NLMK announces today that it has decommissioned coke batteries No. 7 and No. 8, which have a combined capacity of 1.04 million tonnes per year. The batteries were selected according to the significant level of equipment depreciation and relatively high level of emissions per tonne of output.

NLMK's production plans envisaged decommissioning these coke batteries by 2011. The premature shut down is caused by lower demand for coke and steel products in domestic and foreign markets. Another reason was the worsening quality of Russian coal which caused faster depreciation of the equipment.

As a result of this shutdown, NLMK's total coke production volume will decrease by 124,000 tonnes or by 18% of the production volumes planned for the current year.

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Since 2000, as part of its Technical Upgrade Programme, NLMK revamped four out of eight coke batteries installing advanced dust-collecting units, on its main production site in Lipetsk. Coke Battery No. 7 was commissioned in 1976,  Coke Battery No.8 – in 1977.