OREANDA-NEWS. November 20, 2012. OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) is exploring the possibility of investing an additional USD 100 million over the medium term into MMK-Metalurji, its Turkish subsidiary, to reduce production costs and increase production efficiency.

Investment projects under consideration include construction of an OxiCup shaft furnace and briquetting plant, to reduce dependency on the correlation between scrap and coil prices, make efficient use of production waste and replace bought-in cast iron with MMK’s own; and modernization of the plant’s hot-rolling mill along with introduction of additional stand, to expand the product range and increase the share of high-margin products.

“We are constantly looking for new ways to substantially increase our current technological and production capacities in Turkey,” MMK CEO Boris Dubrovsky said. “Currently we are working on several projects in our investment portfolio that may see investments of upwards of USD 100 million.”

Further development of MMK-Metalurji is a priority for MMK, as the Group expects a global economic upturn and a recovery in the metals sector, including ferrous metals, in the foreseeable future.

“We see such investments as well-timed and rational during the current phase of the economic cycle,” MMK-Metalurji CEO Vitaly Galkin said.

MMK-Metalurji operates an electric arc furnace facility with a casting and milling unit, a cold rolling plant, a hot galvanizing unit and polymer coating line in Iskenderun, and two steel service centers in Iskenderun and Istanbul. It also includes a sea port able to service ships of up to 100,000 tons to supply raw and input materials to the Iskenderun plant and ship products to customers. MMK-Metalurji has an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tons, allowing it to both meet Turkish demand for various metal products and send products for export, particularly to the Middle East and Mediterranean.

OJSC MMK is one of the world's largest steel producers and a leading Russian metals company. The company's operations in Russia include a large steel producing complex encompassing the entire production chain, from preparation of iron ore to downstream processing of rolled steel. MMK produces a broad range of steel products with a predominant share of higher value added products.