Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant plans to continue idling in March

Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant (ZFP) plans to continue to shut down in March 2024 amid the persistently high cost of electricity and insufficient prices for ferroalloys on the global market. This was stated by Pavlo Kravchenko, Chairman of the Board of ZZF, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

According to him, the cost of electricity is currently falling, and prices for ferroalloys are rising on the global market.

«But we cannot say that production will resume in the near future. We recently spoke with the CEO about this, and they are monitoring the situation,» Kravchenko added.

Ukrainian ferroalloy companies reduced production by 57.4% in 2023 compared to 2022.

The industry’s performance was affected by the complete shutdown of the plants since November 2023 – Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant, Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant and Marhanets Mining and Processing Plant. This happened, among other things, due to the intensification of hostilities, falling prices for ferroalloys, and logistical constraints. One of the main reasons for the shutdown of the plants was the increase in electricity transmission tariffs, which affected production costs and profitability.

In 2023, exports of ferroalloys decreased by 4.9% compared to 2022, to 344.2 thousand tons. Compared to the pre-war year of 2021, shipments of ferroalloys abroad decreased by 48.5%, or 324.4 thousand tons. Poland was the largest consumer of Ukrainian-made ferroalloys in 2023, accounting for 52.8% in monetary terms. Turkey accounted for 14.1% of export shipments and the Netherlands for 8.5%.

In January 2024, exports almost completely stopped. During the month, 0.23 thousand tons of products were exported compared to 2.5 thousand tons in December and 55.9 thousand tons in January 2023.