Chelyabinsk, Russia – December 09, 2010. - Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces launch of construction of complex for Portland blast-furnace slag cement production with 1.6 mln tonnes capacity by its subsidiary, Mechel Materials OOO. The construction is held on the premises of Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant OAO.

The assembly works of the main manufacturing equipment at grinding-mixing complex with capacity of 1.6 mln tonnes of Portland blast-furnace slag cement per annum will start in December this year. The main raw material will be blast furnace slag produced by Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant OAO, which will result in non-waste production of pig iron at the facility. This complex will be the first Russian facility producing high quality Portland blast-furnace slag cement of certain grade (CEMIII/À).

Portland blast-furnace slag cement is widely used for production of reinforced concrete goods and constructions that require curing as well as production of constructions used in humid conditions or hot workshops, and building of ground and underground constructions which are exposed to hostile conditions. This material is widely used in construction industry and proved its efficiency while building hydroelectric power plants and workshops of steel and heavy industries.

The general contractor is Austrian FMW GmbH, the financing is provided by Unicredit (Austria) and Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (Germany). The amount to be invested is estimated at 110 mln euros. The commissioning of a grinding-mixing complex is planned for the 2nd quarter of 2012.

Oleg Matyushenko, CEO of Mechel Materials OOO, commented on the event: “The commissioning of the complex for Portland blast-furnace slag cement production will allow to arrange cost-effective production based on slag, produced by Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, which is a by-product in pig iron production. Employing this method will help both utilization and rational use of waste products from blast-furnace workshop at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, which will allow for additional synergy.”