US Steel
According to Argus, Ukrainian vertically integrated steel company Metinvest has held preliminary talks with US Steel to acquire its plant in Kosice, Slovakia , writes Ukrrudprom.
This move makes sense for both parties. Metinvest is more dependent on the supply of raw materials after the war broke out in Ukraine, and Kosice is its buyer. It is not surprising that the supply and production of Ukrainian iron ore is currently significantly reduced. In January-October, Ukrainian iron ore exports fell by almost 39% year-on-year to 22.4 million tons, while raw materials for European plants, such as Kosice, are mainly transported by rail.
However, However, Eastern European mill executives say about half of the raw materials shipped to the region still come from Ukraine, and perhaps even more for cash-strapped buyers who can't afford the tons shipped by sea.</p
Recently, Metinvest managed to return coking coal production to pre-war levels, while production in the third quarter decreased by only 6.7% due to an increase in production at the Pokrovskoye mine in eastern Ukraine. It also sells coal to factories in Central and Eastern Europe.
Metinvest needs feedstock for its coil and plate mills in Europe, which were forced to purchase slabs on the trading market due to interruptions in supplies from Ukraine. Slabs were not produced at the Ukrainian assets of Metinvest in the second and third quarters of this year, installations were purchased in China and other countries. In a recent TV interview, Metinvest CEO Yuri Ryzhenkov said that British Steel and ThyssenKrupp are supplying slabs to its Spartan plate plant in the UK.
US Steel has also been interested in pulling out of its European operations for some time. In 2013, it sold its plant in Smederevo in Serbia to the government for $1 and then resold it to Chinese giant Hebei Iron & Steel in 2016. Earlier this year, there were also rumors that the company was in talks with unnamed parties to sell the Kosice facility.
US Steel and its subsidiary US Steel Kosice declined to comment on what they called “rumors and speculation.” It was not possible to get a comment from Metinvest.
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