Business news

MINSK, 15 September (BelTA) – Belarus plans to set up one more industrial steel making plant, Belarus’ Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko told the media on 15 September, BelTA has learned.

According to the vice premier, the Belarusian Steel Works started producing wire-rod mill in 2015. “With this line in operation, we have covered 60% of the needs of the domestic mechanical engineering sector. We satisfy the domestic needs in carbon and instrument steel in full. We use scrap metal to do a lot for our industry and also sell the product well. Industrial steel is sold the best. This is 60% however. We plan to produce stainless, special and instrument steel to meet the domestic needs in full. There is another big project in the pipeline,” he explained.

According to Vladimir Semashko, it can be an individual enterprise. “We are preparing the corresponding feasibility study which should be ready by the end of the year, and we will start searching for a partner, an investor, a credit line. We have loans, but the project should pay back in the first place,” he stressed.

According to the vice premier, the Belarusian Steel Works has a big debt burden at present. “There are debts and we are gradually repaying them. We should understand the conditions in which the Belarusian Steel Works is operating. One third of steel plants have shut down across the globe over the past three years. We have survived the crisis. The crisis happened after the prices dropped almost two times. We are helping the plant and will continue supporting it,” he said.