Swiss-headquartered company Ferrexpo, whose main interests are in Ukrainian iron ore assets, has announced its production results for December and for 2009.
Accordingly, in 2009, the company registered a 2.8 percent increase year on year in its iron ore production to 28.55 million metric tons, and a one percent rise in its concentrate production to 10.56 million metric tons.
In 2009, Ferrexpo's pellet production from its own raw materials was at the level of 2008, i.e. about 8.61 million mt, while its output of pellets from purchased raw materials decreased by 63.2 percent year on year to 157,000 mt. Ferrexpo's overall pellet output in 2009 amounted to about 8.77 million mt - down three percent year on year.
In December 2009, Ferrexpo's pellet production (from its own raw materials) was at full capacity, registering an increase of 4.3 percent month on month to 762,100 mt. On the other hand, its pellet production from purchased raw materials decreased by 83 percent month on month to 10,400 mt, thus leading to a 2.5 percent decrease month on month in the company's overall December pellet output which amounted to 772,500 mt - up 14.7 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in December 2009, the company's iron ore output went up by 8.8 percent, while its concentrate production increased by 1.8 percent, compared to the previous month. The respective figures in metric tons were 2.66 million and 941,300.