Profit, a company that provides Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) with scrap metal, is about to increase its supply to the enterprise.

MMK needs a lot more metal stuffs after switching from the open-hearth process to the electric-furnace steelmaking, so Profit employed a new technological cycle to meet this demand. The project was started in 2004-2005, followed by the launch of a new production facility in 2007 and the introduction of more scrap metal-collecting units in the Russian regions. MMK’s PR Department reports the enterprise was successfully certified for compliance with the international ISO 9001:2000 standards in 2006.

Profit now comprises twenty-four enterprises with over 300 scrap metal-collecting units in Ural, Central, Privolzhskiy, Southern, North Western, and Siberian Federal Districts, while MMK is planning to raise its annual steel output to 16 million tons in a few years’ time.

Last year, Profit delivered 5 million tons of metal stock onto MMK, which exceeded the figures for 2006 by 33%. In addition, 2.7 million tons of metal stock was delivered onto the enterprise in the first half of 2008, which was 10.2% better than a year earlier, and 4.1 million tons of stock was shipped to MMK in January-September 2008. By the end of the year, the figure is expected to reach 5.6 million tons.

In 2007, Profit Group was joined by Vtormetresursy (based in Altai Territory), Novosibirsk Vtorchermet, Profit Nizhniy Novgorod, and Tatmetlom (based in Tatarstan). The Group is now planning to restore several production shops and introduce even more scrap metal-collecting units throughout the country.

Experts believe the Russian market will be consuming 20% more scrap metal each coming year, so Profit’s main challenge at the moment is to keep and build up its share of the market, improve on the quality of produce, and meet MMK’s needs.