http://www.interfax.com/3/310037/news.aspx
*MMK, St. Petersburg sign component factory deal* ST. PETERSBURG. Sept 5 (Interfax) - Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) (RTS: MAGN) and the City of St. Petersburg signed a cooperation deal on September 5 regarding the construction by the Russian steel major of an automobile component plant and the opening of a metals service center. Valentina Matviyenko, the St. Petersburg governor, and MMK chief Viktor Rashnikov signed the agreement. The city's economic development committee said that MMK planned to invest more than 3 billion rubles in the metals service center and a plant to produce stampings and that production would be launched in the middle of 2010. The plant will make components for Ford, Toyota, General Motors and Nissan, which have or plan to build car factories in Russia. The plant will also supply steel to appliance makers in Russia and abroad, such as Bosch and Electrolux. MMK bought owns 75% of St. Petersburg's CJSC Intercos-IV, a large manufacturer of large-sized tooling for the automotive industry, for $20 million in August. Intercos-IV was established in 1992 by a group of individuals that were official suppliers of Ford Europe, Ford Russia and Volkswagen. The company supplies its products to many car plants in Russia and the CIS. Intercos-IV will be the project investor. The complex could be built at a 40-hectare site within the Izhora Works industrial zone. The center will initially be processing 125,000 tonnes of metal, rising to 300,000 tonnes in time. Viktor Rashnikov said at the signing ceremony that MMK planned to raise commercial output 8.85% in 2007. "We expect to produce 1 million tonnes more commercial metal," he said, adding that the company produced 11.3 million tonnes in 2006. Rashnikov said MMK planned to sell 65% of its steel in Russia this year. pr [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
