KYIV, Nov 15 – If Russian forces capture the largest coking coal producer in Ukraine, PJSC Pokrovske Coal (Donetsk region), part of the Metinvest Group, near Pokrovsk, around 50% of the country’s steel production could become uncompetitive.

"Pokrovske Coal is the only enterprise in Ukraine that produces coking coal, the essential ingredient used in the steel production process. One of its three shafts is now less than seven kilometres (4.3 miles) from the front line. If it stops operating, steel companies in Ukraine – including the mine's owner Metinvest Group – would have to import coking coal, which the European Union lists as a critical raw material. The increased cost of coal would make an estimated 50% of the country's current steel production non-competitive. This is the same steel that supplies Ukraine's growing defence industry and will be vital to reconstruction after the war," reported Bloomberg's Mark Champion, who visited the site.