MECHEL ANNOUNCES ITS CEO ATTENDING HYUNDAI STEEL’S BLAST FURNACE COMMISSIONING
CEREMONY
Moscow, Russia – April 12, 2010 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and metals companies, announces participation of Mechel’s CEO
Igor Zyuzin in the Hyundai Steel’s blast furnace commissioning ceremony.
On April 8, 2010, Igor Zyuzin, Mechel’s CEO and Dmitry Sokolov, Mechel’s
representative in South Korea participated in the official ceremony of a new
blast furnace commissioning at Hyundai Steel’s steel mill in Dangjin. The event
was attended by the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, South Korean Minister
of Knowledge Economy Choi Kyung-hwan, Chairman of the Federation of Korean
Industries Cho Suck-rae, Chairman of Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group Chung Mong Koo
and other representatives of government and business.
The launched blast furnace is one of the largest ones in the world. Its
estimated output volume is about 4 million tonnes of pig iron per annum. In 2010
it is expected to produce approximately 2.5 million tonnes of pig iron. The
second blast furnace with similar parameters is planned to be launched at this
plant in the late 2010. When the project is completed, the plant’s production
capacity would amount 8 million tonnes of pig iron per annum.
Mechel and Hyundai Steel signed a long-term coking coal supply agreement in
February 2009. Under this agreement, hard coking coal produced by OJSHC
Yakutugol will be supplied to Hyundai Steel during 5 years starting from April
1, 2010.
Within the framework of this agreement, in June 2009 Mechel Trading AG, Mechel
group’s exporting company, and Hyundai Steel signed a contract to deliver coal
via Mechel group’s trade port Posiet.
“It’s a great pleasure for us to see the success of our partners from Hyundai
Steel. Construction of the pig-iron production facility in Dangjin is actually a
large-scale and challenging project, and one of its most important stages has
been successfully completed today. We started our cooperation with Hyundai Steel
last February and highly appreciate the results of our joint efforts. We are
ready to support our partners’ endeavours to develop and expand their blast
furnace steel production by supplies of our coking coal. All the more, we will
both benefit while using Mechel’s own logistic capacities. Additional advantage
for us is convenient geography position of our companies towards each other”,
Igor Zyuzin, Mechel’s CEO said after the ceremony.
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Mechel OAO
Ekaterina Videman
Phone: + 7 495 221 88 88
ekaterina.videman@mechel.com
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Mechel is one of the leading Russian companies. Its business includes four
segments: mining, steel, ferroalloy and power. Mechel unites producers of coal,
iron ore concentrate, nickel, steel, rolled products, hardware, heat and
electric power. Mechel products are marketed domestically and internationally.
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Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other
forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial
performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that
these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may
differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to
the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and
identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned
“Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in our
Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those
contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among
others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and
synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the
ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of
developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment,
volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial
risk management and the impact of general business and global economic
conditions.