In January-October this year, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium ores and concentrate in physical terms by 43.7% year-on-year to 5.725 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, exports of titanium ore and concentrate in monetary terms decreased by 45% to $9.343 million.
At the same time, the main exports were made to Turkey (62.65% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (8.56%) and Egypt (6.72%).
At the same time, experts emphasize the discrepancy between the statistics on titanium ore exports. In particular, at the request of Interfax-Ukraine, Velta Production and Commercial Firm (PCF) LLC with titanium ore mining assets in Novomyrhorod (Kirovohrad region) reported that in January-February 2024 alone, the company exported more than 15 thousand tons of ilmenite (titanium concentrate) to the Czech Republic and Mexico. At the same time, experts believe that the GTS provides data only on the supply of rutile (also a titanium-containing ore).
In ten months of 2024, Ukraine imported 209 tons of titanium ore worth $326 thousand from China (90.80%) and Senegal (9.20%).
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium ore in physical terms by 96.4% compared to 2022 – to 11,648 thousand tons, and revenue by 85.1% – to $19.426 million. At the same time, the main exports were made to Turkey (38.21% of supplies in monetary terms), Japan (16.53%) and India (6.12%).
During this period, Ukraine imported 1 ton of such ore from the Netherlands for $2 thousand.
In Ukraine, titanium ores are currently mined mainly by the United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which manages Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipro region) and Irshansk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (Irshansk, Dnipro region). ) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyr region), as well as Mezhyrichny GOK and Valky Ilmenite (both based in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region). In addition, Velta (Dnipro) has built a mining and processing plant at the Byrzulivske deposit with a capacity of 240 thousand tons of ilmenite concentrate per year.
