Ukraine's Metinvest boosts iron ore concentrate output 87%, pellet output 25% in H1
MOSCOW. Aug 13 (Interfax) - Metinvest, Ukraine's largest steel and mining group, increased production of iron ore concentrate by 87% year-on-year to 8.892 million tonnes in the first half of 2024 and pellet output by 25% to 3.193 million tonnes, Ukrainian media reported, citing operating results released by group parent company Metinvest B.V.
Production of merchant iron ore products more than doubled to 8.021 million tonnes and output of merchant iron ore concentrate surged 240% to 5.023 million tonnes.
The growth was driven by the unblocking of Ukraine's Black Sea ports and an increase in the order book for pellets, the company said.
Production of coking coal concentrate, meanwhile, fell 31% to 2.085 million tonnes in the first half.
Higher electricity costs, due to impaired domestic production because of damage to infrastructure and stronger demand for imported electricity, have affected the utilisation and configuration of the group's mining and processing plants, Metinvest said. To ensure effective production, Metinvest said manages these assets based on the availability and price of electricity, market prices for iron ore products and other factors.
As a result, total iron ore concentrate production fell 17% quarter-on-quarter to 4.033 million tonnes in the second quarter, and production of merchant iron ore products and iron ore concentrate dropped 13% to 3.814 million tonnes and 22% to 2.205 million tonnes, respectively. Production of merchant pellets, however, remained almost flat at 1.609 million tonnes.
Production of coal concentrate slumped 8% quarter-on-quarter to 999,000 tonnes in the second quarter, with output falling 12% to 562,000 tonnes at Pokrovske Coal in Ukraine but remaining nearly flat at 437,000 tonnes at United Coal Company in the United States.
Metinvest has mining operations and metallurgical plants in Ukraine, Europe and the United States. Metinvest is 71.24% owned by SCM and 23.76% by Smart Holding.