Kazakh iron ore major cuts output in 2005

/REUTERS, Almaty, Tatyana Seroshtanova, January 30, 06/ - Kazakh iron ore giant Sokolov-Sarbai, a key raw materials supplier for the Russian steel industry, cut production to 30.7 million tonnes last year from 35.7 million tonnes in 2004, it said on Monday. It said in a statement that it planned to produce 40.2 million tonnes of iron ore this year. It provided no reason for the fall in 2005 production. The company stopped supplies to Russian steel major MMK for a few months in 2005 due to what media said was a pricing dispute, causing a brief production fall at MMK, located in the Urals just across the border from Sokolov. Kazakhstan's No. 1 iron ore producer also supplies raw materials to Russian steel company Mechel and plans to raise shipments to neighbouring China. [2006-01-30]