Ferrexpo reduces production of iron ore raw materials in the first quarter of 2021 by 12%
The total production of iron ore pellets by the Swiss mining company with assets in Ukraine amounted to 2.7 million tonnes, which is in line with the year's result compared to the production of pellets in the first quarter of 2020 and 12% below the fourth quarter of 2020, the report said. company.
The sharp drop in production indicators reflects the ongoing work on the modernization of the pellets, explained at Ferrexpo. To date, work has already been completed on one of the pellet lines, further work continues in the second quarter of 2021.
The Group expects total iron ore pellet production capacity to increase by 0.5-1.0 million tonnes per annum upon completion of this work.
Production of high quality pellets (65% Fe and 67% Fe) accounted for 100% of total pellet production in the first quarter of 2021, while in the first quarter of 2020 it did not exceed 97%.
The company also recorded an additional production of 65,000 tonnes of high quality concentrate for sale in the first quarter of 2021 as a result of the commissioning and expansion of the Ferrexpo concentrate warehouse project.
Ferrexpo is a Swiss-based mining company with assets in Ukraine that extracts, refines and markets high-quality iron ore. It has been supplying pellets to the global steel industry for over 40 years. In 2020, the company produced 11.2 million tonnes of iron ore pellets, which is 7% more than in the previous year.
Ferrexpo ranks 3rd in the world for the export of pellets to the global steel industry with a market share of about 9%.