The order book of the 5,000 mm Plate Mill at the Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is 100% full, MMK reported today. In January 2011, the Plate Mill produced 127,000 tons compared to 112,000 tons in December 2010. The mill's full capacity is estimated at 1.5 million tons per year.

"MMK's strategy is aimed at creating a state-of-the-art production complex and diversifying into new HVA products, primarily for the Russian market. The 5,000 mm Plate Mill built at MMK is the largest scale project implemented in the Russian steel sector in the past decade,» said Victor Rashnikov, Chairman of the MMK Board of Directors.

Commissioned in the summer of 2009, the 5,000 mm Plate Mill makes use of high- and low-temperature rolling technologies. It is capable of producing plate of different gauge and width meeting the most stringent requirements set by large-diameter pipe manufacturers.

The Plate Mill’s key customers include Chelyabinsk Pipe-Making Plant, Volzhsky Pipe Plant, Vyksa Steel Works, and a number of domestic mechanical engineering and shipbuilding companies and boiler manufacturers.