Structure of foreign exchange reserves as of 30.09.2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Ukraine’s public debt to GDP ratio from 2009 to 2023 (UAH mln)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
In January-November this year, Ukrainian mining companies reduced exports of iron ore in physical terms by 30.5% year-on-year to 16 million 145,920 thousand tons.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), foreign exchange earnings from iron ore exports amounted to $1 billion 624.403 million (down 42.8%) in the period under review.
Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (28.73% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (20.20%) and the Czech Republic (20.18%).
In January-November of this year, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $131 thousand in the total volume of 244 tons. Imports during this period came from Norway (35.88%), the Netherlands (29.77%) and Italy (26.72%). At the same time, during the same period in 2022, iron ore worth $62 thousand was imported in a total volume of 96 tons.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine decreased the export of iron ore in physical terms by 45.9% compared to 2021 – to 23 million 984.623 thousand tons, while foreign exchange earnings decreased by 57.8% to $2 billion 912.974 million.
Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (19.23% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (17.32%) and Poland (16.49%).
Last year, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $65 thousand in a total volume of 101 tons, while in 2021 – $184 thousand in a volume of 1,202 thousand tons.
Imports were carried out from Norway (36.92%), the Netherlands (27.69%) and the UK (16.92%).
Internal and external debt of Ukraine in 2009-2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
In January-November this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased their consumption of rolled metal products by 2.06 times compared to the same period last year, up to 3 million 246.6 thousand tons.
According to a press release issued by Ukrmetallurgprom on Monday, 1 million 26.6 thousand tons, or 31.62% of the domestic rolled steel market, were imported during this period.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in January-November 2023, Ukrainian steelmakers produced 4.86 million tons of rolled metal products (92.8% compared to the same period in 2022), of which, according to the Expert and Scientific Council of UAVtormet, about 2.64 million tons, or 54.4%, were exported. In the same period of 2022, the share of exports amounted to 80.4% (4.21 million tons with a total production of 5.24 million tons of rolled metal products).
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries for 11 months of 2023 amounted to 41.79%, which is significantly lower than in the same period of 2022 (43.31%). The share of flat products in export deliveries in 11 months of 2023 is slightly higher than in January-November 2022 (38.46% and 36.64%, respectively). The share of long products is comparable to the figure for 11 months of 2023 (19.74% in 2023 vs. 20.05% in 2022).
“In January-November 2023, the domestic market capacity amounted to 3246.6 thousand tons of rolled steel, of which 1026.6 thousand tons or 31.62% were imported. In the same period of 2022, the domestic market capacity amounted to 1577.6 thousand tons, of which 549.6 thousand tons or 34.86% were imported. Thus, in 11 months of 2023, there was an increase in the domestic market capacity by 105.79% compared to January-November 2022, while the share of the import component decreased by 3.22%,” the press release states.
The structure of imports in January-November 2023 is still characterized by a significant dominance of flat products over long products (75.78% and 24.16%, respectively); in the same period of 2022, the dominance of flat products over long products was also significant (67.69% and 31.30%, respectively).
The main export markets for Ukrainian steel products in January-November 2023, according to the data of the ETS “UAVtormet”, are the countries of the European Union (78.5%) and the rest of Europe (7.2%).
Among metallurgical importers for 11 months of 2023, the first place is occupied by other European countries (41.2%), the second – by the EU-27 (32.4%), and the third – by Asian countries (18.9%).
In January-November 2023, Ukraine exported $730 million worth of furniture, which is 3.2% less than in 2022, Oksana Donska, a board member of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAFM) and coordinator of furniture cluster development, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The main reason for the drop is the blocking of the Polish-Ukrainian border. Trucks with furniture stood in line at the border for weeks in November 2023, and a small share was delivered by vehicles with a carrying capacity of up to three tons. It is expected that the pent-up demand of November and the lifting of the border blockade with Poland will allow us to ship orders and reach the export level of $810 million in 2023 and significantly increase exports next year,” Donska said.
In particular, JYSK buys Ukrainian products for sale in all its international networks. “If we compare the volume of JYSK’s purchases in Ukraine in 2023 with 2021, the company has increased the volume of purchases in physical units, and in monetary terms by almost 20% in euros,” said Iryna Romanchuk, purchasing manager at USK Ukraine LLC.
According to her, JYSK is ready to further increase the volume of purchases if Ukrainian producers are ready to switch to European standards and implement environmental and social initiatives at their production facilities.
Overall, the share of furniture exports in total exports of goods from Ukraine amounted to 2.2% in 11 months of 2023.
From 2009-2021, exports of Ukrainian furniture (product group 94) grew annually by an average of 13.5% from $0.2 billion to a record high of $1.1 billion in 2021. In 2022, Ukrainian furniture producers managed to keep exports at $0.8 billion, of which 91.1% were to the EU.
Donska noted that in 2023, the structure of exports by partner countries changed. Thus, compared to the same period in 2022, the share of exports to Poland decreased from 35.1% ($264.6 million) to 29.5% ($215.2 million). At the same time, the volume of exports to Germany increased significantly by 17%, from $129.3 million to $151.3 million, with the corresponding changes in the share from 17.2% to 20.7%.
The Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAFM) unites more than 70% of the furniture industry.
