Zaporizhstal operated at 50% during 2022 due to logistical limitations

Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works operated at 50% of its capacity in 2022 due to logistical restrictions due to the war. Roman Slobodyanuk, CEO of the plant, informed about it, reports Metinvest.Media.

At the end of the year, the plant had to additionally reduce the workload due to a shortage of electricity, which arose in connection with the shelling of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure by Russian forces.

“At the end of 2022, we faced energy problems. Because of this, even the volumes we reached in the first half of 2022 cannot be stably maintained at the moment. Electricity restrictions mean that we are forced to shut down our production facilities every day. And this has a negative impact on the production process,” he said.

Despite the difficulties, the plant continues to work and support the country’s economy. In 2022, Zaporizhstal paid almost UAH 700 million to the local budget, which is only 25% less than the figure in 2021.

“Despite the fact that we have cut the volume of production in half, we support the region in spite of everything. We also continue to support our defenders – we have already provided assistance worth almost UAH 160 million and will continue to do so. We also support medical institutions: in 2022, medicines and equipment worth UAH 43 million were handed over to hospitals,” Roman Slobodenyuk summarized.

More than 40% of the entire energy infrastructure of Ukraine was damaged as a result of Russian missile attacks. These are dozens of energy facilities in different regions.

Over the past six months, Ukraine’s energy system has survived 12 enemy missile attacks and 14 UAV strikes on energy facilities. In addition, more than 10 GW of the main installed capacities are currently inaccessible to the Ukrainian energy system and are under the control of the enemy. This is the largest in Ukraine and Europe: Zaporizhzhia NPP, Zaporizhzhia TPP, Luhansk TPP, Vuglehirskaya TPP, Kakhovskaya HPP. Also, the majority of wind and solar power plants are located in the temporarily occupied territories of the south.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2022, Zaporizhstal reduced rolled steel production by 60.4% compared to 2021 – to 1.304 million tons. The volume of pig iron production decreased by 54.3% y/y – to 2.01 million tons, and steel – by 61.7% y/y, to 1.49 million tons.