Ukraine-based Zaporizhstal has recently restarted operations at its steel producing unit, following the earlier launched manufacturing of pig iron. The works are being carried out in the frame of the company’s partial withdrawal of the units from hot conservation. According to the shared information, the production chain of Zaporizhstal is working at 40-50 percent of its capacity now. The mill is now operating blast furnaces №s 3 and 4, the steel making unit and the rolling mills with a total of over 5,000 workers involved in the process.
“We were forced to suspend the production and were under hot conservation for almost 33 days. After the military front line was moved away from Zaporizhzhya, we have received an opportunity to restart our production. … First, we restarted the sinter plant and two blast furnaces. Afterwards, we resumed the full cycle operations. The production chain is restored and it is working at 40-50 percent of its capacity,” Oleksandr Myronenko, general director of Zaporizhstal, said.
In addition, according to Metinvest’s general director Yuri Ryzhenkov, the company is seeking to establish new logistic chains and to master production of new products. In particular, the holding is working on new routes to export through the Baltic and Romanian ports. Another point is that Ukraine and Poland have announced the target to create a joint logistics enterprise in order to increase the volume of railway-based transportation of ex-Ukraine exports to the European Union and global markets through European territory. As SteelOrbis reported previously, Ukraine’s ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has already started negotiations with the government of Poland regarding the capacities of the Baltic ports, which are required for the transportation of metallurgical products.