MMK, one of the key Russia-based hot rolled coil (HRC) producers and exporters, successfully started the re-launch process of its mill 2500 on July 17. According to the company’s sources, the process has been going smoothly and the producer expects to achieve the planned production rates shortly. Some sources expect that the producer will be able to give some of its August production HRC for export despite the earlier disclosed intention to direct all its volume to the local market. “With the mill’s restart, MMK might give 30,000-50,000 mt for end-of-August production. That is what we expect. But let us see,” a Turkey-based source told SteelOrbis.
MMK’s mill 2500 was undergoing a modernization process since March this year, as reported earlier. Previously, the facility was able to produce around 3 million mt of merchant HRC. After the modernization, the mill is expected to produce up to 5.2 million mt of HRC per year with around 2.5-3 million mt being sold to third parties, SteelOrbis understands. However, after the maintenance, MMK plans to produce only big coils at mill 2500, up to a weight of 30 mt each.
