The Mechel group plans to increase production of hot rolled and cold rolled stainless steel products at its Chelyabinsk Iron & Steel Plant (Russia) by 650% till 2011 to 300,000 tonnes per year. The Chelyabinsk plant now produces 15,000tns of cold rolled and 25,000tns of hot rolled products per year. The plans call for expanding production to respectively 200,000tns and 100,000tns. Mr Alexander Malanichev strategic marketing chief of Mechel said that these plans would be realized by modernizing production facilities, expanding the product line and improving quality while reducing costs. He did not say how much the company would spend on updates at the plant, as the group’s investment program to 2011 has not been approved yet.