ArcelorMittal could boost Ukraine steel output if situation stabilises

(Reuters) - ArcelorMittal , the world's second-largest steelmaker, could more than double annual production by at least 3 million metric tons in war-torn Ukraine if the situation stabilises there, the steelmaker's Chief Financial Officer Genuino Christino told investors during a quarterly conference call on Thursday.

Christino did not elaborate on what conditions the company would need to boost production. The Luxembourg-based company operates a steel plant in the city of Kryvyi Rih that is operating at 40% of capacity.

The plant currently produces 500,000 tons of steel on a quarterly basis.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the plant had been running only one of three blast furnaces. In April, the company restarted a second furnace, but will soon revert to running just one with energy in short supply and costly.

"The price of energy has been very high and therefore we are just optimising the flows of the production to save on energy costs", Christino said.

The plant sources some of its coal from a mine in the eastern-Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, which is at risk of being seized by Russian soldiers.

ArcelorMittal reported third-quarter core profit that was 6% above market expectations.