This year, Ukraine will produce more than 7.2 million tons of steel, the president of Ukrmetallurgprom Olexander Kalenkov believes.
Compared with the first half of 2023, steel output grew by 37%. Mining enterprises increased output by about 50%.
“The increase was due to our enterprises doing everything possible to decrease prime cost and make their products more competitive on global markets. Another important factor was the opening of Black Sea ports, even though the freight rates remain high – and the beginning of the year they exceeded pre-war ones 2 times,” he said.
According to him, today, the loading of capacities at metal plants is at the level of 48.7%, while last year it was 39.1%. (Ukrainian metal)