Metinvest steel output rises 8.7% m/m in April

Steel production at Ukraine’s largest producer,
Metinvest (METINV), was 24.2 kt per day (or 725 kt per month) in April, an 8.7%
m/m increase, according to Concorde Capital’s analysis of separate news reports
by Interfax-Ukraine. That result includes Azovstal (AZST UK) and Ilyich Steel
(MMKI UK) figures.

Ilyich Steel reported a 3.6% m/m gain in steel
production to 11.3 kt per day, while Azovstal’s output jumped 13.6% m/m to 12.9
kt per day in April. The holding’s hot iron output rose 12.0% m/m to 25.0 kt
per day.

In 4M19, Metinvest’s steel output was 2.66 mmt, or
9.2% more yoy.

Dmytro Khoroshun: As a result
of the recent upgrade of one of Ilyich Steel’s casting machines,
Metinvest has demonstrated strong steel production volumes so far in 2019,
averaging 22.2 kt per day. We are cautiously upgrading our forecast for
Metinvest’s 2019 steel production to 8.0-8.3 mmt, up 9-14% yoy. The
management’s recent guidance for 2019 was 8.32 mmt
(up 14% yoy).