Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Jan. 8 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Uzbek Metallurgical Plant (Uzmetcombinat, city of Bekabad in the Tashkent region) completed two projects on New Year's Eve to modernise production worth $9.3 million, a company representative told Trend today.
In particular, the enterprise modernised a pile-driver scrap metal processing workshop worth $ 4.8 million which reduced the technological loss when loading scrap by 30 per cent to 2,200 tons per year.
Moreover, Uzmetcombinat reconstructed the systematic rolling mill reheating furnace No 1 worth $ 4.5 million.
"As a result of the reconstruction, furnace productivity increased by 20 per cent - up to 50 tons per hour," the interlocutor of the agency said.
Austrian ATM and Russian RTPK (Yekaterinburg) were the main equipment suppliers. They won the tender announced by Uzmetcombinat in August 2011.The project is financed by Uzmetcombinat's own funds.
Earlier it was reported that Uzmetkombinat will implement the production development and modernisation programme worth $134.7 million in 2011-2015.
The programme implementation will increase the enterprise's steel production capacity by 100,000 tons up to 850,000 tons, processed scrap metal by 290,000 tons up to 670,000 tons and reduce the enterprise's energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2016. The programme is planned to be financed at Uzmetkombinat's own funds.
Uzmetcombinat is the only steel industry company in Central Asia working with scrap metal. The plant was commissioned in 1956. Previously it recycled scrap metal coming from all the republics of Central Asia. Currently the company's power isn't fully loaded due to reduced supplies of scrap.
Some 71.91 per cent of its shares are owned by the state, 10 per cent by the labour collective and 2.65 present by minority shareholders. The Uzbek National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity, Promavtoinvesttorg, Navoi and Almalyk also own shares.
Steel production at Uzmetcombinat increased by 0.6 per cent to 575,400 tons in January-September 2012 compared to the same period of last year and finished steel production by 0.4 per cent up to 556,100 tons.