Russian strikes halt Ukrainian steel production, impacting military output
State Duma deputy Leonid Ivlev claims targeted attacks on metallurgical plants have crippled Ukraine's industrial capacity
Quick Look
- Russian missile strikes have halted operations at major Ukrainian steel plants, including Zaporozhstal and Kametstal.
- Officials claim this shutdown disrupts military production and causes significant economic losses, with exports estimated to drop by $200 million monthly.
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Why It Matters
Ukraine was among the world's ten largest steel producers before 2022. The industry accounts for approximately 13% of the country's foreign exchange earnings.
SIMFEROPOL, October 2. / TASS/. Russian strikes on Ukrainian enterprises have shut down the steel industry used to make military products, which will hurt Kiev’s military output, State Duma deputy from the Republic of Crimea, Reserve Major General Leonid Ivlev said in an interview with TASS.
Reuters quoted the Federation of Metallurgists of Ukraine as saying that production in the country, which was one of the world's ten largest steel producers by the beginning of 2022, was stopped after the last enterprises were put out of operation.
"Ukraine's steel industry suffered as a result of targeted missile attacks by Russian troops on key metallurgical enterprises in the country, which effectively led to the cessation of production of various grades of steel, the most important raw materials for the military-industrial complex of the Kiev regime," Ivlev said.
He said that Russia had many times warned that in response to the Ukrainian strikes on its cities and energy companies retaliatory strikes would be launched against Ukraine's infrastructure facilities - ports, air bases, locomotives, warehouses and logistics chains. At the same time, not a single peaceful object was damaged.
Yulia Mendel, Vladimir Zelensky's former spokeswoman, said that in September Ukraine did not produce steel at all for a week, for the first time in 100 years. According to her, the export shutdown already causes losses of $200 million per month.
On September 22, Interpipe Steel pipe rolling plant shut down, and on September 18, Zaporozhstal and Kametstal became idle. Another large metallurgical enterprise, Dneprovsky Metallurgical Plant, stopped operations earlier due to financial problems (in January 2022, the plant stopped working, and in 2026, the process of declaring it insolvent began). Besides, explosions hit it in early September.
Metallurgy annually provides $6.2 billion in foreign exchange earnings for Ukraine (about 13%, second only to agricultural products), ArcelorMittal Krivoi Rog paid about 8.5 billion hryvnias ($189 million) annually to the budget, Interpipe Steel - 5.56 billion hryvnias ($123 million), Zaporozhstal - 4 billion hryvnias ($90 million), Kametstal - 2.5 billion hryvnias ($56 million).
Open Questions
- What is the long-term impact on Ukraine's GDP?
- Can the affected plants be repaired during the conflict?
