In the January-July period of the current year, the steel smelting volume of Russian steelmaker Zlatoust Metallurgical Works (ZMZ) decreased by three times compared to the same period of last year, totaling 41,000 mt. The decrease was due to the new policy of the company to buy steel billets from its strategic partner Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, a subsidiary of Russian mining and steel producing group Mechel. In July alone, ZMZ produced 6,098 mt of crude steel, down 18.9 percent compared to July 2010.

In addition, in the first seven months of the year, ZMZ registered a 41.13 percent increase year on year in its production of commercial grade rolled steel products to 301,800 mt. In the given period, ZMZ increased its shipments of commercial grade rolled steel products by 47.54 percent year on year to 300,000 mt.