Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine

(full name, V. I. Lenin Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine), the largest ferrous metallurgy works in the USSR and one of the largest in the world. Located in the city of Magnitogorsk, Cheliabinsk Oblast, RSFSR. Part of the Uralo-Kuzbass, a coal and metallurgy base in the Eastern USSR. Construction started in 1929 at the foot of Magnitnaia Mountain. The ore mine was opened on May 15, 1931, the first blast furnace was started up on Jan. 31, 1932, and the first open-hearth furnace was started up on July 8, 1933. The blooming mill was put into operation on July 28, 1933, the continuous billet mill became operational in November 1933, and the 500-model heavy-gauge rolling mill was started up in August 1934. The combine was honored with the prefix V. I. Lenin on Apr. 11, 1970.

The iron ore for the combine comes basically from Magnitnaia Mountain and the Sokolovsko-Sarbaiskii ore-dressing combine (in Kustanai Oblast, Kazakh SSR). The combine includes mining production facilities, a coking department, a sintering plant, a blast-hearth and several open-hearth departments, blooming hot-rolling mills, section hot-rolling mills, sheet hot-rolling mills, and departments for the production of cold-rolling sheet steel, tin plate, galvanized sheeting, enamel-coated and zinc-coated utensils, and refractory materials; there are also auxiliary departments. From 1946 to 1970 the production of pig iron rose by 3.8 times, steel production by 4.3 times, and the rolled steel output by 4.5 times. By December 1971 the combine had produced 173.4 million tons of pig iron, 217.4 million tons of steel, and 170.8 million tons of rolled steel. The combine has made a considerable contribution to the production of ferrous metals in the USSR: in 1971, 11 percent of the Soviet Union’s pig iron, 10.6 percent of the steel, and 10.5 percent of the rolled steel came from the combine. The Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine is one of the most efficient enterprises in this branch of industry. The combine has been awarded two Orders of Lenin (1943 and 1971) and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1945).