Metalloinvest, a leading global iron ore and hot briquetted iron (HBI) producer based in Russia, has announced its operational results for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2017.
Accordingly, in the fourth quarter, Metalloinvest's iron ore production increased by 0.9 percent quarter on quarter to 10.10 million mt. Its iron ore shipments declined by 4.4 percent compared to the third quarter of the previous year to 2.43 million mt. In 2017, the company’s iron ore production fell by one percent to 40.29 million mt, while its iron ore shipments decreased by 3.2 percent to 10.39 million mt, both compared to the previous year.
Metalloinvest's pellet production and shipment volumes in the given quarter amounted to 6.51 million mt and 3.5 million mt, up three percent and 15.4 percent respectively, both compared to the previous quarter. Meanwhile, for the whole year, the company’s pellet production decreased by 0.4 percent year on year to 25.08 million mt, mostly as a result of scheduled major maintenance works at pellet plants and a change in the pellet assortment in the production structure to meet the requirements of its HBI-3 Plant, and its pellet shipments declined by 11.8 percent to 12.82 million mt compared to 2016.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, Metalloinvest's crude steel production went down by 4.2 percent to 1.16 million mt, while its pig iron output totaled 676,000 mt, up 0.6 percent, both quarter on quarter. Meanwhile, compared to the previous year, in 2017 the company’s crude steel production increased by 2.1 percent to 4.759 million mt, and its pig iron output decreased by 9.3 percent to 2.68 million mt, largely as a result of maintenance and repair works.