20 May 2023
The largest steel producers in Ukraine 2022
Output of the biggest Ukrainian steel mills in Y2022 and the changes in their share of total Ukrainian steel production.
The full-scale Russian invasion had a catastrophic effect on Ukrainian metallurgy.
The loss of metallurgical plants in Mariupol, the blockade of Ukrainian deep-sea ports, as well as the missile attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the second half of the year led to the fact that in Y2022 the Ukrainian steel output slumped by 70% y-o-y.
According to the results of 2022, Ukraine produced 6.3 million tons of steel, the dynamics of production in recent years was as follows:
Military fights and the occupation of Mariupol led to the loss of metallurgical enterprises - Azovstal and MMK, which together smelted 8.6 million tons of steel in 2021 (40% of the total production).
In the first two months of 2022, Azovstal and MMK managed to produce 1.4 million tons of steel (22% of the total annual steel output in Ukraine).
It is worth noting that, in general, in January-February, all Ukrainian enterprises produced 3.4 million steel - more than half of the annual output for 2022.
Production dynamics by main steel mills during last several years looked as follows:
Producer
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Arcelor Mittal Kryvyi Rig
4.8
5.3
4.7
4.9
1.2
Azovstal
4.1
4.0
4.2
4.3
0.7
MMK
3.2
3.6
4.1
4.3
0.7
Zaporizhstal
4.1
4.0
3.8
3.9
1.5
Kametstal (DMK)
2.4
2.2
2.6
2.5
1.5
Interpipe
0.9
0.9
0.8
1.0
0.6
DMZ
0.9
0.5
0.2
0.3
0.1
TOTAL
21.1
20.8
20.6
21.3
6.3
The biggest Ukrainian steel producer in Y2022 was Kametstal (former DMK), which is part of the Metinvest group. It is worth noting that the plant almost did not work in November-December (due to lack of electric power supply). The total production of steel at Kametstal in 2022 amounted to more than 1.5 million tons, which is "only" 40% less than last year's figure.
Almost the same was the volume of steel output at Zaporizhstal, which is by 50% owned by the same group - Metinvest. In comparison with 2021, production in Zaporizhstal decreased more than at Kametstal - by 62%.
The largest metallurgical plant of Ukraine - Arcelor Mittal Kryvyi Rih - has reduced steel production compared to 2021 even more significantly - by 76% (from 4.9 million tons to 1.2 million tons).
Regarding expectations for 2023, major enterprises have started to resume production after the energy blackouts of autumn and winter. For example, if only 110,000 tons of steel were produced in December 2022, from March to May 2023 production figures stood at above the mark of 500,000 tons.
Taking into account some improvement in the operation of new logistics routes through the western borders of Ukraine (under the conditions of the blockade of Ukrainian deep-sea sea ports, which continues as of June 2023), according to our expectations, in the coming months, Ukrainian producers will be able to maintain production at a level close to the current 500-600 thousand tons.
So overall, for 2023, we expect production to be roughly at the previous year's level. A lot will depend on military operations and the situation with the country's energy system in the fall.
Positive expectations may be related to the gradual recovery of domestic metal consumption (in 2022 it decreased by 55% to 2 million tons), which may have a positive effect on overall production volumes.
Exports will largely depend on the level of world prices, which decreased during the second half of 2022, but increased significantly at the end of the year, so currently Ukrainian companies are able to export products, despite high logistics costs.