The Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has released its operational results for the first quarter of the current year.
Accordingly, in the first quarter, the company recorded a 5.1 percent increase in its crude steel output to 3.22 million mt and a 2.4 percent increase in its finished steel product output to 2.84 million mt, both compared to the previous quarter.
In addition, in the same quarter, production of MMK's high value-added products amounted to 1.36 million mt, rising 1.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. The company's iron ore consumption in the given quarter decreased by 6.4 percent quarter on quarter to 763,000 mt.
The company said that, due to the ruble's significant decline in December 2014 and a time lag in the recovery of domestic sales prices to parity with export prices, exports sales' attractiveness improved in the January-February period this year.