OJSC Magnitogorsk (MMK) – one of the world’s largest steelmakers and a leading Russian metals company – produced 5.9Mt of metal at its hot-rolled products Mill 2000 last year. Thisis an all-time record for annual output, making 2016 the third record-breaking year in a row for the mill, claims the company.

Mill 2000 was commissioned in 1994 and modernised its sheet rolling mill between 2005 and 2008, which included the building and upgrading of the plant’s fourth heat-treating furnace, which increased capacity and expanded the product range.

Mill 2000 is described as ‘one of the most impressive and state- of-the-art facilities in Russia’. It produces steel for various industries including pipes, construction, and machinery manufacturing and can produce the full range of MMK steel grades.

Sheet width varies from 760mm to 1,830mm while thickness ranges from 1.2mm to 20.0mm. Mill 2000 is the first stage in the production of high-quality high-tensile automotive sheet produced by the cold-rolled Mill 2000 at sheet-rolling shop 11, and of cold-rolled sheet produced at sheet-rolling shop 5.

The company's trading update indicates that its total crude steel output in Q4 2016 was down 0.7% quarter-on-quarter to 3.1Mt and that its overall steelmaking capacity utilisation rate at the main Magnitogorsk site for the period exceeded 89%.

Total finished steel shipments in Q4 2016 (excluding intra-group sales) was up 2% quarter-on-quarter to 2.9Mt.