Metinvest Cuts Output Of Finished Products By 46% To 1.9 Million Tons In H1

In January-June 2022, compared to the same period last year, Metinvest Group reduced production of finished products by 46%, or by 1.597 million tons, to 1.884 million tons,

Metinvest has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

In particular, the production of flat rolled products decreased by 1,658,000 tons to 1,281,000 tons, and the production of long rolled products increased by 125,000 tons to 575,000 tons, due to the expansion of the production capacity of the Kametstal plant (Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk region), which completely compensated for the shutdown of production at the Azovstal plant (Mariupol, Donetsk region) since the end of February 2022 and a decrease in production at the Promet Steel plant (Bulgaria) for the above reasons.

The production of rail products decreased by 2,000 tons to 10,000 tons, and the production of pipe products by 62,000 tons to 18,000 tons.

At the same time, in the 2nd quarter compared to the 1st quarter, the production of finished products decreased by 72%, or by 1,055 million tons to 414,000 tons.

In the 1st half of 2022, compared to the 1st half of 2021, Metinvest reduced steel production by 45%, or by 1,946,000 tons to 2.412 million tons, while in the 2nd quarter compared to the 1st quarter of 2021, steel production decreased by 77% to 450,000 tons.

Also, in the 1st half of 2022 compared to the same period last year, the group reduced the production of cast iron by 49%, or by 2,153,000 tons, to 2.252 million tons, while in the 2nd quarter compared to the 1st quarter of 2021, the production of cast iron decreased by 77% to 424,000 tons.

In particular, from February 24, 2022, Metinvest decided to suspend the production activities of a number of its enterprises in Mariupol, Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia, including Azovstal, the Mariupol Illich integrated iron & steel works, the Avdiivka Coke& Chemical Plant and the Zaporizhzhia Coke & Chemical Plant; later Zaporizhzhia enterprises of the group resumed their production.

At the same time, the assets of the group's enterprises in Mariupol and Avdiivka suffered as a result of hostilities, Mariupol is currently temporarily occupied.

In addition to the above events, the reduction in steel and cast iron production volumes was also affected by the shutdowns of blast furnaces No. 12 and No. 9 on Kametstal in the 2nd quarter of 2022.

Production of mining and processing plants also decreased significantly due to full-scale military operations in Ukraine, which, in turn, entailed logistical restrictions against the background of blocking of Black Sea ports.

In addition, the absence of intra-group consumption of Mariupol plants since the end of February 2022 negatively affected production volumes.

Thus, in the 1st half of 2022, against the same period last year, production of general iron ore concentrate decreased by 45% to 8,804,000 tons, production of commercial iron ore products decreased by 37% to 6,188,000 tons, including the volume of product rolls - by 48% to 1,861,000 tons, and volumes of commercial concentrate - by 30% to 4,327,000 tons.

In the first half of 2022, the production of coal concentrate of the group decreased by 10% against the same period in 2021 - to 2,430,000 tons - mainly due to a lack of qualified personnel and a deterioration of geological conditions in the mines of the United Coal Company, the effect of which amounted to 266,000 tons.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, businessman Rinat Akhmetov filed a lawsuit in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Russia for compensation for gross violations of his property rights during the unprovoked military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

In 2021, compared to 2020, Metinvest Group increased the production of finished products by 23%, or by 1,374,000 tons, to 7.233 million tons.

The main shareholders of Metinvest are the SCM group (71.24%) and the Smart-Holding group of companies (23.76%), which manage it as a partnership.

100% of SCM shares belong to businessman Rinat Akhmetov.