Severstal's modernization drive will increase long-term output

Russia's Severstal is running a modernization program at its Cherepovets steelmaking facility, which - though it may lead to short-term production cuts - will help it raise its annual steel output by 1 million tonnes by 2023.

Several sources have reported that the major mill had scheduled a two-week maintenance for its 2-million-tonnes-per-year hot-rolling mill in October. They estimated that this would reduce its hot-rolled coil output by 70,000-80,000 tonnes.
"We double-booked tonnages from Severstal because of its maintenance in October," a source in Russia said.
The reduction of supply from Severstal may support prices for hot-rolled sheet in Russia's domestic market, which typically experiences a seasonal softening in September.
Fastmarkets' average weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled sheet, domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia was 41,000-43,000 roubles ($540-567) per tonne including 20% VAT on September 7, widening downward by 1,000 roubles per tonne from 42,000-43,000 roubles per tonne a week earlier.

Severstal is also planning to continue the modernization of its Mill-2000, a 6-million-tpy hot-rolling line. The mill finalized the first stage of the process in early September, and is...

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