In January-February Mariupol Ilyich Iron and Steel Works lacked ferrous scrap and had to substitute it with more expensive pig iron, thus decreasing its metal competitiveness.
According to the company CEO Yuri Zinchenko, the Ministry of economical development and trade announced scrap balance for 2016 with 1.1 million tons exported will result in the scrap shortage on the local market.
“In January we received 4 thousand tons of scrap, and 400 tons in February. This means, we have been working on our own pig iron for two months. This situation shows that the ministry doesn’t care about local market and the country interests, when it comes to scrap exports”, he added. (Ukrainian Metal)