Mechel’s hardware production upgrade project wins state support

Mechel reports that the Supervisory Board of Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry’s Industrial Development Fund approved a low-interest loan to Mechel Group’s Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant for upgrading its wire and rope production facilities.

The project’s cost will total 1.5 billion rubles, with the Industrial Development Fund footing the bill for 50% of this sum, or 750 million rubles. The loan’s maturity is five years. The project includes a large-scale technical upgrade of Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant’s wire and rope production facilities and installation of new level-type wire drawing equipment. The upgrade will enable the plant to produce the types of wire Russia is currently importing, with high quality characteristics including plastic properties, surface finish and full-length mechanical uniformity. Springs, ropes and other products made from such wires will have a longer life expectancy.

The project also includes implementing best available technologies which will yield additional effect of minimizing the facilities’ impact on the environment as the new equipment will be compliant with the most stringent ecological standards. The mills will be equipped with the mechanical descaling line which will enable the plant to stop using chemicals for rod descaling.

Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant’s new products will be widely in demand in aviation, shipbuilding, automobile, construction, oil and gas, electronic, furniture and chemical industries.

“Upgrading our wire and rope production facilities will help us dramatically improve our output’s quality and efficiency, make our production safer and more environmentally friendly. We plan to complete this upgrade in 2023. We are grateful to the Industrial Development Fund for their loan support of our project. I am sure that our new output with its improved quality will be in demand not only domestically, but internationally as well,” Mechel PAO’s Chief Executive Officer Oleg Korzhov commented.