The Largest Producer of Iron Ore in Ukraine Has More Than 40 Years of Successful Experience in the Mining Industry

Zaporozhye Iron-Stone Enterprise is bringing Ukraine’s high-quality iron to Eastern European markets. The production of the closed joint-stock company is 4.5 million tonnes of iron ore per year. Chairman Mr. Aleksandr Furman comments on the work of the plan, “Zaporozhye iron ore is ranked among the best in the world for quality. It can go straight to metal production after minimum crushing. We offer quality iron ore at very attractive prices.”

Half of the company’s iron ore is exported, mainly to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Austria, and the other half is delivered to Ukrainian steel mills. A Slovakian partner controls the export operations of the company. Aleksandr Furman and his team are in charge of the Ukrainian market.

Zaporozhye Iron-Stone Enterprise has around 50% market share of sinter in the sector and is well known among steel producers in Eastern Europe. Explaining the long track record activities of the company, Aleksandr Furman says, “We are constantly updating our technologies and inviting Ukrainian companies to see our activities of learning and improving the equipment and processes.”

Zaporozhye Iron-Stone Enterprise is making every effort to improve the safety of work in the extraction of iron ore and improve working conditions for its employees. For these reasons it has received the State Prize for development and implementation of high-performance environmental technologies in mining. “We have a mutual understanding with our workers and for the purpose of regulation of labour relations, we sign a collective agreement annually.” The Chairman of the Trade Union is member of the company’s Board of Directors in order to keep these close ties between labourers and management.

Focus on Eastern European markets

A challenge for the company is the high cost of transporting iron ore from Ukraine to international markets. While the producers of iron ore from Australia and Brazil have the opportunity to transport by sea, Zaporozhye Iron-Stone Enterprise transports its ore by train, which is very costly. Rail transport is complex, given different sizes of rails in Ukraine versus Western Europe. For the moment, the company will continue to focus on Eastern Europe, where its customers are very satisfied with its ore products. While Zaporozhye’s iron ore has a high concentration of silica and thus requires additional processing, it costs much less than iron ore from Australia and Brazil. Aleksandr Furman’s message to all European readers about the company is, “We have very qualified and skilled human resource, as well as a strong positive image in the Ukrainian market and abroad. Our customers know that we offer quality, timely delivery of products and very competitive prices.”