Russia’s massive missile and drone strikes carried out against Ukraine during January 7-8 have once again endangered not only people, but infrastructure and industries, including the steel sector. Due to the strikes, the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine faced wide power outages and the steel mills in these areas had to deal with disruptions of power supply. However, according to official statements, both mills managed to overcome difficulties, avoiding damage to equipment or long-term shutdowns.
Despite reports about a complete stoppage of Ukraine’s ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih which appeared in media sources, the company itself has rejected these reports, stating that there were indeed disruptions of power supply, but its production sites were not completely down and operations are continuing according to internal technological parameters. Some of the sites stopped working temporarily, but there was no danger to personnel or equipment. ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is one of Ukraine’s main iron ore-based longs and billet producers.
Metinvest’s Zaporizhstal, another impacted steel producer, faced a power outage as well on January 7 and, because of the Russian strikes, some of the mill’s operations have been partially suspended. As of today, January 9, according to sources, Zaporizhstal has been slowly restoring operations using internal power supply as well as gradually recovering power supply from the region. Zaporizhstal is currently the only integrated HRC and CRC steel producer in Ukraine, after another such producer, Mariupol-based Illich SW, was lost to Russia at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Previously, the mill underwent a shutdown following Russia's missile strikes on December 23 and the related power outages.
