Ukraine's mining-metallurgical complex risks ceasing operations by next spring without targeted state support, parliament member Musa Magomedov warned via a public Facebook post, calling for urgent government intervention to prop up the embattled heavy industry segment.

Magomedov noted the Russia-Ukraine conflict has disrupted operations at Metinvest-owned Zaporizhstal, leaving the plant heavily damaged with substantial uncertainty over when output can resume.

The industry is also grappling with overlapping headwinds across logistics and trade policy. The blockade of Greater Odesa Black Sea ports has brought operations at the Southern Mining and Processing Plant to a full standstill.

Output at other Kryvyi Rih-based ore-processing facilities is projected to drop roughly 30% in August versus average 2025 levels, with no viable large-scale alternative to maritime export logistics.

Compounding pressure, Ukrainian Railways lifted freight tariffs by 30%. "The proportion of rail transport costs in the production costs of steelmakers has already increased two to three-fold. After several years of conflict, companies have virtually exhausted their internal reserves and cannot continue to shoulder new costs indefinitely," Magomedov pointed out.

New European trade measures add further burdens. The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) may impose extra charges equivalent to €50-100 ($57.95-115.89) for every tonne of Ukrainian steel shipped into the bloc. Annual duty-free import quotas for Ukrainian steel stand at around 1.05 million tonnes, about 60% below actual volumes exported to the EU in 2025.

The MP cited projections that quota constraints alone could cost Ukraine close to $1 billion in foregone export earnings, plus more than 17 billion hryvnias in lost tax income.

He highlighted the steel sector's core socioeconomic weight: it sustains mass employment, generates foreign exchange inflows and tax receipts, and underpins the livelihood of multiple industrial towns. Accordingly, targeted concrete policy packages from national authorities are now critical.