Ferrexpo plc, a mining company with its main assets in Ukraine, reduced capital investments by 49.1% in January-June this year compared to the same period last year, from $55 million to $28 million.
According to the company’s interim report on Wednesday, of the total amount spent in the first half of 2025, capital expenditures for maintenance and modernization amounted to $15 million (in the first half of 2024 – $19 million), covering the activities of all the group’s main business units.
It is also reported that investments in strategic development projects in the reporting period amounted to $13 million (in the first half of 2024 – $36 million).
In total, 55% of capital investments were directed to supporting projects and 45% to development.
It is specified that the largest strategic capital investments included additional funds for a new press filtration complex and a new concentrate conveyor line, which amounted to $5 million and $3 million, respectively.
The aim of these projects is to increase the production of high-quality iron ore products so that the business can make its production portfolio more flexible and adapt to short-term changes in demand for various products.
The Group also funded $2 million for development work for future production and $1 million for the development and exploration of the Belanivsky deposit.
Given the decline in cash flow generation, no ordinary dividends were declared or paid during the first half of fiscal years 2025 and 2024.
The group has a shareholder return policy that sets out the group’s intention to pay up to 30% of free cash flow as dividends for a given year. The group’s ability to pay dividends also depends on developments in ongoing litigation in Ukraine, the report said.
As reported, Ferrexpo maintained its capital investments in 2024 at the previous year’s level of $101.688 million (in 2023 – $101.247 million, in 2022 – $161.010 million, and $361 million in 2021). In particular, capital expenditures for maintenance and modernization in 2024 amounted to $37 million (in 2023 – $31 million, in 2022 – $57 million, and in 2021 – $113 million). At the same time, the group reviewed the timing of investments in strategic development projects, resulting in expenditures of $65 million compared to $70 million in 2023.
Some of the larger capital expenditures included additional funds for a new press filtration complex and a new concentrate conveyor line along the production circuit, which amounted to $24 million and $2 million, respectively. These investments will enable the group to increase production of high-quality products in the near term when production returns to full capacity and to produce iron ore concentrate and pellets simultaneously.
In addition, the group spent $9 million in 2024 (2023: $22 million) on stripping work for future production growth and $18 million on a concentrator and pelletizer project (2023: $22 million) as part of the first wave (Wave 1) of the production expansion program.
The group also spent $3 million on the development and exploration of the Belanivskoye deposit (2023: $3 million) and $1 million on a hydrolysis plant (2023: $1 million) to test the use of hydrogen as fuel in the group’s granulator.
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine. Ferrexpo owns 100% of Poltava Mining, 100% of Yeristovo Mining, and 99.9% of Bilanivsky Mining.
During a telephone conversation with Brazilian Special Assistant to the President for International Affairs Celso Amorim, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi exchanged views on the “crisis in Ukraine,” with Wang noting that “the process of resolving the crisis is now at a decisive stage,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“Russia and Ukraine have taken an important step forward by starting negotiations. The crisis settlement process is now at a decisive stage,” he said.
The head of the foreign ministry added that China and Pakistan can continue to maintain communication and make joint efforts to promote the “Friends of Peace” group with the aim of further bringing together the consensus of the global South on “ceasing fire, end the war, convince people of the need for peace, and promote negotiations to play their role in the political settlement of the crisis.”
Zaporizhia enterprises of the mining and metallurgical group Metinvest – Zaporizhstal, Zaporizhogneupor, Zaporizhkox, and Zaporizhzhya Foundry and Mechanical Plant (ZLMP) – increased their transfers to budgets of all levels by 20% in January-June this year compared to the same period last year, totaling almost UAH 1.7 billion in taxes and fees.
According to a press release issued by the group on Wednesday, Metinvest Group companies also remain among the largest taxpayers in Zaporizhia. Tax revenues to local budgets for the first half of 2025 amounted to over UAH 543 million, which is 10% higher than in the first six months of 2024.
In the structure of taxes and fees for this period, the largest in terms of volume were single income tax and single social contribution payments. It should be noted that in April 2025, Metinvest raised salaries for employees of production and service enterprises, including in Zaporizhia, by up to 20%.
A significant share of deductions also falls on environmental and land taxes, as well as military levies.
Taking into account associated companies and joint ventures, Metinvest Group paid UAH 9.3 billion in taxes and fees to budgets of all levels in Ukraine in the first half of 2025.
Zaporizhstal is a joint venture of the Metinvest Group, whose main shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Steel Limited (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
As of August 1, 2025, Ukraine has exhausted its ability to export dry milk to the European Union, with butter and milk fats next in line, whose quotas will be exhausted in the third decade of August, according to Ekonomichna Pravda, citing information from the Ukrainian Dairy Industry Association (SMU).
“As of August 1, there is no possibility of exporting dry milk originating in Ukraine to the EU within the quotas. According to the European Commission, as of July 30, the quota (including volumes expected to be allocated) was more than 91% filled, with only about 0.28 thousand tons remaining out of a quota of 2.92 thousand tons,” the publication said.
According to the industry association, the volumes of dry milk already awaiting clearance at the EU border exceed the available quota. From August 1, it no longer makes economic sense to send consignments of dry milk to the EU – they will have to be returned.
Quotas for imports of butter and milk fats to the EU will last a little longer. Currently, they are already more than two-thirds full. If butter exports to the EU remain at the same level in the coming weeks, the quota could be filled by the beginning of the third decade of August.
“The changes have already affected milk prices in Ukraine: in the second half of July, they rose by more than 5%. The reason for this is an attempt by processors to make a profit before the quotas are exhausted. This market trend may change if Brussels does not take new decisions on quotas,” the SMU emphasized.
Mining company Ferrexpo plc, with its main assets in Ukraine, ended January-June this year with a net loss of $196.004 million, compared with a net profit of $55.490 million in the same period last year.
According to the company’s interim report on Wednesday, the pre-tax loss for the period was $186.899 million, compared with a pre-tax profit of $75.671 million in January-June 2024.
Revenue in the first half of 2025 decreased by 17.5% to $452.607 million. At the same time, EBITDA amounted to $3.890 million compared to $79.043 million at the end of June 2024 and $69.310 million at the end of 2024.
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of June 2025 amounted to $52.262 million, at the end of June 2024 – $115.131 million, and at the end of 2024 – $105.919 million.
The report states that the group’s underlying EBITDA remained positive at around $4 million for the first half of 2025, despite losses for the period, although this is significantly lower than for the same period in 2024. The sharp decline was mainly due to lower operating profit as a result of an adjusted lower production plan following the refusal to refund VAT in Ukraine and lower realized prices, which could not be offset by the effects of lower C1 production costs and further cost-cutting measures initiated by the group during the second quarter of 2025.
Commenting on the group’s performance, interim CEO Lucio Genovese noted that the company started the year on a strong footing, with its best quarterly production since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, this momentum was significantly curtailed in the second quarter as the group was forced to reduce its activities due to the decision by the Ukrainian tax authorities to suspend VAT refunds to its subsidiaries. This is reflected in a 40% drop in production in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.
“We quickly took steps to reduce our costs. We have now had to reduce working hours or send approximately 40% of our employees on leave. We have also implemented programs to optimize the speed of disclosure, repair, and maintenance, and have reduced non-essential expenses across the business. These actions were necessary and mitigated the serious negative impact of the suspension of VAT refunds. We have managed to reduce our costs as much as possible to remain competitive in the face of low iron ore prices,” Genovese said.
He added that since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ferrexpo has continued to operate and export its products despite the enormous challenges caused by the war.
As reported, Ferrexpo posted a net loss of $50.03 million in 2024, down 41% from $84.753 million in 2023. Revenue for 2024 amounted to $933.263 million, compared to $651.795 million in 2023 (an increase of 43.2%). EBITDA amounted to $69.310 million, compared to $98.871 million adjusted for 2023. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2024 amounted to $100.835 million, compared to $108.293 million at the end of 2023, $106.397 million in 2022, and $117 million at the end of 2021.
Ferrexpo ended 2023 with a net loss of $84.753 million compared to a net profit of $219.997 million in 2022, which is four times lower than the profit in pre-war 2021 ($870.993 million). Revenue for 2023 amounted to $651.795 million, compared to $1 billion 248.490 million in 2022 (a decrease of 47.8%). At the same time, EBITDA fell by 83% to $130.242 million compared to $765.113 million in 2022.
Ferrexpo owns 100% of Yeristovsky GOK LLC, 99.9% of Bilanovsky GOK LLC, and 100% of Poltava GOK PJSC.
The Ma’Rizhany Industrial Park (Zhytomyr region) plans to double its industrial hemp processing capacity, according to Dmytro Kysilevsky, deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development, on Facebook.
He noted that as of early August 2025, the plant will be able to process 10,000 tons of hemp per year. Increasing the area under cultivation to 4,000 hectares will allow the plant to reach a processing capacity of 20,000 tons of raw materials per year. In the 2025 season, there will be more than 1,600 hectares of industrial crops within a 20 km radius of the park.
“The Ma’Rizhany industrial park is actively persuading farmers in the Zhytomyr region to switch from unstable and politicized grain supplies to the European Union to long-term contracts with Ukrainian customers for a new, promising, and traditional crop for Ukraine. Well, the demand for hemp fiber is growing on the world market, which is the best financial guarantee for farms that will become partners of the industrial park,” Kysilevsky said.
The MP expressed confidence that the industrial park has enough free space to accommodate the next stages of deep processing of industrial hemp.
In May 2025, the largest industrial hemp primary processing enterprise in Ukraine began operations in the Ma’Rizhany industrial park. Ma’Rizhany Hemp Company renovated an old flax factory and built a modern production facility with a capacity of 14,000 tons per year of long fiber for the textile industry. It is expected that related processing products, such as short fiber and chaff, will find application in nonwoven materials (heat and sound insulation), paper, building blocks, chipboard, and bioplastics.
As reported, IP “Ma’Ryzhany” occupies about 30 hectares, the territory of a former flax processing plant. It will be the first park in Europe for the primary processing of bast crops. It was entered in the Register of IPs in August 2024. It is planned to create more than 700 jobs.
