ArcelorMittal plans to increase capacity utilization to 50% in 2024

The plant expects to put two blast furnaces into operation

In 2024, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih plans to increase its production capacity utilization from 30% to 50%. This was stated by the company’s CEO Mauro Longobardo during a meeting with a German delegation, Metallurg newspaper reports.

«In 2024, we plan to increase production volumes and expand production capacity due to the operation of two blast furnaces. Thus, the loading of our production capacities will increase from 30% to 50%,» he said.

According to him, the plant is ready to increase production as soon as possible and support Ukraine in its post-war reconstruction. To this end, the company has retained its staff, avoided layoffs and maintained production equipment in working order despite power outages and some rocket attacks.

In addition, ArcelorMittal has been consistently reducing its environmental footprint, including the closure of outdated facilities such as coke oven batteries No. 1-2 and the sinter plant. To replace them, modern production facilities were put into operation – coke oven batteries No. 5-6.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in the first half of 2023, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih produced 390 thousand tons of steel, which is 43% of the same period in 2022. In mid-June of this year, due to problems with the supply of process water after the Russians blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, the steelmaker reduced production to 15-20% of the pre-war level.

In 2022, ArcelorMittal reduced production of rolled steel by 76.1% compared to 2021 – to 1.1 million tons. Pig iron production decreased by 70% y/y – to 1.6 million tons, and steel – by 75.6% y/y, to 1.2 million tons.

Production of iron ore by the enterprise’s mining and beneficiation plant decreased by 56.1% y/y – to 11.6 million tons. Concentrate production for the year amounted to 4.5 million tons, which is 59.1% less y/y.