Ukraine’s top steelmaker posts billion losses after losing European market

“Due to extremely high energy prices, logistics problems, loss of sales markets and the impact of the CBAM mechanism, the company has been operating at a loss for the past four years. In 2025, losses amounted to nearly 9 billion hryvnias. In the first quarter of this year alone, we recorded losses of 4.6 billion hryvnias, exceeding 50% of last year’s figure,” said Mauro Longobardo.

Longobardo said the company paid more than 8.5 billion hryvnias in taxes to budgets at all levels last year, but warned of a possible decline in tax revenues in 2026.

“Due to the loss of access to the European market, revenues will likely decrease in 2026,” he said. “This could affect both the city budget and state finances, as a significant portion of tax contributions is directed to defense needs.”

The CEO said the company is limiting investments, focusing on the most important and critical projects.

“At present, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih’s strategy is survival. As a public company, we cannot sustain prolonged losses, as this is unacceptable to shareholders who expect concrete steps to improve the situation,” Longobardo said.

As reported, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has completely halted exports of steel products to the European Union market.

The move followed the EU’s introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism without exemptions or delays for Ukraine starting Jan. 1, 2026, Longobardo said.

According to him, the company’s European customers canceled all orders for the first quarter of 2026 after learning they would have to pay an additional CBAM levy of $60–90 per ton.

The company shut down production at its blooming mill in mid-March.

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is Ukraine’s largest steel producer, specializing in long products such as rebar and wire rod. It operates a full production cycle with capacity to produce more than 6 million tons of steel, over 5 million tons of rolled products and more than 5.5 million tons of pig iron annually.