The hot-rolling mill 2000 automatic control system is being restored at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK). The spokesperson for the enterprise says upgrading the automatic control system is part of the complex modernization process of the hot rolling mill itself. The system is two-fold: the basic equipment responsible for immediate control of various mechanisms was made by Siemens, while the second-level numerical schemes were designed by AGIKA (Italy). The first-level equipment has been almost fully replaced by now; the schemes will have been upgraded by May 2008 - and all this without any production stoppage. The cost of renovation comes to about (12m, and the project is expected to pay off in about 2.2 years, which means that its profitability can be estimated at some (6m a year. Hot-rolling mill 2000, launched in 1994, is MMK’s most productive facility. Last year, its output amounted to more than 5.5 million tons of hot-rolled sheets. The company’s management decided to raise its capacity to 6 million tons, which required putting up the fourth heating furnace, improving on the mechanical equipment, and upgrading the automatic control system.