Severstal’s metalware arm, Severstal-metiz, has started the production of galvanized steel blanks with a diameter of 9mm to 18mm, the company says.
According to the results of laboratory tests, the durability of the zinc coating has become 1.82 times higher, so it is preserved during further processing at all stages of the production cycle until the release of finished products, the enterprise claims.
The Severstal-metiz enterprise in Cherepovets Steelworks produces a wide range of products for the construction and agricultural industries from large-diameter blanks. In particular, ropes for shrouds and wire of various types and purposes.
In order to produce the production of large-diameter galvanized wire rod, the specialists of the enterprise modernized one of the hot-dip galvanizing units and installed additional cleaning systems.
“In recent years, we have worked hard to improve the resistance of zinc coating and, as a result, increase the durability of our products,” says Svertsal-metiz general director Sergey Kovryakov. “The modernization of the unit allowed not only to master the production of a new product – galvanized billets of large diameters, but also to increase the production of galvanized product.”
Earlier, Severstal said it plans to redirect its exports to Asian and South African directions due to sanctions stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (see Kallanish passim).
The steelmaker, through its majority owner Alexei Mordashov, has been severely hit by Western sanctions in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Severstal cannot currently export or import practically anything from the EU and the US, and is re-directing its non-domestic sales to other markets, including Asia and the Middle East.
The closure of part of the export markets should not become a global problem for Severstal and the company redirects commodity flows to alternative world directions, Mordashov later said.
The firm had penned around $1.6 billion in investments for 2022, up 38% on-year. In 2021, revenue rose 69% to $11.64 billion, tripling net profit to $4.08 billion, while profitability gained 16 percentage points at 51%.
Severstal announced it will not publish its financial performances for the first quarter.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
