The business was founded by the Soviet government in 1960 as the "Poltava Mining and Extraction Combinat" to exploit iron ore reserves in Horishni Plavni (formerly Komsomolsk), Ukraine.

[4] In March 2019 the company delayed publication of its results pending an investigation into charitable donations in Ukraine.

[5] In April 2019 its auditors Deloitte resigned, with Ferrexpo's former chief financial officer selling £400,000 of shares the day before the announcement.

[7] In October 2019, the CEO, Kostyantyn Zhevago, stood down from his post, following allegations of the embezzlement of $113 million from the Finance & Credit Bank.

Iron ore pellets are the highest quality form of iron ore that steel producers can utilise, offering steel producers the opportunity to improve blast furnace productivity, whilst simultaneously reducing carbon emissions by at least 30% for every tonne of pellets used instead of the more commonly used sinter fines, which are typically lower grade and require sintering prior to charging into the blast furnace.