Ukrainian billet producers including Metinvest have been
forced to idle some production facilities due to railway blockades in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.
The blockades were put up by pro-government militants, with the presumed intention of denying resources to the pro-Russia separatists who control much of eastern Ukraine. And the blockades have put considerable pressure on raw material supplies, according to sources at the Steel Orbis 2017 Conference and 76th Irepas (International Rebar Exporters & Producers Assn) meeting in Budapest, Hungary.
“The reduced availability of long products from the mills...