Ferrexpo plans to commission and increase its processing capacity in the last quarter of the year after it completed an additional concentrator section for its pellets plant in Q3 2020.
The company’s pellet production from its Ukrainian assets grew by 3pc to 8.1mn mt in the first nine months of the year from 7.9mn mt during the same period last year.
The Swiss pellet maker said in its production report on Oct 6 that planned maintenance of its pelletizer plant in September had resulted in a drop in production during the third quarter. The company’s output in Q3 2020 fell by 12pc to 2.5mn mt from 2.9mn mt in Q2 2020. It, however, did not disclose the comparative volume on an annual basis for the third quarter.
The firm, which has increasingly shifted its focus on making iron ore pellets graded 65pc and above, saw production of its 62pc Fe pellets category falling by 68pc to 98,000mt during the first nine months of the year from 311,000mt. In fact, Ferrexpo did not produce any pellets in this category during the last quarter.
Pellet output in the 65pc Fe and above category, which also includes a trial shipment of the company’s 67pc Fe direct-reduction pellets, rose by 6pc in January-September 2020 to 8.03mn mt from 7.58mn mt during the same period last year. Compared with Q2 2020, production in this category fell in the third quarter by 11pc to 2.53mn mt from 2.84mn mt.