Mechel, one of the leading Russian mining and steel groups, has announced that in the third quarter of the current year its crude steel output decreased by five percent to 888,000 mt, while its pig iron output declined by eight percent to 794,000 mt, both quarter on quarter due to large-scale repairs of Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s blast furnace No. 4. In the July-September period, the company’s run-of-mine coal output increased by 15 quarter on quarter to 5.3 million mt, due to upgrade of mining equipment as well as fruitful cooperation with contractors.
In the given period, Mechel’s coking coal concentrate sales amounted to 1.72 million mt, down by 10 percent from the second quarter of this year due to necessary planned repairs at Neryungrinskaya Washing Plant as well as a temporary decrease in sales to South Korea, while its coke sales amounted to 649,000 mt, increasing by six percent quarter on quarter, due to an increase in the sales to the domestic market.
Meanwhile, in the first nine months of the year, the company’s crude steel output totaled 2.75 million mt, down by eight percent, while its pig iron output totaled 2.53 million mt, decreasing by 10 percent, both year on year. In the same period, the company’s run-of-mine coal output amounted to 13.43 million mt, down by seven percent year on year.
In the January-September period, Mechel’s coking coal concentrate sales declined by one percent to 5.33 million mt, while its coke sales increased by five percent to 1.91 million mt, both year on year.