The Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant (ZZF) resumed production from May 1 of the current year after a shutdown since March 2023 due to high electricity prices and insufficient prices for ferroalloys in the global market. This was announced by the chairman of the board, Pavlo Kravchenko.
Kravchenko noted that the cost of electricity remains very high.
"We have started two furnaces, which is 7% of our capacity," he emphasized.
Regarding plans for increasing production, Kravchenko mentioned there are no visible plans at the moment.
Responding to questions about the main consumers of the plant's products, whether "Zaporizhstal" or "Kametstal," the CEO explained that the production is supplied to those with whom contracts have been concluded.
The chairman also refrained from commenting on the situation with the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NZF) as he is not the director of that enterprise.
"I do not know what will happen next – it depends on the world markets and the situation in the war," concluded Kravchenko.
Meanwhile, the executive director of UkrFA, Serhii Kudriavtsev, indicated that NZF is considering the possibility of restarting production after the shutdown.
When asked specifically whether the ferroalloy companies are assessing the loss of the market that continues, Kudriavtsev confirmed the situation. He added that they are currently operating with the reserves they had before.
As previously reported, ferroalloy plants continue to lose the Ukrainian market due to shutdowns, with a significant increase in imports and a sharp decline in exports. Specifically, Ukraine reduced ferroalloy exports by 38.4 times to 6,670 tons in January-May, and in monetary terms, by 23.4 times to $9.552 million.
