MMK celebrates 90th anniversary of first steel production
On 8 July 2023, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) celebrated its 90th anniversary in the steelmaking industry. During this time, Magnitogorsk steelworkers have produced 873 million tonnes of steel.
On 7 July, a day before the anniversary, MMK held a ceremony near a commemorative plaque dedicated to the production of the first steel in Magnitogorsk. The heads of MMK and the Company’s trade union committee were present to congratulate the Company’s current and former steelworkers.
Pavel Shilyaev, MMK’s CEO, noted that the story of Magnitogorsk steel is the story of three generations of technology. The first open-hearth furnaces were put in place here 90 years ago. These furnaces were then replaced by MMK’s oxygen-converter shop (OCS) – a giant in the Russian steelmaking industry – which established a new milestone in the plant’s development. Finally, the open-hearth furnaces were replaced with electric-arc furnaces, whose technology was also successfully mastered by Magnitogorsk steelworkers.
On 8 July 1933, an open-hearth furnace produced MMK’s first steel. By the end of the year, three more open-hearth furnaces were brought online at the site, enabling the plant to carry out the production and secondary processing of steel, which were of key importance both for MMK and for the economy of the country as a whole.
By 1936, the plant was operating 12 open-hearth furnaces with a capacity of 150 tonnes each.
Following the outbreak of World War II, the plant quickly adapted its production process to make special types of steel. On 22 June 1941, MMK received its first defence contract for the production of armoured steel, and the first armoured steel plating rolled off the production line a month later.
After the war, the Company’s production facilities continued to expand with the regular addition of new open-hearth furnaces. In the mid-1960s, MMK was operating 35 furnaces at three open-hearth furnace shops. This figure remained unchanged until the launch of the OCS, which marked a major new milestone in the development of MMK’s steel production. The Company’s oxygen-converter shop is one of the most powerful in the world, with an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes of steel.
With the launch of the OSC, the plant’s open-hearth furnace shops Nos. 2 and 3 were decommissioned. Open-hearth furnace shop No. 1 was turned into an electric-arc furnace shop, where, in 2006, two of the largest electric-arc furnaces in Russia, with a total annual capacity of 4 million tonnes of steel, were brought online.
Today, the Company’s agenda includes improving its operating efficiency throughout the entire production chain, including in steel production. To that end, MMK plans to radically improve its production and economic performance to industry-leading levels. Another key focus is to improve energy efficiency at the production site. Notably, MMK carried out a major energy-efficiency project several years ago at the OCS to modernise the exhaust stack control systems at the facility, resulting in annual savings of over RUB 100 million.
Improving environmental safety is another important focus of the Company’s work. Last year, MMK rebuilt the gas treatment facilities for recovering secondary emissions from the converter section of the OCS. Environmental issues are also being addressed in the electric-arc furnace shop. In 2017, MMK rebuilt the gas treatment facilities behind the two-hearth furnace in the shop, and completed the reconstruction of the gas treatment facilities for the electric-arc furnaces in 2022.