Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Jan.11 / Trend, D.Azizov /
Uzbek Metallurgy Combine (Uzmetkombinat) produced 717,400 tons of steel in 2010, which is up 0.1 percent year-on-year, the company's press service said.
The plant produced 691,600 tons of ferrous metals, which increased by 0.7 percent, including the production of section iron by 0.6 percent, the company added.
According to the Combine, increase in production is due to the ongoing modernization program at the enterprise. The amount of investments in the implementation of program last year was about $ 24 million.
Production modernization program in the "Uzmetkombinat" with total cost of $ 49 million was adopted in 2007. The company plans to complete all the projects planned by the program until late 2011.
By early 2011 the plant will conduct reconstruction of the steel-smelting and section rolling production. It also organized the production of new types of products - welding electrodes, steel wires with diameter of 2.8 mm, brass foil with thickness of 0.1-0.25 millimeter.
The projects were financed at the expense of the Combine's own funds.
Uzmetcombinat was commissioned in 1956. Today it is the only ferrous metallurgy factory in Central Asia working with scrap metal. The company's authorized capital is 45.314 billion soum. Some 71.91 percent of its shares are owned by the state, 10 percent by the labor collective and 2.65 percent by minority shareholders. The Uzbek National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity, Promavtoinvesttorg, Navoi and Almalyk also own shares.
The official exchange rate on Jan. 11 is 1.643.86 soums to $ 1.