Approximately 90% of Ukraine’s steel production capacity has been shut down due to systematic attacks by Russia, threatening a loss of up to 7% of GDP and billions of dollars in foreign exchange earnings.

This was reported by Dengi.ua, citing an article by Forbes Ukraine.

Why Leading Metallurgical Plants Have Shut Down

Since the beginning of 2026, the Russian army has shelled facilities of the mining and metallurgical complex (MMC) at least 30 times. As a result of the attacks, 18 steelworkers were killed, and seven blast furnaces were seriously damaged or completely destroyed.

According to leaders of industry associations, the scale of the crisis has reached unprecedented levels:

  • suspension of smelting: according to Oleksandr Kalenkov, President of the “Ukrmetallurgprom” Association, the industry is currently not smelting either steel or pig iron;
  • a historic low: as noted by Oleksandr Vodoviz, Head of the CEO’s Office at Metinvest Group, September saw a week during which Ukraine produced not a single metric ton of steel for the first time in 100 years;
  • planning horizon: due to the constant threat of repeated attacks, enterprises cannot draw up production schedules for more than a month in advance;
  • protection of plants: resuming operations remains impossible without providing steel mills with effective security guarantees and strengthening air defense.

“The situation in the steel industry is catastrophic. We can only plan operations one month in advance,” emphasized Oleksandr Vodoviz.

What Financial Losses Threaten the Economy and Cities

Last year, the steel industry generated $6.2 billion in export revenue and accounted for 5.5% of GDP. A complete shutdown of the plants would trigger a large-scale crisis in related sectors—energy, freight rail transport, machine building, and the repair sector.

Key financial risks of an industry shutdown:

  • GDP decline: in a worst-case scenario, the economy will lose 6.5–7% of gross domestic product due to a cumulative downturn in related industries;
  • foreign currency deficit: “Ukrmetallurgprom” estimates direct losses in foreign currency revenue at $5–7 billion, of which at least $1 billion is attributable to the collapse of iron ore exports;
  • budget losses: the state treasury risks losing between 30 and 40 billion UAH in tax revenue;
  • impact on the regions: ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR) alone paid 8.5 billion UAH in taxes in 2025 (including 2.6 billion UAH to the local budget), and the Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia steel mills financed key items of the cities’ expenditures;
  • the fate of employees: AMKR management is consulting with the Office of the President regarding tax breaks and safeguards, while international labor unions are calling on the Cabinet of Ministers to introduce guaranteed paid furloughs instead of layoffs.