Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 16
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
The Uzbek Metallurgical Plant (Uzmetkombinat JSC, Bekabad city, Tashkent province) built a vacuum degassed steel facility worth $17.1 million, a representative of the plant told Trend on Wednesday.
It was earlier reported that a $13.1 million contract was signed by Uzmetkombinat and Romanian ADREM INVEST SRL to supply technological equipment and to construct a facility on a turnkey basis in 2013.
The design capacity is 250,000 tons of vacuum degassed steel per year. The production of rolled steel of vacuum degassed steel is projected at $ 238,300 tons per year, of which 188,300 tons are to be exported.
The project was financed with Uzmetkombinat's own funds worth $8.1 million and a loan of the Uzbek Mortgage Bank to the amount of $9 million.
Uzmetkombinat is the only ferrous metallurgy company in Central Asia that works with scrap metal and accounts for 90 percent of the country's ferrous metallurgy production.
The plant was commissioned in 1956. Previously, it recycled scrap metal coming from all Central Asian republics. Currently, scrap metal is generated in the country as well as raw materials purchased outside the state under tolling agreements.
The plant can produce 790,000 tons of steel and 760,000 tons of special iron.
At present, Uzmetkombinat JSC is implementing a production development and modernization program worth $134.7 million covering the period up to 2016. The modernization program is financed through the enterprise's own funds.
It is expected that the program implementation will increase steel production capacity of the plant by 13.3 percent up to 850,000 tons, processed scrap metal by almost 1.8 times to 670,000 tons and reduce electricity costs by 20 percent by 2016.
Uzmetkombinat increased steel production by 1.3 percent up to 746,200 tons, rolled ferrous metals by 1.1 percent to 718,000 tons in 2013 compared to 2012.
The official exchange rate is 2.203.29 soums/$ 1 on Jan. 16.
Translated by NH
Edited by CN