An unprecedented drop in demand for whiskey, cognac, and tequila has led to the formation of large stocks of unsold alcohol among the world’s leading producers, writes the Financial Times.
This is forcing them to mothball production facilities and cut prices to reduce warehouse stocks.
The combined unsold inventory of the world’s five leading alcohol producers — Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Campari, Brown-Forman, and Remy Cointreau — is about $22 billion, the highest in more than a decade, according to FT calculations based on the companies’ financial reports.
In the case of French cognac producer Remy Cointreau, inventories amount to €1.8 billion, which is almost double its annual revenue and close to the company’s market capitalization.
The accumulation of unsold product inventories by spirits producers increases their debt burden and threatens to lead to a price war, the newspaper notes.
“The growth in inventories is unprecedented,” says Bernstein analyst Trevor Stirling. According to him, unsold alcohol inventories at companies that disclose this information currently exceed the levels seen during the financial crisis.
Inventories began to accumulate after companies responded to a surge in alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic by sharply increasing production.
“In 2021 and 2022, everyone lost their sense of proportion and decided that such demand would continue forever,” Stirling says.
However, the rapid rise in inflation brought the industry back down to earth. The global decline in disposable income over the past few years has weakened demand for spirits, prompting many companies in the sector to report deteriorating financial performance, staff reshuffles, and shareholder outflows.
Investors are debating the extent to which the decline may be due to deeper societal changes. Some believe that the decline in alcohol consumption is primarily due to the rapid spread of weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic, as well as a general increase in people’s awareness of health issues.
Over the past month, UEEX held 182 trading sessions in the BETS, 82 auctions for the purchase and sale of electricity in the Electric Power version of the BETS, and 4 trading sessions each day on the short-term natural gas market.
According to their results, 2552.56 thousand MWh of electricity, 188.29 thousand tons of oil and gas condensate, 15.73 thousand tons of liquefied gas, 165.22 million cubic meters of natural gas were sold. In addition, in December, 184 auctions were held in the “Unprocessed wood and lumber” segment. The total volume of sales in this area amounted to 321.81 thousand cubic meters.
“December confirmed the steady demand for UEEX exchange instruments in key areas. Despite the difficult situation in the power system, we ensured the continuity of trading and continue to improve trading procedures and digital solutions to ensure that the market remains transparent, competitive and predictable,” said Oleksandr Kovalenko, UEEX CEO.
Tourists spent a total of 3.08 billion nights in hotels, hostels, and rented apartments in the European Union in 2025, according to preliminary data from the EU statistical office.
This is 2% (61.5 million) higher than in 2024 and is a record. Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, the growth was 7.2%.
At the same time, the number of overnight stays by foreign guests increased by 46.1 million last year, while for EU residents this figure rose by 15.4 million. The former account for 48.6% of the total, while the latter account for 51.4%.
An increase in tourist activity was observed in all EU countries except two. The most significant growth in tourist numbers was recorded in Malta (+9.9%) and Poland (+7%), while the number of overnight stays in Romania fell by 1.4% and in Ireland by 1.8%.
The most popular tourist destinations for foreigners were Spain (330 million overnight stays), Italy (264 million), France (150 million), and Greece (131 million).
In 2025, Ukrainian enterprises increased their consumption of rolled metal products by 21.73% compared to the previous year, to 4 million 1.6 thousand tons.
According to a press release from the Ukrmetallurgprom association on Monday, 1.6036 million tons, or 40.07% of the domestic rolled metal consumption market, were imported during this period.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in 2025, metal companies produced 6.521 million tons of rolled metal (104.81% compared to 2024). At the same time, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, last year, about 4.123 million tons of this product were exported, or 63.2% compared to 67% in 2024, when 4.169 million tons were sold abroad with a total production of rolled metal in Ukraine of 6.222 million tons.
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries in 2025 is 34.25%, which is significantly lower than in 2024 (46.04%). The share of flat products in export deliveries significantly exceeds last year’s figure (44.09% in 2025 and 39.23% in 2024). The share of long products is also significantly higher than in 2024 (21.66% vs. 14.72%, respectively).
Last year’s import structure, as before, was characterized by a significant dominance of flat rolled products over long products (67.88% and 22.00%, respectively); in 2024, the dominance of flat rolled products over long products was also significant (79.61% and 18.83%).
“Over the 12 months of 2025, the domestic market capacity was 4,001.6 thousand tons of rolled metal, of which 1,603.6 thousand tons, or 40.07%, were imports. In January-December 2024, the domestic market capacity was 3,287.4 thousand tons, of which 1,235.4 thousand tons, or 37.58%, were imported. Thus, in January-December 2025, there was an increase in the capacity of the domestic market compared to January-December 2024 by 21.73%, with a simultaneous increase in the share of imports by 2.49%,” the press release states.
According to the State Customs Service, the main export markets for Ukrainian rolled metal products in 2025 are the countries of the European Union (82.0%), other European countries (8.5%), and the CIS (5.3%).
Among metallurgical importers, other European countries ranked first in 2025 (49.4%), followed by Asian countries (22.8%) and the EU-27 (22.1%).
As reported, Ukraine’s rolled metal market in 2024 shrank by 6.26% compared to the previous year, to 3 million 288.4 thousand tons, while in 2023 it increased 2.19 times compared to 2022, to 3 million 505.6 thousand tons.
More than 36.6 thousand wage arrears were recorded at the beginning of 2026, according to the Unified Register of Debtors. The number of debts increased by 6% over the year. Almost 2 thousand cases date back to 2017. A record 9.1 thousand proceedings on wage arrears were opened last year. This is 30% more than in 2024. More than a quarter of the debts are owed by companies operating in the chemicals industry. Dnipropetrovs’k region is among the anti-leaders with more than a third of all wage arrears.
As of the beginning of 2026, there were 36,629 active proceedings for non-payment of wages in Ukraine. Over the year, the number of wages not paid on time increased by 6%.
Overall, Ukrainian companies set an anti-record last year: 9,174 proceedings on wage arrears against 488 companies. This is 30% more than in 2024 and the highest figure in the last 5 years.
56% of the wage arrears proceedings initiated last year have not yet been settled.
Cases where employees have been unable to get their money for a long time are not uncommon. Among these cases, there are outright “long-lived” ones. The oldest proceeding found in the register of debtors at the time of writing stretches back to 2017 – the state-owned enterprise Poliskgeodeskartografiya owes money to its employees. It should be noted that this company is currently in a state of liquidation. In total, almost two thousand active cases were opened in 2017.
Companies producing chemical products were the most likely to fail to pay their employees last year: more than 2,600 proceedings, or 29% of all. Electricity and gas supply companies also owe almost as much (27%).
More than a third of all proceedings opened last year were in Dnipropetrovs’k region – 3.2 thousand cases. Businesses from Ivano-Frankivsk (1,100), Sumy (897), and Lviv (770) regions follow the negative example by a significant margin.
At the same time, only 1 case was recorded in Luhansk region, 4 more in Chernivtsi region, and 12 proceedings on wage arrears in Volyn.
Mostly, the money is withheld by private companies: 62% of all debts in 2025.
Another quarter of cases involve utility companies and more than 13% involve state-owned companies. Most often, limited liability companies, municipal and joint-stock companies are involved.
The absolute leader in the number of wage arrears was the utility company Teplocomunenergo of the Oleksandriya City Council, against which 1,446 cases were opened in 2025. This is followed by Karpatnaftochim (1,059), Dniproazot (630), Svitlovodskpobut (491), and Odesa Port Plant (469). Some companies were able to close most of their cases by the end of the year, while hundreds of proceedings remained active.
Several companies included in the Opendatabot 2025 Index also had arrears. Recovery of unpaid salaries was found in relation to Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukrnafta, Ukrtransgaz, the network of laboratories Esculab, the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, and DTEK Pavlohradvuhillya. In most cases, the companies closed their debts by the end of the year.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/salary-debts-2025-12
In 2025, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum ore and concentrate (bauxite) in physical terms by 23.7% compared to the previous year, to 43.5 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), during this period, bauxite imports in monetary terms increased by 15.8% to $4.754 million. It was mainly carried out from Turkey (81.84% of supplies in monetary terms), China (15.97%), and Guyana (2.19%).
Ukraine did not re-export bauxite in 2025, as in 2024 and 2023.
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine increased its imports of bauxite in physical terms by 77.4% compared to 2023, to 35,173 thousand tons, and in monetary terms by 74%, to $4.107 million. Imports were mainly from Turkey (78.48% of supplies in monetary terms), China (19.48%), and Spain (1.9%).
In 2023, Ukraine imported 19,830 thousand tons of bauxite worth $2.360 million.
In 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of aluminum ores and concentrates (bauxite) in physical terms by 81.5% compared to the previous year, to 945,396 thousand tons. Bauxite imports in monetary terms decreased by 79.6% to $48.166 million. Imports were mainly from Guinea (58.90% of supplies in monetary terms), Brazil (27.19%), and Ghana (7.48%).
Bauxite is an aluminum ore used as a raw material for producing alumina, which is then used to produce aluminum. It is also used as a flux in ferrous metallurgy.
Bauxite is imported into Ukraine by, among others, the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant (MAP).
