AMKR maintains ‘green’ steel focus despite war: ceo

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR) continues to focus on environmentally friendly green metallurgy amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, says company general director Mauro Longobardo.

“Despite the wartime challenges, the enterprise’s course towards the transition to ‘green metallurgy’ remains unchanged,” Longobardo noted at a conference organised last week by Vox Ukraine and the National Endowment for Democracy. “We retained the entire team, despite the utilisation of production capacities last year by only 20%, in order to resume production as soon as possible for the sake of the early start of the post-war restoration of Ukraine.”

AMKR said earlier it plans to invest $130 million this year in modernisation, by implementing the latest production technologies. Special attention will be paid to the construction of a pelletising plant, work on which was suspended due to the war.

In 2022, ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih utilised only 20-25% of production capacity and is now eyeing to reach 50%. At the same time, the steel plant received more than $600 million in financial assistance from the ArcelorMittal Group.

“Now, we have time to prepare well so that we can work hard to increase and stabilise production and implement all capital investment plans,” Longobardo said previously.

Earlier this month, AMKR and Naftogaz Trading Group, which is part of the Naftogaz Group in Ukraine, concluded a new gas supply agreement (see Kallanish passim). AMKR will purchase 200 million cubic meters of natural gas, which roughly covers more than half of the company’s annual need for the fuel. A reliable supply will enable the plant to increase steel production, it said.

Earlier, AMKR said Ukraine’s mining and metallurgical industry is ready to offer more products to Europe, in particular to increase the export of rolled products and billet (see Kallanish passim). According to the company, Russian suppliers are looking for alternative ways to export products to Europe to bypass sanctions, and this situation requires strict control.

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria