Metinvest steel output rises 2% m/m in April

Steel production at Ukraine’s largest producer,
Metinvest (METINV), was 21.2 kt per day (or 635 kt per month) in April, a 1.7%
m/m increase in average daily terms, 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. (Production at Metinvest’s Yenakiyeve Steel was halted
in February 2017). No attributable portion of Zaporizhstal’s (ZPST UK) result
is included.

Ilyich Steel reported a 0.2% m/m rise in steel
production to 8.6 kt per day, while Azovstal showed a 2.8% m/m increase to 12.5
kt per day.

The holding’s hot iron output declined 2.0% m/m to
22.5 kt per day in April.

During 4M18, Metinvest’s steel output was 2.44 mmt, or
11.1% less yoy. Excluding Yenakiyeve Steel, which Metinvest does not control
anymore, the holding’s output rose 1.5% yoy to the same 2.44 mmt in 4M18.

Dmytro Khoroshun: We continue to expect Metinvest’s 2018 steel output at about 7.3 mmt,
or 4-5% less yoy. However, Metinvest’s plans to produce as much as 8 mmt of steel in 2018 look increasingly realistic.