DCH Group's Dneprovsky Metallurgical Plant halves roll output in 7M, prepares to restart No.1 rolling division

MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Dneprovsky Metallurgical Plant (DMP), part of Alexander Yaroslavsky's DCH Group, reduced steel roll output 51.8% year-on-year in January-July to 33,800 tonnes, Ukrainian media quoted the company as saying in its DCH Steel in-house newspaper.

The plant did not produce roll in July this year - it produced 13,300 tonnes in the same month of 2023 - but it shipped 1,500 tonnes produced earlier.

Metallurgical coke production fell 1.6% year-on-year in 7M to 169,600 tonnes. It rose 7.2% in July compared with June to 26,100 tonnes but was down from 30,400 tonnes produced in July last year.

DMP plans to restart its No.1 rolling division in the second half of August. Preparations for this began in July and the mill will be ready to launch on August 15, but the actual date will depend on the outcome of talks with the customer. Key equipment, notably the Mill 1050, was overhauled during downtime in H1.

This will be the rolling division's first campaign of the year, with output of more than 2,000 tonnes targeted.

"Rolling division No. 1 is currently preparing to launch, where R-34 and R-43 rails will be manufactured during the production campaign," the publication writes.

DMP specializes in semi-finished products and structural steel. It ramped up production of rolled products 86.2% to 105,600 tonnes and metallurgical coke 38.5% to 292,700 tonnes in 2023.