NLMK reached an agreement with the Belgian investment fund SOGEPA to integrate the Danish company NLMK Dansteel into the joint venture NLMK Belgium Holdings. NLMK Dansteel specializes in the production of thick plates. Combining assets and strengthening the portfolio will allow NLMK to reduce operating costs and optimize its operations on foreign markets in...

NLMK Group's steel production for 6 months of 2022 amounted to 8.9 mln tonnes, down 1% year-on-year. Sales increased by 4% to 8.6 mln tonnes as a result of increased demand for semi-finished products in export markets in Q1. Exports rose 13% to 2.9 million tonnes. Sales in "home" markets decreased by 5% to 5.2 million tonnes.

Closure of Western markets, as well as logistical difficulties, expensive freight and a steel surplus in Asia make exports pointless, NLMK's main owner Vladimir Lisin said. The domestic market is not a panacea either, as it has never needed as much steel as domestic steel companies are used to producing, he explained. However, NLMK will bring the investment...

NLMK is preparing for a potential ban on supplies of Russian semi-finished products to its rolling mills in Europe and is looking for possible replacements in other countries. The EU sanctions now apply to Russian rolled products, but not to slabs. According to analysts, NLMK's back-up option could be to buy semi-finished products in the Middle East and redi...