Ukraine’s steel production indicated a nosedive in 2022 due to the negative impacts directly connected with Russia’s military invasion of the country which started on February 24 last year.
The destruction of Azovstal, the capture of Ilyich SW, in addition to the mills seized by Russia after 2014 have definitely impacted Ukraine’s steel industry as a whole. The activities of the remaining Ukrainian mills were seriously undermined by war-related logistic issues, namely, the almost non-existent access to Ukrainian sea ports, decreases in usage of river transportation, and the necessity to re-route steel exports and raw material imports through Europe. In addition, Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, mainly in the second half of 2022, caused disruptions in electricity supply and affected steel production activities.
As a result, in 2022 Ukraine lost 15.1 million mt of its steel output and produced only around 6.3 million mt. The pig iron production dropped 3.3-fold to 6.39 million mt, while finished steel production decreased 3.6-fold to 5.35 million mt.