Alchevsk inaugurates plate mill-3000

On December 26, the Ukrainian steelmaker Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works (Alchevsk) - an affiliate of Industrial Union of Donbass (IUD) - inaugurated its modernized plate mill-3000. The upgrading of Alchevsk's plate mill-2800 to the plate mill-3000 cost the plant about UAH 700 million ($140 million). The installation of the modernized plate mill-3000 is a part of Alchevsk's 2004-2010 reconstruction program. The conversion of the mill-2800 into a mill-3000 allows Alchevsk both to increase its plate production capacity by 20 percent to 1.2 million metric tons a year and also to enter the new market for strip used in large diameter pipes production.