The Russian steel and iron ore producer Metalloinvest Holding (Metalloinvest) has announced that its subsidiary Oskol Metallurgical Plant (OEMK) has for the first time in its history reached an annual output of three million mt of steel.
According to Metalloinvest's expansion program, the production capacity at OEMK was to be increased to three million mt by 2010. The target has instead been reached by 2008 as a result of the modernization program which included the upgrading of the mill's metallization lines No. 2, 3 and 4, the construction of new production facilities, and the reconstruction of its electro-smelting shop, the annual output of which exceeded its designed capacity by 1.5 million mt.
"In spite of the difficult economic situation, Metalloinvest will continue to implement a series of its strategically important investment projects, in order to further increase its subsidiaries' production capacities and to master new types of high quality steel products," Metalloinvest's CEO Maxim Gubiyev stated.