Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Exports of titanium ores from Ukraine fell by 90%

14 May , 2025  

In January-April this year, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates in physical terms by 90.4% compared to the same period last year, to 277 tons.

According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, in monetary terms, exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates decreased by 89.6% to $496,000.

The main exports went to Uzbekistan (35.61% of shipments in monetary terms), Turkey (35.01%), and Egypt (29.38%).

In the first four months of 2025, Ukraine imported 22 tons of titanium-containing ore worth $37,000 from China (100%), all in January.

As reported, in 2024, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium-containing ores in physical terms by 37.5% compared to the previous year, to 7,284 tons. In monetary terms, exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates decreased by 40% to $11.654 million. The main exports were to Turkey (62.82% of shipments in monetary terms), Egypt (7.38%), and Poland (6.93%).

In 2024, Ukraine imported 314 tons of titanium-containing ore worth $492 thousand from China (87.78%), Vietnam (6.11%), and Senegal (also 6.11%).

At the same time, experts pointed to discrepancies in statistics on exports of titanium-containing ores. However, in response to a request from Interfax-Ukraine, the State Customs Service (SCS) of Ukraine reported that complete data on exports of titanium raw materials is not provided due to restrictions on the volume of export and import operations with military and dual-use goods, which are reflected in aggregate form under “Other goods.”

They explained that, in particular, deliveries of titanium-containing ores from companies differ from the SCS data.

“We would like to inform you that these deliveries are included in the statistical exports from Ukraine, but are not reflected in the foreign trade statistics published by the State Customs Service (…) under the UKTZED commodity code 2614 “Titanium ores and concentrates” in view of the following. (…) In accordance with the provisions (…) during data protection for confidentiality purposes, any information considered confidential shall be reported in full at the next higher level of product data aggregation,” the State Customs Service explained in its response to the agency.

It was clarified that information on customs clearance and movement across the customs border of Ukraine of goods subject to export control is included in the list of information containing official information in the State Customs Service, in accordance with the relevant order.

In Ukraine, titanium-containing ores are currently mined mainly by PJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (OGHK), which manages the Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipropetrovsk region) and the Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGZK, Zhytomyr region), as well as LLC “Mezhirichensky GZK” and LLC “Valky-Ilmenit” (both LLCs are located in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region). In addition, the production and commercial firm Velta (Dnipro) built a mining and processing plant at the Birzulivskoye deposit with a capacity of 240,000 tons of ilmenite concentrate per year.

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