Ukraine's ArcelorMittal boosts steel output by 70% in 2024

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's biggest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, increased raw steel output by almost 70% to 1.65 million metric tons in 2024, the company said on Tuesday, though production remained far below its pre-war capacity.

The company gave no explanation of the jump, but steel producers' union has said an increase domestic and foreign demand combined with the unblocking of Black Sea ports, which serve as a gateway for exports, helped boost output.

In 2021, the last year before Russia's invasion in February 2022, the steelmaker's output totalled 4.9 million tons.

Ukraine's total steel production rose 21.6% to 7.58 million tons last year. That also remained well below pre-war levels of 20-21 million tons after the invasion which destroyed several steel plants and sent output tumbling to 6.3 million tons in 2022 and 6 million in 2023.

With fighting closing in on Ukraine's only coking coal mine, steel production volumes are under threat again this year.

Despite the output jump, the steel maker, fully-owned by ArcelorMittal, said in a statement it was unable to break even because of power shortages, high electricity prices and unfavourable metals prices.

In 2024, the plant also produced 2.17 million tons of pig iron and 1.53 million tons of rolled steel.

"Our business plan is focused on the survival of the company, so far, we are very cautious in our forecasts and understand that our results are far from pre-war levels," said Mauro Longobardo, CEO of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.

Ukraine's Metinvest metallurgical giant said this month it had suspended operations at its coking coal mine in the country's east, citing a deteriorating security situation.

The steelmakers' union said in October the potential closure of the Pokrovsk mine could cause steel production to slump to 2-3 million metric tons in 2025.

That would hit Ukraine's steel exports, which last year generated about $4.4 billion.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)