In April this year, the production results of Ukrainian integrated steel mills weakened considerably. Besides the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus, the Ukrainian steel industry has been hit by rising protectionism in the global steel market, weaker prices and reduced steel demand in general.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in April this year Ukraine-based mills produced 1.34 million mt of crude steel, down 30.6 percent year on year, while the country’s output of pig iron in the given period decreased by 24.4 percent year on year to 1.39 million mt. Finished steel production in April decreased by 20.7 percent year on year to 1.3 million mt.
In the January-April period this year, Ukraine’s production of crude steel decreased by 10.5 percent year on year to 6.66 million mt, while its pig iron output fell by 7.9 percent to 6.49 million mt. In the given period, Ukraine-based mills produced 5.97 million mt of finished steel products, down 3.4 percent year on year.
As of May 14, Ukraine had 16 blast furnaces operational out of a total of 21. Additionally, 11 out of 16 oxygen converters, six out of 15 EAFs and 15 out of 16 continuous casting machines (CCM) were operational.