NLMK Lipetsk has begun an overhaul of its reheating furnace used for heating up steel slabs prior to rolling at Mill 2000. The upgrade will increase hot-rolled steel output at NLMK Lipetsk by 430,000 tonnes per year (+7%), improve product quality, halve energy consumption, and reduce greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions by 53,000 tonnes.

The unit will be overhauled without interrupting production operations or stopping the mill. The new furnace will be equipped with an automated control system based on a trainable mathematical model, which will adjust the temperature mode depending on specific steel grades. As a result of the overhaul, the furnace’s productivity will go up by 23% to 320,000 tonnes per hour (2.25 million tonnes per year).

Currently, the Mill 2000 reheating furnace section operates five units, and four of them have already been upgraded. Once the fifth overhauled furnace is launched, all the steel for hot rolling will be treated at highly efficient next-generation resource-saving units. The completion of the overhaul and the unit’s launch are planned for Q2 2023. Investment in the project will exceed RUB 5 billion.

About NLMK Group

NLMK Group is the largest steelmaker in Russia and one of the most efficient in the world.

NLMK Group’s steel products are used in various industries, from construction and machine building to the manufacturing of power-generation equipment and offshore wind turbines.

NLMK operates production facilities in Russia, Europe and the United States. The Company’s steel production capacity exceeds 17 million tonnes per year.

NLMK has a highly competitive cash cost among global manufacturers and one of the highest profitability levels in the industry. The Company has investment grade credit ratings from S&P, Moody’s, Fitch, and Expert RA.

NLMK’s ordinary shares with a 20.7% free-float are traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange (ticker "NLMK") and its global depositary shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker "NLMK:LI"). The share capital of the Company is divided into 5,993,227,240 shares with a par value of RUB1. For more details on NLMK shareholder capital, please follow the link.

For more details on NLMK Group, please visit our website.

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