On August 17, 2006, the annular heating furnace No. 2 was decommissioned at the wheel tread shop of Integrated Metallurgical Complex of Nizhny Tagil JSC (NTMK JSC, part of Evraz Group). The furnace was heating the billets up before employing them in the wheel manufacturing. The unit had been functioning at the shop over 50 years and was outdated. Within August 17, 2006 the gas supply was cut off, all the service lines were disconnected from the furnace and the sliding shutters were closed. The furnace decommissioning was a scheduled step of the corporate reconstruction program.

The decommissioned furnace of the wheel tread shop will be replaced by a new heating unit produced by LOI firm of Germany. The construction of the unit was started in the spring of 2006. To date, the wheel tread shop keeps functioning; the billets are heated up at the furnace No. 1 that is to be decommissioned at the beginning of 2007, by the moment when the new heating unit shall be run at the planned production capacity.