NLMK ramps up HRC production, focuses on upgrades

NLMK increased output of hot rolled coil last year, the company says. Volume amounted to more than 6.51 million tonnes, up by 6.2% on-year, Kallanish notes. 

This is the maximum production volume over the past 30 years, which is close to the all-time historical record posted in 1989 of 6.55mt, the enterprise claims.

“NLMK plans to expand production of new grades of high-strength steel and improve product quality,” it says. “We will achieve these new goals with reconstruction of the equipment of heating furnaces, main drives of stands and conveyor line of the mill, as well as installation of new systems of ultra-fast strip cooling and technological lubrication.”

NLMK previously said that global business activity began to recover gradually in the third quarter of 2020, driving an uptick in demand for steel in traditional sales markets and an increase in steel prices (see Kallanish passim). The company’s strategy is to ramp up iron ore output and continue with development projects in 2021.

Consolidated crude steel output in Q3 totalled 3.9 million tonnes, up 3% on-year and flat on-quarter, and sales grew 11% on-year to 4.4mt. Nine-month-through-September output of crude steel remained flat at 11.9mt, but sales grew 3% on-year to 13.3mt.