Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group mastered the production of 20 new products in 2024, including six new products at its joint venture, Zaporizhstal, which launched six new products.
According to the group’s press release on Friday, in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on for almost three years, Metinvest remains the country’s economic and industrial backbone. Over the decade of war, the group has managed to launch 422 new products.
This year, most new products were launched in the long products segment (12), cold-rolled coils and sheets (four), hot-rolled coils and sheets (two), and galvanized coils and semi-finished products (one each).
Kametstal and Zaporizhstal accounted for the bulk of new products. One new product was launched by Unisteel, the Group’s galvanized steel producer.
All new long products were launched at Kametstal. Thus, the plant has mastered the production of rebar for reinforced concrete structures: two new sizes and a new strength class according to the Ukrainian national standard DSTU 3760, as well as rebar according to Polish standards.
In addition, the company has launched the production of six types of wire rod made of different steel grades and in various sizes in accordance with Ukrainian, international, European and American standards. The products are used in construction, civil engineering and metal products manufacturing.
In addition, the company has mastered the production of reinforced steel profiles for supporting mine workings such as SVP33 according to Ukrainian standards. These special interchangeable products are used in the manufacture of arch support for domestic mining and metals mines. The company also started production of round rolled products made of St3ps steel with a diameter of 27 mm in accordance with Ukrainian standards, which are used in construction and civil engineering.
Zaporizhstal is the leader in new products in the cold-rolled coil and plate segment: the plant has launched four products. These include S250GD coils made in accordance with Ukrainian and European standards, which are used for further galvanizing and other coatings, and then for the manufacture of lightweight steel thin-walled structures.
The company has also mastered the production of S215G rolled steel, which is suitable for the manufacture of unwelded and welded steel profiles, sheets, main, auxiliary and decorative structural elements. It is manufactured in accordance with the German standard DIN 1623-2.
In addition, the new product is a 2.5 mm thick DC01 coil that meets European standards EN 10130 and EN 10131. The steel is ideal for use in applications where precise product geometry and ease of forming are important, while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength.
The company has started production of 2.1-2.5 mm thick plates cut from hot-rolled coils in a wide range of grades, a versatile material for the production of various structural elements and technical products subject to cold forming.
All cold-rolled products are intended for the construction industry, machine building and metal products segment.
In the hot-rolled coils and sheets segment, Zaporizhstal launched production of two types of rolled products: coils and sheets of S355JR/S355J2 grades with a thickness of 2.75-2.79 mm according to European standards, as well as a newly designed sheet with a size of 5.0×1500×6000 mm made of 09G2/09G2S steel according to Ukrainian technical standards. These products are in demand in the construction and machine-building industries. In particular, the first of these products is used in the production of electric-welded pipes and profiles, and the second is used to manufacture structural elements for freight and passenger railcars.
In the galvanized coils and semi-finished products segment, Unisteel has mastered the production of S250GD-S280GD rolled products from Zaporizhstal coils – these steel grades are used in construction, namely in structures that require a combination of strength and corrosion resistance.
For its part, Kametstal has launched the production of continuously cast square billets that meet higher quality standards both in terms of chemical composition and physical structure after crystallization. These semi-finished products are used to make long and structural shapes for critical applications.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are located primarily in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovs’k regions. The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it. Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) has entered into a 5-year loan agreement with the Lviv City Council for UAH 840 million, of which UAH 718 million will be used to complete the construction of a waste processing plant.
According to the bank’s press release, the rest of the funds will be used to implement four more projects: the construction of an alternative bridge on Kovcha Street, the arrangement of two centers for veterans, and the reconstruction of the power supply system of the Pivnichna shopping center (CHP-2).
“Despite the fact that Oschadbank’s share in financing municipalities is more than 60% of the market, this loan agreement is the first in our cooperation with the Lviv City Council during a full-scale war. As a conscious bank that adheres to ESG principles, we are pleased to participate in the implementation of such an important environmental project for one of the most European cities in the country,” said Yuriy Katsiyon, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the state-owned bank in charge of corporate business, as quoted in a press release on Friday.
In turn, the Lviv City Council’s website states that the volume of construction work at the facility has reached 70%.
According to the release, once launched, the municipal waste recycling facility will be able to process more than 250 thousand tons of waste per year using mechanical and biological methods. This volume is expected to fully meet the city’s solid waste disposal needs.
The Oschad press service added that the Lviv Waste Recycling Plant construction project is also being implemented with the financial support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Eastern European Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P). The waste processing plant covers an area of 9.66 hectares.
The Lviv City Council website specifies that UAH 46.2 million of the total amount of approved funding will be used to build an alternative bridge on Omelyana Kovcha Street, and the remaining UAH 75.8 million will be used to equip two centers for veterans and reconstruct the power supply system of the Pivnichna shopping center (CHP-2).
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as of November 1, 2024, Oschadbank ranked 2nd (UAH 340.77 billion) among 62 banks in the country in terms of total assets. The financial institution earned UAH 12.78 billion in net profit for 10 months of this year, compared to UAH 14.58 billion in the same period last year.
Since the beginning of this week, the demand for milling wheat has increased in the ports of Greater Odesa and Danube, APK-Inform news agency reported.
“The purchase prices for this crop were supported by the increased demand of importers to cover the positions under the previously concluded agreements, while the restrained supply also supported the prices. At the same time, the currency factor contributed to the increase in hryvnia wheat prices,” the analysts explained.
According to them, in the ports of Greater Odesa, the purchase prices for milling wheat increased by $1-2 per ton and as of December 26, 2024, were in the range of $208-215 per ton on CPT-port terms. At the same time, in the Danube ports, the increase in demand prices averaged $2 per ton and was recorded in the range of $209-215 per ton on CPT-port terms compared to the end of last week.
Hryvnia prices (CPT-port basis) increased by 50-150 UAH/ton and are mainly in the range of 9.9-10.3 thousand UAH/ton.
“The minimum and close to them prices were mainly declarative in nature and were close to the prices of feed wheat,” summarized APK-Inform.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering providing EUR 400 million in financing for a pilot project to build social housing in Ukraine, the press service of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) reports.
“Negotiations are currently underway to provide EUR 400 million in funding, which will consist of a grant and a loan for the construction of public housing. This should be housing in normally built-up parts of the city, with access to technical and social infrastructure,” said Grzegorz Gajda, Senior Sector Economist at the EIB, as quoted in the press release.
He noted that the housing should be built using the best European practices, in accordance with energy-efficient standards and the principle of build-back-better.
The project envisages the construction of about 6-6.5 thousand apartments. The EIB will select areas for social housing construction based on the needs of the regions and their interest in cooperation.
Along with this, the conditions for renting housing are being discussed. In particular, it is proposed to allocate social housing to employed Ukrainians with a salary not lower than the average, as well as to give local authorities the opportunity to transfer 20-30% of apartments for rent to people selected according to their own criteria, taking into account the professionals needed in the region.
According to the expert, the project also envisages finding opportunities for the social housing sector to independently finance its operations and maintenance to avoid the need for state funding for housing maintenance.
As the IER points out, at the beginning of 2022, there were only 3 thousand social apartments in Ukraine, while the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the end of the year amounted to more than 5 million people. According to the International Organization for Migration, there are about 3.6 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine as of October 2024.
As of December 27, Ukraine exported 21.256 mln tonnes of grains and pulses since the beginning of the 2024-2025 marketing year (July-2024 – June-2025), of which 2.882 mln tonnes have been shipped since the beginning of the current month, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported, citing the State Customs Service.
According to the report, as of the same date last year, the total shipments amounted to 17.484 million tons, including 4.387 million tons in December.
In particular, since the beginning of the current season, Ukraine has exported 9.613 mln tonnes of wheat (7.255 mln tonnes in 2023/24 MY), 1.968 mln tonnes of barley (991 thsd tonnes), 10.8 thsd tonnes of rye (1 thsd tonnes), and 9.351 mln tonnes of corn (9.097 mln tonnes).
The total exports of Ukrainian flour since the beginning of the season as of December 27 are estimated at 37 thsd tonnes (in 2023/24 MY – 57 thsd tonnes), including 33.9 thsd tonnes of wheat (54.2 thsd tonnes).
In January-November 2024, Ukraine increased imports of tin and tin products by 17.8% to $2.850 million. Exports of tin during this period increased almost fivefold to $389 thousand, compared to $79 thousand in the same period in 2023. In November, tin imports amounted to $203 thousand, while exports amounted to $40 thousand.
Tin is used mainly as a safe, non-toxic, corrosion-resistant coating in its pure form or in alloys with other metals. The main industrial uses of tin are in white tinplate (tinned iron) for food containers, in solders for electronics, in house pipelines, in bearing alloys, and in coatings made of tin and its alloys. The most important tin alloy is bronze (with copper).
