Metinvest’s facilities in Ukraine suffered an emergency stoppage due to a lack of power after Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid during the week of November 21, the company said in an announcement on November 28.
“Russian attacks have resulted in a country-wide blackout and many major cities and towns being left without water supply,” the announcement said. “Metinvest, along with all other industrial companies operating in Ukraine, has also been affected, as for the first time since the commencement of the Ukrainian Events [Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine], production across Metinvest’s facilities in Ukraine suffered an emergency stoppage due to the lack of power supply.”
“As of the date of this announcement, all of Metinvest’s affected Ukrainian facilities have resumed operations, except for Kamet Steel [an integrated long steel producer located in Kamianske, in central Ukraine],” the company added. “An assessment of possible damage to the plant’s production facilities following the shutdown and the timing to relaunch output is still ongoing.”
Metinvest also said that a prolonged lack of supply of square billets from Kamet Steel could lead to a disruption of production at Promet Steel, Metinvest’s long steel products re-roller in Bulgaria.
At present, Zaporizhstal Iron & Steel Works in Zaporizhzhia is the only Ukranian steelmaking asset of Metinvest that is operating, but with reduced capacity. According to latest available estimations of Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Metinvest’s chief executive officer, Zaporizhstal was operating with a 50-60% utilization rate before the emergency stoppage. Zaporizhstal is partly owned by Metinvest.
Metinvest’s other two steelmaking assets, Azovstal and Ilyich Steel, are both located in the temporarily occupied port city of Mariupol and halted operations in February due to damage after Russia started its invasion of Ukraine.
The company continues to operate Central GOK and Pokrovske Coal, one of its three iron ore mining and beneficiation plants, which comprises several entities – the most significant of which are Pokrovske Colliery and Sviato-Varvarynska Concentrating Factory.
“Metinvest cannot predict how long Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure could continue,” the company said in its announcement. “Despite the efforts of [the national power company] Ukrenergo power plants’ operators and distribution networks’ specialists to restore power supply, there remain substantial risks that the availability of electricity across the country will continue to deteriorate. As a result, production disruptions across Metinvest’s Ukrainian assets could also take place.”
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the other major steel maker in Ukraine, has stopped steelmaking and rolling operations after another barrage of missile strikes by Russia on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, the company said on Thursday November 24.
Published by: Marina Shulga
