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Belarusian Steel Works export up to $784m in H1 2011

MINSK, 13 July (BelTA) – In H1 2011 Belarusian Steel Works (BMZ trademark) increased export by 34% in comparison with the same period of last year to $784 million. The information was released by BMZ Director General Anatoly Savenok on 13 July, BelTA has learned. In January-June 2011 the company’s foreign trade surplus totaled $269 million. The company aims to increase the figure to $1.5 billion in 2011, said Anatoly Savenok. He specified that foreign trade surplus stood at $204 million in Q1 2011. “Now we are stocking up on scrap metal for the winter. Some money is spent. We need to store 300,000 tonnes of scrap metal,” he said. The company’s output went up 63.3% in comparison with H1 2011. BMZ sold more than $1 billion worth of commodities. The production of steel pipes went up 28.9%, with 65,000 tonnes of pipes made. The company turned out 50,000 tonnes of metal cord, 8.6% up. This year the company aims to turn out 100,000 tonnes of metal cord. “The output has increased mainly thanks to more science-intensive products and deeper metal processing. Sales of cast bars and blooms have fallen meanwhile,” said Anatoly Savenok. In H1 2011 BMZ made 1.340 million tonnes of steel. The company aims to make 2.6 million tonnes of steel this year. Rolled metal production edged up 5.9%, with 755,000 tonnes sold. The company’s output per employee totaled $92,000 in H1 2011. This year the figure is supposed to reach $180,000. BMZ profitability has exceeded 10%. Belarusian Steel Works exports metal products to 96 countries. Russia accounts for 18% of the export. The company also ships its products to Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, Lebanon, Germany, Italy and other countries. BMZ has been recently putting efforts into building up the production of steel pipes used in oil extraction. At present these products account for only 3% of the total output. The company commissioned an enterprise to make hot-rolled seamless pipes in 2007.

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