It accounts for 1/10 of European steel imports. "World focus" the steel industry in Ukraine

Speaking of Ukraine, which is now at the center of the storm, you can vaguely remember its glorious history at the beginning of its independence from the Soviet Union.

During the period of the former Soviet Union, industry and agriculture in Ukraine were more developed. Agriculture is known as the "European granary"; the scientific and technological strength of military industry accounts for about 1/4 of that of the former Soviet Union; and the main industrial sectors are aviation, aerospace, military industry, metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, shipbuilding, chemical industry, and so on.

Ukraine had a rich family when it gained independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991. There are more than 600,000 square kilometers of territory, there are vast plains and boundless black land, and there are very rich coal, iron and manganese mines, which contain more than 70 kinds of mineral resources. at the time of separation, they also acquired a huge army and more than 1200 nuclear weapons, turning themselves into the third largest nuclear power in the world. This is nothing, but what is even more dazzling is that it has a strong heavy industrial infrastructure and a relatively complete and advanced military industrial system.

At that time, Russia had to rely on Ukraine for many key technologies. For example, the manufacturing base of rockets is in Ukraine, so after the separation, the development of Russian satellite systems and strategic missiles has stagnated.

However, due to various reasons, such as the separation of the supply chain in the Soviet era, the falling out of relations with Russia, the containment of Western countries, the failure of economic reform, and so on, after 30 years of development, Ukraine has only retrogressed but not made any progress. Industry has shrunk sharply and is now almost the poorest country in Europe.

However, Ukraine is still the second largest grain exporter in the world, its steel industry and military industry are still relatively developed, and a large amount of natural gas is still transported from Russia to the European Union through the Ukrainian pipeline.

As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalates, commodity traders are keeping a close eye on Ukraine's vast infrastructure network, which is key to supplying natural gas, crops and steel to Europe and elsewhere. Among them, Donetsk is a port that exports grains and metals, as well as the location of major large steel mills.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest producers of iron ore and steel, with rich iron ore and coal resources. Donbass is Ukraine's largest coal field, with proven reserves of 42 billion tons. Krivorog has iron ore reserves of 26 billion tons.

According to the Ukrainian steelmaking industry association UKRFelightprom, crude steel production in Ukraine increased by 3.6 per cent to 21.4 million tons in 2021; pig iron production increased by 3.6 per cent to 21.2 million tons; steel rolling production increased by 3.5 per cent to 19.1 million tons; steel pipe production fell by 15 per cent to 980000 tons.

Ukrainian steel accounts for about 1/10 of Europe's steel imports, and any disruption in steel mills or shipments would tighten an already tight market on the continent and could push steel prices high after setting a record last year.

Ukraine's leading steel producers include Metinvest BV, which has factories in the industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine, including one on the Dnieper River, as well as two large plants in Mariupol.

ArcelorMittal (ArcelorMittal), the world's largest steel producer, owns the largest steel mill in Ukraine, located in the central Ukrainian city of (Kryvyi Rih). Ferrexpo is the world's third-largest iron ore producer, with all its operations in Ukraine, about 350km (220miles) southeast of Kiev. Seamless pipe maker Interpipe also has a factory in Dnipro in the east.

In addition, about 60 per cent of Ukraine's sea exports of ferrous metals pass through Black Sea ports such as Odessa, Pivdeni, Mikoraiv and Chernomorsk, and about 1/5 are exported through Mariupol, according to the Ukrainian Port Authority.

Ukraine has a vast natural gas transport network designed in Soviet times to transport fuel from large gas fields in Siberia to Europe. Over the past decade, Russia has spent billions of dollars bypassing Ukraine to build a new Nord Stream gas pipeline, but Ukraine remains the key to Europe's energy security.

In the EU, Russia accounts for about 1/3 of the EU's natural gas, and although about 20 per cent of the gas is transported through Ukraine, the current supply is about 20 per cent.

The pipeline through Ukraine also carries some Russian oil to Europe. In the electricity sector, DTEK, Ukraine's largest private power company, has a number of power plants in Donetsk and Luhansk.