During the "New Horizons in Steel Markets" 10th Annual Conference organized by SteelOrbis in Istanbul on November 19, Maxim Lapin, director of business development and performance management at Russian steelmaker
MMK, informed his listeners about the steel market trends and spoke of the projects of
MMK and other Russian producers for the future. Mr. Lapin stated that Russian steel producers are planning to introduce new
steelmaking and processing facilities by 2018. In this context, Russian mills, including
MMK, will increase coated steel production by a combined 2.7 million mt, crude steel production by 4.1 million mt and long steel production by 3.5 million mt by 2018, in the event of full implementation of the announced projects. According to the
MMK official,
Russia will have the opportunity to supply more coated steel products to the export markets, while also meeting needs in the domestic market.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lapin stated that
Russia's steel consumption has increased by 80 percent over the last 15 years for the range of steel products produced by
MMK, which prompted the Russian steelmaker to increase supplies, thus resulting in a decline in the country's steel imports. Accordingly, domestic market sales still remain the top priority for
MMK, while the company aims to increase the share of domestic sales within its overall sales to 75 percent by 2025 from the current level of 67 percent in 2015, as stated by Mr. Lapin. However, the CIS, the MENA region and Turkey will maintain their important role as destinations for the company's exports, he added.