MECHEL RETAINS LEADERSHIP AMONG RUSSIAN HARDWARE PRODUCERS
Moscow, Russia – March 18, 2010 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading
Russian mining and metals companies, announces that according to the report
released by Prommetiz, Russian association of hardware producers, in January and
February, 2010 Mechel’s steel division plants retain their leading position
among Russian hardware producers which are the members of the association. The
plants became leaders in the sphere in the end of 2009.
In early March, Russian association of hardware producers “Prommetiz” released
an analytical survey on hardware market development in Russia, revealing that
after the first two months of 2010 Mechel keeps holding its leading position in
hardware production in Russia. According to the survey in January and February
2010 the two plants of Mechel’s steel division - Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant
ОАО (BMK OAO) and Vyartsilya Metal Products Plant ZAO (VMZ ZAO) jointly produced
more hardware than any other Russian companies – members of Prommetiz
association.
In January members of Prommetiz association produced 105.6 thousand tonnes of
hardware, and 119.6 thousand tonnes in February. Thus, the growth rate makes
13.2%.
Having gained the first position in the end of 2009, in the beginning of 2010
Mechel remains Russian leader in hardware production. In January and February
Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant OAO produced over 64.5 thousand tonnes of hardware
and Vyartsilya Metal Products Plant ZAO’s output volume made above 17 thousand
tonnes of hardware. In addition to BMK OAO and VMZ OAO, which are the members of
Prommetiz association, there is one more hardware manufacturing plant in
Mechel’s steel division – Izhstal OAO. In the first two months of 2010 Izhstal
produced 5.6 thousand tonnes of hardware.
Prommetiz Association is the largest and most comprehensive Russian organization
which provides data and analytical surveys about hardware markets. The largest
hardware producers of Russia are the members of this organization.
Vladimir Polin, Mechel OAO’s Senior Vice-President, noted: “Due to the positive
results of Mechel’s trading companies and effective cost-cutting program we
successfully restored our plant’s capacity utilization that allowed us to get
leading positions on the market of high margin hardware products in 2009 and
hold these positions in 2010. This once again confirms that our reasonable
strategy of steel division development makes significant opportunities for
growth”.
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Mechel OAO
Ekaterina Videman
Phone: + 7 495 221 88 88
ekaterina.videman@mechel.com
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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, 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.