SSMEP targets foreign markets

SSMEP targets foreign markets

Kazakhstan's Sokolov-Sarbai Mining and Enrichment Plant (SSMEP) hopes that the completion of the Altynsarina-Khromtau railway will allow the company greater access to the Iranian and Turkish markets. The new railway line will enable SSMEP to reach Caspian Sea ports, from where the company will be able to ship products to Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan. Shipping through the latter two countries will afford SSMEP the opportunity to reach Black Sea and Mediterranean countries. SSMEP mainly produces unrefined iron ore. At the beginning of the month, the company announced plans to invest $90 million in production technologies in 2005. SSMEP's main consumers are the Magnitogorsk and Chelyabinsk metallurgical plants, Mittal Steel Temirtau, and various Chinese metallurgical enterprises. The company's sales totaled 11.577 million metric tons in 2004.