Zaporizhstal produced 75,000 tons of rolled steel in August

In August 2022, Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works reduced rolled steel production by 73.4% compared to the same month in 2021 – to 74.7 thousand tons. Enterprise’s press release reports about it.

The volume of pig iron production in August decreased by 63.6% compared to August 2021 – to 145.6 thousand tons. The output of steel for the month fell by 72.2% – to 94.4 thousand tons.

In the first half of 2022, Zaporizhstal’s output decreased by 55.2% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 3.51 million tons. In particular, there were produced:

• pig iron – 1.42 million tons (-51.7% by January-August 2021);
• steel – 1.11 million tons (-58.3%);
• rolled steel – 981.6 thousand tons (-56.3%).

“The decrease in the level of production compared to the same period last year is related to the shortage of materials and logistical problems caused by full-scale military operations on the territory of Ukraine,” the company explains.

As GMK Center reported earlier, At the beginning of March, Zaporizhstal turned to the hot reservation mode. On March 25, the plant partly resumed the operation of the units of the cold rolling shop (rolling mills 1700-1 and 1700-2, as well as longitudinal cutting unit №5. At the beginning of April, two blast furnaces – №3 and №4 – were restarted, and later – pig iron smelting.

After that, the plant announced plans to restart blast furnace №3 in August. After this, the plant’s capacity utilization may reach 75%. But at the end of June Zaporizhstal revealed they are considering the reducing of production instead due to significant problems with logistics and the incapability to ship products to consumers in Europe.

In 2021, Zaporizhstal increased the output of pig iron by 0.1% compared to 2020, to 4.5 million tons. Steel production decreased by 0.1%, to 3.8 million tons, and the production of rolled products remained at the level the previous year – 3.2 million tons. In January-February 2022, the plant reduced the production of rolled steel by 8.7% compared to the same period in 2021, to 502.4 thousand tons.