Dmitry Chernyshenko and Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Ricardo Cabrisas visited the Jose Marti Antillana de Acero iron and steel mill to attend the opening ceremony for the electric arc furnace workshop
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of the Republic of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas visited the Jose Marti Antillana de Acero iron and steel mill, where he took part in the opening ceremony for the electric arc furnace workshop. The visit took place as part of the 20th meeting of the Russian-Cuban Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. The project is an example of effective cooperation between Russia and Cuba and evidence of the far-reaching capabilities of Russia’s metallurgy and engineering.
“We reviewed our cooperation at the government commission meeting today, including industrial projects, and became even more convinced that joint projects open up bright prospects for us. It is important to note that our cooperation goes beyond the supply of Russian products; it also includes opening assembly plants in Cuba. The project to upgrade and expand the Jose Marti Antillana de Acero iron and steel mill has been a priority initiative of bilateral cooperation. I would like to note that over the past 25 years, this has been the first extensive project in the Cuban metallurgical sector. Investment in this project has exceeded $95 million, and the new workshop will provide jobs for at least 500 people. The production capacity of the electric arc furnace workshop we are opening today will be 220,000-230,000 tonnes of liquid steel per year. I am sure that this facility will not be the only major Russian-Cuban project on this scale,” Dmitry Chernyshenko said.
The modernisation of the plant includes two phases. The electric arc furnace workshop (first stage) and a rolling workshop (second stage) are to be launched during the first phase; this should make the plant fully operational. During the second phase, the rolling mill 300 will be upgraded and the plant’s repair shops renovated.
Dmitry Chernyshenko took part in the opening ceremony of the electric arc furnace workshop
According to General Director of Industrial Engineering Vladimir Velichko, most of the technologies and equipment involved in the project are Russian.
“This project is unique because more than 90 percent of all equipment supplied [to Cuba] was made in Russia using Russian technologies. More than 20 major Russian manufacturers from Kaliningrad to the Urals participated in the project,” Vladimir Velichko said.
Following the event, Dmitry Chernyshenko and Ricardo Cabrisas presented letters of commendation to the best workers at the plant.
