Rustavi Metallurgical Plant

The decision to build a large metallurgical enterprise in Rustavi was made by the USSR government in 1940 . Initially, the construction site was one of the outskirts of Tbilisi and the enterprise was called the Transcaucasian Metallurgical Plant (ZMK). Construction began in 1941 , but in connection with the war it was interrupted and it was decided to build in Rustavi. In 1944, construction was resumed and in 1947, the plant partially came into operation. The first steel was released in 1950.

The raw material base of the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant was Tkvarcheli and Tkibuli coking coals , Dashkesan iron ore , Chiatura manganese ore , refractory raw materials , fluxes and other raw materials for ferrous metallurgy . During the years of Soviet power, the plant produced coke , sinter , cast iron , steel , finished steel , hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel pipes ^[1] .

The Rustavi Metallurgical Plant during the years of Soviet power had the following maximum production indicators for a year ^[2] :

• 620,000 tons of coke ;
• 1 200 000 tons of agglomerate ;
• 1,450,000 tons of steel ;
• 700,000 tons of cast iron ;
• 500,000 t seamless pipes;
• 130,000 tons of sheet metal ;
• 130,000 tons of long products ;
• 1,200,000 tons of pipe billet.

At the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant, the main production capacities were ^[2] :

• Sinter plant with a nominal annual capacity of 2.2 million tons;
• Blast furnace with a nominal annual output of 0.725 million tons;
• coke oven batteries with a nominal annual capacity of 0.35 million tons;
• open-hearth furnaces , each of 200 tons, with a nominal annual output of 1.5 million tons;
• Mill 1000 ( blooming ), with a nominal annual capacity of 1.5 million tons;
• 900/750 blanking mill with a nominal annual capacity of 1.0 million tons;
• Seamless pipe mill “140”, with a nominal annual capacity of 120,000 tons;
• Automatic machine of seamless pipes "400", with a nominal annual capacity of 350,000 tons;
• Cold pipe drawing workshop with annual output of 50,000 tons;
• Rebar mill “320”, with a nominal annual capacity of 160,000 tons ^[2] .

In the early 1990s, due to the collapse of the USSR, production at the plant was stopped. In 1999, the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant was almost completely stopped.

Since the 1990s belonged to Badri Patarkatsishvili .

In 2006, a certain Anglo-Georgian private company acquired a full stake in the plant and then the difficult process of restoration of the plant began ^[3] .

In 2009, induction heaters were installed in the steelmaking shop of the plant, as well as the long products shop was repaired and they began to produce fittings ^[4] .

Since January 2012, the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant was managed and owned by Rustavi Steel LLC, a new legal entity whose purpose was to revive the tradition of steel production in Rustavi. The new management team of Rustavi Steel LLC, headed by Indian citizen Faruk Sidiki, has embarked on a large-scale reconstruction and development to create a modern steel mill that will produce high-quality products for customers in Georgia and around the world.

In December 2012, 300 workers at a metallurgical plant went on strike , which were caused by poor working conditions at the plant and low wages ^[5] .

In 2013, it became known that steel at the plant is produced under the supervision of Russian consultants from well-known Russian companies ^[6] .

• from 2012 to the present Time - Farouk Sidiki

• Official site