Metinvest steel output climbs 1% m/m in December

Steel production at Ukraine’s largest producer
Metinvest (METINV) was 24.4 kt per day (or 755 kt per month) in December, a
1.5% m/m increase, according to Concorde Capital’s analysis of separate news
reports by Interfax-Ukraine.

Ilyich Steel reported a 4.6% m/m loss in steel
production to 11.1 kt per day, while Azovstal’s output gained 7.2% m/m to 13.2
kt per day in December. The holding’s hot iron output dropped 3.9% m/m to 22.1
kt per day.

In 2020, Metinvest’s steel output was 8.26 mmt (22.6
kt per day), or 9.0% more yoy.

Metinvest produced 24.0 kt per day (or 720 kt per
month) of steel in November, a 19.0% m/m jump, according to our analysis of
earlier Interfax-Ukraine reports.

Dmytro Khoroshun: The jump to
a 24 kt daily steel production rate happened already in November,
earlier than we expected, which is
positive for Metinvest.

We expect Metinvest to continue producing steel at daily
rates of at least 23-24 kt in January-February in order to make the most of the recently skyrocketed prices.

We maintain our neutral view on METINV bonds.