Oleksandr Myronenko, COO of Ukrainian mining and steel producing group Metinvest, has talked about the company’s performance in 2024, its investments and its future plans to a local business publication.
During 2024, Metinvest has managed to reach new export markets through Polish ports when the company had to reroute its exports through these ports at the beginning of the Russia’s invasion. Metinvest primarily exports iron ore to China, and iron ore and steel to Europe, with Finland and Sweden becoming new sales routes. Also, after the reopening of the ports in Ukraine, it has managed to increase its production at its mining and processing plants.
Mr. Myronenko underlined that 2024 has been an extremely difficult year for the company due to a higher-than-expected decline in prices, which are currently 30-40 percent below expectations. However, it has managed to keep its five blast furnaces at Zaporizhstal and Kametstal operational, with the capacity of its plants reaching about 75 percent compared to pre-war. Additionally, Metinvest’s steel production is now around 35-40 percent of the pre-war levels due to the destruction of Mariupol plants, while its iron ore production reached 1.6-1.7 million mt per month, compared to its expectations of about 1 million mt per month, with the help of steady demand from domestic steelmakers.
Regarding the company’s investments in steel production, he pointed out that Metinvest is considering an upgrade project for Kametstal, which foresees the modernization of the smelter, converter, furnace and casting and rolling units. Also, construction of an iron reduction unit and an electric arc furnace are the other options for the plant. Metinvest will invest $20 million to repair blast furnace No. 9 at Kametstal in 2025. Meanwhile, the Piombino green steel project, which is a joint investment with the Italian government, is scheduled for start-up in 2028. It will demonstrate how Metinvest’s plants in Ukraine will look like in the future. The project will not only allow it the improve the quality of its iron ore from Kryvyi Rih, but also attract investments for its Ukrainian facilities after the war.
Ultimately, the Metinvest official added that the green transformation of Metinvest assets will cost around $8 billion based on preliminary calculations and that these projects will require seven to ten years to implement. Even under an optimistic scenario, the company will not be able to decarbonize all of its domestic plans by 2032-2034.