Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works was awarded the Priority National Award for advanced technologies in the category "Metallurgy" for bringing reconstructed hot-rolling mill 2500 to its full capacity.

The launch of mill 2500 after large-scale reconstruction work was one of MMK's key achievements in 2020 and was recognised as the 'Main Event of the Year in the Russian Steel Industry' at the Metal Expo'2020 international industrial exhibition. This year, the reconstructed mill 2500 is already operating at full capacity: in Q1 2021, the mill produced 1,077.7 thousand tonnes of hot-rolled steel, a record quarterly figure for the entire post-Soviet history of the mill. In the first nine months of 2021, MMK's steel product sales grew by 20.4% year-on-year - and here the modernisation of mill 2500 played an important role.

"Hot-rolling mill 2500 has been in operation since 1960 - one could say it is a veteran of production. Now it is a rejuvenated veteran, a unique high-performance unit capable of producing a more complex range of high-quality products and with an increased production volume of up to 5.2 million tonnes per year," commented Victor Rashnikov, Chairman of MMK's Board of Directors, on the launch of mill 2500 after its reconstruction.

The renewed mill 2500 is equipped with the most advanced rolling automation, control and monitoring functions. In addition, the mill's water recycling cycle was improved, an additional water supply cycle was built for the furnaces, the main drives of the roughing and finishing units, and part of the old production facilities was dismantled. The upgraded mill was named after Anatoly Ilyich Starikov, a prominent metallurgical engineer who headed the mill in the 1990s.

In 2021, MMK won the Priority Award for the sixth time: before that, the Company was awarded the prize for its large-scale digitalisation strategy, commissioning of the new sinter plant ¹5 equipped with the latest environmental technologies, mastering of SteelArt polymer rolling, development of high-quality galvanized steel production capacities, and development and introduction of MAGSTRONG high-strength and wear-resistant steels into industrial production.

The Priority National Award was founded in 2015, simultaneously with the approval of the Russian Government’s import substitution programme for 2015 - 2020, to award the most successful domestic companies creating products and technologies that contribute to import substitution and are competitive on an international level. The Priority Awards are given for achievements in the field of development, implementation and promotion of advanced domestic technologies in all areas of industry.