Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works announced the launch of the MMK-Atakas continuous hot-dip galvanizing unit in Istanbul. This marks completion of construction of the MMK-Atakas metallurgy complex, which is located at two sites: in Iskenderun and Istanbul. The construction of the Iskenderun facility was completed in spring 2011.

The Istanbul plant capacity is 450 kilo tonnes per annum of galvanized steel. A portion of the output will be sold directly to customers, while the remainder will be further processed at the colour coating line, which was commissioned in May 2011 with a capacity of 200 kilo tonnes per annum.

MMK already commissioned an identical hot dip galvanizing unit in Iskenderun, giving the company greater product flexibility and the ability to produce specialized rolled metal products for customers, including home appliance manufacturers and, in the future, carmakers.

The annual production capacity of MMK-Atakas is 2.3 million tonnes of hot-rolled coils, 750 kilo tonnes of cold rolled coils, 900 kilo tonnes of galvanized coils and 400 kilo tonnes of colour coated coils.

Mr Victor Rashnikov MMK Board of Directors Chairman said “The total investments in the project exceeded USD 2 billion. The most advanced production technology installed at MMK-Atakas has no analogues in Turkey. This new facility will meet growing Turkish demand for a range of metal products and enable us to export products to the Middle East, Mediterranean region and Europe. The fact that the construction of MMK-Atakas was not affected by the global financial crisis is noteworthy: construction was completed on schedule and within budget.”