Kryvorizhstal

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (former Kryvorizhstal ( uk, Криворіжсталь) is Ukraine's largest integrated steel company, founded in 1934 and located in Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine.

Bought in 2005 by Mittal Steel, the steel plant is one of the most important Ukrainian companies and a globally important steel producer. In Ukraine it is the largest steel manufacturer of both rebar and wire rod. ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih also specializes in the manufacture of sections, angles, strips and billets. The plant produces over 6 MT of crude steel, 5 MT of rolled products and 5.5 MT of hot metal.

Production

Located entirely in Kryvyi Rih, this steel company was built as an integrated mining and steel plant, comprising:
* iron ore mine
* ore processing factories and two open pits
* coke-processing plant
* three sinter shops
* steel workshops of different types (two blast furnace shops, blooming facilities)
* three metal-rolling workshops.

Production volumes in 2021

* Ore mining: 24.5 million tons
* Concentrate: 11 million tons
* Hot metal: 5.3 million tons
* Steel: 4.9 million tons
* Rolled products: 4.6 million tons

Background

The presence of iron ore in the regions around Kryvyi Rih has been confirmed since at least 1781 and was rumored to have existed long before by generations of inhabitants. Throughout the 1800s, the region was surveyed for its mineral wealth. Iron ore of 70% iron content and manganese ores were located. In 1881, industrial extraction of iron ore began, alongside other developments such as the construction of the Kryvyi Rih railway. By 1884, over 100,000 tons of iron ore had been extracted, and the railway though Kryvyi Rih, 477 versts (505,6 km) long, from Yasynuvata station via Kryvyi Rih to Dolynska station, had been opened. Iron ore production expanded rapidly during the next few years. By 1896, 20 mines in the Kryvyi Rih Basin were producing over 1,000,000 tonnes of ore. Industrial expansion continued in the region up to 1917. Production dropped during the First World War.

Foundation and growth in Soviet Union

After the formation of the Soviet Union and expulsion of Austro-Hungarian forces and then anti-communist forces occupying the region under Anton Denikin, relative normalcy resumed. Planning of the plant began in 1929, with the intent to construct an integrated steel plant comprising iron ore and carbon mining to finished steel products. In 1931, the chairman of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR, Grigori (Sergo) Ordzhonikidze, signed a decree ordering the construction of the facility; that same year, the foundation stone of the metallurgical plant was laid. In August 1934, the first metal was produced at Kryvorizhstal, later known as 'Kryvyi Rih Metallurgical Plant'.

Before the onset of the Second World War, the plant operated with three blast furnaces (of 3,160 m³) and two open hearth furnaces, along with a heat and power plant. In 1941, a blooming mill with a yearly capacity of 1.7 million tonnes, a fourth blast furnace and a third open hearth furnace came online, shortly before the Nazi occupation.
Before German troops arrived, equipment and employees were evacuated to Nizhny Tagil, east of the Ural Mountains. During the German occupation from 14 August 1941 to 22 February 1944, what remained of the plant was left in ruins.

After recapturing of the area, the plant was rebuilt and continued its growth. Blast Furnace 7 was built in 1962, and Blast Furnace 8 was completed in 1970, making the plant the largest in Europe. In 1974, Blast Furnace 9 opened, the biggest in the world with a volume of 5,000 m³.АрселорМиттал Кривой Рог (Криворожсталь)
ArcelorMittal steel (Kryvorizhstal) ''file.liga.net''

Ukrainian independence

In 1996, restructuring took place, combining the mining and ore concentrating unit ''Novokrivorozhsky HZK'' (''Новокриворізький ГЗК (НК ГЗК)'') (NK-HZK) with the Kryvyi Rih State Mining and Metallurgical Combine (Kryvorizhstal) (''Криворізького державного гірничо-металургійного комбінату "Криворіжсталь"''). Kryvyi Rih coking plant (''Криворізький коксохімічний завод (ККХЗ)'') was included in the group in 1997, forming "Novokrivorozhsky mining and processing combine and Kryvyi Rih coking plant" (''Новокриворізький гірничо-збагачувальний комбінат і Криворізький коксохімічний завод «Криворіжсталь»''), or Kryvoriszhstal. This was all on paper, given that the three units had been always been designed to work jointly, and that the facilities were on the same site.

First privatization, 2004

Kryvorizhstal became internationally known when it was privatized in June 2004 for a sum of US$800 million, ( ₴4.26 billion.) against a government-set reserve price of $714 million, to a consortium called Investment-Metallurgical Union. This consortium included Rinat Akhmetov's SCM and Interpipe Group, controlled by then-President Kuchma's son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk. Higher offers from foreign investors, including a joint bid from Severstal/Arcelor, and a bid from Tata Steel, were rejected on bidding technicalities. The deal was widely criticized by the opposition and from abroad as an example of corruption and state property mismanagement.

On the initiative of newly elected President Viktor Yushchenko, the privatization deal was dismissed by a court in June 2005, and the company sold again in a fair auction.

2005, Second privatisation and ArcelorMittal company

At the time of the second privatisation, the company had annual sales of $1897 million with a net profit of $378 million, and cash reserves of $413 million. The plant had a production capacity of ~10 million tonnes of raw steel, and a rolling capacity of under 7 million tonnes, and was able to source most of its requirements for iron ore and coke locally. The bidding process was broadcast live on Ukrainian television, with Arcelor, Mittal Steel and Vadim Novinsky

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