The largest company of Donetsk – Donetsk Iron and Steel Works has put the blast furnace #1 into operation, one of the two existing furnaces.
“DMZ put #1 into operation in August, but it’s not working at full capacity, just as the blast furnace #2. #1 yields around 40 thousand tons of pig iron per month, and #2 – 50 thousand tons”, said the “industry development strategy manager of the DPR administration” Yevgeny Lavrenov.
The maximum capacity of both blast furnaces is 120 thousand tons of pig iron per month.
The works cannot reach its full capacity because of the problems with raw materials delivery, in particular the iron ore pellets (imported from Russia).
Pig iron is exported through Mariupol and Berdyansk ports.
DMZ is a part of the Donetskstal holding, owned by the Russian businessman Victor Nusenkis. Donetskstal works were among the first to register according to the DPR rules and pay around 1 million UAH of taxes each quarter. (Ukrainian metal)