Metinvest, the largest Ukrainian mining and metallurgical holding, in January-March this year reduced the production of total iron ore concentrate (IRC) by 21% compared to the same period last year and by 20% quarter-on-quarter to 6.128 million tons.
According to a press release from parent company Metinvest B.V. on operating results for the first quarter of 2022, the decrease in concentrate output was due to the start of full-scale hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, which, in turn, led to logistical restrictions against the backdrop of blocking Black Sea ports, as well as a sharp decrease in intragroup consumption by Mariupol plants.
According to the results of January-March of the current year, the group reduced the production of marketable iron ore products by 16% compared to the same period last year – to 4.067 million tons, which corresponded to the output in the previous quarter.
During this period, Metinvest reduced the production of pellets by 35% compared to the same period last year, to 1.281 million tons, mainly due to a sharp decrease in intra-group consumption, optimization of the portfolio of orders at the Northern Mining and Processing Plant. However, compared to the previous quarter, their output increased by 34% due to a scheduled overhaul of the roasting machine at the Central Mining and Processing Plant in the 4th quarter of 2021.
Salable concentrate production decreased by 10% to 2.786 million tons, mainly due to lower production at Inguletsky GOK.
In the first quarter of 2022, the total production of coking coal concentrate decreased by 14% to 1.276 million tons as a result of a decrease in production by the Pokrovskaya Coal Group due to a decrease in the number of personnel and disruption of supply chains after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. By the first quarter of 2021, growth was 29% due to the consolidation of the Pokrovskaya Coal Group.
The production of coal concentrate at the mines of the United Coal Company (USA) in Q1-2022 decreased by 85 thousand tons compared to Q1-2021 due to the deterioration of geological conditions.
As reported, according to the results of 2021, Metinvest increased the total production of iron ore concentrate (IRO) by 3% compared to the previous year – up to 31.341 million tons, pellets by 18% – up to 5.811 million tons and the total production of coking coal concentrate – by 92 %, up to 5.542 million tons.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated mining group of companies that manages assets in every link of the production chain from iron ore and coal mining and coke production to the production of semi-finished products and finished products from steel, pipes and coils, as well as the production of other high value-added products. The group consists of mining and metallurgical enterprises located in Ukraine, Europe and the USA, has a sales network covering all key global markets.
