Ukraine's biggest steel holding Metinvest would invest about $546 million in its three major iron ore concentration plants - Severny GOK, Tsentralniy GOK and Inguletsky GOK, UGMK said, citing producers' plans.

Output at Metinvest's concentrate plants rose by 16.6 percent in 2010 to 35.7 million tonnes from 30.6 million in 2009.

Metinvest is a part of Ukrainian magnate Rinat Akhmetov's Business Empire. It invested about $300 million in its concentration plants in 2010.

UGMK said that owners of Ukraine's largest concentration plant, Poltavski GOK, planned to boost investments to $202 million this year from $38 million in 2010.

Another large concentration plant, Yuzhny GOK, plans to invest $104 million this year compared to $25 million in 2010, according to UGMK data.

The plant said this month that it planned to boost output by 12.5 percent in 2011 after a sharp increase in investment. Yuzhny GOK is majority-owned by Russia's Evraz Group and Ukrainia.