Ferrexpo plc is a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
-based commodity trading and mining company which is the third largest exporter of iron ore pellets in the world. Ferrexpo's operating base is in central
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, where it operates three
iron-ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
mines and an
iron ore pellet production facility. The company's trading office is located in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
where it is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
and it is a constituent of the
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...
and
FTSE4Good Index
The FTSE4Good Index Series is a series of ethical investment stock market indices launched in 2001 by the FTSE Group which reports on the performance of companies which demonstrate "strong Environmental, Social and Governance practices". A numbe ...
.
History
The business was founded by the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
government in 1960 as the "
Poltava Mining and Extraction Combinat" to exploit
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
reserves in
Horishni Plavni
Horishni Plavni ( uk, Горі́шні Пла́вні, ; before 2016 known as Komsomolsk-na-Dnipri, uk, Комсомо́льськ-на-Дніпрі or simply Komsomolsk, uk, Комсомо́льськ) is a purpose-built mining city in cent ...
(formerly Komsomolsk),
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
.
In 1977 it started selling its product in the form of
iron ore pellets
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
.
In June 2007, Ferrexpo plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange, producing 8.6 million tonnes of iron ore pellets in the year prior to listing.
In 2008 and 2009 the company established additional new complexes around
Horishni Plavni
Horishni Plavni ( uk, Горі́шні Пла́вні, ; before 2016 known as Komsomolsk-na-Dnipri, uk, Комсомо́льськ-на-Дніпрі or simply Komsomolsk, uk, Комсомо́льськ) is a purpose-built mining city in cent ...
and
Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pr ...
. In 2011, the Company opened its second iron ore mine, the Yeristovo mine, which is located immediately north of the Company's main iron ore mine - the Poltava iron ore mine. Upon opening Yeristovo, Ferrexpo became the first company to open a new mine in Ukraine since the country's independence.
In March 2019 the company delayed publication of its results pending an investigation into charitable donations in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. In April 2019 its auditors
Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...
resigned, with Ferrexpo's former chief financial officer selling £400,000 of shares the day before the announcement.
In August 2019 Ferrexpo announced that the charitable donations may have been misappropriated; it had donated $24 million to the charity in 2017 and $9.5 million in 2018.
In October 2019, the CEO, Kostyantyn Zhevago, stood down from his post, following allegations of the embezzlement of $113 million from the Finance & Credit Bank.
Following Zhevago's departure, Jim North became acting CEO; the company announced his appointment as permanent CEO in February 2022.
Operations
Ferrexpo produces iron ore pellets, which are used in the global steel industry to produce high quality types of steel. Iron ore pellets are the highest quality form of iron ore that steel producers can utilise, offering steel producers the opportunity to improve blast furnace productivity, whilst simultaneously reducing carbon emissions by at least 30% for every tonne of pellets used instead of the more commonly used sinter fines, which are typically lower grade and require sintering prior to charging into the blast furnace.
The Company, which sells most of its product to steel mills of
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, is organised into the following units:
*
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
-
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
*
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
- home base
*
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
- registered office, trading
*
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
- distribution and sale
*
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
- distribution and sale
*
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
- distribution and sale
*
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
- distribution and sale
The company's mining components are all based in
central Ukraine
Central Ukraine ( uk, Центральна Україна, ''Tsentralna Ukraina'') consists of historical regions of left-bank Ukraine and right-bank Ukraine that reference to the Dnipro River. It is situated away from the Black Sea Littoral N ...
and consist of:
* Poltava Mining and Enrichment Complex (1970s),
Horishni Plavni
Horishni Plavni ( uk, Горі́шні Пла́вні, ; before 2016 known as Komsomolsk-na-Dnipri, uk, Комсомо́льськ-на-Дніпрі or simply Komsomolsk, uk, Комсомо́льськ) is a purpose-built mining city in cent ...
* Yeristovo Mining and Enrichment Complex (2008), Yerystivka village,
Kremenchuk Raion
Kremenchuk Raion ( uk, Кременчуцький район; Romanization of Ukrainian, translit.: ''Kremenchutskyi raion'') is a raion (district) in Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. The raion's Capital (political), administrative center is the ...
(see:
Yeristovskoye mine
The Yeristovskoye mine is a large iron mine located in central Ukraine in the Poltava Oblast. Yeristovskoye represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Euro ...
)
* Belanovo Mining and Enrichment Complex (est. 2009, under construction), Bazaluky village, Horishni Plavni municipality and Nova Haleshchyna,
Kozelshchyna Raion
Kozelshchyna Raion ( uk, Козельщинський район; translit.: ''Kozelshchynskyi raion'') was a raion (district) in Poltava Oblast in central Ukraine. The raion's administrative center was the urban-type settlement of Kozelshchyna
...
(see:
Belanovskoye mine)
Additionally, the company owns several nearby iron deposits which are not yet being actively exploited. From north to south, these are:
*
Brovarkovskoye mine
*
Manuilovskoye mine
*
Kharchenkovskoye mine
*
Vasilievskoye mine
*
Zarudenskoye mine
Ownership
The founder,
Kostyantyn Zhevago
Kostyantyn Valentynovych Zhevago ( uk, Костянтин Валентинович Жеваго, russian: Константин Валентинович Жеваго; born 7 January 1974) is a Ukrainian billionaire and politician. He was the fi ...
, owns 50.3% of the company. Kostyantyn Zhevago was arrested in December 2022 under an international arrest warrant, he is wanted in Ukraine in a major embezzlement case.
References
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1960
Iron ore mining companies
Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
Economy of Poltava Oblast
Metal companies of Switzerland
Mining in Ukraine
1960 establishments in Ukraine