The ongoing crisis in Ukraine’s metallurgy industry aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect the production results of Ukrainian steel mills. Besides rising protectionism in the traditional export destinations for Ukraine, oversupply in the global steel market, weak prices and reduced steel demand, Ukranian steel producers are hit by high tariffs, specifically for cargo freights, higher electricity costs, increased rent and restrictions on import of raw materials. As a result, in the first half of the current year, Ukraine-based mills produced 10.104 million mt of crude steel, down 7.6 percent year on year, while the country’s output of pig iron in the given period amounted to 9.977 million mt, falling by 2.6 percent year on year, according to Ukrmetallurgprom. Meanwhile, finished steel production in the January-June period this year decreased by 4.7 percent year on year to 9.028 million mt. The output of iron ore agglomerate in the given period amounted to 15.74 million mt, down 0.4 percent year on year.
As of July 10, Ukraine had 18 blast furnaces operational out of a total of 21. Additionally, 14 out of 16 oxygen converters, five out of 15 EAFs and 15 out of 17 continuous casting machines (CCM) were operational.