By KYIV. Dec 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Metinvest mining and metallurgical group will be able to significantly increase the shipping of iron ore products from its mining and processing plants (GOKs) by sea if the sea corridor in the Black Sea is stable.
“If the corridor operates stably, then there is a possibility that by the end of the first quarter of 2024 the workload of mining and processing plants will increase at the level of 75-80% versus 35-40% in 2022,” said Metinvest CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov in an interview with Forbes-Ukraine.
According to him, after the start of the war, the group managed to build new supply chains and find alternative sources of supply of raw materials for production. For example, previously coke was produced, including at Avdiyivka coke plant, now it is bought in Poland, there are suppliers in Hungary, Italy… This has made it possible to stabilize production at the factories.
The top manager added that the group’s total debt as of June 30, 2023 is about $1.9 billion. The immediate repayment of bonds in 2025 is primarily focused on this. Paying dividends is currently not a priority – debts need to be serviced.
Regarding the situation with imports, Ryzhenkov explained that Metinvest was the largest importer from the United States to Ukraine, since the company’s coal mines where coking coal was purchased are located there. At the same time, the group was the largest exporter from Ukraine to the USA – pig iron was supplied there. Now the proportion has not changed much, since the overall import requirements have decreased significantly due to the loss of operational control over Azovstal, Illich Steel Mill and the shutdown of Avdiyivka Coke Chemical Plant, which is unlikely to need to be rebuilt in the form in which it was. The largest consumers of its coke were Azovstal and Illich mill, the restoration of which is not in question in the foreseeable future.
“We want to restore Azovstal, but it will be a completely different plant,” said the general director, noting that metallurgy will remain part of Mariupol, but will no longer be its basis.
