VIZ-Stal almost triples investments for modernization in H1

Monday, 19 July 2010 17:11:58 (GMT+2)

VIZ-Stal, the Ekaterinburg-based subsidiary of the Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), has announced that in H1 this year it has directed about Ruble 200 million (about $6.56 million) towards the modernization of its production facilities, exceeding by almost three times the level of funding for the same period last year.

As SteelOrbis previously reported, within the framework of its technical reequipment and development program for 2007-2015, in the current year VIZ-Stal is implementing five investment projects. In H2 2010, VIZ-Stal plans to complete the construction of its eight new high-temperature annealing furnaces and to finish the reconstruction of its straightening annealing units, which will allow it to improve the electrical steel quality and to reduce the cost of finished products by decreasing energy costs for steel processing. In addition, VIZ-Stal is continuing the construction of its new reversible rolling mill and of a new roll grinding machine and is also continuing the installation of a natural gas reforming unit. These projects are aimed at reducing production costs and ensuring future market demand, due to the development of a new type of product: high-permeability steel.

In 2010, VIZ-Stal’s total investments for the modernization of its production facilities have been set at Ruble 640 million (about $21 million), i.e., 2.3 times more than in 2009.

 In Q2 2010, VIZ-Stal’s transformer steel sales went grew by 75 percent quarter on quarter to 45,000 mt. However, according to NLMK’s statement, demand in the transformer steel market is far from achieving a full-scale recovery.

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