By KYIV. May 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Metinvest in January-March of this year reduced steel production by 75% compared to the same period last year – to 491,000 tonnes, according to a press release from the parent company Metinvest B.V..
According to it, the production of cast iron also decreased by 75% – to 448,000 tonnes, coke – by 59%, to 318,000 tonnes, including commercial coke increased by 1% – to 213,000 tonnes.
At the same time, it is specified that in the current year, steel and pig iron were smelted at Kamet Steel. In connection with the large-scale Russian military aggression against Ukraine, Metinvest decided to suspend the production activities of a number of its enterprises in Mariupol, Avdiyivka and Zaporizhia, including Azovstal, Illich Steel Mill, Avdiyivka Coke Plant and Zaporizhia Coke Plant. Later Zaporizhia enterprises of the group resumed their production. In turn, the assets of the group’s enterprises in Mariupol and Avdiyivka suffered because of hostilities, while the city of Mariupol is currently temporarily occupied.
It is also reported that the Ukrainian enterprises of the group, except for those located in Mariupol and Avdiyivka, continue to work with different levels of workload, taking into account safety factors, the availability of electricity, as well as logistical and economic factors.
In the first quarter of 2023, pig iron production increased by 66% compared to the previous quarter, mainly due to an increase in the working hours of both blast furnaces in operation at Kamet Steel after an emergency shutdown of the plant due to a power outage at the end of November, with a gradual resumption of work in December, as well as stabilization of the situation with the supply of electricity from the end of January. As a result, steel production increased by 96% compared to the previous quarter.
The indicators for the production of iron and steel in the first quarter of 2023 are 75% less than in the same period last year due to the shutdown of Mariupol plants from the end of February 2022, as well as the transition to work with two blast furnaces, instead of three, at Kamet Steel.
