MECHEL REPORTS OPENING CEREMONY FOR QUALITY STEEL PRODUCING COMPLEX AT
CHELYABINSK METALLURGICAL PLANT

Chelyabinsk, Russia — March 01, 2012 – Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the
leading Russian mining and metals companies, reports that a ceremony was held to
launch the first line of Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s universal rolling
mill — a complex producing quality steel. JSC Russian Railways’ President
Vladimir Yakunin, Chelyabinsk Region’s Governor Mikhail Yurevich, Chelyabinsk’s
City Administration Chief Sergei Davydov and other guests attended the ceremony.
JSC Russian Railways’ President Vladimir Yakunin, Chelyabinsk Region’s Governor
Mikhail Yurevich, Russian Industry and Trade Ministry’s Basic Industries
Department Director Viktor Semenov, Chelyabinsk Region’s Chief Federal Inspector
Artyom Pushkin, Chelyabinsk’s City Administration Chief Sergei Davydov, JSC
Russian Railways’ Vice-President for Infrastructure Vladimir Vorobyov and Head
of South Urals Railway (JSC Russian Railways’ branch) Viktor Popov visited
Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant as part of a working trip.
After the ceremony’s official part, Mechel OAO’s Chairman of the Board of
Directors Igor Zyuzin, JSC Russian Railways’ President Vladimir Yakunin and
Chelyabinsk Region’s Governor Mikhail Yurevich cut the symbolic ribbon and
launched the complex producing quality steel which will be used to manufacture
rails among other products. It includes blooming concaster # 5 with an annual
capacity of 1 million tonnes,  two-position ladle-furnace #4 with an annual
capacity of 1.2 million tonnes of steel, and a two-chamber vacuum degasser with
an annual capacity of 650 thousand tonnes which were launched for hot testing in
December 2011. All of the complex’s facilities are equipped with modern
environment-friendly technology — a circuit water-supply cycle and dust-gas
filtering systems.
The delegation also toured the site for the second line of the long rail
production complex — the universal rolling mill itself — to see the progress of
the construction, including the reheating furnace, the rolling mill line, the
rail treatment area, the rollshop complex and the rail-welding installation
which will weld the 100-meter rails into 800-meter strings.
Investment in the entire rail- and beam-producing complex will total some 853.9
million dollars.
JSC Russian Railways’ President Vladimir Yakunin hailed the launch of the
quality steel producing complex as a vivid event in the cooperation between
Russian Railways and Mechel OAO. “This is a serious step forward toward
expanding the partnership of the two companies, the drive to achieve new results
not only in business, be it transport or steelmaking, but certainly for the
development of the entire Russian economy,” Vladimir Yakunin stressed.
“It is very important for us that the plant is becoming very modern. We are glad
that great funds are being invested in Chelyabinsk Region’s development. I am
absolutely sure that once the plant’s modernization is fully complete, the plant
will be on a par with the world’s leading producers, and we will be getting more
jobs and taxes, which is very important,” Chelyabinsk Region’s Governor Mikhail
Yurevich noted.
 “The quality steel production complex was constructed as part of setting up a
new technological production chain of long rails at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical
Plant — from making steel to rolling and thermal treatment. The complex’s units
will enable the plant to produce high-quality billets for the universal rolling
mill, which will have all the qualities required to produce 100-meter rails of
high resistance to wear, contact endurance and reliability in low temperatures.
These parameters are especially important considering the climatic specifics of
rail use in most of Russia’s territory,” Mechel OAO’s Chairman of the Board of
Directors Igor Zyuzin noted.
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Mechel OAO
Ekaterina Videman
Tel: + 7 495 221 88 88
ekaterina.videman@mechel.com
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Mechel is one of the leading Russian companies. Its business includes four
segments: mining, steel, ferroalloy and power. Mechel unites producers of coal,
iron ore concentrate, nickel, ferrochrome, ferrosilicon, steel, rolled products,
hardware, heat and electric power. Mechel products are marketed domestically and
internationally.
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forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial
performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that
these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may
differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to
the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and
identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned
“Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in our
Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those
contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among
others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and
synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the
ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of
developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment,
volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial
risk management and the impact of general business and global economic
conditions.