PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works ("MMK", or "the Group") (MICEX-RTS: MAGN; LSE: MMK), one of the world’s largest steel producers, announces that MMK Metalurji, an asset of MMK in Turkey, has started hot tests at its electric arc furnace facility with a casting and rolling module. Annual production of hot-rolled coils at MMK’s Turkish production site amounts to about two million tonnes.

MMK has begun the first phase of hot testing of technological equipment at its electric arc furnace facility in Turkey, which was halted in 2012 due to unfavourable economic conditions in the Turkish market. Upon completion of tests, the complex, intended for the production of hot-rolled coils, will resume its work in full.

“The decision to suspend hot-rolled production at MMK Metalurji's site in Iskenderun was based on economic efficiency considerations. At that time, the situation in the Turkish market was characterised by high prices for raw materials and energy resources and low prices for steel products. The current situation allows us to resume operations at the electric arc furnace facility, which is a very important component of our Turkish asset,” said Viktor Rashnikov, Chairman of the MMK Board of Directors.

“We invested about $40 million to restart this production facility. After restarting the hot section and reaching its full capacity, we plan to produce about two million tonnes of hot-rolled coils per year, which will allow our Turkish asset to gain a significant increase in EBITDA,” commented Pavel Shilyaev, CEO of MMK.

The phased launch of the electric arc furnace facility with a casting and rolling module at MMK Metalurji’s industrial site in Iskenderun implies a gradual increase in production. In total, it is planned that the site will produce 200-260 thousand tonnes of hot-rolled steel in 2021, with the unit reaching full capacity in 2022.

MMK Metalurji (an asset of the MMK Group), a modern steelmaking complex in Turkey, operates an electric arc furnace facility with a casting and rolling module, a cold-rolling mill, galvanizing and color coating lines, as well as two service centres in Iskenderun and Istanbul. The Iskenderun production site also features a sea port that can accommodate ships of up to 100,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt) and is used to supply raw and input materials to the plant as well as ship products to customers.