Ukraine-based steel mills have managed to improve their production results in August this year compared to previous months, even despite the severe negative effects of the ongoing war in the country. Being cut off from seaports, the suppliers have succeeded in redirecting part of their sales volumes to the European market and in building up relatively sustainable logistic chains.
In August, Ukraine reported a 20.9 percent rise in its pig iron production compared to July, to 335,000 mt, while the finished steel output increased by 17.5 percent to 248,000 mt, according to the statistics. Sources note that the steel production volumes of August are the highest since the war started on February 24 this year.
Still, the figures for the first eight months of 2022 reflect a significant year-on-year downturn. The finished steel and pig iron outputs were down 65.5 percent and 64 percent in the given period to 5.15 million mt and 5.19 million mt, respectively, year on year.
The key reasons for the low steel production in Ukraine are obviously war-related. Russian troops destroyed Metinvest’s Azovstal and captured Illyich SW, and, in addition, Ukraine has no access to its seaports for production shipments and raw material imports. Another important issue is the partly destroyed and unsafe logistic infrastructure, which made the mills reroute their products to the European market and use European ports for distant shipments.