Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the new casting and rolling complex of the Uzbek Metallurgical Plant in Bekabad, where he familiarized himself with the production of flat rolled products. The entire technological process at the enterprise is managed through a single dispatch center.
Construction of the complex began after the head of state's visit to Bekabad in 2018. $839 million was invested in the project. The production facilities are located on an area of 18 hectares and are designed to meet the growing demand for metal products within the country.
After the enterprise reaches full capacity, the output volume is planned to increase to 2 million tons of products per year. Additionally, the plant will be able to produce about 1.04 million tons of coiled flat rolled products, and the staff will increase to 7 thousand people.
The complex was built using technologies from the Italian company Danieli. One of the key innovations was the integration of a continuous steel casting unit with all production equipment. While operators previously worked with four to five separate control panels, now only three specialists manage the process through a single system.
Automation has also accelerated equipment maintenance: changing main rolls now takes 5–7 minutes without stopping production, compared to the previous 30–40 minutes.
Mirziyoyev noted the need for further implementation of artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency of the enterprise. According to the plant, modernization has already increased net profit from $14 million in 2017 to $23 million in 2025.