Alchevsk Coke Launches Coke Battery.

The company (ALKZ: SELL) launched a new coke battery on Friday with an annual capacity of 1m mt. ALKZ’s controlling shareholder, the Industrial Union of the Donbass, which also owns Alchevsk Iron & Steel (ALKZ: HOLD), Dnipropetrovsk Pipe (DTRZ: BUY) and other steel plants, invested around $260m in the new battery. Eugene Cherviachenko: Alchevsk Coke has extended its coke capacity to 3.6m mt a year, which puts it second in Ukraine by installed capacity after Avdiyivka Coke (AVDK: BUY). ALKZ focuses on domestic deliveries to IUD steel smelters. The upgrade is part of a large-scale (~$3.6 bn by 2010) modernization program for all IUD’s steel assets in Ukraine.