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producing steel was led by China (81.127mn tonnes, a rise of 8.9%) in May, Japan (9.093mn tonnes, an increase of 1.8%), India (8.822mn tonnes, an increase of 7.6%), the US(7.107 mn tonnes, a rise of 3%), Russia (6.23mn tonnes, a rise of 6%), South Korea (6.227mn tonnes, an increase of 3%), Germany (3.9mn tonnes, an increase of 2.6%), Turkey (3.325mn tonnes, an increase of 0.5%), Brazil (2.678mn tonnes, a fall of 8.6%), and Italy (2.18mn tonnes, a rise of 3.7%). Overall, 64 countries produced 154.856mn tonnes of steel in May, which is 6.6% y/y more. Ukraine's external exports swelled by 19.6% year-on-year in April on the back of booming metals exports that surged 65.8% y/y to $1bn – the sector’s best result since August 2014. Buoyant global demand has kept commodity prices high. The global price environment became more favourable for Ukrainian exporters in the first quarter of 2018, mainly on the back of higher prices for ferrous metals, iron ore, and grain, despite some downward adjustment seen on some markets at the end of the quarter, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Global steel prices remained high, boosting iron ore prices as well, and were driven by the ongoing restrictions on steel production in China. In addition, a benign business environment, the strengthening euro, and effective antidumping policies in European countries have helped maintain robust demand for steel products (especially from Austria, Germany and Italy), while also pushing up the prices of these products.
Ukrainian rolled steel producers boosted consumption by 10.9% y/y, to 1.842mn tonnes in January-May 2018 (1.661mn tonnes in January-May 2017). 545,800 tonnes of rolled products were imported, 29.6% of domestic consumption. The share of imported rolled steel grew 20.5% in the five months of 2018 amid an increase in consumption in the domestic market by 10.9% compared to January-May 2017,” according to Ukrmetprom Association. The main export markets for Ukrainian steel products in January-May 2018 were the European Union (34.8%), Africa (15.8%), other European countries, including Turkey (13.1%), the Middle East (11.4%).
Mining permits for 169 sites across Ukraine will auctioned ‘in the near future’ according to the press office of State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine. Covering 20 regions and totaling 35,000 the sites are largely for non-metallic metals: quartzite and sandstone at Gulyaypilskoye; gneiss in Mariupol; limestone in Marjan; sulfur in Yazivskoye; and weathering crust and apatite-bearing ores in Torchyn.
Ukraine now 14th place in world steelmakers' rating in May . Although Ukrainian steelmakers boosted steel output by 2.9% in May 2018, y/y, to 1.695mn tonnes, the country slid from 13th to 14th place in the rating of the World Steel Association covering 64 countries, UNIAN reports. China remained in first place, with 81.127mn tonnes of steel, followed by Japan, India, the United States, Russia, South Korea, Germany, Turkey, and Brazil. The 64 countries included in the WSA rating increased steel production by 6.6% in May 2018 y/y, to 154.856mn tonnes.
9.1.11 Other sector news
Ukraine to open arms market to private companies . The National Security and defence Council (NSDC) is preparing a decision that will permit direct export and import to all arms producers regardless regardless of whether they belong to the public sector or private, NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov
55 UKRAINE Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com