The need for a new coke oven battery was prompted by a projected growth of production at MMK. The implementation of the project will permit to step up the total output of coke to the levels sufficient to produce 12 million tpy of pig iron, and modernize the existing coke producing facilities without any significant drop in coke output.

The new battery will be able to produce 1,140,000 tons per year of coke at 6% humidity. The project will comprise two production units, each with an annual capacity of 570,000 tons, a coal bin, a quenching house and a number of coke machines. The battery will have a dust-free coke delivery system ensuring a drastic reduction in emissions levels.

The project will take 36 months to complete.

About MMK:

OJSC MagnitogorskIron & Steel Works ("MMK") ranks 20th among the world's largest steel producers (Source: IISI) and is one of the largest steel producers in Russia (Source: Chermet). It accounts for 17% of total Russian output of steel products (Source: Chermet). MMK is a major steel mill with a fully integrated production cycle, from the preparation of iron ore through to downstream processing of steel. MMK believes that is produces the broadest range of steel products among Russian and CIS steel producers, and has a particular focus on high- value added steel products. In 2006, the Company produced 12.5 million metric tons of crude steel and shipped 11.3 million metric tons of commercial steel products.  Revenue of OAO MMK and its consolidated subsidiaries in 2006 in accordance with US GAAP totaled 6.4 billion USD and net income was 1.4 billion USD.

MMK's Coke and Chemical By-Products Division, which last year celebrated its 75 ^th anniversary,is the largest among similar facilities of Russia's integrated steel mills, producing 5.5 million tons of coke per year. On December 14, 2006, the division turned out 380 millionth ton of coke since the start-up of the first coke oven. The division uses a flexible system of producing various fractions of dry and wet quenched coke, such as foundry coke, nut coke and coke breeze. Apart from the coke batteries, the division includes a coke preparation plant, chemical by-products processing plant and two gas treatment plants, including a unique coke gas cleaning plant, which in terms of its capacity, 240,000 cu m per hour, has no parallels in the world.