The Russian mining and steel producing group Mechel has announced the sales network development results for 2008 of its subsidiary Mechel Service.
Accordingly, in 2008, in line with its production facilities and regional sales network expansion, Mechel Service has opened new offices in Belgorod, Ulyanovsk, Astrakhan, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Stavropol, Mineralnye Vody, Anapa, Naberezhnye Chelny, and Vidnoye (Moscow Region), has transformed its units in Tyumen, Omsk, Krasnodar, Sochi, and Nizhny Novgorod into its branches, and has opened additional warehouses in Rostov-on-Don, Samara, and Krasnoyarsk. Thus, Mechel Service's sales network currently includes over 50 offices in 40 major Russian cities, and also subsidiaries operating in Romania and Kazakhstan.
Moreover, in September 2008, Mechel Service acquired German-based HBL Holding, a group of steel trading and distribution companies, which has allowed Mechel Service to strengthen its position in the EU and to increase its number of sales units to 65.
In 2008, Mechel Service also implemented numerous projects in organizing its production and service sites, which has enabled it to expand the range of its marketable products and services provided to end-customers. Thus, during the period in question, Mechel Service launched new equipment for straightening and cutting off rebars according to custom-tailored sizes in Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Chelyabinsk, and Tyumen, and started the installation of a new automatic line for welded mesh production, with 1,200-1,500 mt monthly capacity, in the Moscow region. The new service started operations at Samara and Novosibirsk.
As regards 2009, Mechel Service plans to develop its sales network in Kazakhstan, to expand its operations to the Russian Far East, CIS, and to more distant countries, and to complete the upgrades of its warehouse complexes in the Moscow region, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, and Anapa, in order to establish its own production and warehouse base.