Ukraine increased coke production by 5% in October

In October, Ukrainian coke plants increased coke production by 5.1% to 738 thousand tons compared to the previous month, according to Interfax-Ukraine citing the updated statistics of Ukrkoks association of coke producing companies.

Coke production fell by 10.3% compared to October 2020.

“There was a slight increase in coke production in October, but this did not affect production significantly. Some producers have completed overhauls, some of them have increased their production, but the total has remained at the level of the previous month,” says Anatoliy Starovoit, Ukrkoks CEO.

In January–October, coke production remained at the same level as in the same period last year — 8 million tons.

In 10M, the following coke plants shrank production volumes:

• Avdiyivka Coke Plant — by 10.3% to 2.193 million tons (against 10M 2020);
• Azovstal — by 9.4% to 1.015 million tons;
• Dniprovskyi Coke Plant — by 5.7% to 462 thousand tons;
• Zaporizhzhia Coke Plant — by 0.5% to 812 thousand tons.

Over the period from January to October, Dniprokoks increased production by 11.2% to 475 thousand tons, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih by 13.4% to 2.452 million tons, and Yuzhkoks by 10% to 595 thousand tons. Kharkiv Coke Plant remained idle.

As reported earlier, raw material supplies to Ukrainian coke plants decreased by 15% in September. The lack of coke caused Ukrainian steelmakers to suspend some blast furnaces and cut pig iron and steel outputs in September.

According to Anatoliy Starovoit, reduction in supplies of coking coal is caused by the global energy crisis. The record-breaking growth in gas prices has triggered a boost in demand for power-generating coals. This, in turn, has affected logistics of sales of coking coals.

In 2020, Ukrainian coke plants cut coke production by 3.9% to 9.66 million tons y-o-y.