MMK increases output in 1Q

MMK has reported 7.4 percent in steel production year on year to 2.88 million tons in the first quarter of 2006. In the given period, MMK's production of agglomerate rose 5.5 percent to 2.74 million tons, of coke rose 3.3 percent to 1.4 millions tons, of pig iron 9 percent to 2.44 million tons, and of rolled steel products 8.2 percent to 2.68 million tons. The enterprise domestic market share rose 1.1 percent to 50.2 percent month on month in March 2006. MMK's export share decreased from 54.4 percent year on year to 51.4 percent in the first quarter of 2006.