Metinvest Purchases Two Rolling Facilities In Europe

The local daily Kommersant reported this morning that System Capital Management’s (SCM) metals & mining wing, Metinvest, purchased two steel rolling facilities, Trametal (Italy) and  Spartan UK (Britain), from Italy’s Malacalza Group. According to Kommersant, Metinvest plans to merge the two plants with its Ferriera Valsider plant and form one holding with a capacity of roughly 1 mln mt of rolled steel per year. Exact terms of deal have not been disclosed and will require the approval of the EU’s Antimonopoly Committee. This move is in line with Metinvest’s plans to increase their exports of semi-finished steel products to Europe and boost their overall amount of rolled steel. The addition of these rolling capacities should provide a boost to Metinvest’s vertically integrated steel-making chain, specifically to the company’s steel mills Enakievo Steel (ENMZ: BUY) and Azovstal (AZST: BUY) by providing their products with increased access to EU markets.