KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s only coking coal mine – key for its steel industry – is operating at 50% capacity as of Wednesday morning despite the proximity of advancing Russian forces, two Ukrainian industry sources said.
Ukrainian military analyst DeepState said Russian troops were less than 5 km (3.1 miles) from the Pokrovsk mine. The mine owner, Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest BV, said last week it had halted some operations at the mine.
“With two facilities of three (shafts) remaining, work continues,” one of the sources said.
The mine lies 10 km (6.2 miles) west of Pokrovsk, a strategic supply hub and DeepState said Russian troops were around 3 km (1.9 miles) from Pokrovsk’s outskirts.
It’s unclear at what point Metinvest might be forced to halt all operations and evacuate staff.
Ukraine’s steelmakers’ union said in October the potential closure of the Pokrovsk mine could cause steel production to slump to 2-3 million metric tons next year from the 7.5 million expected in 2024.
Producers hope to find alternative sources of coking coal from elsewhere in Ukraine should the Pokrovsk mine be seized by Russian troops, but imports would inevitably be needed – hiking costs.
Ukrainian steel producers union said last week the country had increased its steel production so far in 2024 by 23.1% to 7 million tons.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
