Benchmark crude oil prices are declining on Friday after a weak rise the day before.
However, over the course of this week, they have gained more than 3% amid forecasts of stable global demand for fuel, Trading Economics writes.
Quotes for August futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange at 7:52 a.m. decreased by $0.39 (0.5%) to $82.36 per barrel. On Thursday, these contracts rose by $0.15 (0.2%) to $82.75 per barrel.
The price of July futures for WTI on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by $0.45 (0.6%) to $78.17 per barrel in the morning. As a result of the previous trading, the value of these contracts increased by $0.12 (0.2%) to $78.62 per barrel.
Earlier this week, the US Department of Energy raised its forecast for global oil demand in 2024 by 140 thousand bpd to 102.98 million bpd. Thus, the agency expects that this year’s demand growth will be almost 1.1 million bpd, while a month earlier it was expected to be 920 thousand bpd.
OPEC still expects global oil demand to increase by 2.25 million barrels per day in 2024, and by 1.85 million bpd next year, according to the cartel’s June report.
Standard Chartered experts believe that global oil demand will increase by 1.68 million barrels per day this year and by 1.41 million bpd next year.
In January-May this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased exports of ferrous scrap by 32.2% year-on-year to 102,366 thousand tons from 77,452 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service on Thursday, 14.952 thousand tons were exported in May, 26.153 thousand tons in April, 20.907 thousand tons in March, 23.194 thousand tons in February and 17.160 thousand tons in January.
In monetary terms, scrap metal exports increased by 42.7% to $32.872 million from $23.028 million.
In January-May, scrap metal was exported to Poland (85.33%), Greece (10.61%) and Germany (3.92%).
In the first five months of the year, the country imported 424 tons of scrap metal worth $217 thousand. Imports were carried out from Slovakia (48.61% in monetary terms), Turkey (32.87%) and Poland (9.26%), while in January-May 2023, 344 tons of scrap were imported for $138 thousand.
As reported, in 2023, the scrap collecting enterprise of Ukraine increased the export of scrap metal from the country by 3.4 times compared to the previous year – up to 182,485 thousand tons from 53,557 thousand tons. In monetary terms, exports increased 2.74 times to $52.723 million from $19.271 million.
Earlier, Ukrmetallurgprom President Oleksandr Kalenkov stated in a column on the Interfax-Ukraine website that scrap metal is exported through the European Union, which has a preferential export duty of EUR3 per ton, and from there the raw materials are redirected to real customers. He noted that exporting raw materials directly to customers would cost EUR180 in export duties, and the Ukrainian budget has already lost UAH 350 million.
The head of Ukrmetallurgprom called for a temporary ban on the export of ferrous scrap to provide steelmakers with strategically important raw materials in the face of the ongoing war. He also clarified that a ton of scrap metal processed into steel brings in 10 times more to the budget than the EU export duty, which is about $300 per ton.
In 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of ferrous scrap by 11.5 times compared to the previous year, to 53,557 thousand tons, and in monetary terms, it decreased by 12.4 times, to $19.271 million.
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Ukrnafta, the second or third largest gas producer in Ukraine, has made a strategic decision to build gas generation and has already started to attract partners for this purpose, said Sergiy Koretsky, director of Ukrnafta, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin (URC2024).
“At the first stage, it will be about 1 GW. For this year, we have a more optimistic and more realistic plan to build at least 100 MW,” he said during the URC2024 roundtable discussion on the issue of the fastest possible restoration of power generation in Ukraine.
Koretskyi said that Ukrnafta signed memorandums of understanding with Siemens Energy and Deutsche Bank on the sidelines of URC2024 to obtain expertise and develop new projects based on steam and gas turbines for combined heat and power generation, and to attract financing for the construction of gas-fired maneuvering generation.
At the same time, the Ukrnafta director noted that the company has more than enough liquidity on its accounts for the first stage and has a huge support from Ukrainian banks, while memorandums with Siemens and Deutsche Bank are aimed at the following parallel tracks for electricity generation from gas.
Koretsky recalled that Ukrnafta is also the largest oil producer in Ukraine, and after the government took over the company from Ihor Kolomoisky’s managers, the company generated $1 billion in EBITDA compared to net losses of $0.5 billion over the past 10 years.
The CEO added that an independent supervisory board was recently elected and Ukrnafta is now on the right track to implement its corporate, ESG and social responsibility strategies.
The international chain JYSK is opening two stores: a new one in Odesa in the Mercury shopping center (99v Semena Palia Street) and an updated one in Poltava in the Kyiv shopping center (6/1a Zinkivska Street), the retailer’s press service reports.
“Despite all the challenges, anxieties, and even power outages, JYSK is expanding its network to 96 stores in Ukraine. I would like to thank the team of both stores for their work!” says Country Director of JYSK Ukraine, Yevhen Ivanitsa, commenting on the opening.
In the renovated store in Poltava, the sales area (from 900 to 1150 square meters) and warehouse area (from 225 to 309 square meters) were increased, office space was renovated and a separate room for employees was created.
The store opened in Odesa is the sixth JYSK store in the city. It has a selling area of 1078 square meters, a warehouse of 247 square meters, and an office space of 40 square meters.
Both stores are part of the 3.0 concept, which includes better spot lighting, more modern design and a more comfortable zonal arrangement of goods for customers.
The company has already announced the opening of its seventh store in Odesa in the fall in the Rodos shopping center. The candidate cities for the 100th store are also known. It will be either Kalush or Kryvyi Rih in August.
Currently, there are 96 stores and the jysk.ua online store in Ukraine. By the end of 2024, the plan is to reach 100 stores.
JYSK has more than 800 employees in the country.
JYSK is part of the family-owned Lars Larsen Group with more than 3.4 thousand stores in 48 countries.
JYSK’s revenue in the financial year 2022/23 was EUR 5.2 billion.
Vitagro Group will raise EUR110 million in additional investments to develop its biomethane plant in Khmelnytsky region and increase its capacity by 5 million cubic meters by the time biomethane production starts, said Serhiy Savchuk, Vitagro Group’s Director of Development and Investments, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
“We understand that by 2030, 35 million cubic meters of biomethane will be consumed in the EU. That is why we have invested EUR6 million in our first biomethane plant in Ukraine. Yesterday I spoke with our customers in Europe who sell our product to the EU. I sent them a memorandum for additional investments in our biomethane plant,” he said.
According to Savchuk, it is an investment of EUR110 million, which will allow Vitagro to increase biomethane production by 5 million cubic meters per year.
Vitagro’s Director of Development and Investment also said that the group of companies has launched five projects at its own expense since the beginning of the full-scale war. Fertilizer production projects and a corn pellet ethanol plant have now been fully completed.
The VITAGRO group of companies was founded in 1999. In 2021, it employed 5 thousand people, its revenue amounted to $211.3 million, and EBITDA was $101 million.
The group’s land bank is 85 thousand hectares. The group also owns a seed and crop protection plant, as well as sunflower oil production facilities and one of the five largest orchards in Ukraine. VITAGRO also owns 5,000 heads of cattle and 110,000 heads of pigs, elevator capacity of 400,000 tons, as well as three brick factories and nine asphalt plants, and four solar power plants with a total capacity of 16 MW.
VITAGRO’s first pilot biomethane project was presented in June 2023 in Dobrohorscha village in Khmelnytskyi district of Khmelnytskyi region, where a biomethane plant with a capacity of 2.9 million cubic meters per year was built on the basis of a farm and a biogas plant, with investments in the project estimated at EUR 7.6 million. Manure, silage, and straw from the group’s pig and cattle farms will be used for methane production.
VITAGRO also planned to launch two more such plants: “Zorya in Rivne region for 3 million cubic meters and 52 thousand tons of fertilizers with an investment of EUR 7 million and in the former Volochysk district (now Khmelnytsky district) for 2.5 million cubic meters and 100 thousand tons of fertilizers with an investment of EUR 6.8 million.
According to the state register, the main beneficiary of VITAGRO is MP Serhiy Labaziuk, and the CEO is Petro Labaziuk.
