Russian strikes shut Ukraine's biggest steel plant, ArcelorMittal says
ArcelorMittal says it can no longer safely operate Ukraine's largest steel plant after four Russian missile strikes in five weeks killed five workers; it expects a $1bn impairment charge.
ArcelorMittal has said it can no longer safely operate Ukraine’s largest steel plant after four Russian missile strikes in five weeks.
The company told the Ukrainian government on Friday 25 September that “safe and sustainable” operations were not possible at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih after the strikes caused extensive damage, killing five workers and injuring 17, one critically; the most recent strike hit the plant on 21 September, according to the company (hromadske).
“It is with deep regret that we have concluded that we are no longer able to safely operate ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih,” subsidiary chief executive Mauro Longobardo said in a statement, as reported by Reuters via ThePrint.
The Luxembourg-based steelmaker expects to book a non-cash impairment charge of around $1 billion and says it is discussing the plant’s future with Kyiv, preserving infrastructure so production could restart once the war ends. It has provided more than $700 million to the plant since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The Kryvyi Rih plant produced 1.7 million metric tons of steel in 2025; steel accounts for 15% of Ukraine’s exports, the Reuters report said.
Ukraine’s wider steel industry is in crisis: Metinvest’s Zaporizhstal mill has been offline since 11 August after being hit by 17 ballistic missiles, and its Kametstal plant halted after a strike in early September. Plants affected by strikes previously accounted for around 90% of the country’s steel production, hromadske reported.
The shutdown came amid Russia’s escalating air campaign; Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians.
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