“Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest mining and metals holding, increased steel production by 4% year-on-year to 2.099 million tons in 2024.
According to the press release of the parent company Metinvest B.V. on its operating results for 2024, the production of total iron ore products increased by 42% to 15.733 million tons.
At the same time, the production of commercial iron ore increased by 58% to 14.826 million tons.
It is noted that capacity utilization in Ukraine was affected by factors such as security, personnel, electricity, logistics and economic factors.
Coke production in 2024 decreased by 10% to 1.122 million tons.
At the same time, Metinvest increased its total pellet production by 14% to 6.022 million tons, but reduced its total coking coal concentrate output by 22% to 4.277 million tons.
It is specified that in the fourth quarter of 2024, pig iron production at Kametstal decreased by 6% quarter-on-quarter to 452 thousand tons, mainly due to a short maintenance shutdown of blast furnace No. 9 in October. Crude steel production decreased by 14% quarter-on-quarter to 489 kt, driven by a shift in orders from finished products to commercial pig iron.
In 2024, pig iron production amounted to 1.818 million tons, up 3% year-on-year, thanks to the efficient operation of two blast furnaces. As a result, crude steel production increased by 4% year-on-year to 2,099 thousand tons.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, the production of semi-finished products amounted to 235 thousand tons (-6% q-o-q). Last year, the production of semi-finished products increased by 3% compared to 2023 to 861 thousand tons due to an increase in orders.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, production of finished products decreased by 2% quarter-on-quarter to 481 thousand tonnes, with flat products production increasing by 4% to 193 thousand tonnes due to an increase in hot-rolled plate production at Ferriera Valsider (Italy). Long products production fell by 6% to 288 thousand tonnes, mainly due to a reduction in the order book at Promet Steel (Bulgaria).
In 2024, production of finished products decreased by 6% to 2,159 thousand tons. In particular, flat products production fell by 16% to 922 thousand tons due to unfavorable European market conditions, especially the availability of cheaper Russian plates. This resulted in a lack of profitable orders for hot-rolled coils and a reduced order book for hot-rolled plates, the company said. At the same time, production of galvanized cold-rolled steel increased by 42% due to the resumption of inductor No. 4 at Unisteel in Ukraine after it was shut down for overhaul in the second quarter of 2023.
Long products production increased by 4% to 1,237 thousand tons, mainly due to a larger order book at Kamet Steel. Since February 2024, Russian troops have focused their efforts on several areas, including Pokrovske, close to Pokrovskugol. As a result, production there was suspended in December 2024.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, the Group’s production of coking coal concentrate decreased by 7% quarter-on-quarter to 1,057 thousand tons. The main factor was a 14% drop in production at Pokrovskugol to 566 thousand tons. At the same time, coal concentrate production at United Coal (USA) increased by 3% quarter-on-quarter to 491 thousand tons.
In 2024, the Group’s production of coking coal concentrate decreased primarily due to a 22% decline in production at Pokrovskugol to 2,426 thousand tons, mainly due to changes in geological conditions and events at the end of 2024. Coking coal concentrate output at United Coal decreased by 21% to 1,852 thousand tons due to downtime at Carter Roag and lower production at some Wellmore mines in 2023.
“Metinvest is a group of steel and mining companies located in Ukraine, Europe and the United States.
Its major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Ukraine has seen a decline in trading activity on the apple market, according to analysts of the EastFruit project. The current situation is explained by the fact that many producers have lost hope for another price increase in this segment and began to sell these fruits from storage. In this regard, the supply of apples on the market has increased significantly, and Ukrainian growers are forced to reduce prices for their products.
Currently, quality apples go on sale at 22-30 UAH/kg ($0.53-0.72/kg), which is on average 12% cheaper than at the end of the previous business week.
It is worth noting that despite the decline in selling prices, apples in Ukraine are currently on sale on average 48% more expensive than in the same period last year. At the same time, market operators do not rule out further price reductions in this segment, as the quality of apples in storage continues to deteriorate rapidly, and demand for these fruits remains rather low, given the high selling prices.
For more information on the development of the apple and other fruit and vegetable market in Ukraine, please subscribe to the operational analytical weekly– EastFruit Ukraine Weekly Pro. Detailed information about the product is available here.
Source: https://east-fruit.com/novosti/ukrainskie-sadovody-snizhayut-czeny-na-yabloki/
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but he will not meet with the Russians or the Americans.
“I have an official visit to the Emirates with my wife, the first lady, because we have a large humanitarian program, and the issue of prisoner exchange. Secondly, after that, I will visit Saudi Arabia with the same issues and another partnership with His Royal Highness. It will be for two or three days. I will have three meetings with President Erdogan in Turkey. I will not meet with the Russians, but I will not meet with the Americans there either,” Zelenskyy told reporters at the Munich Security Conference.
Sukha Balka Mine (Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro region), part of Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, has launched a project to build a solar power plant at Frunze Mine.
As reported in DCH Steel’s corporate newspaper on Thursday, due to a constant shortage of generating capacity and restrictions on electricity consumption, the mine’s management decided to build its own power generation facilities.
“In June of this year, we plan to commission a power plant that will use an alternative source and provide electricity to Frunze mine. The power plant will have a capacity of 2 MW. While the design of the plant and the purchase of equipment are underway, construction has already begun at the mine,” said Igor Piltek, Deputy General Director and Chief Engineer of the mine.
According to him, a site for the installation of solar panels measuring about two hectares has already been prepared, and the surface has been planned. To build the power plant, it is necessary to install 2,740 solar panels.
The solar power plant will operate autonomously. According to forecasts, the equipment should pay for itself in four years.
Earlier, the Chief Engineer reported that energy-efficient projects are being implemented at the mine, in particular, the construction of a 2 MW solar power plant has begun, which is scheduled to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2025.
Sukha Balka mine is one of the leading mining companies in Ukraine. It produces iron ore by underground mining. The mine includes Yubileynaya and Frunze mines.
DCH Group acquired the mine from Evraz Group in May 2017.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH group, cut rolled steel production by 64.2% year-on-year to 487 tons in January this year.
According to information in the corporate newspaper DCH Steel on Thursday, coke production in January 2025 decreased by 16.6% to 18.9 thousand tons, while in December 2024, 23 thousand tons were produced.
The company did not produce any steel products in December 2014, while in November it produced 7.1 thousand tons of rolled steel.
“In January-February, Rolling Shop No. 2 will produce 7.1 thousand tons of steel products during the rolling campaign. The campaign is scheduled to be completed by the end of the week. Last month, the plant shipped 948 tons of rolled metal products to consumers, including the volumes of Rolling Shop No. 1, and all the coke produced,” the information states, adding that the rolling campaign started on January 31.
As reported, in 2024, DMZ reduced its rolled steel production by 59.4% compared to 2023, to 42.9 thousand tons, and coke by 1.2%, to 289.1 thousand tons.
In 2023, DMZ increased its rolled steel output by 86.2% compared to 2022, to 105.6 thousand tons, and coke by 38.5%, to 292.7 thousand tons.
In 2022, the plant reduced its rolled steel production by 74.2% compared to 2021, to 58.4 thousand tons, and coke production by 56.3%, to 211.3 thousand tons.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, pig iron, rolled products and products made from them.
On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy Dnipro Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
In 2024, Agrotrade harvested more than 236 thsd tonnes of grains and oilseeds, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, the harvest of wheat amounted to 95.5 thousand tons, corn – 53 thousand tons, winter rapeseed – 38.3 thousand tons, sunflower – 36.6 thousand tons, soybeans – about 13 thousand tons, hemp – 96 tons, barley – 78 tons.
“This year, soybeans suffered the biggest yield losses, in particular, due to drought. In general, abnormal weather conditions affected all crops, but we are satisfied with the results of the season. Rapeseed and corn even outperformed the forecasts, while sunflower and wheat yields remained within the plan,” said Oleksandr Ovsyanyk, Director of Agrotrade’s Agricultural Department.
The agricultural holding is confident that due to effective management, adaptation of technologies and professionalism, it will be able to maintain stable positions in the agricultural market.
Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. Its main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a one-time storage capacity of 570 thousand tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn and sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand Agroseeds on the market.
The founder of Agrotrade is Vsevolod Kozhemiako.
