Ukrainian iron and steel industry temporarily stops production due to energy supply restrictions

The Ferrexpo company temporarily stopped production at its enterprises, and ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih limited capacity. Metinvest enterprises are focused on preventing emergency situations that could potentially arise due to the lack of a stable power supply

Some Ukrainian iron and steel companies are forced to temporarily stop or limit production. The reason for this decision is the damage of state electricity infrastructure as a result of massive Russian missile attacks on October 10, 2022, which caused problems with the energy supply of the regions.

Ferrexpo. About the temporary stoppage of production at its enterprises in the Poltava region reported Ferrexpo iron ore company.

“Engineers are currently conducting an assessment of the damage incurred to electrical infrastructure, and an estimate of the period of production downtime as repairs are carried out,” the company notes.

Limited power supply is available at group’s enterprises that are prioritized to power critical equipment needed for essential services and local communities.

The company emphasizes that it currently has sufficient volume of its products in warehouses or in transit to meet the expected sales volumes, subject to logistics corridors remaining available.

“The events of yesterday have resulted in significant damage to major cities across Ukraine, as well as a power outage at our operations and local communities. We are working to ensure that power is provided in critical areas, both within our facilities and in local communities,” commented Jim North, CEO of the Ferrexpo company.

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih. The plant also decided to limit electricity consumption and temporarily reduce current production.

“This is important for the reduction of electricity consumption in Kryvyi Rih and the safety of personnel, which is our key priority,” the company notes.

At the same time, the plant indicates that the shipment of products to customers takes place as planned.

“We hope to return to the regular schedule of production equipment after the stabilization of energy supply in the country,” the plant said.

Sukha Balka. As Maxim Minyushkin, director of DCH Steel’s corporate communications, told for GMK Center, the northern part of Kryvyi Rih, where the Sukha Balka mining enterprise is located, was partially de-energized as a result of rocket fire on October 10.

“The plant was not affected by the blackout, work continued as usual. Since the production process depends on electricity, in the future the company will focus on whether the supply of electricity will be limited. Such a decision, for example, is already being applied in Kyiv and the Kyiv region,” he commented.

Interpipe. As the press service of Interpipe noted in an exclusive comment to GMK Center, the company’s plants in Dnipro, Nikopol and Novomoskovsk continue to work.

Metinvest. As the Metinvest’s press service, told for GMK Center, one of the key areas of work at the moment is ensuring the safety of employees and residents of the cities where the company’s enterprises are located. Therefore, the production process at the group’s assets in Ukraine was suspended on October 10 directly during the air alert to ensure the safety of employees during missile attacks. Only personnel involved in the maintenance of critical infrastructure continued to work at the enterprises.

“Then, the production process was renewed taking into account all safety factors. Given the emergency situation in the energy sector of Ukraine caused by the attack of Russia, the work of the group’s enterprises is currently focused on preventing emergency situations that could potentially arise due to the lack of stable electricity supply. Taking into account the mentioned factors, decisions are made regarding the level of energy-intensive equipment’s involvement in production,” noted the press service of Metinvest.

Centravis. According to the press service of Centravis, one of Europe’s largest suppliers of stainless pipes, there are currently no limitations on the supply of electricity to the enterprise.

“Currently, there are no limitations on the supply of electricity to the enterprise. Although we were warned that there may be blackouts. Therefore, our team is preparing for such an events,” the company notes.

As GMK Center reported earlier, on October 10, 2022, Russian troops launched a massive missile attack on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine. As a result of enemy fire, objects of energy supply in Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv and Ternopil regions are damaged. In other parts of the country, the power supply is partially disrupted.