Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group plans to carry out a large-scale green transformation of its Ukrainian assets – GOKs, Kametstal and Zaporizhstal – worth about $9 billion within 5-10 years after the end of the war.
According to a report by dsnews.ua, this will require external financing.
It is specified that as soon as the hostilities end, the group will increase production (currently, its enterprises are 65-70% utilized), so the equipment needs to be prepared for operation in advance, which is being done now.
At the same time, the strategy remains unchanged: to create a global company with Ukrainian roots based on green and digital transformation of production facilities. This requires high-quality raw materials, semi-finished products and sufficient clean energy sources.
Meanwhile, the large-scale green modernization of enterprises in Ukraine has been put on hold due to an acute shortage of electricity of any origin. However, Metinvest can help develop Ukrainian assets by investing in cleaner production. For example, the construction of a green rolling plant in Italy with a capacity of about 3 million tons of products per year will increase the utilization of the group’s Ukrainian iron and steel plants, which can no longer sell products in Ukraine after the occupation of Mariupol’s steel mills. The Italian plant is to be built jointly with partners in three to four years with up to $2 billion of credit and partnership funds.
In addition, the GOKs that receive orders will be able to modernize their production to produce high-quality pellets. In particular, Northern GOK is currently competing in the European market thanks to its upgraded production of pellets with improved characteristics.
Metinvest’s strategy for transitioning to green steel production long before the war included the conversion of blast furnaces at its steelmaking facilities to DRI (direct reduction of iron) technology. This process requires improved pellets as raw materials. Successful tests of the production of such DRI pellets were carried out at Central GOK at the beginning of the war.
The war has put major strategic projects on hold, but the Group is responding quickly to adapt its investment program to maintain efficient production, primarily by investing in existing facilities that need to be modernized. Since the beginning of the war, Metinvest has invested over $300 million annually.
In 2023, Zaporizhstal and Kametstal overhauled blast furnaces. In addition, Zaporizhstal overhauled its rolling mill equipment and Kametstal overhauled its coke oven batteries. In total, UAH 23 billion has been invested in the modernization of these two enterprises over the past two years.
“Metinvest is also consistently launching new coking coal longwalls at Pokrovskoye Coal Group. At the beginning of the year, the 11th longwall for coking coal production in Block 10 of the Pokrovskoye Mine Administration was launched.
In addition, targeted investments are important. For example, the modernization of the roasting machine in the pellet production shop at Pivdennyi GOK in 2023 helped to establish the production of homogeneous pellets with an iron content of 65%, which allowed the GOK to maintain a competitive position in the European iron ore market.
This year, the company plans to invest $320 million in capital and about $350 million in operating investments in equipment and work sites. The priority is to repair blast furnaces and sintering machines, maintain the GOK’s equipment and develop the mine management department in Pokrovsk.
