OREANDA-NEWS. Metalloinvest, a leading global iron ore and HBI producer and a regional steel producer, today announces its operational results for the third quarter of 2014.

Management comments

In Q3 2014, iron ore production1 amounted to 9.7 mn tonnes, a decrease of 0.6% q-o-q2

Pellet production amounted to 5.5 mn tonnes in Q3 2014, a decrease of 3.9% q-o-q

In Q3 2014, HBI/DRI production amounted to 1.1 mn tonnes, a decline of 18.7% q-o-q due to scheduled major maintenance works at HBI-1 and HBI-2 Plants

In Q3 2014, the Company increased shipments of iron ore products to Russian customers by 5.8% q-o-q to 4.2 mn tonnes, mostly due to the growth of shipments to NLMK and MMK. Domestic market contribution to the Company's shipments increased to 61%

In Q3 2014, the Company's shipments to Europe increased by 17.3% q-o-q to 1.8 mn tonnes, including through an increase in demand from ArcelorMittal's plants in Poland and Romania. The European share of the Company's shipments increased to 25%

Shipments of iron ore products to MENA increased by 0.1 mn tonnes q-o-q in Q3 2014 and amounted to 0.4 mn tonnes. The increase was the result of the growth in shipments to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. MENA made up 5% of total shipments

In Q3 2014, the share of shipments to Asia (excl. China) and China decreased from 9% and 6% respectively to 5% and 1% q-o-q due to increased shipments to other markets

Mining Segment

In Q3 2014, iron ore concentrate production at LGOK amounted to 5.0 mn tonnes, a decrease of 3.2% q-o-q. This was largely due to a scheduled increase in maintenance works

Iron ore concentrate production at MGOK in Q3 2014 increased by 1.6% q-o-q up to 4.3 mn tonnes as a result of the calendar factor3 and a decline in maintenance works

Pellet production at LGOK in Q3 2014 amounted to 2.2 mn tonnes, a decrease of 1.9% q-o-q due to a scheduled increase in major maintenance works

In Q3 2014, pellet production at MGOK amounted to 2.4 mn tonnes, a decline of 4.5% q-o-q, mainly due to a scheduled increase in major maintenance works

HBI production at LGOK in Q3 2014 amounted to 0.4 mn tonnes, a decrease of 39.3%. This was caused by scheduled major maintenance works at HBI-1 and HBI-2 Plants

Steel Segment

In Q3 2014, pellet production at OEMK amounted to 0.9 mn tonnes, a decline of 6.6% q-o-q due to a scheduled increase in major maintenance works at the Pellet Plant

In Q3 2014, DRI production at OEMK remained at 0.7 mn tonnes, a slight increase of 1.6%. This was due to the completion of major maintenance works at the most productive DRI Plant #1 in Q2 2014

Steel production at OEMK remained unchanged at 0.8 mn tonnes in Q3 2014; a scheduled increase in major maintenance works was offset by the calendar factor and a decrease in technological downtimes

In Q3 2014, Ural Steel increased hot metal production by 7.5% q-o-q to 0.6 mn tonnes, mainly due to an increase in blast furnace shop productivity as a result of intensification of blast furnace process

Crude steel production at Ural Steel amounted to 0.2 mn tonnes in Q3 2014, a decline of 7.4% q-o-q. This was mostly driven by scheduled major maintenance works at Continuous Casting Machine #2 and Rolling Mill 2800