OREANDA-NEWS. July 17, 2007.  Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL) announces the commissioning of new equipment at Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant (BMP) as well as the foundation laying of a new steelwire-rope complex. The events coincide with the plant's 245th anniversary.

Last weekend at Beloretsk Metallurgical plant, new equipment for production of rope, fastener and fibre wire was commissioned. The new equipment has been manufactured by Ernst Koch, one of the leading German manufactures of industrial equipment. The official ceremony for opening the new equipment was attended by the President of the Republic of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov, Mechel Chief Executive Officer Igor Zyuzin, and Mechel Management OOO General Director Vladimir Polin.

The project investments amounted to more than RUR 80 million ($3.1 million.). The investment was implemented in line with Mechel’s investment program for technical development of BMP’s production aimed at improving product quality, increasing output, reducing production costs, and increasing profitability. The two new production lines will enable Mechel to increase the output of rope wire and thin ropes, wire for fasteners and fibre wire at BMP. The capacity of the lines can reach 27 thousand tonnes per year depending on the product range.

The market demand for ropes, as well as for fastener and fibre wire continues to grow. Furniture fastener, a product of fastener wire further processing, is sold to furniture manufacturers and fibre wire is consumed in the construction industry.

The official ceremony also included the foundation laying of a new steelwire-rope complex, which has the planned production capacity of 150 thousand tonnes of high-quality ropes and hardware a year. The construction is expected to be completed in 2010.

"The program for technical development of BMP, which includes the construction of a new steelwire-rope shop, opens a new era of quality at the plant, which has a 245 year history. It is aimed at the plant's long-term development, strengthening its leading position as a hardware producer and increasing hardware output by 1.5-1.7 times current levels by 2011,” Mechel Management Company's Chief Executive Officer Vladimir Polin commented.