In the January-February period of the current year, Ukraine-based Azovstal, a subsidiary of Ukraine's largest vertically-integrated mining and steel group Metinvest, saw a 2.1 percent increase in its crude steel production to 742,000 mt, but a 30 percent decline in its finished steel production to 247,000 mt, both year on year.

In February alone, Azovstal produced 352,000 mt of crude steel, down 9.7 percent compared to January, and 134,000 mt of finished steel, up 17.2 percent month on month.