In 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) built 528 freight cars at its own facilities, which was a record figure for the last five years, the company’s press service said on Thursday.
It is noted that, in particular, 427 fitting platforms were manufactured. The company also started mass production of 50 dump cars and 50 hopper dispensers.
In addition, in 2023, at its own facilities, UZ built a grain carrier adapted for transportation on a 1520 mm gauge with a 1435 mm European gauge conversion. Most of the components and materials used for its construction were produced in Ukraine, the report says.
In 2023, UZ enterprises also increased the production of crushed stone by 33% (to 2.7 million tons) and sleepers by 6% (to 867 thousand units).
The production of reinforced concrete structures increased by 10.5% compared to 2022, to 6,937 thousand cubic meters, which was also a record for the last five years.
Among other things, last year UZ launched 47 new product lines. The company manufactured 37 thousand units of various products: girders and side girders, container stops, brake shoes, shock absorbers for the absorber, aluminum door frames, compressors, and generators for passenger cars. This allowed the company to save about UAH 120 million on external procurement, the company says.
“Plans for 2024 include a 15% increase in the volume of overhauls of locomotives at UZ plants and 8% increase in the volume of electric trains, an increase in crushed stone production through orders from third-party customers, and the development of new products and technologies,” Ukrzaliznytsia said in a statement.
Earlier, UZ announced the launch of a freight car fleet renewal program. The company planned to build 1,496 thousand freight cars in 2022 at its own car repair plants – Panyutyn, Darnytsia and Stryi: 1,446 thousand gondola cars and 50 grain carriers.
It was also reported that on December 28, 2021, the Ministry of Justice registered the order of the Ministry of Infrastructure No. 647, which launched a large-scale program to renew the freight car fleet of Ukraine in the period 2022-2031, introducing a phased limitation of their service life in a loaded state for as long as 10 years and bringing this period to the standard. The service life of gondola cars is reduced from 44 years to 22 years, and that of grain carriers from 45 years to 30 years.
In addition, this initiative envisaged the launch of a railcar construction program at Ukrainian railcar manufacturers. The volume of investments in the railcar industry was estimated at over UAH 120 billion.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ, formerly Dniprokoks), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH group, increased rolled metal output by 86.2% in 2023 compared to 2022, to 105.6 thousand tons, and coke output by 38.5%, to 292.7 thousand tons.
According to information in the corporate newspaper DCH Steel on Thursday, in December last year, the plant produced 5.2 thousand tons of rolled steel, reducing production by 35% compared to the previous month. Coke production decreased by 6% to 23.9 thousand tons in November 2023.
In 2022, the plant reduced 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.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group has started manufacturing and supplying steel bunker headquarters to the Ukrainian Armed Forces to protect them from enemy shelling as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front initiative.
According to the company’s press release on Friday, Metinvest has launched the production of steel underground command posts that protect personnel from the effects of shelling and enable the Ukrainian Armed Forces to operate in safe and comfortable conditions on the front line. The first steel headquarters, designed for 30 soldiers, has already been delivered to the Ukrainian Army free of charge and installed in one of the hottest areas of the frontline.
It is explained that the command post helps to save lives of the military, as it can be deployed and retracted on the front line in a short time and, if properly installed, provides protection against artillery fire of any caliber. The steel headquarters consists of five or six (depending on the configuration) separate mobile bunkers, the production of which Metinvest mastered in October 2022. These are interconnected underground shelters that perform various functions, from living quarters and a sanitary area to the command’s working headquarters. This creates a whole underground complex of buildings.
The bunkers, made of corrugated steel, are equipped with all the necessary equipment for a good hotel: sleeping and working areas, showers and boilers, heating, lighting and communication systems, storage for weapons and personal belongings, and electronic equipment. This makes it possible to use the underground headquarters not only as a shelter and a place of rest, but also as a work area that ensures the quality of the command’s work on the front line.
Metinvest’s Chief Operating Officer Alexander Mironenko noted that the war is long and combat operations have become a constant companion of every Ukrainian, especially those who defend the country in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Therefore, the development of improved bunkers and entire underground complexes is a contribution of Metinvest and Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front to improving the lives of soldiers on the front line.
“People are the most important thing. And if we can not only create a safe space from shelling but also make it as comfortable as possible, we do it. I hope that there will be more and more such control points on the front line, and these “underground towns” will become a reliable support for the command of military units. Metinvest is also planning to develop new configurations of underground steel complexes for other needs of the Armed Forces. That is why we will not stop until Ukraine wins,” commented Mr. Mironenko on the handover of the first command post to the Armed Forces.
The new command posts are based on a traditional bunker model – a “kryivka” – which Metinvest has already delivered to various brigades of the Armed Forces since 2022. The design of the standard steel bunker was modified for use as part of a permanent headquarters, with dimensions increased to 6 meters long and 2.3 meters high. Each “hideout” is designed for six people and is equipped with places for rest, storage of personal belongings and an integrated heating system. It takes about 400 hours for Metinvest’s specialists to make one such structure.
“The advantage of our army over the enemy is that we fight with quality and brains. And at the same time, we are able to make informed decisions quickly, because the lives of our soldiers and the success of combat operations are at stake. That’s why we strive to ensure the safety and create comfortable conditions for the military’s work and rest even at ground zero, in the heat of war. Command posts based on modular shelters meet the army’s request and allow us to set up fortified headquarters on the front line, which will fulfill their main task – to control the battle and inflict a crushing defeat on the enemy in any situation,” said Brigadier General Volodymyr Horbatiuk.
In total, since the beginning of the full-scale war, Metinvest has allocated UAH 4.8 billion to support Ukraine and Ukrainians. Of this amount, over UAH 2.5 billion was provided to the soldiers as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative. The company has donated 150,000 bulletproof vests, 25,000 helmets and helmets, 80,000 anti-tank hedgehogs, 31,500 turnstiles, 1,500 drones, 2,000 thermal imagers, 500 vehicles, dozens of mine trawlers for tanks, patrol boats and lance catchers.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are located mainly 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.
Cardboard and Paper Company LLC (Lviv), a major Ukrainian manufacturer of cardboard tubes and sanitary products, increased its production by 7% in 2023 to UAH 1 billion 268.5 million compared to 2022.
According to UkrPapir Association statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, the company slightly reduced its output of cardboard products in physical terms to 26.4 thousand tons, while increasing its production of paper base for sanitary products by 12.6% to almost 8 thousand tons. Production of toilet paper in rolls increased by 49% to 6.1 million units.
At the same time, in December, the company reduced its paper and cardboard production by 35.5% compared to the same month in 2022, to 2 thousand tons, which is also almost 35% less than in November last year.
LLC “Cardboard and Paper Company” produces products and semi-finished products from waste cardboard (cardboard sheets, corners, sleeves), cellulose and recycled waste paper (toilet paper, towels, napkins TM Papero). The company supplies its products, in particular, to the EU countries.
Among its customers are Biosphere and Arterium corporations, Nestle, Khlibprom, and Yarych confectionery.
As reported, in 2022, the factory increased its commercial output by 51.5% compared to 2021, up to UAH 1 billion 186 million, without stopping work during the year. Net profit tripled to UAH 263.7 million.
Kokhavyno Paper Mill (KBF, Lviv region), which produces sanitary paper products, increased its production by 18% in 2023 compared to 2022, to UAH 1 billion 151.2 million, according to statistics from Ukrpapir Association.
According to the data provided to Interfax-Ukraine, in physical terms, the production of paper base for sanitary products increased by 2.8% to 41.7 thousand tons. In particular, in December, its output increased by 3% to 3.6 thousand tons by December 2022.
Last year, the production of toilet paper in rolls increased by 4.5% to 138 million units. KBF retained second place in terms of its output after Kyiv pulp and paper mill (259.5 million units).
As reported, in October, Kokhava Pulp and Paper Mill commissioned a paper machine with an estimated capacity of 25 thousand tons per year to produce pulp base paper (previously it produced only waste paper-based products), creating up to 200 new jobs.
To organize such production in 2021, the pulp mill attracted an EBRD loan of EUR 13.8 million.
Operating since 1939, the Kokhavynske Paper Mill produces the base paper for sanitary and hygiene products, as well as toilet paper and paper towels. Before the new machine was put into operation, it had two paper machines with a total capacity of 40 thousand tons of base paper per year.
As reported, in 2022, KBF produced products worth UAH 975.3 million, up 44.8% year-on-year. Net profit decreased by 12.7% to UAH 52.4 million.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has raised its forecast for Ukrainian wheat production in the 2023/24 marketing year (MY, September 2023 – August 2024) by 0.9 million tons to 23.4 million tons and for exports by 1.5 million tons to 14 million tons.
According to the USDA’s January report, Ukraine’s ending stocks will also increase by 1.8 million tons to 4.38 million tons.
For corn, the USDA left the harvest, exports and ending stocks in Ukraine unchanged: 30.5 million tons, 21 million tons and 6.82 million tons respectively.
In general, the updated global wheat crop forecast for the 2023/24 grain year was improved by 1.9 million tons to 784.91 million tons, due to the positive revision of estimates for Ukraine and Russia, while the forecast for China was lowered. The forecast for global wheat exports was also raised by 2.35 million tons to 209.54 million tons. The experts also revised the forecast for global wheat ending stocks upwards by 1.83 million tons to 260.03 million tons.
For corn, the forecast for global production in January was raised by 0.0137 million tons to 1.235 million tons, while exports were lowered by 0.57 million tons to 200.89 million tons. Ending stocks will rise by 10 million tons to 325 million tons.
