ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih will not be able to resume production after a series of Russian strikes
ArcelorMittal announced that it cannot safely and sustainably resume operations at the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih steel plant after a series of Russian missile strikes. The company has already notified the Ukrainian government and is discussing the future of the enterprise with the authorities.
This is stated in the official statement by ArcelorMittal dated September 25.
Over the past five weeks, the plant in Kryvyi Rih has been hit by missile strikes four times. The latest attack occurred on September 21. These strikes killed five people, and 17 other employees and contractors were injured. One of the injured remains in critical condition.
The attacks also caused significant damage to production facilities. After the previous strike in September, ArcelorMittal had already reported that primary steel production was halted, and other facilities of the plant were either idle or operating at minimal levels.
Mauro Longobardo, CEO of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, stated that the company has concluded that it is impossible to safely continue operating the plant under the current conditions.
However, ArcelorMittal is not planning to completely abandon production in Kryvyi Rih yet. The company is discussing the future of the plant with the Ukrainian government and intends to focus on preserving its infrastructure so that the possibility of resuming production remains after the security situation improves.
The financial consequences of the shutdown will also be significant. ArcelorMittal expects to write down asset values by approximately USD 1 billion. This refers to a non-cash impairment primarily related to real estate, production equipment, and other fixed assets of the enterprise in Kryvyi Rih.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the parent company has provided more than USD 700 million to support the Ukrainian subsidiary and maintain its operations.
Prior to the current decision, the plant had repeatedly attempted to restore production after damage. After the missile strike in August, key energy and blast furnace production facilities were damaged, and some production processes had to be stopped. Following the next attack in September, the company could no longer even provide estimated recovery timelines.
The shutdown of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih comes amid a sharp deterioration across the entire Ukrainian metallurgy industry. In September, several of the country's largest metallurgical enterprises were shut down or significantly curtailed production following Russian strikes.
Source: ArcelorMittal
