Mechel, one of the leading Russian mining and steel groups, has denied the media rumors that it is in the process of acquiring the Ukrainian steel producer Donetsk Electrometallurgical Plant, the mini-mill previously known as ISTIL.
"We categorically deny this information," the director of Mechel's department of communications, Alexander Tolkach, told SteelOrbis.
Donetsk Electrometallurgical Plant has a capacity of more than one million mt of crude steel per year, and specializes in the production of round billets of special grades and also in the production of continuous cast round and square billets. In August 2009, management of the plant was taken over from Russian steel producer Estar Holding by A1, a company owned by Russian investment conglomerate Alfa Group.