Zlatoust Metallurgical Works (ZMZ), a subsidiary of the Russian steel producer ESTAR Holding, plans in March to double month on month its deliveries of commercial steel products to 20,000 metric tons.
The receipt of additional orders from pipe producer Pervouralsky Novotrubny Works and KAMAZ, one of the largest automobile corporations in the Russian Federation, will allow ZMZ to restart at the beginning of March one of its three open hearth furnaces, which were decommissioned in autumn 2008. In addition, ZMZ plans to restart the implementation of the modernization program at its main production facilities and the construction of its new electric smelting shop.
In January 2009, ZMZ's deliveries decreased to 11,000 mt from 40,000 mt in January 2008. In February 2009, the plant expects to register a decrease to 10,000 mt compared to 34,458 mt in February last year.
Currently, ZMZ is facing a difficult situation due to the decreasing prices for square billets and alloyed steel products, in the context of increasing scrap prices. Moreover, the plant's main clients, big automobile and pipe producers, which are facing problems with product sales, are not able to pay for previous deliveries and have decreased their orders by more than ten times.