Stoilensky, part of NLMK Group, has produced its fifteen-millionth tonne of pellets since the launch of its pelletizing plant.

Launched in November 2016, the pelletizing plant has a design capacity of 6 million tonnes of pellets per year. In 2018, the plant reached the production capacity of 6.7 million tonnes of pellets (+12% yoy).

In March Stoilensky signed a development contract with the Finnish company Outotec to increase the pelletizing plant's installed capacity by a third - from 6 to 8 million tonnes of pellets per year.

Sergey Napolskikh, Stoilensky General Director, said:

“In order to reach the output of 8 million tonnes of pellets per year Stoilensky will need to upgrade several transformation stages of the current pelletizing plant. In particular, to build an additional grinding facility, implement a new filtration technology, upgrade the gas flow pattern of the induration machine, and update the control systems suite via digital technologies. This project, part of Strategy 2022, will ensure NLMK Group's control over the raw material costs in the long term”.

In 2019-2021 it is planned to boost ore production and beneficiation capacity by 14% through modernization of Stoilensky's other transformation stages with a view to ensure stable supply of raw materials to the pelletizer after it reaches the output of 8 million tonnes. This will enable the Company to increase its ore processing capacity from 37 million tonnes to 42 million tonnes and to increase its concentrate output from 17.3 million tonnes to 20 million tonnes per year.

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 the most competitive cash cost among global manufacturers and one of the highest profitability levels in the industry. In 12M 2018, the Company generated $12 billion in revenue and $3.6 billion in EBITDA. Net debt/EBITDA stood at 0.25õ. The Company has investment grade credit ratings from S&P, Moody’s, Fitch and RAEX (Expert RA).

NLMK’s ordinary shares with a 16% 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.

The jury of the prestigious S&P Platts Global Metals Awards held by S&P Global Platts, a leading international industry analytical periodical, announced NLMK Group as winner of the Industry Leadership Awards – Steel in 2016, and awarded it the CEO of the Year in 2018.