ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih Suspends Rolled Steel Production Due to Water Shortage
Commenting on the impact of the Kakhovka Reservoir dam failure on steel production, ArcelorMittal said its supply chain remains "stable", adding that customer satisfaction remains its "top priority". The company is confident that all booked orders will be fulfilled and there will be no inconvenience for customers.
“How quickly the company will be able to return to normal operation will be clear in the next three to four days after analyzing the depth of the water level drop in Kakhovskoe reservoir,” the letter says.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest steel producer in Ukraine, with a nominal steel production capacity of eight million tons per year and almost 20,000 employees.
Temporary impact on steel production at the plant is the latest blow to the Ukrainian steel sector, whose production in 2022 decreased by 70.7% after the start of the war between Ukraine and Russia in February last year.
In correspondence transmitted to the World Trade Organization by the European Commission this month, highlights the proposed continuation of exemptions from its steel import protection measures. The US confirmed last week that it would maintain Ukraine's tariff exemption and expanded it to include Ukrainian steel processed in the European Union.
Russia denies involvement in the alleged explosion that allegedly damaged Kakhovskaya dam, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called an "environmental disaster."
The collapse of the dam was reported to have displaced some 6,000 people as more than 30 communities were flooded. The Ministry of Agriculture of Ukraine said that the disaster left 94% of agricultural irrigation systems in Kherson, 74% in Zaporozhye and 30% in Dnipro regions without a source of water.