Ferrexpo, an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine, doubled its iron ore pellet production in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The company produced 1.814 million tonnes of iron ore pellets in Q1 2024, up 2.9 times from the previous quarter and double the production in Q1 2023. Ferrexpo produced 1.73 million tonnes of premium pellets (65% iron content) from its own concentrate, up 3 times quarter-on-quarter and 92% year-on-year. The company also produced 82.5 thousand tonnes of 65% iron content pellets from third-party concentrate, up 65% quarter-on-quarter. Ferrexpo's total iron ore product output reached 2.05 million tonnes in Q1 2024, up 3 times quarter-on-quarter and 2.1 times year-on-year.
The significant increase in production was attributed to Ferrexpo's ability to resume exports from Ukrainian ports, allowing it to export larger volumes to Europe and resume sales to the Middle East and Asia. However, the company is facing challenges such as staff shortages due to employee mobilization for the war effort.