4.10.2007
Brno, October 4, 2007 - At this year's International Engineering Fair in Brno, important negotiations took place between the company EVRAZ VÍTKOVICE STEEL, a.s. and the Finnish ship manufacturer Aker Yards. The negotiations resulted in an agreement on the conditions of a contract to supply shipbuilding plates for 2008. According to the agreement that will be concluded at an early date, the biggest Czech manufacturer of heavy plates, the company EVRAZ VÍTKOVICE STEEL, will become the supplier of shipbuilding plates for the prepared biggest passenger ship in the world of the Genesis class for 8,400 persons.
The first of the two planned ships of the class Genesis - Genesis 1 will be floated in 2009, the other one - Genesis 2 in 2010. These are ships of new generation, which are in terms of their size and costs of production the biggest and the most expensive ones in the whole history of production of commercial ships. The price of each of them amounts to approx. EUR 900 million. The ships will be 360 m long, 47 m wide. The weight of both ships will be 220,000 tons and each of them will accommodate 5,400 passengers and 3,000 crewmembers.
The company EVRAZ VÍTKOVICE STEEL will supply plates for the most strained places of the bottom below the water mark. "As of 1999, we have been supplying shipbuilding plates to our Finnish partners for construction of ships, including the currently biggest cruiser in the world of the class "Freedom" - Liberty of the Seas. The new agreement with the company Aker Yards is hence a logical continuation of cooperation and absolute acknowledgement of the quality of our products," says the chairman of the Board of Directors and chief executive of the company EVRAZ VÍTKOVICE STEEL, a.s., Ing. Vladimír Bail Ph.D.
These days, the biggest cruiser in the world is Liberty of the Seas, which is "only" 339 m long and 39 m wide. Its capacity is 3,600 passengers and 1,400 crewmembers work on the ship.
EVRAZ VITKOVICE STEEL concentrates on the production of steel and steel products - heavy plates, heavy and medium sections, and flame-cut shapes from heavy plates. The company aims to continue increasing the sales of its products with high added value, such as deliveries of plates for pipelines. Thanks to the important support of the Evraz Group and its strong position on the Russian steel market the company has also successfully entered the Russian market of the pipeline industry. In the sphere of plates EVRAZ VITKOVICE STEEL is the main European manufacturer and the dominant manufacturer in the Czech Republic. The most important product of Heavy section rolling mill is sheet piles which represents a 65 % share of the mill's production. The company is the sole manufacturer of this product on the domestic market and holds a 90% market share.
Evraz Group S.A. is one of the largest vertically-integrated steel and mining businesses. In 2006, Evraz Group produced 16.1 million tonnes of crude steel. Evraz Group's principal assets include three of the leading steel plants in Russia: Nizhny Tagil (NTMK) in the Urals region and West Siberian (Zapsib) and Novokuznetsk (NKMK) in Siberia, as well as Palini e Bertoli in Italy, Evraz Vitkovice Steel in the Czech Republic, and Evraz Oregon Steel Mills headquartered in the USA. Its fast-growing mining businesses comprise Evrazruda, the Kachkanarsky (KGOK) and Vysokogorsky (VGOK) iron ore mining complexes, Yuzhkuzbassugol company and an equity interest in the Raspadskaya coal company. The mining assets enable Evraz Group to be a vertically-integrated steel producer. Evraz Group also owns and operates the Nakhodka commercial sea port, in the Far East of Russia. Evraz vanadium operations comprise Strategic Minerals Corporation, USA, and Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation, South Africa.
