There are three stages in the post-Soviet history of Ural metallurgy:
* 1991-1994 - adaptation to market conditions, search for sources of raw materials and sales markets, accumulation of working capital.
* 1994-2003 - formation of vertically integrated companies and their development.
* since 2003 - modernization of enterprises within vertically integrated companies.
Restructuring and the transition to market conditions led to a 2-fold reduction in production at the Ural metallurgical enterprises. The Nizhniy Tagil and Orsko-Khalilovsky plants went bankrupt. Some enterprises went through bankruptcy proceedings several times. The privatization and corporatization of the enterprises of the Ural metallurgy were completed in 1992-1994. In the late 1990s - early 2000s, vertically integrated structures began to form around large enterprises, including all stages of a closed technological cycle. In addition to the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine, the MMK Group includes: the Magnitogorsk Hardware, Metallurgical, and Calibration Plants; the Mechel group united the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, Yuzhuralnickel, Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant, Izhstal, and Korshunovsky Mining and Processing Plant; NTMK and Kachkanarsky Mining and Processing Plant, together with the West Siberian and Kuznetsk metallurgical plants, entered Evraz-holding; Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk Novotrubny Plants were merged into the ChTPZ Group; copper smelters became part of UMMC and Russian Copper Company; aluminum - Rusal and SUAL, united in 2007.
The main directions of development of ferrous metallurgy in the Urals in the market conditions were the reconstruction of blast furnaces with optimization of the profile and process control systems, the replacement of open-hearth furnaces with oxygen converters and electric furnaces, the widespread introduction of out-of-furnace steel processing, evacuation of steel before casting, as well as an increase in the share of continuous casting of steel. From 1985 to 2000, the share of the Ural steel smelted by the open-hearth method decreased from 78.2% to 46.9%; the share of converter steel in the same period increased from 15% to 46.9%, the share of continuously cast steel - from 1.2% to 33.1%. The share of electric steel in the same period remained at the level of about 6-7%.
After the reconstruction and launch of new capacities, about 85% of the Ural steel was produced at the 4 largest metallurgical plants: MMK (39.1% of the total steel volume in 2006), NTMK (17.6%), Mechel (15.2% ), and Ural steel (11.4%).
In the late 20th - early 21st century, the Ural metallurgical plants are developing taking into account the interests of holding structures. The main directions of development are the automation of production and the minimization of costs. Key investment development projects are the reconstruction of the converter shop and the construction of a pulverized coal injection unit at NTMK in 2010-2012, the launch in 2010 of the "Vysota 239" large-diameter pipe production shop at ChTPZ, as well as the launch in 2009 of Mill-5000 at MMK, which supplies workpieces including for the new ChelPipe workshop. By 2014, the share of Ural steel processed by the out-of-furnace method and poured at the continuous casting machine was brought to 100%.
In 2008, the Ural plants produced 43.1% of all-Russian pig iron, 43.4% of steel, 43.4% of rolled products, 46.4% of pipes, 47.9% of hardware, 72.8% of ferroalloys, about 80% of bauxite, 60% of alumina, 36% of refined copper, 100% of titanium and magnesium alloys, 64% of zinc, 15% of lead, and 8% of aluminum. The largest contribution to the metallurgy of the region is made by enterprises of the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk Oblasts. As of 2013, the contribution of the Ural enterprises was estimated at 38% of steel and rolled products and about 50% of steel pipes.