ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih cuts steel output by half due to water problems, switch to alternative sources to take six months
MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax) - ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR), Ukraine's largest steelmaker, has reduced production by half due to problems with water supplies after the breach of the Kakhovka dam.
From the industrial point of view, the steelmaker is feeling the consequences of the dam's destruction, Ukrainian media reported AMKR CEO Mauro Longobardo as saying in the plant's in-house online newspaper Metallurg.
The plant can use its reserves, but nonetheless it has now returned to operating at 15-20% of capacity from 30%-40% previously, and it does not think it is possible to get more orders now, he said.
The company intends to focus on filling previously received orders and working on projects to supply the plant with alternative sources of water.
AMKR will do everything possible to fulfill existing orders and expects new orders once the situation normalizes, Longobardo said. But the water level in the Dnepr River is not stabilizing yet, it is falling with each passing day and is not expected to return to the previous level any time soon, he said.
Switching to water from other reservoirs will take time and require pumping stations, so it will take at least six months, Longobardo said, adding that some preparatory work is already underway.
While the plant typically uses 2,400 cubic meters of water per hour, now it is using 1,000 or less.
In order to adapt to these conditions, the plant had to shut down some units, AMKR financial director Sergei Plichko said. Initially the plant shut down production of steel and rolled products, but now it understands that it can restart some rolling mills and it will try to put one into operation on Thursday, he said. Then it will see by the level of water use whether it can launch other units.
The mining division has enough water for at least the next two or three months of operation. The situation in the mining division is better because it has a closed water cycle; water used in production is left to settle and then reused, and only a small amount is needed to top up this level, Plichko said.
It was reported earlier that AMKR shut down its steel smelting and rolling operations due to restrictions on water supplies after the breach of the Kakhovka dam.
Early on June 6, valves and other above-water structures at the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant were destroyed as a result of shelling by Ukrainian forces. This led to an uncontrolled release of water from the Kakhovka reservoir downstream along the Dnepr River.