The Russian mining and steel producer Evraz Group has announced the completion of the first stage of the rail mill modernization at its Siberia-located Novokuznetsk Iron and Steel Plant (NKMK), which has increased the mill's annual rail capacity to 750,000 mt.
Accordingly, the first stage of NKMK's rail mill modernization required a €44 million investment, and included the installation of state-of-the-art equipment, which will ensure premium quality of rails and satisfy requirements of the most advanced Russian and European standards for rail geometry and steel purity. Due to their enhanced quality characteristics, these rails can be used in high-speed transportation, and can be sold at a premium compared to standard rails.
The completion of the second stage of NKMK's rail mill modernization is scheduled for 2012. Once the modernization is complete, NKMK will launch the production of 100-meter rails for high-speed transportation - a unique premium product.
Evraz is the world's largest rail producer, and the only producer of rails in Russia. Evraz operates two rail mills in Russia (NKMK and NTMK) and one mill in the USA (Rocky Mountain). Evraz's total rail mill capacity is more than 1.6 million mt per annum, including more than 1.1 million mt of rails in Russia.
"We are aware of the growing demand for higher quality and longer rails in our key markets and interest for such rails from our major customer in Russia, RZhD - Russian Railways, and we are investing in modernizing our production capacities in order to meet this demand," Evraz Group's CEO Alexander Frolov stated.