In the January-April period of the current year, the steel smelting volume of Russian steelmaker Zlatoust Metallurgical Works (ZMZ) decreased by 3.42 times compared to the same period of last year, totaling 23,247 mt. The decrease was due to the new policy of the company to buy steel billets from its strategic partner Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, a subsidiary of Russian mining and steel producing group Mechel.
In addition, in the first four months of the year, ZMZ registered a 52.07 percent increase year on year in its production of commercial grade rolled steel products to 172,827 mt. In the given period, ZMZ increased its shipments of commercial grade rolled steel products by 49.33 percent year on year to 163,430 mt.