KYIV: Ukraine produced 4.6 million metric tons of steel in the first seven months of 2024, up 33.6% from a year earlier, the Ukrainian steel producers union said late on Thursday.

Rolled steel output increased by 28.4% to 3.7 million tons, and pig iron production rose by 21.2% to 4.1 million tons.

Steel production has been hurt since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, due to the destruction of leading steel plants in fighting since then.

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Ukraine was a major steel producer and exporter before the invasion.

In 2022, steel output fell by 70.7% to 6.3 million tons.

In 2023, Ukraine produced 6 million tons.