Alchevsk Steel (ALMK), which had halted works at two of its four blast furnaces during the crisis on the back of a shortage of raw material inputs, intends to re-launch them to full capacity by February 20, Interfax reported, citing the plant’s CEO Taras Shevchenko. He noted iron ore deliveries have resumed, while shipments of coke will start up shortly.

BG Capital: The planned restart of the two blast furnaces indicates Alchevsk has been provided with the necessary funds for raw materials purchases from its new co-owner, a group of Russian investors. We do not foresee further problems with raw materials purchases at Alchevsk, and expect the plant to increase steel output by 17.3% (to 4.3mmt) and rolled product output by 18% (to 3.95 mmt) this year, and will post US$ 1.63bn in net revenues (+27% y/y) and EBITDA of US$ 106.8mn (+71% y/y) in 2010.