Cardboard and Paper Company LLC (Lviv), a major Ukrainian producer of cardboard tubes, produced products worth UAH 194 million in January-February 2024, down 3.7% year-on-year.
According to statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine by UkrPapir Association, the company reduced its output of cardboard products by 13.8% in physical terms to 4.11 thousand tons, while it increased its production of paper base for sanitary products by 65% to 1.58 thousand tons. The production of toilet paper in rolls increased by 13.2 percent to 0.9 million units.
LLC Cardboard and Paper Company produces products and semi-finished products from waste cardboard (cardboard sheets, corners, sleeves), cellulose and recycled waste paper (toilet paper, towels, napkins under Papero brand). The company supplies its products, in particular, to the EU countries.
Among its customers are Biosphere, Arterium, Nestle, Khlibprom, Yarych confectionery, and Galychyna dairy company.
As reported, in 2023, the company increased its production by 7% compared to 2022, to UAH 1.27 billion.
As part of its capital investment plan for 2024, Continental Farmers Group has started to upgrade its fleet of agricultural and special machinery, which it intends to replenish with 35 new tractors, combines, sprayers and seeders, as well as various equipment, the company’s press service reports.
“The condition and quality of our technical facilities are among the main factors that determine how successful the upcoming production seasons will be for us. We do not deviate from the approved investment plan. The company is already receiving the first deliveries of machinery this year, which will be actively used in the spring field work. The next deliveries, which will include machinery for the autumn fieldwork and storage equipment for potatoes, are planned closer to the harvest,” said Georg von Nolken, CEO of Continental Farmers Group.
According to the report, Continental has purchased 21 new tractors of various capacities, five combine harvesters, four self-propelled sprayers, five seeders, tillage machines, fertilizer spreaders, special and other auxiliary equipment, and precision farming equipment.
The agricultural holding noted that Continental purchases all new equipment in line with its strategy of developing and unifying its machinery fleet. All equipment is equipped to comply with precision farming technology. It ensures compliance with the following requirements: high-quality and stable autopilot operation, the ability to control the application rate by the task map, automatic control of machine sections, remote service access to monitoring, synchronization of field work, navigation between rows, etc.
Mriya Agro Holding and CFG, united under the name Continental Farmers Group, have been operating as a single business since November 2018, when Mriya entered into an agreement with international investor Salic UK to sell its assets.
Salic was founded in 2012. Its sole shareholder is the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which invests in agricultural and livestock production.
AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY, CONTINENTAL, FLEET, SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
In January-February, the volume of marketable output of Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (Kyiv Pulp and Paper Mill, Obukhiv, Kyiv region), Ukraine’s industry leader in this indicator, amounted to UAH 1 billion 210 million, down 2.4% year-on-year.
According to Ukrpapir Association statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, corrugated box production in physical terms decreased by 5.7% to 33.45 million square meters over the period, but the plant confidently retains its leadership in corrugated packaging production in Ukraine.
Cardboard production decreased by 20% to 23.2 thousand tons, due to a drop in containerboard production by almost 23% to 18.68 thousand tons, and boxboard production by 4.8% to 4.52 thousand tons.
At the same time, the output of base paper for sanitary and hygiene products increased by 19.4% to 7.8 thousand tons, and the production of toilet paper in rolls increased by 20.5% to 42.47 million units.
The mill continues to be a leader in the production of this product in Ukraine, with 105.71 million rolls produced in just two months, up 20.8%.
According to UkrPapir, in February, the plant increased its paper and cardboard output by 5% compared to February 2023 and by 8.6% compared to January 2024, to 16.14 thousand tons, while corrugated boxes decreased by 7.7% and increased by 2.4%, to 16.93 million square meters.
According to the association’s data from the main industry enterprises, in January-February, paper and cardboard production in Ukraine decreased by 2.2% compared to January-February 2023, to 87.93 thousand tons, while cardboard boxes increased by 12.3%, to 87.29 million square meters.
Kyiv Pulp and Paper Mill is the parent company of Kyiv Pulp and Paper Group, one of the largest cardboard and paper products producers in Europe with a staff of over 2,500 people.
It has, in particular, a cardboard production facility with a capacity of 240 thousand tons per year and a corrugated packaging plant with a capacity of 355 million square meters, a production facility for the production of base paper and finished products with a capacity of 70 thousand tons of base paper annually.
As reported, in 2023, the plant produced products worth UAH 7 billion 568 million, up 1.8% year-on-year.
Benchmark crude oil prices are rising on Monday morning.
Despite a slight downward correction in trading on Friday, crude rose by about 4% last week, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
“The most turbulent part of the rally is still ahead,” said Alex Kupcikiewicz, senior market analyst at FxPro, as quoted by MarketWatch.
The price of May futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:00 a.m. was $85.64 per barrel, which is $0.3 (0.35%) higher than at the close of the previous session. On Friday, these contracts fell by $0.08 (0.1%) to $85.34 per barrel.
Quotes for WTI futures for April in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in the morning increased by $0.35 (0.43%) to $81.39 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, the price of these contracts fell by $0.22 (0.3%) to $81.04 per barrel.
The market was boosted, in particular, by the news of a decline in US oil inventories for the first time in seven weeks.
Other factors contributing to the growth of quotations are the persistence of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian refineries and the extension of production restrictions by OPEC+ countries, experts say.
In addition, the International Energy Agency has raised its 2024 demand forecast by 200 thousand barrels per day to 103.2 million bpd. As a result, the IEA now expects the global market to face a deficit of about 300 thousand bpd this year instead of the previously expected small surplus if OPEC+ restrictions continue.
Population structure of Ukraine (data from Ukrainian institute of future)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
India imported $6.15 billion worth of gold in February 2023, according to the country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
This is 2.3 times more than in February last year, 3.2 times more than in January this year and in general about twice the traditional average monthly levels.
That said, India Bullion and Jewellers Association president Prithviraj Kothari predicts that imports may not be significant in March due to record high gold prices. “Consumers cannot digest the current price level. If prices remain this high, it will affect demand in the current wedding season,” he told Reuters. – It makes no sense for banks and refiners to import.”
In January-February, India’s gold imports totaled $8.06 billion, 2.4 times the result of the corresponding period last year.
By the end of 2023, India imported almost 744 tons of gold worth $42.58 billion. In physical terms, the volume increased by 4%, in value terms – by 16%.
India is one of the largest consumers of gold in the world, practically not producing it itself.
Earlier, the analytical center Experts Club presented an overview of world economies over the past decades. More video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/w5fF_GYyrIc?si=vsiB0zGYh0NI2tu0
