ArcelorMittal Shuts Ukraine's Largest Steel Plant After Deadly Missile Strikes

ArcelorMittal has informed the Ukrainian government that it can no longer safely and sustainably operate ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the country's largest steel plant, after a series of Russian missile strikes hit the site over five weeks. The announcement, made on September 25, 2026, means that production at the mill in the Dnipropetrovsk region will not restart for the foreseeable future. It is one of the heaviest blows to Ukraine's steel industry since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

The first attack in this series hit the plant overnight on August 16, 2026, while the site was operating. Two people were killed, one company employee and one contractor, and 13 workers were injured. The missiles damaged the main energy and blast furnace facilities, forcing a partial halt of production while specialists assessed the damage.

On Saturday, September 12, a ballistic missile struck the plant again, killing two contractors and injuring two employees. The strike damaged the ironmaking area and led the company to suspend primary steel production. At the time, management said it was too early to estimate when operations could resume.

Two more attacks followed, the most recent on September 21. In total, the four strikes killed five people and injured 17 employees, one of whom is still in critical condition. According to the company, the attacks caused extensive damage to production facilities.

Mauro Longobardo, CEO of the Ukrainian subsidiary, said the company had concluded with deep regret that it could no longer run the site safely, and he paid tribute to the staff who kept the mines and the mill working throughout the war. ArcelorMittal is now discussing the future of the plant with the Ukrainian government and will focus on preserving the infrastructure so that production can be restarted once peace returns.

The group expects to record a non-cash impairment charge of around $1 billion, mainly reflecting the write-down of property, plant and equipment at the site. Since 2022, ArcelorMittal has provided more than $700 million in financial support to keep its Ukrainian business running. Investors reacted calmly, with ArcelorMittal shares trading about 2% higher on the morning of the announcement, as analysts pointed out that the plant had been operating well below its capacity since the start of the war.

The complex is Ukraine's largest producer of long steel products such as rebar and wire rod, and it also operates iron ore mines that produced 7.6 million tonnes of ore in 2025. In the first half of 2026, it produced around 311,000 tonnes of pig iron, 381,000 tonnes of rolled products and 633,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrate, with exports accounting for about two thirds of its sales. Over the same period, the subsidiary reported a net loss of about UAH 6.6 billion.

The site employs roughly 12,500 people plus around 3,500 contractors, making it one of the largest employers in Kryvyi Rih. The company is assessing how many workers will be needed to maintain the site, ensure security and support essential functions during the shutdown, which leaves the future of thousands of jobs uncertain.

The plant was already under strain before the latest attacks. In May 2026, it idled a blast furnace, two sintering machines and an ore processing plant, blaming logistics problems and inadequate rail services from the state operator Ukrzaliznytsia, which rejected the accusation. Since 2022, the war, power shortages and export difficulties had kept the mill running at a fraction of its pre-war output.

The shutdown is part of a wider Russian campaign against Ukrainian heavy industry. Metinvest's Zaporizhstal mill was temporarily closed in August after a strike that killed seven workers, and a ballistic missile attack in early September forced the Kamet plant in the Dnipropetrovsk region to stop operations. On September 16, the Akhmetov Group declared force majeure on some contracts after two of its largest plants halted work. The three major plants that accounted for about 90% of Ukraine's steel output are now idle, and a Metinvest executive stated that the country effectively no longer has a steel industry.

Steel once represented about 15% of Ukraine's exports, so the collapse of production weighs on tax revenue, rail freight volumes and foreign currency earnings at a time when the country depends heavily on international support. The sector has also been squeezed this year by trade restrictions from the European Union, its main trading partner.

For global steel markets, the direct effect is expected to be limited because the Kryvyi Rih plant was already producing far below capacity. The impact is much stronger inside Ukraine, where builders and reconstruction projects that relied on locally made rebar and wire rod will have to turn to imports, with higher costs and longer lead times. Buyers of Ukrainian iron ore and semi-finished steel also lose a supplier, while rail and port operators face lower cargo volumes.

As of September 25, 2026, the plant remains idle and no restart date has been set, with the company linking any resumption of production to the end of hostilities.