-work (non-union) state and the willingness of legislators to pass an attractive incentive package, may have tipped the balance in the Magnolia State''s favor.
  • "The reason we''re coming here, and I''m going to be frank, is the Mississippi farm boys and the farm girls," Correnti said, according to The AP. "I wouldn''t trade a Mississippi farm boy or farm girl for any Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, South American.
  • AP reports that details of Mississippi''s incentive package include a $59.5 million loan for the building and equipment, with Lowndes County retaining ownership of the building and leasing it to them. The state is also providing $15.75 million for infrastructure and workforce training.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state''s unemployment rate was 11.1 percent for July, and Lowndes County''s unemployment rate was 12.4 percent. The national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, or approximately 14 million people.
Yadkin River

Steel firm wants to diversify overseas - China.org.cn - 0 views

www.china.org.cn/...content_22068121.htm

development Correnti steel

shared by Yadkin River on 18 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • The company and the US-based Steel Development Company signed a deal in September last year to jointly build a steel rebar project in the US market. Total investment in the Mississippi steel rebar project is $168 million, with Anshan Steel taking a 14-percent share. Anshan Iron also plans to acquire nickel and chromium resources through overseas mergers or purchases, as the company considers building a stainless steel and specialty steel business to further diversify, Zhang said. Wang Min, Party chief of Northeast China's Liaoning province, where Anshan Steel is located, said the merger between Anshan Iron and Benxi Iron and Steel Group will make progress soon.
  • Yadkin River on 18 Dec 11
     
    The company and the US-based Steel Development Company signed a deal in September last year to jointly build a steel rebar project in the US market. Total investment in the Mississippi steel rebar project is $168 million, with Anshan Steel taking a 14-percent share. Anshan Iron also plans to acquire nickel and chromium resources through overseas mergers or purchases, as the company considers building a stainless steel and specialty steel business to further diversify, Zhang said. Wang Min, Party chief of Northeast China's Liaoning province, where Anshan Steel is located, said the merger between Anshan Iron and Benxi Iron and Steel Group will make progress soon. Anshan Steel announced in 2005 that it agreed to acquire Benxi Steel to form Anben Iron and Steel Group; however, the two firms have yet to transfer their operating assets to the new entity. The two companies' financial, sales and purchasing departments haven't been integrated. The move is a part of Anshan Steel's bid to reach an annual production capacity of 60 million tons in the next five years and to become one of the world's top five steelmakers by 2015.
Yadkin River

CHALCO - 0 views

www.chalco.com.cn/...chalco_en_view.jsp

china Chinalco aloca takeover energy yadkin

shared by Yadkin River on 19 Dec 11 - No Cached
  •  In recent years, the "go-out" process of central government-owned enterprises has been accelerated, and CHINALCO has been a star in the "go-out" drama of the central government-owned enterprises. Following is an interview with CHINALCO Party Secretary and President Xiong Weiping ——
  • This marks another major step forward for CHINALCO down the road of developing resources overseas.
  • We tried to get aligned to the leading international companies, and also approached the best private companies in China to learn from them. We reformed our management system and management structure. We changed our practices in selecting leaders
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • After two years of all-round and in-depth structural adjustment, the single line of aluminum business in the past was expanded into nine lines of business including aluminum, copper, rare metals & rare earth, resource exploration, international engineering, international trade, energy, finance, and overseas investment, and we already had the structure of a diversified mining company.
  • Xiong Weiping: Yes. During the first year of the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, we have set a strategic goal of "becoming a world-class mining company with the biggest growth potential".
  • To become a world-class mining company, we need to create another CHINALCO in the next 10 years. Obviously, it would be very hard to realize this goal within China's territory, and we must go out and participate in global competition and collaboration.
  • The ups and downs in the collaboration can also be positive and meaningful. CHINALCO has established its status in negotiation and cooperation with major western mining companies, and has obtained certain participation right and a bigger say.
Yadkin River

Hydroelectricity: Definition from Answers.com - 0 views

www.answers.com/...hydroelectricity

hydro electric power economic

shared by Yadkin River on 15 Dec 11 - Cached
  • Barnes, Marla. "Tracking the Pioneers of Hydroelectricity." Hydro Review 16 (1997): 46.Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Hydroelectric Power Resources of the United States: Developed and Undeveloped. Washington, 1 January 1992.———. Report on Hydroelectric Licensing Policies, Procedures, and Regulations: Comprehensive Review and Recommendations Pursuant to Section 603 of the Energy Act of 2000. Washington, May 2001.Foundation for Water and Energy Education. Following Nature's Current: Hydroelectric Power in the Northwest. Salem, Oregon, 1999.Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and United States Department of Energy—Idaho Operations Office. Hydroelectric Power Industry Economic Benefit Assessment. DOE/ID-10565.Idaho Falls, November 1996.———. Hydropower Resources at Risk: The Status of Hydropower Regulation and Development 1997. DOE/ID-10603.Idaho Falls, September 1997.United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. Annual Energy Review 2000. DOE/EIA-0384 (2000).Washington, August 2001.United States Department of Energy—Idaho Operations Office. Hydropower: Partnership with the Environment. 01-GA50627. Idaho Falls, June 2001.
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