OREANDA-NEWS. June 14, 2012. Mechel JSC  (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, reports that Mechel’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Igor Zyuzin met with Minmetals Corporation’s President Zhou Zhongshu during Mr. Zyuzin’s trip as part of the Russian delegation in the framework of Russian Federation’s President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to People’s Republic of China.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the issues of implementing the project for the construction of the universal rolling mill at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (ChMK), where Minmetals, one of China’s largest state industrial corporations, is general contractor.

ChMK’s universal rolling mill will produce high-quality rails up to 100 meters in length, using state-of-the-art technologies for rolling, tempering, straightening, finishing, and quality control. These rails will surpass their world analogues on several key parameters, which are necessitated by the climate conditions under which rails are utilized in Russia. The “Strategy for Development of Russia’s Railway Transport till 2030”, approved by the Russian government provides for modernization and construction of new railroads all over the country, and will be implemented with the use of rails produced by Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant among others. The mill’s annual capacity will be over 1 million tonnes. The mill will also produce structural shapes and sections.

Chairman of Mechel’s Board of Directors Igor Zyuzin noted: “For us the universal rolling mill construction project is a priority, as it has special importance for the entire country — it is being implemented to meet the needs of Russian Railways and construction industry in high-quality steel products, which will help to bring down their dependence on foreign imports and international market volatility.”