KIEV, Jan. 24 – Ukraine’s steel and mining industry champion, Metinvest, will overtake a Russian steel giant to become the world’s No. 5 biggest producer of iron ore in 2008, a company official said Thursday.

Metinvest, which now incorporates four big Ukrainian iron ore producers, plans to increase its overall iron ore output to more than 40.1 million metric tons in 2008, up 2% on the year.