Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) today launched an electric steelmaking shop with foundry and rolling module at MMK Metalurji in Iskenderun, Turkey. The parent company's CEO, Pavel Shilyaev, was present at the launch event.

MMK Metalurji, the Russian steelmaker's Turkish asset, has also set a record monthly production volume for hot-dip galvanized rolled products, exceeding 86kt.

MMK Metalurji started hot testing its electric steelmaking shop at Iskenderun earlier in the summer. Hot tests of technological equipment have been fully completed at the production facility, which was halted in 2012 due to unfavourable economic conditions on the Turkish market. The electric steelmaking shop with a casting and rolling module, designed for the production of hot-rolled coils, has restarted and is now ramping up production.

"Another important event took place during the MMK CEO’s visit to MMK Metalurji. Two hot-dip galvanizing units at the MMK Metalurji sites in Iskenderun and Istanbul set another record for monthly production of hot-dip galvanized rolled products. "

Denis Kvasov, CEO of MMK Metalurji.

According to Kvasov, two hot-dip galvanizing units at the MMK Metalurji sites in Iskenderun and Istanbul set another record for monthly production of hot-dip galvanized rolled products. In Iskenderun, production levels reached 45.2kt, while at the Istanbul site it amounted to 41.2kt. “In total, the company produced 86.4kt of premium-class finished products in July,”he said, adding that the previous record had been set in January this year, when the corresponding production volume amounted to 78.6kt of hot-dip galvanized rolled products.

"The reopening of our electric steelmaking shop in Iskenderun and the beginning of its build-up to full capacity marks the end of an important stage in the Company's activities aimed at restoring full-scale production at our Turkish asset."

Pavel Shilyaev, CEO of MMK.

Shilyaev said that the reopening of the Iskenderun electric steelmaking shop and its build-up to full capacity marks the end of an important stage in the company's activities aimed at restoring full-scale production in Turkey. "In less than a month of hot line operation in Iskenderun, 58kt of rolled products were produced," said Shilyaev.

MMK believes that the launch of its electric steelmaking shop with a casting and rolling module at Iskenderun should lead to a gradual increase in production volumes at the site. In 2021, total production volumes in the region of 200-260kt of hot rolled steel is planned and the plant is due to reach full capacity in 2022.