Ukraine’s Metinvest Jan-Sept steel output up 13% on year

Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest steel and mining group, saw steel output over January-September rise 13% year on year to 6.933 million mt.

Metinvest said Nov. 3 it increased production of steel, pig iron and rolled steel after it acquired Dniprovskiy Metallurgy Plant (DMK), one of the largest metallurgy plants in Ukraine, in July 2021. The group started consolidation of production data of DMK in its reports from August.

The company controls Ilyich, Ukraine’s No. 2 steelmaker, Azovstal, the No. 3 steelmaker and DMK, the No. 6 steelmaker.

Over January-September, Ilyich increased output of steel 7% on the year to 3.202 million mt, Azovstal produced 3.346 million mt, up 6% and DMK produced 340,000 mt of steel in August-September.

Metinvest is a vertically integrated group that owns massive iron ore, coking coal mining and steel smelting assets.

Metinvest’s production of rolled steel over January-September increased 23% to 5.345 million mt, up from 4.359 million mt in January-September 2020, but output of pig iron rose 11% to 7.056 million mt.

In the Q3, Metinvest produced 2.575 million mt of steel, up 16% in comparison with 2.229 million mt produced in the Q2.

Metinvest produced 2.651 million mt of pig iron in the Q3, up 18% from 2.254 million mt in the Q2, and production of rolled steel rose 2% to 1.863 million mt in the Q3 from 1.819 million mt in the Q2, the group said.

Metinvest is the world’s No. 7 producer of iron ore and accounts for about 60% of Ukraine’s overall iron ore output. The group controls three major Ukrainian iron ore producers: Pivnichniy HZK, Tsentralniy HZK and Inhuletskiy HZK.

The company’s output of iron ore concentrate and pellets rose 4% on the year to 23.678 million mt from 22.817 million mt produced in January-September 2020.

At the same time, production of coke fell 3% on the year to 3.461 million mt from 3.583 million mt.

Among overseas assets, Metinvest owns Ferriera Valsider and Metinvest Trametal plants in Italy, Spartan UK in the United Kingdom and Promet Steel AD in Bulgaria. Metinvest also owns United Coal Company (UCC), the sixth-biggest coal mining company in the US.

In January-September, Metinvest increased output of coal concentrate at its US-based coal mines by 80% to 4.055 million mt.

UCC is a producer of coking and steam coal located in the Central Appalachian region of the US.

— Alexander Bor