The Belarusian steel mill BMZ has been increasing its production output month by month, Director General of Belarusian steel mill BMZ, the managing company of the Belarusian Metallurgical Company Holding Aleksandr Sakovich told the media. Belarusian Prime Minister Aleksandr Turchin visited the plant on 30 July during a working trip to Gomel Oblast, BelTA has learned.

The agenda includes touring the production facilities, analyzing the current situation, and discussing pressing issues. As Aleksandr Sakovich noted, the plant is operating in a challenging market environment with intense competition due to high volumes of global steel production.

“Despite the challenging conditions, the company continues to grow. Month by month, BMZ is increasing its production output. To look at the numbers, we smelted 122,000 tonnes in May and around 133,000 tonnes in June. For July, we are approaching 140,000 tonnes. This is a robust growth dynamic, and we are moving forward,” the BMZ director general said.

As for financial performance, the company turned a profit on sales in June for the first time in 2026. The return on sales stood at 1.4%, which enabled the plant to achieve a balanced cash flow and meet its obligations without relying on additional funding sources.

Innovations are being introduced across the board. “The uniqueness of BMZ lies in its status as an accredited research institution, and this work is pursued very seriously,” Aleksandr Sakovich noted, adding that around 170 scientific, R&D, and other projects are currently underway. Furthermore, solutions that were impossible for many years are now being put into practice. As an example, he cited strip steel products currently undergoing testing at major engineering enterprises in Belarus and Russia. The company is also exploring new avenues to capture high-margin niches in the global market.

“The head of state outlined the main task: the company must remain operational and sell its products,” the BMZ director general said. “We are increasing production volumes and expanding our footprint in export markets.”

Deputy Head of the Technical Department at BMZ Vadim Belash added that innovative products account for 31.8% of the company’s total production output.

BMZ is a major, modern metallurgical enterprise with an annual production capacity of over 2.5 million tonnes of steel. In July, the company reached a major milestone, smelting its 70-millionth tonne of steel since production first began.

Plans are underway to increase the maximum diameter of rolled products from 160 mm to 200–250 mm. This requires upgrading the rolling mill and launching trials, both of which BMZ is scheduled to complete by the end of the year.

Aleksandr Turchin visited Melting Shop No. 1, where the factory’s very first heat of metal took place back in October 1984. Currently, this facility accounts for the lion’s share of the plant’s total steel output.

The prime minister also toured Rolling Shop No. 2, which was commissioned in 2015 with the participation of the head of state. The shop is equipped with a modern bar and wire rod mill featuring a total annual capacity of 700,000 tonnes, with the potential to scale up production to 1 million tonnes per year.

The next stop on the itinerary was Steel Wire Shop No. 2. This facility forms part of the plant’s metalware production unit, manufacturing the steel cord supplied to leading global automotive tire brands.

Following his tour of the plant, the prime minister chaired a working meeting to review BMZ’s performance under current conditions and evaluate its outlook amid the existing market environment.

“Our task is to ensure the efficient operation of BMZ, generating a positive financial return so that the enterprise can remain viable and continue to grow,” he said.

According to him, the state will support BMZ provided that the company itself makes every effort to operate efficiently. “There will be no simple handouts. Resources can only be allocated for a concrete project and a concrete result. If such projects exist, we are ready to discuss them today and make a corresponding decision,” Aleksandr Turchin noted.