BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 25
By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend:
This year, Uzbekistan’s Uzmetkombinat metallurgical combine intends to increase the export of finished products to 350,000 tons, Trend reports citing enterprise’s press service.
Demand for the company's products is growing, especially in the CIS countries, due to the new strategy of promoting foreign markets, marketing research, as well as constantly improving transportation conditions and supply chains, read the message.
At the recent Metal-Expo international fair in Moscow, the plant representatives held talks with a number of Russian and Ukrainian companies. It should be noted that this was the first experience for the plant in participating in one of the leading Russian specialized exhibition events.
Following the talks, the Russian Gallaktika and Metr companies expressed their readiness to purchase Uzmetkombinat products from non-ferrous metals and silica fume, while the Ukrainian company Sodruzhestvo showed interest in buying steel grinding balls and fittings of various profiles.
"Presumably, the first deliveries of products to these enterprises can be carried out before mid-2020. Following the participation in the exhibition, we held many useful meetings and negotiations, which we will now try to convert into new contracts," said Head of Uzmetkombinat’s production department Rahmat Inamov.
Today Uzmetkombinat is a leading ferrous metallurgy enterprise in Central Asian region exporting products to all neighboring countries. Afghanistan and Kazakhstan purchase metal products, Kyrgyzstan and Russia - copper alloys, Tajikistan - enameled containers, metal products and heat-insulating materials, and Turkmenistan - construction materials. Currently, work is underway to establish export of copper and alloys to Azerbaijan.
In 2017, the head of state approved measures to radically improve the production capacities and financial and economic condition of the plant. As a result, it was transferred to the trust management of the foreign company SFI Management Group, which achieved significant results in a short time.
For example, a year later, a new ferroalloy workshop was launched at the plant with participation of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev who commissioned a new production. The project cost was $60 million, of which $17 million was raised from Korean Eximbank.
In the future, two more furnaces will be built, it is expected that the production volume will additionally increase by 30,000 tons per year and will exceed 55,000 tons of ferroalloys.
Over the past two years, the economic situation of the enterprise has stabilized; the process of implementing new investment projects has begun.
One of the most important is the construction of a new casting and rolling complex. The complex, which is being built by the Italian Danieli company, will be commissioned in 2022. With its launch, conditions will be created for the production of one million tons of sheet products, and the employment of more than 1000 people.
After the implementation of the project, the plant plans to increase the volume of finished products to 2.1 million tons per year. In 2018 the plant produced about 1 million tons of finished products.
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