A new Blast Furnace No. 1 has entered service at Tulachermet, a subsidiary of IMH. The 1,510-cubic-meter facility can produce around 3,500 tons of pig iron daily, delivering an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons.

This asset replaces older machinery on the same site that stopped running for a major overhaul back in 2008. The reconstruction project required an investment exceeding 7.5 billion rubles.

The introduction of the new furnace coordinates with key production adjustments at the plant. Workers restarted Blast Furnace No. 2 in April after completing repairs, and subsequently deactivated Blast Furnace No. 3. This equipment swap raises the plant's overall pig iron smelting capacity by 15% to 20% compared to previous single-furnace operations.