Putin Visits MMK to Showcase New 2.5-Million-Ton Coking Battery

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) in the Chelyabinsk region on 16 July, using the visit ahead of Russia’s Metallurgist Day to inspect a recently commissioned coking battery billed as the country’s most powerful. The unit, launched in 2024, can turn out up to 2.5 million tonnes of dry coke a year—enough to cover roughly half of MMK’s needs. Modernization allows the plant to reuse heat from the dry-quenching process for fuel-free power generation, helping cut atmospheric emissions by more than 11,000 tonnes annually and eliminating solid waste. Putin also toured a new mechanical-engineering workshop that aims to produce over 10,000 tonnes of mining- and metallurgy-equipment a year from 2026, part of Russia’s broader import-substitution drive. The president was expected to confer with Chelyabinsk Governor Alexei Texler and visit a local park before concluding the working trip.