OREANDA-NEWS. Mariupol Illich Steelworks CEO Mr. Boyko announced that the plant would spend EUR 400-500mn on the construction of a new converter shop in 2008. The company plans to phase out open hearth  steel making, which accounts now for 47% of MMKI steel output, in favor of the oxygen converter method. Converter steel is about 10% cheaper than open hearth steel and allows minimizing natural gas consumption, which is important in view of the probability of a gas price increase.

In the judgement of Millenium Capital experts, the abovementioned advance will result in a margins improvement and an increase in cost competitiveness of the plant's production.