Ukrainian ferroalloy producers produced 70,000 tons of products in January-March

Ferroalloy enterprises of Ukraine in January-March 2023 reduced their output by 2.7 times compared to the same period last year – to 70,000 tons. This is reported by Interfax-Ukraine with the reference to the Ukrainian Ferroalloy Producers Association (UkrFA).

During the three months of 2023, the production of the following ferroalloy products decreased:

• silicomanganese – by 2.3 times per year, to 69.12 thousand tons;
• ferromanganese – 86.3 times per year, to 0.17 thousand tons;
• ferrosilicon (in terms of 45%) – 17.7 times per year, to 0.71 thousand tons.

Metallic manganese was not produced during this period. Pokrovsky Mining (PGOK) produced 27.81 thousand tons of manganese concentrate in 3 months of 2023, which is 4.6 times less compared to the same period last year. At the same time, PGOK did not produce manganese and iron ore agglomerate.

Manganetsk Mining (MGOK) did not produce manganese concentrate in January-March 2023.

In total, in the first quarter, MGOK and PGOK produced 27.81 thousand tons of manganese concentrate, while in January-March 2022 it was 245.96 thousand tons. This is 8.8 times less compared to the same period of the previous year.

In January-March, the Zaporizhia Ferroalloy Plant (ZFP) reduced production by 41.2 times y/y – to 0.91 thousand tons. The Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP) during this period produced 69.09 thousand tons of products, which is 2.2 times less year-on-year.

Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure at the end of 2022 significantly worsened the situation for the ferroalloy industry, which depends more than others on stable energy supply. As a result of these strikes, the enterprises of the industry temporarily stopped their work partially or completely.

The Pobuzhsky Ferronickel Plant was forced to shut down due to power outages. In addition, the company depends on imported raw materials, so it cannot count on its stable flow due to the blockade of the ports.

Currently, the situation with energy supply has stabilized, therefore ferroalloy plants are increasing production and export of products in accordance with demand.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Ukrainian ferroalloy enterprises in March 2023 increased the export of ferroalloys by 1.2% compared to the previous month –  to 47.7 thousand tons. In January-March 2023, Ukraine exported 144.54 thousand tons of ferroalloys worth $125.33 million.