Ukraine plans to increase steel output by 900,000 t in 2014

A worldwide recovery in demand for steel followed by rising prices for such products will allow Ukrainian steelmakers to increase output by 2.7% starting in 2014, says UkrPromZovnishEkspertyza, the state industrial trade oversight enterprise.

By the end of 2013, total steel production should be 33.3mn t, a figure that is expected to grow to 34.2mn t in 2014 with an anticipated improvement in the global macroeconomic situation, UkrPromZovnishEkspertyza Director Volodymyr Vlasiuk told reporters in Kyiv on December 13.

According to Vlasiuk, the recovery in demand for steel in the Middle East and the European Union, coupled with growing demand in Africa, should allow Ukrainian steelmakers to increase export volumes by 500,000 t, to 23.6mn t. In addition, steel enterprises should be able to sell 300,000 t of flat-rolled product on the domestic market, which will increase supplies by 6.4mn t.

During 2013, Ukrainian steel producers saw prices drop on export markets. “The main factor was a slowdown in global demand, which dropped to 2.5%. In 2011 it was 7.7%, dropping to 3.6% in 2012. The EU market, one of the key markets for Ukraine’s exporters, even showed negative consumption rates, at -3.5%,” a report from UkrPromZovnishEkspertyza states.

According to UkrPromZovnishEkspertyza figures, Ukrainian steel producers should boost export volumes to the EU to 6.1mn t against 4.9mn t in 2013, as sales to the Middle East, particularly Lebanon, drop to 3.4mn t from 5.68mn t in 2012 as the political situation in the region deteriorated. The commodity structure of exports will remain unchanged: 46% semi-finished products, 29% flat-rolled products and 25% long steel. By the end of 2013, Ukraine will have shipped nearly 79% of its total output to foreign markets.

Source: delo.ua

Tags: metallurgy, steel