Mechel Targoviste yesterday started up the continuous casting machine, a new installation which will allow the company to significantly reduce its production costs and improve the quality of finished products. The investment in the continuous caster and the related infrastructure reached approximately 14 million USD.
Since privatization, the Russian holding company Mechel has made investments worth some 38 million USD, surpassing the investment obligations included in the contract. For the period 2007 - 2009, the company"s investment plan involves further investments amounting to 35 million USD. Alexei Ivanuskin, the CEO of Mechel Russia, said that along with the start-up of the continuous caster, Mechel Targoviste will become one of the most modern steel plants in Europe.
Following the modernization program, the Targoviste-based steel plant reached a production capacity of 466.000 tons of steel and 385.000 tons of laminates in 2006, from 296.000 tons of steel in 2002. Over this period, the company"s turnover rose by 162%, from 296 million RON to 480 million RON. Preliminary results for 2006 show a profit of 3,5 million USD.