On March 3, 2022, ArcelorMittal announced its decision to idle its steelmaking operations in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine in order to ensure the safety and security of its employees and assets. The process to safely idle all blast furnaces while maintaining asset integrity commenced on the same day. On April 11, 2022, blast furnace No. 6 (approximately 20% of Kryvyi Rih capacity) was restarted to resume low levels of pig iron production. Iron ore production was approximately at 55% of capacity during the first half of 2022. During the third quarter, iron ore production was temporarily suspended due to weaker demand and logistic constraints but restarted in early October 2022 at approximately 25% level. Key production assets have not been seriously damaged at the date of this report (as a result of the missile strike at the plant premises on December 5, 2022). |