Ukraine-based Zaporizhstal steel mill, which belongs to Metinvest, has posted a significant decline in its production results for the January-August period this year. Obviously, the main reason for the downturn is the continuing war waged by Russia against Ukraine, which has resulted in massive negative impacts on the country’s infrastructure, logistics and the sustainability of the business environment, including in the steel sector.
In early March this year, Metinvest took the decision to put part of the mill’s equipment into hot preservation. Later that month, Zaporizhstal restored operations at its cold rolling line while from April the overall production of the mill was operating at around 50 percent, including the hot rolling lines, as SteelOrbis understands. Given the inaccessibility of Ukraine’s seaports, local steel producers, particularly Metinvest group companies, have been cut off from most of their regular sales outlets and have had to reorganize their logistic routes for both external shipments and raw material supplies
Considering the effects of war on Ukraine’s steel sector, in August Zaporizhstal produced only 145,600 mt of pig iron, down 36.4 percent year on year. The company’s crude steel and finished steel production dropped by 27.8 percent and 26.6 percent respectively, to 94,400 mt and 74,700 mt. Most of the finished steel was sold to the European markets in small lots, while some of the BPI cargoes were destined for distant markets.
In the January-August period, Zaporizhstal produced 1.1 million mt of crude steel and 981,600 mt of finished steel, down by 41.7 percent and 43.7 percent, respectively. The mill's BPI output decreased by 48.3 percent year on year to around 1,4 million mt, the official statement said.