Ukraine reduced coke production by 6% in January–July

A demand among steelmaking companies is still not high enough

In January–July 2020, Ukrainian coke companies decreased production of blast-furnace coke by 6% to 5.63 million tons compared to the same period of the previous year, according to Interfax-Ukraine with reference to Ukrkoks association of coke companies.

820 thousand tons of coke were produced in July. In seven months, the following companies reduced coke production compared to the same period of 2019:

• Avdiyivka Coke Plant — by 15% to 1.7 million tons (250 thousand tons produced in July);
• Azovstal — by 1% to 780 thousand tons (110 thousand tons);
• Dniprokoks — by 11% to 280 thousand tons (50 thousand tons);
• Kharkiv Coke Plant — by 79% to 4 thousand tons (0 thousand tons);
• ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih — by 6% to 1.5 million tons (255 thousand tons).

In January–July, the following three Ukrainian companies boosted coke production:

• Dniprovskyi Coke Plant— by 8% to 350 thousand tons (50 thousand tons produced in July);
• Zaporizhzhia Coke Plant — by 5% to 580 thousand tons (80 thousand tons);
• Yuzhkoks — by 11% to 377 thousand tons (55 thousand tons).

Coke plants have sufficient coal.

“A demand for coke is growing and, as a result, all coke companies have somewhat increased their output,” said Anatoliy Starovoit, CEO at Ukrkoks Association.

In 2019, Ukrainian coke plants cut production of blast-furnace coke with 6% moisture content by 7.1% against 2018, down to 10.059 million tons.