The blast furnace No. 3 at Zaporizhstal will be put into operation in April in full accordance with the schedule.
According to the company CEO Rostislav Shurma, because of the railroad blockade of uncontrolled territories in Donetsk and Lugansk regions many metal companies have been experiencing the shortages of blast furnace raw materials.
“The main issue is the coal source. Apart from the anthracite coal, coking coals have been supplied from there as well. Zaporozhkoks received up to 30% of charge from the uncontrolled territory. Now it has to be replaced. Most of the other coke plants are in the same situation”, he said.
As of today Zaporizhstal has enough coke, Shurma added.
“What of tomorrow, taking into account the development of the blockade situation, we don’t know. Of course there are risks for our works and for the rest. Everyone’s looking for coke”, he said. “I hope that by the time we put BF3 into operation we could create the chain of coke deliveries. Coke could be purchased in many places. It could be imported from China or from Europe. But I’m especially worried about the situation in the energy sphere”. (Ukrainian metal)