MOSCOW, Sept. 6, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces the creation of Mechel Somani Carbon Private Limited, India, set up jointly with India's Somani Group. The joint venture will handle distribution of metallurgical coals on the Indian market.
Mechel Carbon AG, subsidiary of Mechel OAO's mining division Mechel Mining OAO, and Northern Exim Private Limited, which is part of Somani Group, jointly set up Mechel Somani Carbon Private Limited, India. Mechel Carbon AG's share in the joint venture is 51%.
The project's distribution area will be located on India's east coast, 20 kilometers from India's major port of Vizag, in an industrially developed region. Within several years, other distribution areas are planned to be established, which is expected to have a positive impact on the overall sales volumes.
Mechel OAO's Vice-President for Commercial Activities Mikhail Urvantsev commented: "We have been working with Indian consumers of our coals for several years and consider India to be a promising and strategically important market. Until now we have been delivering our products only to large-scale consumers. In setting up this joint venture, we will expand the Indian market for us due to a large number of consumers desiring to acquire smaller-sized shipments of our products."
Mechel is one of the leading Russian companies. Its business includes four segments: mining, steel, ferroalloy and power. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, nickel, steel, ferrochrome, ferrosilicon, rolled products, hardware, heat and electric power. Mechel products are marketed domestically and internationally.
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Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment, volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial risk management and the impact of general business and global economic conditions.