Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Generation distribution in power system of Ukraine in 2022

Generation distribution in power system of Ukraine in 2022

Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news

Ukrainian company Meest China has started deliveries from China to Kazakhstan

Meest China has launched delivery from China to Kazakhstan. At present, the company is shipping parcels weighing up to 30 kg and costing up to EUR 1,000 and providing targeted delivery throughout the country. Shipments from the warehouse in China are made once a week, and delivery by road takes up to 14 days. The cost of the service starts at $5 per kilogram of cargo. Customers also have access to additional services such as buyback, parcel consolidation, and warehouse photography.
As a reminder, in December, the company started delivering from South Korea to Ukraine. The company accepts orders from popular marketplaces selling electronics, cosmetics, clothing, and accessories in the form of postal items weighing up to 20 kg and costing up to 150 euros.
“We have gained a good momentum in opening new markets and expanding the range of services. We ship not only from China, but also from South Korea, and we have added Kazakhstan to the list of recipient countries. We will continue to work,” said Mykhailo Lymar, CEO and Managing Partner of Meest China.

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Oil prices moderate, Brent near $79 per barrel

Oil prices are moderately falling on Tuesday afternoon amid low trading activity after Christmas.

The cost of February futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 13:15 pm is $78.96 per barrel, which is $0.11 (0.14%) lower than at the close of the previous trading.

Futures for WTI for February in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) have fallen by $0.29 (0.39%) to $73.27 per barrel by this time.

Downward pressure on the quotes is exerted by the strengthening of the US dollar. The DXY index, which reflects its value against six major world currencies, is up less than 0.1%, which reduces the attractiveness of commodities quoted in US currency.

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“Metinvest” launches production of 25 new products

Metinvest Group’s metallurgical enterprises in Ukraine have launched production of 25 new products in 2023, including the joint venture Zaporizhstal, which has mastered the production of 14 new products.

According to the group’s press release on Tuesday, despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that has been going on for almost two years, Metinvest remains the country’s economic and industrial backbone. The Group’s enterprises have launched new products, including partially compensating for the production of assets in the temporarily occupied Mariupol.

Most of the new products were launched in the semi-finished products segment, including hot-rolled coils and long products (seven each) and cold-rolled and galvanized coils (two each). Zaporizhstal and Kametstal accounted for the lion’s share of new products. The Group’s galvanized steel producer, Unisteel, launched two new types of products.

It is specified that Zaporizhstal started producing slabs of various sizes from steel grades S235, S275, and S355 as semi-finished products. These products are supplied to Metinvest’s European assets, where they are used to make hot-rolled plates and coils. For its part, Kametstal has mastered the production of two types of square billets – continuously cast and hot-rolled – from new steel grades and with increased requirements for structure and properties. The plant now uses these semi-finished products for its own production of long products and wire rod and supplies them to customers in Ukraine and Europe.

As part of its hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized coils and sheets product range, Zaporizhstal has started producing seven types of rolled products for the construction and machine-building industries in accordance with European, American and Ukrainian standards. In particular, the plant has launched the production of S355J2 coils in accordance with the European standard EN 10025-2 and its Ukrainian counterpart DSTU EN 10025-2. The products have been tested and received confirmation of conformity from an international certification center. Hot-rolled steel products made of S355J2 steel produced in Zaporizhzhia are already successfully supplied to Poland, Romania and other European countries.

In addition, this year Zaporizhstal has mastered the production of cold-rolled coils from structural steel grades S320GD and S350GD for galvanizing. Previously, this semi-finished product was supplied by Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol for protective coating. The launch of this product at Zaporizhstal allowed Unisteel to resume production and supply of structural galvanized coils used in the manufacture of steel structures.

The press release emphasizes that cooperation between Zaporizhstal and Unisteel has also been strengthened through other areas of cooperation. In 2023, the plant’s cold rolling shop completed the process of mastering the technology of cutting galvanized coils into sheets, which made it possible to significantly increase the sales of such products in the domestic market.

In terms of long products, Kametstal mastered new technologies and started production of steel grinding balls with diameters of 25 and 100 mm, as well as SVP27 profiles for the mining and metallurgical sector. The plant also produced two types of wire rod – 7.5 mm in diameter from SAE 1008 grade according to the American standard and 8 mm in diameter from European C80D2 steel. The products are used for wire drawing, rope manufacturing and hardware production.

“KAMETSTAL also started production of A500C rebar with a diameter of 36 mm. Such rolled products are in demand for critical construction and infrastructure projects and are used to build bridges, shelters and multi-storey buildings. For the machine-building industry, the plant has launched mass production of hot-rolled rounds with a diameter of 42 mm, which are used to create parts and structural elements for machinery and equipment.

“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are mainly located in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovs’k regions. The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it. Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.

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Average price per hectare of land in 2023, UAH

Average price per hectare of land in 2023, UAH

Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news

Kernel reaches record corn yield in 2023

Kernel Agro Holding has completed the 2023 harvest and achieved a record corn yield of 10.2 tons per hectare, up 15% year-on-year, amid exceptionally favorable weather conditions during the season.

According to the company’s report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 (FY, July-October 2023), sunflower yield increased by 11% year-on-year to 2.8 tons per hectare, and soybean yield – 2.9 tons per hectare.

“Unlike last year, there were no serious disruptions during the 2023 harvesting campaign due to the war in Ukraine or other factors,” the document says.

According to the document, Kernel has completed sowing winter crops for the 2024 harvest, allocating 93 thousand hectares for winter wheat and 14 thousand hectares for rapeseed, while last year winter wheat plantings were significantly lower – 60.4 thousand hectares, or 17% of the sown area, and the area under rapeseed was reported as “insignificant”.

The document specifies that due to the reduction of corn area by 44% to 84.4 thou hectares, the harvest decreased by 35% to 861 thou tons, while the increase of corn area by 75% to 61.1 thou hectares with the growth of yield by 44% to 6.7 t/ha allowed to harvest 2.5 times more – 406 thou tons.

As for oilseeds, the soybean harvest exceeded last year’s by 10 times, amounting to 188 thsd tonnes, thanks to the same expansion of the area while maintaining yields. Sunflower was harvested in the amount of 335 thou tons, which, due to the increase in yield, allowed the company to exceed the previous year’s figure by 1% while maintaining the area by 8% – up to 119.7 thou hectares.

The area under other crops this year was reduced by 32% to 28.4 thousand hectares, according to the report.

“Kernel also reported that during the three months ended September 30, 2023, it sold one of its elevators in Kharkiv region: with a net asset value of $175 thousand, the cash consideration received amounted to $1.067 million.

It is noted that in December 2023, Kernel launched the group’s fifth cogeneration thermal power plant at the Prydniprovskyi oil extraction plant with an installed capacity of 21 MW.

The company confirmed that it plans to commission a new state-of-the-art extraction plant in Khmelnytsky region in spring 2024 with a capacity of 1 million tons of sunflower seeds per year, making it the largest in Ukraine.

The report specifies that since the beginning of the war, 1502 employees of the agricultural holding have been mobilized to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine or joined territorial defense units, of which 648 have been demobilized and returned to work, 39 employees were killed and 87 others were injured.

As reported, in the first quarter of FY2024, Kernel posted a net loss of $30.9 million, while the previous year ended with a net profit of $162 million, with revenue down 17% to $564 million.

According to the report, the book value per share for the year decreased from $20.7 to $6 (or PLN26.22), in particular due to the increase in the number of shares from 77.429 million to 147.864 million.

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