After new strikes, ArcelorMittal will not restart production in Kryvyi Rih

ArcelorMittal announced that it can no longer safely and stably resume operations at its steel plant "ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih" after a series of Russian missile strikes. The company has already informed the Ukrainian government and plans to focus on preserving the plant's infrastructure with the possibility of restarting production in the future.

This is stated in an official statement by ArcelorMittal, published on September 25.

Over the past five weeks, "ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih" was hit by four missile strikes. The latest attack occurred on September 21. The company reports significant damage to production facilities.

As a result of the four attacks, five people were killed and 17 workers were wounded. One of them remains in critical condition.

Mauro Longobardo, CEO of "ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih", said that after assessing the situation, the company concluded that safe operation of the plant is impossible under current conditions.

ArcelorMittal is currently discussing the future of the plant with the Ukrainian government. The main task will be to preserve the production infrastructure so that when the security situation improves, it is technically possible to resume production.

The decision came after several consecutive attacks on key production facilities of the plant. After a strike in mid-August, the main energy and blast furnace production capacities were damaged, causing some technological processes to be halted.

After another missile strike in September, the area of blast furnace complex No. 1 was affected. Primary steel production was stopped, and other plant facilities were put into standby or minimum operation mode.

The refusal to restart the plant will also have a significant financial effect on the international group. ArcelorMittal expects to record a non-cash impairment of assets of approximately $1 billion. It is mainly related to the depreciation of fixed assets and production equipment of "ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih".

At the same time, since the start of the full-scale war, the parent company has allocated more than $700 million to support the continuity of the Ukrainian plant's operations.

Thus, ArcelorMittal is not announcing the final closure of the plant. The company is moving to a mode of preserving its infrastructure and leaves the possibility of resuming production when security conditions allow.

Materials: ArcelorMittal