Uzbekistan raises steel output 1.7% in first quarter

Interfax April 26 Uzbekistan edged crude steel output up 1.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2006 to 158,313 tonnes, the State Statistics Department said. Roll output grew 2.1% to 153,252 tonnes, including growth of 2% to 122,064 tonnes of sections and bars. The state-owned Uzmetkombinat produces 99% of Uzbekistan's crude steel, and all of the country's roll. It smelts scrap metal and has the capacity to produce 750,000 tonnes of crude steel per year.