Metinvest steel production to drop 8% m/m in September due to repairs

Metinvest (METINV), Ukraine’s largest steel producer,
plans to stop one of two oxygen converters at its Azovstal plant for seven days
of repairs, according to a Sept. 14 report by Metal Expert, an industry
consultancy.

Steel production at Metinvest’s two Mariupol plants,
Azovstal and Ilyich Steel, might drop by about 8% m/m to 22.5 kt per day in
September because of the repairs, according to Concorde Capital calculations.

Dmytro Khoroshun: Metinvest
will return to producing steel at daily rates of at least 23-24 kt at its two
Mariupol plants and of about 7 kt at Dniprovskyy Steel from October, in order
to make the most of the period of high prices at the global markets, we expect.

We maintain our neutral view on METINV bonds.