OREANDA-NEWS. Metalloinvest, a leading global iron ore and HBI producer and a regional steel producer, today announces its operational results for the second quarter of 2014.

Management comments

In Q2 2014, the Company increased iron ore production1 by 2.6% q-o-q2 to 9.8 mn tonnes

Pellet production amounted to 5.7 mn tonnes in Q2 2014, a decrease of 0.4% q-o-q

In Q2 2014, HBI/DRI production amounted to 1.4 mn tonnes, a decline of 2.0% q-o-q

In Q2 2014, the Company increased shipments of iron ore products to the domestic market by 4.3% q-o-q to 4.0 mn tonnes, mostly due to higher demand from Severstal and Evraz. The Russia and CIS share of the Company's consolidated shipments of iron ore products remained unchanged q-o-q at 58%

In Q2 2014, the Company's shipments to Europe increased by 7.3% q-o-q to 1.5 mn tonnes (or 22% of the Company's consolidated shipments of iron ore products), mostly driven by an increase in supplies to Italy and Czech Republic

Shipments of iron ore products to China and MENA amounted to 0.5 mn tonnes and 0.2 mn tonnes in Q2 2014, a decline of 11.5% q-o-q and 16.4% q-o-q, respectively

In Q2 2014, the Company increased shipments to Asia (excl. China) by 54.5% q-o-q to 0.6 mn tonnes (or 9% of the Company's consolidated shipments of iron ore products), mostly driven by sales to Japanese customers

Mining Segment

In Q2 2014, LGOK increased iron ore concentrate production by 4.1% q-o-q to 5.2 mn tonnes, mostly due to productivity growth and the seasonal factor3

Production of iron ore concentrate at MGOK in Q2 2014 remained at the level of 4.2 mn tonnes. A marginal increase of 0.6% q-o-q was mainly due to changes in conditions of mined ore

LGOK increased pellet production by 0.9% q-o-q to 2.3 mn tonnes in Q2 2014, mainly as a result of the seasonal factor

In Q2 2014, pellet production at MGOK amounted to 2.5 mn tonnes, a decline of 2.3% q-o-q, mainly due to a scheduled increase in maintenance works

LGOK increased HBI production by 2.4% q-o-q to 0.7 mn tonnes in Q2 2014, mainly due to the completion of maintenance works at the HBI-2 Plant

Steel Segment

In Q2 2014, OEMK increased pellet production by 1.6% q-o-q to 1.0 mn tonnes, mostly due to the seasonal factor

In Q2 2014, DRI production at OEMK amounted to 0.7 mn tonnes, a decrease of 6.0% q-o-q, which was caused by scheduled major maintenance works at DRI plants #1 and #2

OEMK increased crude steel production by 0.7% q-o-q to 0.8 mn tonnes in Q2 2014, mostly driven by the seasonal factor

Crude steel production at Ural Steel amounted to 0.3 mn tonnes in Q2 2014, a decline of 29.9% q-o-q, which was mostly driven by scheduled changes at the plant's production facilities

In Q2 2014, Ural Steel increased hot metal production by 5.0% q-o-q to 0.6 mn tonnes, mainly due to a decrease in maintenance works in the blast furnace shop

1 Hereinafter iron ore refers to iron ore concentrate and sintering ore

2 Hereinafter q-o-q represents change in Q2 2014 vs. Q1 2014 (if not stated otherwise)

3 Hereinafter "seasonal factor" refers to an increase in the number of calendar days in Q2 2014 vs. Q1 2014