Derailment of iron ore trains can cost LKAB up to SEK 100 million
38 of 68 wagons from LKAB’s iron ore train derailed near Gällivare in northern Sweden on Sunday morning. The incident occurred along the railway to Kiruna and the goods were on their way to Narvik, Norway.
The iron ore railway is approximately 50 kilometers long and connects the LKAB mines in Kiruna and Malmberget with the ports of Narvik, Norway and Luleå, Sweden. The derailment took place about three kilometers from the nearest road and the railway is expected to be closed for several days in a row. The driver must have survived without injuries.
Tina Benson, Head of Communications at LKAB, tells High North News that the derailment could cost the mining company in the order of SEK 50-100 million, depending on how long the trains have to stay between Kiruna and Gällivare, and depending on which investigations. will show.
“If the stop is to be long-lasting, this can affect our customers if we can not deliver by agreement. We have estimated that it can cost us up to SEK 3 million per hour. However, we do not yet know if that will happen. Right now we are not sure how long the stop will last and of course we also have products in store “, says Benson.
May transport to Narvik
She adds that the company will also have to reckon with a financial downturn in the case of the 38 train carriages. It is not yet clear if the trolleys can be repaired or if they need to be replaced completely.
Benson says that LKAB still has the opportunity to transport products from the Kiruna mine to Narvik and from the Gällivare mine to the port of Luleå.
Swedish program company SVT writes that the mining company is trying to compensate for ore that would have been transported from Gällivare via Narvik by increasing production in its Kiruna mine.