Russia-based leading global iron ore and hot briquetted iron (HBI) producer Metalloinvest has announced that its integrated iron and steel plant Ural Steel saw its crude steel production in the fourth quarter last year decrease by 7.6 percent quarter on quarter to 0.3 million mt, mainly as a result of major maintenance works to the company's continuous casting machine. Overall, Ural Steel's crude steel production in 2013 decreased by 37.1 percent year on year to 1.5 million mt, due to the closure of the open-hearth plant from the second quarter onwards and a decline in the volume of effective orders .
In 2013, Ural Steel's shipments of commercial pig iron increased by 74.4 percent year on year to 1.4 million mt due to the modernization of production capacities and favourable conditions in the pig iron market.
Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter last year crude steel production at Oskol Metallurgical Plant (OEMK), a subsidiary of Metalloinvest, amounted to 0.8 million mt, up 11.3 percent quarter on quarter. In 2013, crude steel production at OEMK decreased by 2.2 percent year on year to 3.2 million mt.
In the fourth quarter of 2013, OEMK's iron ore pellet production decreased by 9.9 percent quarter on quarter due to major maintenance works at the company's pellet plant. Overall in 2013, OEMK increased its pellet production by 1.8 percent year on year to 3.8 million mt.