The Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt has canceled preventive import duties on steel billets, rebar and aluminum products regardless the country of origin, including from Ukraine.According to an official posting on the website of the Egyptian Ministry, Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Gamea has issued two orders to terminate resolutions No. 907 of 2019 and No. 168 of 2021, introducing preventive measures against the import of steel billets, rebar and aluminum products.According to this information, these two decisions come into force the next day after their publication in the Egyptian Gazette.As the minister explained, both decisions were made to support the sectors of the economy due to high inflation rates, growth in energy, materials and to meet the production needs of Egyptian companies.In turn, Ibrahim al Seginy, Assistant Minister for Economic Affairs and Head of the Commercial Processing Sector, explained that the sector received a number of complaints from the local industry, as the introduction of preventive duties affected these sectors. At the same time, it was recorded that there was a significant increase in prices for these goods, as well as the lack of a sufficient number of local substitute products to meet the needs of the local market. It also affected the high cost of finished goods, which negatively affects the competitiveness of Egyptian exports.According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, on April 15, 2019, Egypt announced the introduction of temporary protective duties on steel products (for fittings in the amount of 17-25%, semi-finished products made of iron and unalloyed steel – 10-16%, depending on the price).This measure was introduced by Egypt to protect local steel producers from an increase in steel supplies to the country after the closure of the American market (as a result of the US government’s imposition of barrage measures on steel and retaliatory measures from other countries, including the EU). These restrictions were supposed to be valid until April 11, 2022.
Ukrainian enterprises in January-October this year increased their consumption of rolled metal by 19.42% compared to the same period last year, to 4.324 million tonnes. According to a press release of the Ukrmetalurgprom association on Tuesday, during this period 969,700 tonnes were imported, or 22.43% of the domestic market for rolled metal consumption.
“In January-October 2021, the capacity of the domestic market amounted to 4.324 million tonnes of rolled metal, of which 969,700 tonnes, or 22.43%, accounted for imports. In January-October 2020, the capacity of the domestic market was 3.621 million tonnes, of which 1.028 million tonnes, or 28.38%, were imported. Thus, in ten months of 2021, there is an increase in the capacity of the domestic market for rolled metal products by 19.42% compared to January-October 2020, with a simultaneous decrease in the import share by 5.96%,” the press release states.
At the same time, the structure of imports in January-October 2021 is characterized by a significant domination of flat products over long products (54.66% and 42.28%, respectively); in the same period of 2020, a domination of flat products over long products was practically comparable with 2021 (56.38% and 42.44%, respectively).
According to Ukrmetalurgprom, in January-October-2021, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises produced 15.99 million tonnes of rolled metal (105.4% compared to January-October 2020), of which, according to the information of V.S.K. Group LLC, about 12.63 million tonnes, or 79%, were exported. Over ten months of 2020, the share of exports was 82.9% (12.58 million tonnes with total production of 15.17 million tonnes of rolled metal).
The share of semi-finished products in export supplies accounted for 46.17% over ten months of 2021, which is lower than the indicator for the same period in 2020 (51.03%). The share of flat-rolled products in export supplies in January-October 2021 is noticeably higher than in January-October 2020 (37.86% and 32.08%, respectively). The share of long products in export supplies is slightly inferior to the indicator for the same period last year (15.98% in 2021 versus 16.88% in 2020).
According to V.S.K. Group, the main export markets of Ukrainian metal products in January-October 2021 were the European Union (36.5%), other European countries (20.1%) and NAFTA countries (9.7%).
Among metallurgical importers over ten months of 2021, the CIS ranks first (35.4%), the second is the countries of Asia (21.6%) and the third is the EU-27 (20.5%).
Ukraine may receive a tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the amount of about $1.4 billion in October-December 2021, J.P. Morgan said in the October EMEA EM Emerging Markets research. The growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine in January-August 2021 accelerated to 2.9% compared to 2.1% in January-July 2021, the Ministry of Economy has said.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has worsened its estimate of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2021 from 3.8% to 3.1%, in 2022 – to 3.8% from 4%, the regulator said on its official website.
Analysts from Morgan Stanley have maintained an estimate of Ukraine’s GDP growth in 2021 at 3.4%, and 4.2% in 2022, according to the forecast materials available to the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods over January-August 2021 decreased by 33.9% compared to the same period in 2020, to $1.731 billion from $2.619 billion.
The year-over-year growth of consumer prices in Ukraine in September 2021 accelerated to 11% from 10.2% in August, the State Statistics Service reported.
The deficit of the general fund of the state budget of Ukraine in September 2021 amounted to UAH 26.5 billion, and the overall state budget – UAH 31.4 billion, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.
The total public debt of Ukraine in September 2021 felll by 0.55% in U.S. dollars and amounted to $92.02 billion, while it decreased by 1.6% in hryvnia, to UAH 2.445 trillion.
Industrial production in Ukraine in September 2021 decreased by 0.7% compared to September 2020, while in August its growth was 0.6%, in July – 0.2%, in June – 1.1%, the State Statistics Service has reported.
Real wages in Ukraine in September 2021 compared to September 2020 increased by 6.9%, and relative to August of this year – by 0.5%.
The volume of construction work performed in Ukraine in September 2021 increased by 10% compared to September 2020. The total rental activity in Kyiv’s office real estate market in the first half of 2021 amounted to 43,000 square meters, which is 22% more than in the same period last year.
Ukraine since the beginning of this season and as of October 28 threshed 60.75 million tonnes of main grain and leguminous crops from a total area of 12.86 million hectares.
Publisher of “Open4Business”, PhD in Economics, Maksim Urakin
The Verkhovna Rada at its meeting on Tuesday, with 302 votes, supported bill No.3504 on mediation at second reading. The bill defines the legal framework and procedure for mediation in Ukraine. In particular, the mediation procedure will be applied in any conflicts (disputes) arising in civil, family, labor, economic, administrative legal relations, as well as in criminal proceedings when drawing up agreements on reconciliation between the victim and the suspect, the accused, and other areas of public relations.According to the explanatory note to the document, individuals and legal entities can apply to a mediator for mediation both before going to court, the Arbitration Court, International Commercial Arbitration, and during judicial, arbitration or arbitration proceedings or during the execution of the decision of the listed courts.Mediation will be carried out by mutual agreement of the parties to the mediation in accordance with the principles of voluntariness, confidentiality, independence and neutrality, impartiality of the mediator.The status of a mediator can be obtained by any individual who has a higher education and has completed basic training in the are of mediation in Ukraine or abroad.
Delta Wilmar Ukraine LLC, a member of the group of the transnational corporation Wilmar International, on November 15 at the plant in the village of Novi Biliary (Odesa region) launched the tenth line for bottling sunflower oil under the Chumak brand, which will also become the second line for filling oil in containers of 1.8 liters, 3 liters and 5 liters, according to the company’s Facebook page.According to him, the sales market for products in containers of increased volumes is the Middle East and Africa, where people live mainly in large families and, accordingly, buy oil in large containers.The sunflower oil producer specified that its products are exported to 40 countries of the world.As reported, Delta Wilmar in 2020 opened a new workshop for processing and packaging margarine and fat products at an enterprise in Odesa region, investments in which amounted to more than $ 29 million.Delta Wilmar Ukraine LLC is part of the group of the transnational agro-industrial corporation Wilmar International, the market capitalization of which is estimated at $ 22 billion.In Ukraine, it owns two plants – one for processing tropical oils, the other for processing oilseeds, as well as a complex for transshipment of vegetable oils in Pivdenny port. All enterprises are located in the village of Novi Biliary, 30 km from Odesa.In the 2020/2021 marketing year (September-August), the company produced 153,000 tonnes of refined sunflower oil, its share in the Ukrainian product market was 16.6%.
The presentation of the Training Center for Public Servants of Yuriy Yekhanurov took place in Kyiv on Tuesday, training at the center will start on February 15, 2022.
“You can be successful when you get a proper education. This is how the idea of creating a Training Center for Public Servants, which I gave my name to, appeared. With my friends and colleagues, we are now forming this direction,” former Prime Minister of Ukraine (2005-2006) Yuriy Yekhanurov said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
According to him, an advisory center will also operate at the Training Center, which will answer practical questions of territorial communities, in particular, from the legal sphere.
The organization of the Training Center will be carried out by the Key Persons public organization. Its executive director Olha Shaverina said that several training formats are expected, in particular, short-term courses on a modular system throughout the year, and that it is also planned to open a higher educational institution in the future.
According to Shaverina, the Training Center will have five departments: “Public Management and Administration,” “Public Finance Management,” “Project Management,” “Cybersecurity and Digitalization,” “Public Property.”
