By Vladimir Yakovlevsky
Mogilev’s Metallurgical Works recently dispatched its first container of 21 tonnes of cast-iron shot to New Zealand, with a trial lot of split shot previously delivered to France. The customer is pleased with the price and quality; four heavy vehicles of such produce are already dispatched and an order for 300 more tonnes has been received. The company’s clients include firms from the UK, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Holland. Canada is next in line, in addition to other markets where iron shot is used to purify cast and black forging and to strengthen the components of concrete.
In 2010, Mogilev’s Metallurgical Works more than doubled its export supplies of metal shot. It has already outstripped its pre-crisis sales levels. Several years ago, the enterprise certified its produce in Germany in line with the European DIN standard. Secondly, it launched shot size grading, with ten types of split shot — varying in size from 0.1mm to 2.2mm and in surface characteristics. According to European classification, there are 12 types of split and 12 types of round shot. Previously, shot was packed into one tonne packages; now, comfortable 25kg bags are used, laid on trays. Equipment has also been purchased to manufacture steel shot: round and split, which is popular domestically and abroad. This year, MMZ plans to increase its export supplies of shot by more than a third.
The enterprise is also known for its iron hatches, used to lay street service lines. From these, it manufactures dozens of types of welded steel pipes and goods, with around 80 percent exported worldwide (to 17 countries). Last year, there was a 40 percent rise in such supplies. Currently, rolled steel is imported to produce such goods but Belarus plans to attract foreign investments to extract and process iron ore from recently discovered deposits. The second project is to create a flat rolled products line. These two plans will raise the factory’s export potential, so no one will be able to deny our country’s right to be called a major metallurgical power.
