Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met with the newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Ma Shengkun.
“During the meeting, we discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation between China and Ukraine,” the press service of the Presidential Office reports on its telegram channel.
During the meeting, Yermak noted that China’s role is important in achieving a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
“In addition, they discussed the possibility of bilateral dialogue at the highest level,” the statement said.
According to Worldsteel, in November 2024, steel production increased compared to November 2023 in most of the top ten countries, except for Japan, the United States, Russia and South Korea.
The top ten steel producing countries in November are as follows: China (78.4 million tons, +2.5% by November 2023), India (12.384 million tons, +4.5%), Japan (6.888 million tons, -3.1%), the United States (6.378 million tons, -2.8%), the Russian Federation (5.450 million tons, -9.2%), South Korea (5.190 mln tons, -3.6%), Iran (3.074 mln tons, +0.1%), Turkey (3.011 mln tons, +0.7%), Germany (2.909 mln tons, +8.6%) and Brazil (2.774 mln tons, +1.9%).
Overall, in November this year, steel production increased by 0.8% year-on-year to 146.831 million tons.
For 11 months of 2024, the top ten steel producing countries are as follows: China (929.190 million tons, -2.7%), India (135.932 million tons, +5.9%), Japan (77.102 million tons, -3.6%), the United States (72.879 million tons, -2.2%), the Russian Federation (64.885 million tons, -7%), South Korea (58, 297 million tons, -4.9%), Germany (34.490 million tons, +5.3%), Turkey (33.915 million tons, +11.2%), Brazil (31.168 million tons, +5.6%) and Iran (28.030 million tons, +0.5%).
In total, 71 countries produced 1 billion 694.593 million tons of steel in January-November, down 1.4% from the same period in 2023.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 7.028 million tons of steel in 11 months of 2024, up 23.1% compared to January-November 2023. The country is ranked 20th in the first 11 months of 2014.
As reported, in 2023, China produced 1 billion 19.080 million tons at the level of the previous year), India (140.171 million tons, +11.8%), Japan (86.996 million tons, -2.5%), the United States (80.664 million tons, +0.2%), Russia (75.8 million tons, +5.6%), South Korea (66.676 million tons, +1.3%), Germany (35.438 million tons, -3.9%), Turkey (33.714 million tons, -4%), Brazil (31.869 million tons, -6.5%) and Iran (31.139 million tons, +1.8%).
At the end of 2022, the top ten steel producing countries looked like this: China (1.013 billion tons, -2.1%), India (124.720 million tons, +5.5%), Japan (89.235 million tons, -7.4%), the United States (80.715 million tons, -5.9%), the Russian Federation (71.5 million tons, -7.2%), South Korea (65, 865 million tons, -6.5%), Germany (36.849 million tons, -8.4%), Turkey (35.134 million tons, -12.9%), Brazil (33.972 million tons, -5.8%) and Iran (30.593 million tons, +8%).
In 2022, Ukraine ranked 23rd with the production of 6.263 million tons of steel (-70.7%).
China in November increased steelmaking by 2.5% YoY against the same month last year – up to 78.4 million tons, according to the State Statistics Office of the country. Meanwhile, relative to October, production decreased by 4.3%.
In January-November, steel output decreased by 2.7% YoY and amounted to 929.19 million tons.
The production of pig iron in China last month amounted to 67.5 million tons, which is 4.1% more than a year earlier, but 3.9% lower than in October. The country produced 782.8 million tons of pig iron in the eleven-month period, down 3.5% from the volume for the same period in 2023.
China has been the world’s biggest steel producer for years.
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) is accelerating the development and creation of a unified national credit information disclosure platform, according to a report on the regulator’s website. The system is expected to be launched at the end of this year or early next year.
Business entities will be able to register on the platform through an electronic license to conduct commercial activities. In addition to their credit status, they will be able to obtain data on fines and violations, illegal and inaccurate information.
In the event of a change in credit history, companies will be able to apply for a credit rating improvement (“credit restoration”).
“The development and construction of a unified platform will further optimize the credit restoration mechanism, provide businesses with more efficient and convenient services, and play a positive role in encouraging businesses to restore their credit history and promote quality development,” SAMR said in a statement.
China plans to increase the penetration rate of 5G communication network among individual users to more than 85% by the end of 2027, according to an action plan developed by the Ministry of Industry and Informatization of China in cooperation with 11 other agencies. In three years, there will be 38 5G base stations for every 10 thousand people. At the same time, 5G will account for 75% of mobile Internet traffic, and the number of “Internet of Things” terminals connected to 5G will exceed 100 million.
The 5G penetration rate in large and medium-sized industrial companies will reach 45% by the end of 2027, according to a document cited by Xinhua.
The ministries’ plan is aimed, in particular, at actively promoting the large-scale development of 5G applications, popularizing and applying new generation information technologies.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Informatization, as of the end of September, the number of 5G base stations in the country amounted to about 4.09 million units, and the number of 5G mobile subscribers was 981 million. The 5G penetration rate among individual users has almost reached 70%, with the total population of the country at around 1.4 billion people.
In the first three quarters of 2024, Ukraine exported 12.6 thousand tons of frozen cattle meat, which is 20.3% less than in the same period last year.
This is evidenced by the data of the State Customs Service.
Revenue from exports of these products decreased by 18.9% compared to January-September 2023 – to $50.9 million.
Azerbaijan (37%), China (27.8%) and Uzbekistan (9.7%) bought the most Ukrainian frozen cattle meat during the first nine months of 2024.
