Ukraine increased fuel imports 12-fold over the six months of the war – from almost 60,000 tonnes in March to 710,000 tonnes in August, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko said.
“If in March we imported an average of 827 tonnes of gasoline and 1,400 tonnes of diesel fuel per day, then in August – 4,200 tonnes and 16,900 tonnes, respectively. We see a gradual accumulation of oil products on the market due to the constant growth of imports. That is why today there is no excessive demand for fuel, there are no queues at gas stations, and prices do not show a tendency to rapid growth,” Svyrydenko said, the words of which are quoted in the message of the Ministry of Economy on the website on Friday.
According to the Ministry of Economy, a total of 58,800 tonnes of gasoline, diesel fuel and liquefied gas were imported in March, 380,800 tonnes in May, and 709,500 tonnes in August.
“According to consumption forecasts in September-December, Ukraine needs 500,000-550,000 tonnes of fuel every month. We import large volumes, which allows us to fully meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as emergency and public services, farmers, and public transport,” the first deputy prime minister said.
According to her, the increase in imports was facilitated, in particular, by the abolition of excise duty on petroleum products, the reduction of VAT from 20% to 7%, the suspension of regulation of fuel prices, as well as a number of measures aimed at facilitating the import of fuel into Ukraine.
She also noted the westward reorientation of fuel imports that occurred after the Russian invasion.
“Today, we receive 95% of imported gasoline and 72% of diesel fuel from EU countries. The leaders in supply are Romania, Lithuania, Slovakia, Greece, Bulgaria and Poland. So, quite quickly, we were able to radically change the vector of oil product imports in such a way as to receive it in sufficient quantities to cover all our needs,” Svyrydenko emphasized.
Average monthly wage by region in Jan 2022, UAH
SSC of Ukraine
The exception is Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which fell more than 1.5% by 8:31 AM ET.
The decline leaders are shares of automotive companies Geely and BYD, which lost 6.3% and 5.3%, respectively. On Friday it became known that the investment company of American billionaire Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway continued to reduce its stake in BYD and sold the second stake in the automaker in two weeks.
In addition, papers of online retailers JD.com Inc. are getting cheaper. (-3.4%) and Alibaba (-2.7%), consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi Corp. (-2.9%), Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. (-3.1%).
Following the increase in oil prices, stock prices of representatives of this industry are growing: PetroChina Co. (+1.9%), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (+1.7%) and CNOOC (+1.5%).
The Chinese authorities are introducing restrictive measures and continue mass testing for COVID-19 among more than 20 million residents of the city of Chengdu, the administrative center of Sichuan province. It is the sixth most populous city in the country. In addition, measures to restrict movement were taken in Shenzhen.
Business activity in China’s industrial sector rose for the third month in a row in August, according to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) calculated by Caixin Media and S&P Global.
While the PMI slipped to 55 from a 15-month high of 55.5 in July, it remained above the 50-point mark, which indicates an increase in activity in the sector. At the same time, analysts expected the index to fall to an average of 51 points, according to Trading Economics.
Consolidated PMI last month decreased to 53 points from 54 points in July.
The Chinese Shanghai Composite index is almost at the level of previous trading, as well as the Japanese Nikkei 225.
The price of securities of the Japanese oil company Inpex is growing by 0.7%, non-ferrous metals producer Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. – by 1.9%, investment technology company Softbank Group – by 0.15%.
Asia’s largest clothing retailer Fast Retailing is down 1%, automaker Nissan Motor Co. – by 1.6%.
The South Korean index Kospi by 08:20 Moscow time fell by 0.3%.
Shares of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of chips and consumer electronics Samsung Electronics Co. fell by 1%, while automaker Hyundai Motor – rose by 1.8%.
The Australian indicator S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% since the market opened.
The market value of the world’s largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto rose by 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
Retail sales in Australia rose 1.3% month-on-month in July to a record A$34.67 billion, final data show. This is the biggest increase since March.
Oil prices rise on Monday ahead of the OPEC+ meeting, traders are assessing the possibility of cutting production after recent statements by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman about the possibility of such a move.
Most experts still believe that OPEC + will not reduce the oil production plan for October, Bloomberg notes. JPMorgan analysts explain this opinion by the fact that the summer surplus of raw materials in the world market can quickly turn into a deficit.
The price of November futures for Brent oil on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:15 pm on Monday is $95.06 per barrel, which is $2.04 (2.19) higher than the closing price of the previous session. As a result of trading on Friday, these contracts rose by $0.66 (0.7%) to $93.02 per barrel.
The price of futures for WTI oil for October in the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $88.66 per barrel by this time, which is $1.79 (2.06%) higher than the final value of the previous session. By the close of the market on Friday, the value of these contracts increased by $0.26 (0.3%) to $86.87 per barrel.
As a result of the past week, Brent fell by 6.1%, WTI – by 4.6%.
In Europe, the energy crisis is intensifying against the background of the suspension of Russian gas supplies via the Nord Stream gas pipeline. On Friday evening, Gazprom reported that the maintenance of the only working turbine of the Nord Stream revealed “gross violations” and the gas pipeline would not work without their elimination.
Shortly before this, the G7 countries approved a plan to introduce a price ceiling for oil exported by Russia. To implement this plan, the G7 countries intend, in particular, to ban insurance of tankers with Russian oil if it is sold at a price above a certain limit.
“We believe that Gazprom’s decision to extend the shutdown of Nord Stream supplies from the originally announced three days indefinitely is inextricably linked to the G7’s adoption of the price cap plan,” said James Whistler, managing director of Vanir Global Markets Pte. Bloomberg.
Although the G7 countries are striving to maintain the supply of Russian energy resources to the world market, while reducing Russia’s income, “in reality, everything happens the other way around,” the expert says.
The Government on Friday approved a bill that brings the Customs Tariff of Ukraine in line with the requirements of the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System in the 2022 version, the Ministry of Economy reported.
The agency explained that the current Customs Tariff of Ukraine is built on the basis of such an international system of the 2017 version, while most countries of the world (China, the USA, the EU, Turkey, Switzerland) have already switched to the 2022 version.
In this regard, there are a number of complications associated with differences in commodity codes in the customs clearance of imported products or when comparing the customs statistics of Ukraine and trading partner countries.
“Ukraine is adapting to international standards for the classification of goods. We need this in order to increase our own exports, enter new markets, strengthen competitive advantages in world trade,” First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko, Minister of Economy, said in the release.
The Ministry of Economy clarified that if the bill is adopted, more than 350 changes will be made to commodity codes, mainly in relation to agricultural goods, chemical, forestry, textiles, non-ferrous metals, engineering, transport, etc.
The report clarifies that the new customs tariff does not provide for changes in the rates of import duty on goods.
Power unit No. 5 of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, which was shut down in an emergency on September 1, is back in operation, Energoatom reported.
“Today, September 2, 2022, the 5th power unit of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, which was turned off on September 1 in the morning as a result of another mortar attack by the Russian occupation forces at the ZNPP site, was connected to the power grid at 13:10,” Energoatom’s Telegram channel reported. on Friday.
According to the report, the increase in power continues.
“The station has two power units (No. 5, 6 – ER), which produce electricity for the needs of Ukraine. There are no comments on the operation of equipment and security systems,” the company said.
