REG - Ferrexpo plc - Production Report for 3Q 2025

FerrexpoAnnouncement

06/10/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20251006:nRSF1697Ca&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 1697C  Ferrexpo PLC  06 October 2025

6 October 2025

 

Ferrexpo plc

("Ferrexpo" or the "Company" or the "Group")

 

Production Report for 3Q 2025

 

Ferrexpo plc (LSE: FXPO), a producer and exporter of premium iron ore
products, reports production results for the third quarter to the end of
September 2025 ("the quarter" or "3Q" or "3Q 2025").

Updates

·   Ferrexpo remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of its workforce
and the Group continues to take extensive measures to protect employees, their
families, and local communities.

·   At the end of August 2025, the Group reported an improvement in the
rolling 12-month Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) of 0.60 compared to
0.70 three months ago, though still above the historic five-year trailing
average of 0.52. Zero workplace fatalities have been incurred for more than
five years.

·   Due to the ongoing suspension of VAT refunds the total notified amount
of withheld VAT now stands at US$47 million. Due to the resulting reduction in
financial liquidity, the Group was forced to downscale production to one
pellet line, however, has been able to ramp up production of low-alumina 67%
Fe concentrates to meet demand from Chinese customers.

·   As a result, total commercial production for the quarter was 1.51
million tonnes, 3% higher than the 1.46 million tonnes in the second quarter
and 29% lower than the 2.1 million tonnes achieved in the first quarter.

·   The Group continued to work extensively to lower its total cash costs.
This included reduced working time for employees, ongoing cuts in procurement
of goods and services and a suspension of all non-essential CapEx, overheads
and corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending.

Summary production statistics

 (tonnes, unless otherwise stated)  Fe Grade  3Q 2025    2Q 2025    Change  9M 2025    9M 2024    Change
 Total commercial production                  1,510,286  1,462,084  +3.3%   5,067,888  5,024,432  +0.9%
 Total pellet production                      638,963    821,882    -22.3%  2,808,594  4,567,168  -38.5%
 DR pellets (FDP)                   67%       0          0          -       81,787     326,168    -74.9%
 Ferrexpo premium pellets           65%       638,963    821,882    -22.3%  2,726,807  4,241,000  -35.7%
 Commercial concentrate             67%       871,323    640,202    +36.1%  2,259,294  457,264    +394.1%

Commenting on the Group's performance, Lucio Genovese, Interim Executive
Chair, said:

"The third quarter of 2025 was the first quarter that we experienced the full
impact of the Ukrainian tax authorities' decisions to suspend the refunds of
VAT to our Ukrainian subsidiaries. Despite the continued curtailment in
pelletising capacity to just one line, we achieved total production of 1.5
million tonnes for the quarter. Production for the first nine months of 2025
was comparable to the same period last year, at 5.1 million tonnes in total.
Strong demand from Chinese customers for our high-grade low-alumina
concentrates allowed us to increase production by 36% quarter on quarter, and
almost fourfold for the year to date compared to the same period last year.

The refusal by the Ukrainian tax authorities to refund VAT remains the most
critical issue for the business. In our recent interim results, we noted that
the Group had received formal notifications from the tax authorities for the
suspension of VAT refunds from March 2025 for the period starting from January
2025. We have received similar notifications for each month until July and the
cumulative amount of non-refunded VAT for this period is US$47 million.
Assuming that VAT refunds will also be suspended for August and September, the
estimated total non-refunded VAT would be US$58 million. The cost-cutting
measures implemented in the second quarter continued in the third quarter. At
the end of September, approximately 20% of the workforce were on furlough or
reduced hours. These and other decisions are not easily made, however, they
have helped to keep the business viable.

During the third quarter, VAT issues were compounded by an intensification in
aerial attacks by Russia on the Ukrainian rail network and domestic energy
infrastructure in Ukraine. These issues bring additional levels of complexity
how we manage our operations and logistics, yet our teams on the ground are
increasingly well versed in mitigating the challenges that confront us on a
daily basis. Our ability to do so and continue to produce, transport and
export is testament to the ingenuity of our people and the agility that we
have built into the business over the last three and a half years of war.

It is with great sadness that we were notified of three more colleagues who
were killed while serving in the Armed Forces during the quarter bringing the
total to 50 colleagues that have died defending Ukraine. At the end of
September, 760 colleagues were serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 196
colleagues have already been demobilised, however, eight have been re-called
to military service. So far 102 colleagues have returned to work, including 27
who have transferred to new roles due to health reasons. In total there are
131 people enrolled in our veterans programme with the remainder having left
the Company."

 

For further information, please contact:

 Ferrexpo:
 Nick Bias        n.bias@ferrexpo.ch (mailto:n.bias@ferrexpo.ch)              +44 (0)7733 177 831
 Tavistock:
 Jos Simson       ferrexpo@tavistock.co.uk (mailto:ferrexpo@tavistock.co.uk)  +44 (0)7899 870 450

 Gareth Tredway                                                               +44 (0)7785 974 264

 

 

About Ferrexpo:

Ferrexpo is a Swiss headquartered iron ore company with assets in Ukraine and
a listing in the equity shares commercial companies category on the London
Stock Exchange (ticker FXPO) and a constituent of the FTSE All Share and
FTSE4Good indices. The Group produces high grade iron ore products, which are
premium products for the global steel industry and enable reduced carbon
emissions and increased productivity for steelmakers when converted into
steel, compared to more commonly traded forms of iron ore. Ferrexpo's
operations have been supplying the global steel industry for over 50 years.
Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Group was
the world's third largest exporter of iron ore pellets. The Group has a global
customer base comprising of premium steel mills around the world. For further
information, please visit www.ferrexpo.com (http://www.ferrexpo.com) .

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  DRLUNVVRVUURRRA