From March 1 this year, the Russian steelmaker and iron ore producer Evraz Group (Evraz) may stop operations at its Ukraine-based Sukhaya Balka iron ore mining and processing complex, accusing the Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Industrial Complex, which owns the transport system and access roads to the mine, of blocking its exports to Europe.
Since February 4 this year, Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Industrial Complex has been blocking rail entrances to Sukhaya Balka, causing an overloading of the company's warehouses due to the buildup of undelivered products. Sukhaya Balka's shipments were stopped without any warning. Meanwhile, Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Industrial Complex said that the stoppage of shipments was caused by failure of railway points.
According to the reports, from February 4 to February 16 shipments of 100,000 mt of products from Sukhaya Balka were blocked, as a result of which the company incurred a loss of about UAH 20 million (approx. $2.5 million).