Volkswagen is considering buying rolled steel from Russia’s Severstal Group for its European plants, Severstal’s press office told the Prime-Tass news agency.
A group of Volkswagen’s representatives visited the Russian company on Wednesday for talks on sample supplies of Severstal’s products.
The negotiations resulted in Severstal and Volkswagen reaching an agreement on future cooperation. The first samples are to be supplied soon.
Volkswagen’s annual demand for cold-rolled steel sheet amounts to 400,000 tonnes. The company is considering the acquisition of a large amount of cold-rolled steel sheet from Severstal.
Currently Severstal is holding negotiations on exporting its rolled stock with a number of the world’s leading auto producers.
Severstal Group is a large Russian industrial holding that comprises steelmakers, automobile producers, mining enterprises, raw material producers and other companies. Severstal is the leading enterprise of the group.
In 2004 Severstal’s rolled stock output rose 5.5% on the year to 9.3 million tonnes, while investments in production amounted to 13.5 billion rubles.