OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works ("MMK" or "the Company") (LSE: MMK) announces that it has opened a representative office in Shanghai to establish and strengthen relationships with companies in the world’s second-largest economy.

The new office will be responsible for building relationships with MMK’s partners and contractors in China; finding new suppliers, including for MMK’s electronic trading platform; and monitoring the Chinese market to purchase equipment and raw materials for the Company’s production needs.

Sergey Kolesnichenko has been appointed as MMK’s General Representative in China. Previously he served as Commercial Director at MMK Metalurji, MMK Group’s Turkish subsidiary.

Vitaly Bakhmetyev, Deputy CEO of MMK on Commerce, will oversee operation of the Shanghai office from the company’s headquarters in Magnitogorsk, Russia.

 “China is currently the largest global producer of industrial equipment and the Chinese government is actively supporting industrial development,” said Pavel Shilyaev, CEO of MMK. “The Chinese market is interesting for us and we are looking forward to establishing and developing relationships with Chinese companies, which have significant potential to meet the needs of metals companies for raw materials and equipment.”

 “Opening an office in Shanghai gives us an opportunity to establish a procurement system on the Chinese market as part of our strategy to drive down our cost of sales,” added Sergey Sulimov, Deputy CEO for Finance and Economy. “A successful office in China will give MMK an additional competitive advantage over other Russian metals companies."

 Contact details of MMK’s representative office in Shanghai: Office 1262, Nanzheng Building580, Nanjing West Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai, China. Tel.: + 86 (21)-6032-2012

 About MMK

MMK is among the world's largest steel producers and is one of the leaders of Russia's steel industry. The company's operations in Russia include a large steel producing complex encompassing the entire production chain, from preparation of iron ore to downstream processing of rolled steel. MMK turns out a broad range of steel products with a predominant share of higher value added products. In 2013 MMK Group produced 11.9 mln tons of crude steel and 10.7 mln tons of commercial steel products.