Ferrexpo

The business was founded by the Soviet government in 1960 as the "Poltava Mining and Extraction Combinat" to exploit iron ore reserves in Horishni Plavni (formerly Komsomolsk), Ukraine.[3] In 1977 it started selling its product in the form of iron ore pellets.[3]

In June 2007, Ferrexpo plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange, producing 8.6 million tonnes of iron ore pellets in the year prior to listing.[4] Following over US$2.5 billion of investment in the Company's operating assets since listing,[2] the Company has increased production to 11.2 million tonnes of iron ore pellets in 2020.[5] Ferrexpo is now the third largest exporter of iron ore pellets globally,[6] behind LKAB in Sweden and Vale S.A. in Brazil.

In 2008 and 2009 the company established additional new complexes around Horishni Plavni and Kremenchuk. In 2011, the Company opened its second iron ore mine, the Yeristovo mine, which is located immediately north of the Company's main iron ore mine - the Poltava iron ore mine. Upon opening Yeristovo, Ferrexpo became the first company to open a new mine in Ukraine since the country's independence.

Following a continued programme of investment in its mining and processing capabilities, the Company has increased the output of its high grade iron ore pellets, production of which represented 99% of production in 2020.[6] This increase in production of high grade pellets has enabled the Company to diversify its customer portfolio to include steelmakers around the world. Ferrexpo's customers include steel mills in Austria, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Vietnam and America.[6] In 2020 the Company also commenced production of higher grade 67% Fe Direct Reduction pellets,[6] which are typically utilised by steelmakers in the Middle East and North America.

In March 2019 the company delayed publication of its results pending an investigation into charitable donations in Ukraine.[7] In April 2019 its auditors Delloite resigned, with Ferrexpo's former chief financial officer selling £400,000 of shares the day before the announcement.[8] In August 2019 Ferrexpo announced that the charitable donations may have been misappropriated; it had donated $24 million to the charity in 2017 and $9.5 million in 2018.[9]

Ferrexpo has a JORC-compliant Ore Reserve estimate of 1,678 million tonnes for its mining operations in Ukraine for the Gorishne-Plavninske-Lavrykivske ('GPL') and Yerystivske deposits.[10] On the basis of the Company processing 28 million tonnes of ore in 2019, Ferrexpo has over 55 years of additional mine life remaining.[11]

Ferrexpo has a JORC-compliant Mineral Resource estimate of 6.1 billion tonnes of iron ore,[10] dated June 2020. To the north of the Company's JORC-compliant Mineral Resources, the Company has a further five exploration licences situated along strike of the Company's operational mines. These exploration licences, referred to as the Northern Deposits, have a further 13.1 billion tonnes of resources classified under the GKZ classification system.[10]

The Company, which sells most of its product to steel mills of Eastern Europe, is organised into the following units:[12]

• Ukraine - mining
• Switzerland - home base
• London - registered office, trading
• Dubai - distribution and sale
• Singapore - distribution and sale
• Shanghai - distribution and sale
• Tokyo - distribution and sale

The company's mining components are all based in central Ukraine and consist of:

• Poltava Mining and Enrichment Complex (1970s), Horishni Plavni
• Yeristovo Mining and Enrichment Complex (2008-2012), Yerystivka village, Kremenchuk Raion
• Belanovo Mining and Enrichment Complex (est. 2009, under construction), Bazaluky village, Horishni Plavni municipality and Nova Haleshchyna, Kozelshchyna Raion

The founder, Kostyantyn Zhevago, owns 51% of the company.[13]

• Official site