If Pokrovsk is lost, steel production in Ukraine could fall by more than 50% due to a shortage of coking coal, said Oleksandr Kalenkov, president of Ukrmetallurgprom, at the Ukrainian Exports: Is the Window Opening?

He noted that the territory controlled by Ukraine currently has the resources to reach a steel production level of 12 million tons per year, but in the first two years of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s steel production was 6-6.5 million tons per year.

“This year we can reach 7.5 million tons. If we lose Pokrovsk, it will be 2-3 million tons,” Kalenkov said.

He reminded that Pokrovsk has the only mine controlled by Ukraine, the Pokrovske Mine Administration, which produces coking coal for metallurgy, so if the city loses control, it will face a shortage.