Novosibirsk Metallurgical Works named after Kuzmin (NMZK), a subsidiary of the Russian steel producer ESTAR Holding (ESTAR) currently under the control of Russia's largest metal trader Metallservis Group (Metallservis), has announced that in January 2010 it has practically reached the 2008 pre-crisis delivery levels.
Accordingly, during the first month of the current year, NMZK delivered 17,058 mt of steel products, while in January 2008 its deliveries amounted to 17,799 mt. The improvement looks more significant compared with the results of January 2009, when its shipments amounted to only 5,658, being affected by the sluggish demand caused by the crisis.
Particularly, the deliveries of NMZK's core products, i.e., welded shaped and round pipes, increased in January 2010 by 32 percent to 14,824 mt compared to 11,216 mt shipped in January 2008. In January 2009, NMZK delivered only 3,855 mt of welded pipes - down almost by three times compared to January 2010.
In 2009, NMZK produced 88,309 mt of finished products, while its deliveries amounted to 85,426 mt. The decrease in its output was due to the fact that from April up to late July 2009 (when Metallservis received the operational control of the plant) NMZK had stopped its production operations.
Currently, NMZK is carrying out the reconstruction of its pipe mill 10-40, which was disassembled in 2008. The total investment in this project amounts to Ruble 20 million (about $656,565).