The Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced the commissioning of a $250 million cold rolling facility at Iskenderun, Turkey-based MMK-Atakas, a joint venture steel project developed with the Turkish Atakas Group of Companies.
Accordingly, MMK-Atakas' cold rolling facility is equipped with a 1.2 million mt per year continuous pickling line, a 750,000 mt per year two-stand reversing mill, a 450,000 mt per year hot dip galvanizing unit and a 200,000 mt per year color coating line.
By the end of 2011, the commissioned cold rolling shop is scheduled to reach its planned capacity of 750,000 mt per year of finished steel products.
The construction of MMK-Atakas began in March 2008, with two sites - one located in Iskenderun and one in Istanbul - with a total capacity of 2.3 million mt per year of hot rolled flat steel. The total investments are estimated at approximately $1.7 billion.
In addition to the cold rolling mill, galvanizing line and color coating lines, MMK-Atakas currently operates two service centers - one in Iskenderun, commissioned in 2008, and one in Istanbul, commissioned in 2010 - which are designed to cut and slit coils and sheets and package products.
In addition, a sea port capable of catering for ships of up to 100,000 dwt has been built next to the production site, in order to supply raw and input materials to the Iskenderun plant and ship MMK-Atakas products to customers.
In 2011, MMK-Atakas plans to commission an electric arc furnace with a compact strip mill at its Iskenderun site, and to start up a color coating line and a continuous hot dip galvanizing unit at its service centre in Istanbul.
"Our production facility has no competition in either Turkey and Russia in terms of the level of technical equipment. Although the Turkish market remains the top priority for MMK-Atakas, our own sea port at the production site enables us to consider supplying to the European and Middle East markets as well," MMK chairman Victor Rashnikov stated.