In January Russian mining and steel producer Evraz Group has increased its production output by about 20-30 percent compared with December due to the revival of demand for steel products, said the chairman of Evraz Group's board of directors, Alexander Abramov. In December the company had been working at 60 percent of its capacity.
To date, Evraz has almost completely resumed its production in Ukraine, aided by the decline of the country's national currency and low transportation costs, as its Ukrainian business is export-oriented to a large degree. Meanwhile, Evraz's US facilities are currently operating at 92 percent of capacity and are expecting a stable 2009 on the back of long-term supply agreements.
In addition, in 2009 Evraz aims to implement all its scheduled projects, but at lower expense. In 2008, the company spent about $1 billion on the implementation of its projects.
Mr. Abramov commented that the steel market situation could see some changes in February due to the continuing instability, but he expressed his conviction that the situation would not be worse than during November-December 2008.