Metalloinvest and OMK summed up their cooperation results for 2017

Metalloinvest and the United Metallurgical Company (“OMK”) held a Coordination Committee meeting dedicated to their performance in 2017 and next year planning. The meeting held at JSC Ural Steel (part of Metalloinvest) was attended by Andrey Prosyanik, the domestic sales director of MC Metalloinvest, Evgeny Maslov, the managing director of JSC Ural Steel, Pavel Stepanov, the director of engineering and technical center of JSC Vyksa Steel Works (VSW), Ivan Monakhov, OMK’s chief analyst, and other representatives of the companies.

The Coordinating Committee members discussed a number of commercial, technical, and operational issues. They considered, in particular, industrial deliveries of different products to VSW, such as 455 mm round cast billets, and flat products with higher quality properties designed for production of large diameter pipes. The Committee also discussed some prospects of partnership development between the companies.

"Our long-standing cooperation with OMK is an example of mutually beneficial cooperation of steel mills," said Andrey Prosyanik, the domestic sales director of MC Metalloinvest. "We highly appreciate this relationship and seek respond in a flexible manner to the requests of our strategic partners, ensuring manufacturing of products which meet their requirements."

"Partnership with Metalloinvest demonstrates effective cooperation in the area of quality improvement and development of new types of products," Dmitry Chernyshev, the head of the assets development and investments department of OMK, said.

As a result of the meeting, the parties agreed on implementing the agreements reached during the three-day work. In particular, agreements on volumes, logistics and reclamations during supply of metal products were entered into. The next Coordination Committee meeting is planned for March 2018 with VMZ hosting the meeting.

Ural Steel and VMZ established a partnership more than two decades ago. A programme of joint actions to develop new types of products has been implemented since 2004. At that time Ural Steel’s steel workers developed and introduced a technology for output of K60 grade flat products used for manufacturing of large-diameter oil and gas line pipes. Cooperation with VMZ began in 2016 focused on continuous casting of 430 mm diameter railway wheels. As part of the 10-year contract signed between Metalloinvest and OMK in early 2017, Ural Steel has mastered the production of 455 mm diameter cast round billets and launched deliveries of new products with improved quality properties to VMZ the same year. Continuous Casting Machine 1 at Ural Steel’s EAF Plant is being revamped specifically for the project.