Ukraine’s Zaporizhstal, partly belonging to Metinvest holding and for now its sole accessible flats mill, plans to carry out the restart of the blast furnace (BF) No. 3 in August this year. As a result, the company’s capacity utilization rate will increase to 75 percent. “We have two blast furnaces in operation - this is 50 percent of the capacity. Unfortunately, the logistical restrictions still exist for cargo and raw materials deliveries. But in a month or two they should be resolved,” the producer’s CEO said.
Similar to the situation at ArcelorMittal Krviy Rih, Zaporizhstal has been facing a lot of issues with raw materials supply, which is restricted due to the lack of access to Ukraine’s sea ports. “Our main supply line passes through the Ukrainian-Polish border. There are four points where we can transfer goods by our railways,” the CEO mentioned.