Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant is part of Mechel Holding and is one of the largest enterprises in the industry in the country. The establishment of the plant was in wartime, and today its products are in demand in almost all sectors of the Russian economy.
Bakal ore
Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant was built in the basin of the Bakalsky deposit. The ore was first discovered, according to some surviving information, by Peter Ryabov in 1756. Siberian merchants Tverdyshev and Myasnikov took up the development of the field. Until 1900, negligible mineral resources were mined, the total number did not exceed 2 million tons, while siderite ore reserves were estimated at one billion tons.
The first wave of industrialization fell on tsarist rule, and over the next 14 years the pace of development of the field accelerated, by 1914, production amounted to 2 million tons. In the same period, plans appeared for the construction of several metallurgical plants, for which geological exploration was carried out. The historical events of subsequent years did not allow the idea to develop.
Protracted construction
In the early 30s, the Soviet government introduced an industrialization plan, the main core of which was heavy industry and the military complex, of which the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant was to become a part. The history of construction began with a corresponding decree, published in May 1930. According to the plans, the enterprise was to produce special heat-resistant steels, including alloying additives, which corresponded to the needs of the domestic market.
For some time, the construction slowed down the process of choosing a place for the plant, the laying took place at the Pershinskaya site in 1934, and the object was frozen the next year. One of the reasons was the lack of equipment, the industry of the USSR was not yet able to fully provide a full range of machines, and there were no funds for the purchase abroad. All work was stopped before the start of World War II.
Everything for the front
Almost before the outbreak of hostilities, it was decided to resume construction work. After putting into operation of the first stage, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant was to produce 600 thousand tons of pig iron and 150 thousand tons of steel from five electric arc furnaces. The issue of lack of equipment was resolved with the evacuation in October-November 1941 of metallurgical plants (Alchevsky, Stalingrad, Zaporizhstal, Novolipetsk).
The first phase of construction was completed in record time, it took only nine months from the moment of pouring the first cubic meter of concrete to the release of the first ton of metal. By 1945, the production of pig iron and steel reached the planned volumes; during the war, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant smelted 300 thousand tons of pig iron, 145 thousand tons of steel, 105 thousand tons of metal. For a short period, the company installed and launched a full cycle of metallurgical production, including:
- Five electric arc furnaces.
- Two coke oven batteries.
- Two blast furnaces.
- Two steel rolling mills.
- Cogeneration plant.
Post-war years
In peacetime, the importance of industrial enterprises did not decrease, and over time, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant became a leader in the supply of steel for the defense industry, knowledge-intensive areas of production, but peaceful tasks also appeared. The restoration of the ruined economy and the residential sector required new materials; to provide them, the company mastered several types of relevant products:
- High-quality high-quality metal.
- Corrosion-proof sheet of two types of skiing (cold and hot).
- Forgings of heat resisting steel.
- Forgings of special steels.
Also, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant has mastered new production technologies:
- Smelting of non-aging steels.
- Production of lead steels.
- Sulphide version transformer steel production.
- Technology of metal smelting in plasma-arc furnaces.
- Hire refractory metals and much more.
Transformation Stage
In the post-perestroika period, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant went through a difficult period of transformation. The company managed not only to survive, but also to expand due to the release of mass-produced metal products. There were plans to eliminate several cycles that ended in a successful modernization. Instead of open-hearth energy-intensive industries, new electric arc furnaces, continuous casting plants and other equipment were installed.
In 2001, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (Chelyabinsk) became part of the Mechel group, which entailed a large-scale modernization focused on the use and implementation of innovative technologies at all stages of production. By 2004, blast furnace No. 1 was modernized, the result was an increase in the working volume to 2030 cubic meters (it was 1719 cubic meters), and productivity increased to 1.5 million tons of pig iron per year (it was 1 million tons). An electronic monitoring and control system was also installed, allowing you to monitor all processes in real time. In addition to this production, new equipment was delivered to electric steel-smelting shops No. 2 and No. 6, a heating plant, an oxygen-converter shop, a small-grade mill 250, etc.
To date, modernization has been carried out in the main workshops and production lines. In 2013, a mill for the production of high-quality structural steel and rails up to 100 meters long was commissioned. The full-cycle production capacity is 1.1 million tons of products per year. The main deliveries are carried out in the framework of the program "Strategies for the development of railway transport", calculated until 2030. In 2014, the products successfully passed the certification procedure.
Prospects
Development plans at the enterprise are associated with promising areas of metal consumption in the domestic market, which requires further technical and technological modernization. The main requirement of modern production is the rejection of energy-consuming equipment, for which the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant buys new lines in the steel casting shop, implements a project for updating the slab continuous casting machine, and builds two new out-of-furnace metal processing complexes.
The plans for the development of Russian industry announced the implementation of large infrastructure projects in engineering, construction. In order to adequately occupy a niche, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (Mechel) is building a universal mill, modernizing the equipment of rolling shop No. 4, the result of the work should be a planned increase in capacity to 1.1 million tons of finished products per year, purchasing additional equipment for the rolling shop of stainless steel .
Products
Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant produces:
- High-quality hire of hot skiing.
- Cast rods.
- Stainless steel sheets are hot rolled and cold rolled.
- Hot-rolled sheets of ordinary steel.
- Sheets of high strength steel.
- Reinforcing steel grades from A1 to A5.
- Angled steel.
- Wire rod.
- Wire rod for the production of welding wire.
- Pipe blanks (rolled 80-180 mm, forged 80-180 mm).
- Square rolled and forged blanks.
- Commodity slouch.
- Slabs.
- Rolled and forged strips, including shaped.
- Hexagons.
- Assortment of press forgings.
Environment and social policy
Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant OJSC pays much attention to environmental protection, for which the work of the plant’s specialized service has been activated. The company controls the amount and content of harmful emissions into the atmosphere, monitors the impact of the industrial environment on water resources and the air basin.
The nature conservation program has been implemented in the company since 2007, which has given tangible results in reducing the negative impact. The amount of discharges into water bodies was halved, emissions into the atmosphere decreased. Technically and morally obsolete equipment is decommissioned, which reduces the risks to nature. At the second stage of the reconstruction of the plant, environmental protection costs will amount to more than 3 billion rubles.
The Chelyabinsk Combine is one of the few who have maintained social facilities whose main task is to provide recreation, leisure and medical services to plant personnel. Several recreation centers, dispensaries, cultural centers, a sports complex, children's camps remain on the balance of the company, and all employees can use them. A lot of attention is paid to vocational training and career growth for everyone who wants to connect their lives with the plant.
Official information
In September 2016, Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant received a new director, it was Anatoly Petrovich Shchetinin, for whom the plant is a native enterprise. Here he began his career with the position of master of the bottling shop, and since 2001 he worked as deputy head of the management of Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant OJSC, after which he replaced several senior positions at Mechel holding production facilities. He has a scientific degree of candidate of technical sciences.
The Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant has the following address: 2nd Paveletskaya Street, Building 14. Phone: (3512) 24-46-61.