Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has commissioned sinter machine No. 1, which produced the first sinter for the blast furnace shop, at the construction site of sinter plant No. 5.

The launch was attended by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of MMK Victor Rashnikov and General Director Pavel Shilyaev. "The construction of sinter plant No.5 with the capacity of 5.5 million tonnes will allow us to supply high-quality sinter to our blast furnace production facilities and reduce the cost of pig iron," Victor Rashnikov said, adding that the best available, energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies were used in the construction of production processes at the new sinter plant. "One of our strategic goals is the transition to modern environmentally friendly processes. All the projects that the Company has been implementing recently are focused on achieving this goal. I am confident that the environmental measures which are planned for implementation at MMK, including the sinter plant, will allow us to achieve our goals and make Magnitogorsk a truly clean city," said the Chairman Board of Directors of MMK.

Pavel Shilyaev said that "MMK's new sinter plant includes 19 environmental features - in particular, electrostatic precipitators, aspiration and sinter gas recirculation systems, a gypsum dehydration system and a stormwater diversion system. The implementation of this project will significantly reduce the plant's impact on the environment. Emissions of dust into the atmosphere will be reduced by 2.1 thousand tonnes per year and sulphur dioxide emissions will be reduced by 3.5 thousand tonnes per year. In addition, the discharge of suspended solids into the water circulation supply system will be reduced by 600 tonnes per year and emissions of benzopyrene will be reduced by almost a quarter." According to MMK representatives, the project will also allow the disposal of sludge from sulphur recovery plants with the production of commercial gypsum and eliminate the deposit of 13.75 thousand tonnes of waste per year into sludge storage No. 2. With the launch of the new sinter plant, it will be possible to both decommission and preserve the obsolete sinter plant No. 4, improving the working conditions of sinter production employees.

MMK management visited the main control room of sinter plant No. 5. In sinter plant No. 5, the automatic mode (this is the principal difference between the new sinter plant and the old ones) will control the entire technological process of sinter production, starting from the sinter loading, right through to the cooling of the sinter. At the main post there will only be three employees: two senior sinter specialists and a senior batcher. Thanks to the video surveillance system at all the important sites (in the dosing buildings, sinter loading area, screening and on the sinter machines themselves), from their workstation employees will be able to control the heating of the furnace, the moisture of the dosed charge, the loading of charge onto the pallets of the sinter machine and the loading of sinter into hoppers.

Currently, the main technological equipment is being installed at sinter machine No. 2. Its launch is scheduled for July this year. At full capacity, sinter plant No. 5 will be able to produce 5.5 million tonnes of stabilised cooled sinter per year, which will provide the MMK blast furnace plant with high-quality raw materials, produced using modern energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies.

About MMK

MMK is one of the world's largest steel producers and a leading Russian metals company. The company's operations in Russia include a large steel-producing unit encompassing the entire production chain, from the preparation of iron ore to downstream processing of rolled steel. MMK turns out a broad range of steel products with a predominant share of high-value-added products. In 2018, the company produced 12.7 mln tonnes of crude steel and 11.7 mln tonnes of commercial steel products. MMK Group had sales in 2018 of USD 8,214 mln and EBITDA of USD 2,418 mln.

Investor contacts:

Andrey Serov
tel.: +7 (3519) 24-52-97
E-mail: serov.ae@mmk.ru
Media contacts:
Dmitry Kuchumov
tel.: +7 (499) 238-26-13
E-mail: kuchumov.do@mmk.ru
Dmitry Bulin
tel.: +7 (499) 238-26-13
E-mail: bulin.dn@mmk.ru