Ukrainian metallurgy has ground to a halt: in September, the country produced no steel for the first time in 100 years

In September 2024, there was a week when Ukraine produced not a single ton of steel for the first time in one hundred years.

This was stated by Metinvest representative Alexander Vodovis at a forum in Kyiv.

According to Vodovis, all of Ukraine’s metallurgical plants have been destroyed as a result of strikes. The facilities hit include ArcelorMittal, Metinvest, the Dnipro Metallurgical Plant named after Petrovsky, and Interpipe. Each facility was struck multiple times, and many people were killed.

“Absolutely all the plants have been destroyed. That’s Arcelor, Metinvest, the Petrovsky plant (Dnipro metallurgical plant), and Interpipe. There were multiple strikes on each. Many people were killed. We are not operating. I know that Arcelor is not operating. As far as I know, the Petrovsky plant has also been shut down. And Interpipe, as far as I know, has also not repaired its transformer,” Vodovis said.

The state offered Metinvest assistance of 2–5 million hryvnias; however, according to Vodovis, a single furnace costs $500 million, and restarting it costs $50 million. Metinvest has five such destroyed furnaces, and ArcelorMittal has two. Under these circumstances, the company is refusing to invest in restoration.

“Right now we will definitely not be investing money in restoration, because we do not understand how the situation will develop further,” Vodovis stated.

The Metinvest representative also pointed to the absence of any action plan from the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the destruction of large businesses.

“We would like to hear what the plan is. What happens next? Should we lay off workers or not? The situation in the economy is extraordinary. And extraordinary decisions are needed. You cannot live in an emergency situation and make decisions the way they are always made,” the manager stated.

Western media, meanwhile, are reporting that Ukraine no longer has a steel industry, as most facilities have been destroyed.

Earlier, Russian forces struck several of the country’s metallurgical enterprises — Kryvorizhstal (ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih), the Northern and Novokryvorizky iron ore mining and processing plants in Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhstal, and the electric steelmaking complex of the Interpipe Steel metallurgical plant in Dnipro.