MMK Group: A client-focused leader in the coated steel products segment

The news was announced by Sergey Yegorov, head of MMK-Lysvensky Metallurgical Plant's commercial department, as he spoke at the opening of the 16th International Conference on "Galvanised and Coated Steel Products: Production and Consumer trends" in Moscow.

According to him, galvanised and polymer coated steel products faced high volatility and uncertainty in 2020. The market initially suffered a noticeable decline, but quickly recovered as the lockdown lifted, and by the end of the year even showed growth thanks to increased demand fr om the construction industry. A main market trend observed in the year was the continuation of the import substitution process.

MMK is Russia's largest supplier of galvanised steel products. In 2020, the Company sold 1.2 million tonnes of galvanised steel (making up approximately 30% of the country's total consumption). The largest proportion of sales took place in the domestic market, with the main industries accounting for these sales being construction, metal trading and service metal centres, as well as the automotive industry.

In 2020, MMK also sold 536 thousand tonnes of coated steel products on the Russian and CIS markets, 491 thousand tonnes of which were sold on the domestic market. MMK is the largest supplier of these products. Rolled products with polymer coating are profiled and used as semi-finished rolled products in the production of metal, profiled sheeting and sandwich panels.

Sales of import-substituted, PrinTech type products with a decorative polymer coating often imitating natural material, have been growing particularly quickly. These MMK products, which are manufactured at the MMK-LMZ facilities under its own SteelArt brand, have almost tripled in sales volumes since 2017 and exceeded 20 thousand tonnes in 2020.

MMK continues to develop its customer focus, considering it one of the key elements of improving the Company's competitiveness. Therefore, in addition to improving the quality and expanding its range of products, the Company is devoting particular attention to delivering products in a timely manner and improving convenience for the customer. Working towards this, MMK is currently creating a modern and convenient marketplace wh ere the Group's goods can be sold on the Russian market. The advantages of this new marketplace include:

∙ Providing access for the end user;

∙ Allowing consumers to buy goods from MMK Group and its partners through the site;

∙ Allowing users to receive information on orders at any time of the day;

∙ Allowing for the execution of low-tonnage orders and orders with a large set of different commodity items from MMK Group and its partners;

∙ Services for the delivery of products and credits;

∙ Simple and clear procedures: from placing an order to resolving product quality issues.

The 16th International Conference entitled "Galvanised and Coated Steel Products: Production and Consumption Trends", held March 18-19, 2021, was attended by managers and specialists from plants and businesses producing coated steels, metal trading companies and service metal centres engaged in processing and supplying products from galvanised and coated steel producers; equipment suppliers, consumers of these products, as well as representatives from related industries. Among the key topics discussed were the balance of production and consumption of coated steel products; the pricing and sales policies of manufacturers of galvanised and coated steel; new investment projects, as well as the import and export of galvanised and coated steel in the Russian market.