Ukrainian steel industry will be forced to import coal if Pokrovsk is lost — Bloomberg

Ukraine's steel industry may be forced to switch to buying coal abroad if the russian occupation army succeeds in capturing Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Region and surrounding settlements.

Representatives of Metinvest and Dragon Capital told Bloomberg about this.

The agency notes that before the start of the full-scale invasion, steel accounted for a fifth of Ukraine's exports. However, as a result of hostilities, the volume of steel production fell by more than 70%.

This is primarily due to the loss of the largest enterprises, such as Azovstal and the Ilych plant. Both are located in russian-occupied Mariupol, Donetsk Region.

Now the logistics chain of the steel industry is faced with new difficulties. It is about the possible loss of access to coal deposits in the Pokrovsk District.

The Metinvest enterprise, which produces hard coal coke, is located near this settlement. Steel plants need it.

Now the russian troops are about 9 kilometers from Pokrovsk. A coal mine and a coke plant are located a few kilometers west of the city.

"We are confident that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will protect Pokrovsk from the ongoing Russian offensive," Metinvest's press service told Bloomberg.

Denys Sakva, an analyst at the Dragon Capital brokerage company, said in a Bloomberg comment that in the event of the loss of Pokrovsk and the Metinvest enterprises, steel enterprises will probably be forced to import coal.

At the same time, he emphasized that even the import of coal will lead to a slowdown in production, since even in the case of purchases abroad, there will be interruptions in the supply of coking coal.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, today, September 13, the head of the Pokrovsk District Military Administration, Volodymyr Zamotaiev, said that russian troops are 7 kilometers away from Pokrovsk.

We will remind you that during the night before last the russians attacked the last of the three road bridges in Pokrovsk, which caused difficulties in road traffic.

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