MMK Metalurji still reports no crude steel output in H1

Russian steel giant Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that its Turkey-based subsidiary MMK Metalurji continued to report no crude steel output in the second quarter and the first half of this year, due to smelting capacities being idled in November 2012. The company's finished steel output amounted to 346,000 mt in the first half of the current year, decreasing by 35.7 percent year on year, due to annual repairs of the galvanized production line.
 
In the second quarter of this year, the cold rolled flat product output of MMK Metalurji totaled 15,000 mt, declining by 88 percent year on year, while its galvanized steel production amounted to 73,000 mt, down 9.9 percent compared to the second quarter of 2012. The steelmaker's color coated steel production increased by 1.26 percent year on year to 80,000 mt in the given quarter.
 
MMK Metalurji's cold rolled flat product output in the first six months decreased to 31,000 mt, down 87.2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The company's galvanized steel production was 149,000 mt, decreasing by 5.1 percent, while its color coated steel production increased by 21 percent to 166,000 mt, both year on year.
 
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the Turkish labor union Çelik-İş declared a strike on July 19 at MMK Metalurji due to failure to reach an agreement on wages. MMK Metalurji has made an offer of a 10 percent raise in wages which will remain valid through August 1, while it has stressed that it has already suffered a financial loss due to the production halt at the company.