The steel output of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) went up by 7% in the first quarter of 2010, so the figures reached 2,732,000 tons. In addition, the enterprise’s commodity output rose by 5% and amounted to 2,453,000 tons. Also, the amount of high-value-added goods produced by the company increased by 5%, even though such goods still make up 30% of MMK’s entire product range. ‘MMK keeps building up on the heavy plate production using the Mill 5000. For one, we manufactured 176,000 tons of heavy plate in the first quarter of 2010 alone, which was 35% better than in the last quarter

‘Once Avtoland Holding’s license hasn’t been renewed and the company can no longer represent Land Rover or Jaguar in Yekaterinburg, we have been getting considerably more customers. For one, the number of car owners who need the services of Krasnolesye car center has recently gone up by 1.5 times,’ Krasnolesye’s After-Sales Manager Alexander Koryukin informed UrBC. Koryukin said the earliest appointments with the mechanics dealing with these particular brands were only available in May 2010. ‘After Avtoland Holding had stopped being these brands’ official dealer, some of Land Rover and Jaguar

Finnair’s flights from Yekaterinburg to Helsinki and back were cancelled on Friday because of the ash cloud produced by a volcanic eruption in Iceland. Koltsovo Airport’s announcement board stated that the arrival of flight ERJ-190 in Yekaterinburg that was scheduled for 5.55 AM (3.55 AM Moscow time) and the flight’s departure on 6.50 AM (4.50 AM Moscow time) to Helsinki had been cancelled. The airline explained that the flights were called off because the volcanic eruption in Iceland had made it impossible to fly above Northern Europe. The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano located

The net profit of RTI, the Urals-based rubber goods plant, decreased by 47.492 million RUR, or 721.4% over one quarter. The figures plunged from 6.583 million RUR worth of profit in the third quarter of 2009 to 40.909 million RUR worth of losses in the last quarter of 2009. The plant says this increase in net loss in the last quarter against the previous quarter of 2009 had to do with the way the figures were presented after the tax officials’ inspections in 2006-2007, with the seasonal drop in revenues, and with the increased heating expenses in winter.

The turnover of foreign goods handled by Yekaterinburg Customs in the first quarter of 2010 amounted to $1.6bn. The share of goods exported to or imported from the far abroad comprised 85.5% of the total foreign turnover volume, or $1.3bn. The share of goods delivered to or from the CIS reached 14.2%, or $221.1, the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration reports. Imported goods came to 21.6% of the foreign trade turnover volume, or $336.6m, the share of exported goods came to 78.4%, or $1.2bn. The freight turnover reached 829,500 tons in the first quarter of 2010. 62.9% of goods (or

Novolipetsk Iron & Steel Works (NLMK) produced 6% less steel in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the last quarter of 2009 and reached 2.8 million tons. The enterprise’s production of finished goods also dropped by 6% and amounted to 2.8 million tons, NLMK stated in its quarterly report for January-March 2010. In addition, NLMK’s cast iron sales shrank by 59.6% in the last quarter of 2009. On the whole, however, the company sold 2.8 million tons of finished goods in the first quarter of 2010, which was 1% than in the last quarter of 2009. Among these goods were 1 million tons of