OREANDA-NEWS. April 02, 2010. Evraz Group S.A. (LSE: EVR) (“Evraz”) announces the start of the rail mill reconstruction at NKMK, its Russian steel plant in Novokuznetsk, Siberia. Once the reconstruction has been completed in 2012, NKMK will be able to produce 25-metre and 100-metre high-speed rails.

The investments under the project will total USD 440 million. The rail mill capacity will reach approximately one million tonnes of high-speed rails, including 450 thousand tonnes of 100-metre rails. At present, 100-metre rails are not produced in Russia. The Russian Railways company is expected to be the major buyer of the longer rails.

The reconstruction envisages installation of a new automatic rail rolling mill as well as rail hardening and straightening equipment which will enable a significant improvement in rail quality, meeting global requirements for surface and latent defects and straightness.