Metalloinvest had decreased iron ore, pig iron, and crude steel production in 2019.
Within iron ore product, pellets and HBI/DRI encountered slight increases on maintenance work at various plants.
Metalloinvest decreased iron ore production by 0.3pc to 40.2mn mt in 2019, with Q4 2019 production volumes declining by 2.2pc from the previous quarter. Production of concentrate with a higher iron ore content led to a decrease in the physical volume of production.
Pellet production increased by 1.5pc to 28.1mn mt in 2019. Metalloinvest produced 7.9mn mt of HBI/DRI last year, up by 0.5pc over the previous year, with most production increasing in Q4 due to the completion of scheduled maintenance works at various plants.
Iron ore shipment volumes and shipments to outside customers increased by 3.3pc in 2019 over the previous year, amounting to 26.7mn mt. Growth accelerated in Q4 as shipments rose by 7.2pc over Q3 mainly because of increases in the domestic market. The share of iron ore product shipments to the domestic market decreased from 65pc to 53pc in 2019.
Metalloinvest increased the volume of export supplies in 2019 by 39.7pc over the previous year because of increased supplies to Asia, which increased from 4pc in 2018 to 22pc of total shipments in 2019. However, shipments to all other regions declined.
Of regional iron ore shipments, 52.5pc of the total 26.729mn mt went to Russia, followed by 20pc to Europe, 21.8pc to Asia, 3.3pc to the Middle East, and 2.3pc to other destinations.
Pig iron production decreased by 9.1pc to 2.7mn mt in 2019 due to maintenance works at the company’s blast furnaces. Shipments of pig iron decreased by 20pc to 1.732mn in 2019 over the previous year because of internal consumption.
Crude steel production decreased by 3.7pc in 2019 from the previous year to 4.9mn mt, mainly as a result of reconstruction at Ural Steel.
Recently, Metalloinvest and Zagorsk Pipe Plant (ZTZ) announced they’re holding discussions on a strategic partnership between the two companies for the development of Ural Steel. ZTZ may become a shareholder in Ural Steel as part of the deal. Denis Safin, Zagorsk Pipe Plant’s chief executive officer, said synergizing with Ural Steel will enable ZTZ to become more competitive by diversifying operations. Ural Steel produced 2.749mn mt of pig iron and 1.408mn mt of crude steel in 2019.