EVRAZ sees output fall in the fourth quarter

Scheduled maintenance at one of EVRAZ's plants led to lower steel production in the group's fourth quarter, the company announced on Friday morning.

Consolidated crude steel production and gross output of steel products both fell by 6% compared with the third quarter, mainly due to the maintenance at EVRAZ ZSMK, the 3,000-hectare steel mill in the Siberia region.

ZSMK is among five largest steel plants in Russia and one of the 30 largest steel plants in the world.

Meanwhile, the temporary suspension of work at EVRAZ Vitkovice's steel shop in the Czech Republic also contributed to the decrease in crude steel output, the company said.

Meanwhile, production of finished steel goods was more or less flat quarter-on-quarter. Output of iron ore products was also unchanged.

Raw coking coal production at its Yuzhkuzbassugol division fell by 6% on the third quarter as a result of a scheduled two-month longwall repositioning at the Osinnikovskaya mine.