The Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that MMK-Atakas, its 50 percent plus one share-owned joint venture company with one of the leading Turkish mining companies Atakas, is approaching the completion of the construction of the sea port located on the grounds of its production site in the southern Turkish city of Iskenderun.
The construction of the port and moorage was started by Turkish company MIMAS in January 2008, and in the very near future the port will be able to take ships with displacement tonnages of up to 80,000 tons, while the length of the port's mooring wall will allow up to six freight ships to be unloaded simultaneously.
Until the construction of MMK-Atakas's steel plant in Iskenderun is finished, the port will be used for the supply of consumable materials and equipment, while after the completion of the steel plant's construction the port will be used for the supply of raw materials to the plant and for the delivery of finished steel products to consumers.
Meanwhile, MMK-Atakas is continuing the installation of the equipment for its new polymer coating and hot dipped galvanized lines at the Iskenderun site, which are scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2009.
The MMK-Atakas joint venture includes the construction of a steelmaking facility and of a cold and hot rolled steel product facility in Iskenderun and also of a flats processing facility in Istanbul, with a total production capacity of 2.3 million mt of steel products per year. As SteelOrbis previously reported, the facilities planned by MMK-Atakas are aimed to be fully commissioned by the end of 2010.