OREANDA-NEWS. Hardware shipments by Zhlobin-based Belarusian Metallurgical Plant (BMZ) stood at 110,261 tonnes in January-March 2014, up 19.3% on the year, an official with the plant told.

In March alone hardware shipments grew 8.2% to 38,463 tonnes.

Metal cord shipments stood at 25,056 tonnes in Jan-Mar 2014, up 23.9%, bead wire - 8,630 tonnes, up 7.2%, brass-coated steel wire for high-pressure hoses - 10,583 tonnes, up 27.1%, steel wire - 64,431 tonnes, up 17.7%.

Rolled steel shipments in Jan-Mar 2014 stood at 362,616 tonnes, up 1.9%; steel pipes - 32,824 tonnes, up 8.1%.

The company's steel output stood at 552,894 tonnes in Jan-Mar 2014, down 16.3%, including rolled steel output 548,317 tonnes, down 3.5%; steel pipes 34,833 tonnes, up 11.2%.

Hardware output totalled 111.54 tonnes, up 1.7%, including metal cord output - 23,057 tonnes, up 1.2%, bead wire - 11,244 tonnes, up 39.4%, brass-coated steel wire for high-pressure hoses - 9,45 tonnes, down 2.7%, steel wire - 67,789 tonnes, down 4.3%.

BMZ steel output amounted to 2.242 million tonnes in January-December 2013, down 16.7% on the year; rolled stock - 2.202 million tonnes (down 0.9%), steel pipes - 129,078 tonnes (up 3.6%).

State-owned company Belarusian Metallurgical Plant was launched in 1984. BMZ exports about 85% of its output. In Jan-Sep 2013 BMZ products were exported to the EU, Russia, the Middle East, Ukraine, the United States, Africa, South Africa. The EU, the Middle East and Russia account for 86.6% of the BMZ's total exports.