«Metinvest has restructured its exports... and found new markets sales thanks to the opening of sea ports, says chief operating officer Alexander Mironenko.
“At first we exported through Poland to the north, to the ports of Gdansk, Swinoujscie and others,” he said Ukrainian business magazine The Page. “There was also a logistics chain to the south, reaching the Romanian port of Constanta.”
“We primarily export iron ore to China, and iron ore and metals to Europe. Now we are even working with markets in Northern Europe, where we have never exported before - to Finland and a little to Sweden,” Mironenko said.
“They [clients from Northern Europe] became a challenge because the clients there are very demanding and require very high quality products. Therefore, we also started producing new types of products with a higher iron content,” he added.
According to him, 2024 was quite difficult, since Metinvest did not expect such a drop in prices, which are now 30– 40% below forecast.
“In steel production, the group managed to keep five blast furnaces in working order - three at Zaporizhstal and two at Kametstal - and the entire range of rolled products. These factories reached approximately 75% of their capacity compared to the pre-war period. Taking into account the destruction of factories in Mariupol, Metinvest’s steel production is now about 35-40% of the pre-war level,” Mironenko noted.
Kallanishnotes that Ukrainian steel producers support these production volumes thanks to the resumption of maritime exports.
“We started the year with fairly modest production expectations of about 1 million tons/month of iron ore,” said Mironenko. “However, the stable operation of the ports ensured steady demand from Ukrainian metallurgists, and by the end of the year we reached 1.6–1.7 million tons/m. This represents 40–50% capacity compared to 2021. Currently, three mining and processing plants of the group are operating.”
The company was forced to suspend the operation of the Ingulets iron ore plant due to high tariffs for imported electricity during the power outages. Given the specifics of the production chain and high energy costs, maintaining operation has become ineffective, Mironenko continued.
“Central Iron Ore and Northern Iron Ore are working quite well. Southern Iron Ore has been hit hard by power restrictions caused by missile attacks in Ukraine, forcing us to balance our consumption,” he said. “We just suspended some of the equipment there.”
