In a statement, Mechel said the loan, worth about US$5.3 million, will enable a project meant to help meet foreign demand for high-margin products. 

“European and Middle Eastern markets have a stable demand for quality rails, beams and other types of structural (rollings). The plant already has requests for future supplies. As Mechel Group owns a well-developed international service and sales network, we can quickly enter foreign markets with our new products,” Mechel-Steel Management Co. chief executive Andrey Ponomarev said. 

The company said the loan will be put toward new equipment that will allow it to produce to European standards. The project is be completed by the second quarter of 2019. 

Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s universal rolling mill opened in 2013 and is one of Russia’s largest rail and structural facilities, producing rails up to 100 meters in length and nearly 40 profiles. The project is expected to cost RUB1.52 billion, or about US$27.1 million.