OREANDA-NEWS. June 17, 2013. Mechel (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, reports that hot testing of rail rolls production at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s universal rolling mill has begun.

As part of hot testing, the first rolling of R-65 100-meter rails was successfully conducted. This is the first type of rail rolls that the universal rolling mill is capable of producing. Further mastering of the production process of rail steel products will be held as scheduled.

The new mill’s annual production capacity totals over 1 million tonnes of structural shapes and rails. When at full capacity, the mill will annually supply up to 400,000 tonnes of high wear-resistant and contact endurance rails for high-speed trains, as well as rails for use in low temperatures. The mill’s new production will encourage development of related industries in Russia, ensure supplies of high-quality steel products on competitive prices for Russian Railways and construction companies, as well as decrease their dependence on imports. Also, the mill’s launch will help resolve several social issues on the regional level, such as creating new jobs.

“With the launch of the rail production’s hot testing we began the second stage of preparing for the launch of the universal rolling mill, which will soon reach completion when we fully master production of other steel profiles — both structural shapes and high-quality rails,” Mechel OAO’s Vice-President for Technological Development Andrey Deineko said.