KZHRK has shipped more than 730,000 tons of iron ore to the Czech Republic since the beginning of the year

Since the beginning of 2023, the Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Plant (KZHRK) has shipped more than 730,000 tons of iron ore by rail to the Czech Republic. Ukrainian Railways’ (UZ) press service reports about it.

In January 2023, by order of KZHRK, UZ transported 166.86 thousand tons of products to the Czech Republic, in February – 200.7 thousand tons, in March – 166.9 thousand tons, in April – 157.3 thousand tons, and in the first half of May – 42.6 thousand tons. Currently, shipments of iron ore continue.

In January-April 2023 KZHRK produced 805 thousand tons of sinter ore, which is 31.4% less than in the same period of 2022, in particular:

• in January – 135 thousand tons (+4.7% m/m);
• in February – 200,000 tons (+48.1%);
• March – 230 thousand tons (+15%);
• April – 240 thousand tons (+4.3%).

Thus, since the beginning of the year, the plant has shipped more than 90% of the total volume of produced products to the Czech Republic.

In 2022, the Czech Republic reduced production of steel by 11% compared to the previous year – to 4.3 million tons, taking 35th place in the global ranking of WorldSteel steel producers. Several steel enterprises are located in the country, including Trinecke zelezarny and Liberty Ostrava.

In general, steel industry of Ukraine shipped for export in January-April 2023 5.23 million tons of iron ore, which is 59% less compared to the same period in 2022. The largest consumers of raw materials are Slovakia – 27.4% (of the total volume of exports in monetary terms), the Czech Republic – 25.8% and Poland – 24%.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2022 KZHRK reduced production of iron ore by 33.3% compared to 2021 – to 2.89 million tons.

Export of iron ore from Ukraine in 2022 fell by 45.9% compared to 2021 – to 23.98 million tons. In monetary terms, the indicator decreased by 57.8% y/y – to $2.91 billion.

Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Plant (KZRK) is the largest producer of sinter ore in Ukraine. Most of its production volume is exported to Eastern Europe. KZHRK operates four underground mines. Its reserves amount to 210 million tons of rich iron ores, 58.6% Fe.