The Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that in the first quarter of the current year it increased its crude steel production by seven percent quarter on quarter to 2.732 million mt and raised its finished products output by five percent quarter on quarter to 2.453 million mt. Meanwhile, its output of pig iron remained at the level of the previous quarter, amounting to 2.235 million mt.
In Q1 2010, MMK produced 210,000 mt of longs - up 20 percent, 1.51 million mt of flat hot rolled products - up four percent, both compared to Q4 2009. Meanwhile, MMK has discontinued the production of slabs and billets, its output of which amounted to just 1,000 mt in Q4 2009.
MMK's Q1 output of high value-added products (HVA) increased by five percent quarter on quarter amounting to 734,000 mt, while its share in finished products output remained the same as in Q4 2009, i.e., at 30 percent. The HVA products output included 251,000 mt of flat cold rolled products - down 14 percent quarter on quarter, 307,000 mt of downstream products - up 11 percent quarter on quarter, and 176,000 mt of thick plate (the production of which was started in Q3 2009 with the commissioning of the plate mill 5000) - up 35 percent quarter on quarter.
Accordingly, MMK's downstream products output increased in the first quarter of this year, mainly due to the increased output of galvanized steel (120,000 mt - up 2.5 percent quarter on quarter), tin plate (59,000 mt - up 44 percent quarter on quarter) and formed sections (49,000 mt - up 88 percent quarter on quarter).