OREANDA-NEWS. December 5, 2011. United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) and Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) have signed a strategic cooperation memorandum targeting joint scientific and technical projects to develop existing and new types of products for shipbuilding, as well as optimizing the logistics chains of metal products deliveries from MMK to USC production sites.

USC President Roman Trotsenko said: “The shipbuilding industry, I assume, is the most metal-intensive industrial sector. We at USC believe that strategic cooperation between Russian shipbuilders and MMK will help to develop sound competition among domestic producers of shipbuilding steel. This is especially important given the steady growth of shipbuilding orders in Russia.”

MMK CEO Boris Dubrovsky said: “MMK’s Mill 5000 is one of the most advanced production facilities for heavy-gauge plate steel, and we intend to continuously grow our presence across the shipbuilding market. This possibility is closer to becoming a reality today, and we are happy with the agreements we have reached with USC. MMK has the capacity to fully meet the requirements of Russia’s shipbuilding sector, which will soon become a major driver of domestic economic growth.”

MMK has long been a partner to Russia’s shipbuilders, and is one of the largest suppliers of steel products to the Russian shipbuilding sector. Following the launch of Mill 5000 in 2009, steel plate produced by the mill was certified by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, the Russian River Register, as well as Norway’s Det Norske Veritas and Germany’s Germanischer Lloyd.

OJSC United Shipbuilding Corporation is the largest shipbuilding company in Russia. It was created as a 100% state-owned company in 2007. The holding includes more than 50 shipbuilding production facilities and other organizations (major shipbuilding yards and ship repair yards, leading design bureaus). Currently USC has consolidated approximately 70% of the domestic shipbuilding industry. USC’s primary market is Russia, and it also exports products to 20 countries worldwide.

MMK is among the world's largest steel producers and is one of the leaders of Russia's steel industry. The company's operations in Russia include a large steel producing complex encompassing the entire production chain, from preparation of iron ore to downstream processing of rolled steel. MMK turns out a broad range of steel products with a predominant share of higher value added products. In 2010 the company produced 11.4 mln tonnes of crude steel and 10.4 mln tonnes of commercial steel products.

MMK Group revenue in 2010 stood at USD 7.719 bn, EBITDA at USD 1.606 bn, profit for the period - USD 232 mln.