The company saw an opportunity to return to Japanese markets due to the improvement of the situation in the Black Sea and the stabilization of the Black Sea trade corridor.
Ferrexpo Group has announced plans to resume pre-war export volumes of premium iron ore pellets to Japan for three years. Said plans were announced by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ferrexpo plc, Lucio Genovese, in an interview for the Japanese economic newspaper Nikkei.
“I think Ferrexpo will be able to return to Japan, but it will take one, two or three years,” he said during a visit to Tokyo.
Lucio Genovese said that Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine at Ferrexpo, a company with powerful industrial facilities in Ukraine, accounted for 10% of Japan’s demand for iron ore pellets. However, due to the blockade of Ukrainian ports as a result of Russia’s shelling, the company lost the opportunity to export supplies to Japan.
Ferrexpo saw an opportunity to return to Japanese markets due to the improvement of the situation in the Black Sea and the stabilization of the Black Sea trade corridor.
“Until the end of 2023, we mainly supplied pellets to Europe by train, as well as to the port of Izmail, and then exported via the Danube to Constanta (Romania, – approximate ed.). But from the beginning of 2024, the ports of the Black Sea opened. That means, we will be able to export more in 2024,” said Lucio Genovese.
According to him, before the full-scale war in Ukraine, Japanese Nippon Steel, JFE Steel and Kobe Steel received 1-1.2 million tons of products from Ferrexpo, and the company established strong relations with Japanese steel producer for a decade of cooperation.
“In good times or in bad times, the Japanese partners are always there. We hope to extend our strong relationship with them to supply products to their factories in Japan and perhaps to the facilities of Japanese investors in Middle East or America when they are built,” said Lucio Genovese.
Before the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, Ferrexpo produced about 12 million tons of iron ore pellets per year. In 2022, according to the company, production drops to about 6 million tons, and in 2023 – up to 4 million tons.
Let’s recall that at the end of last month it was reported that Ferrexpo invested $80 million in a production line at the Poltava mining and processing plant.
Source: korrespondent
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