Customs inspectors have prevented an attempt to export 1.5 thousand tons of Ukrainian wheat worth UAH 9.2 million to Italy without a license using falsified documents, the press service of the State Customs Service (SCS) reported on Telegram.
“At the Mukachevo customs post, customs declarations for the export of domestic wheat (not for sowing) were submitted for customs clearance. The total weight of the goods was indicated as more than 1.5 thousand tons worth UAH 9.2 million. The seller of the goods was a Kharkiv-based company,” the statement said.
According to the State Customs Service, customs officers noticed that the goods were not licensed for export. During the inspection, it turned out that the director of the Kharkiv company resorted to tricks to circumvent the licensing of agricultural exports, and in the shipping documents he indicated an Italian company as the recipient of the goods. The export of wheat to Italy, unlike other EU countries, is not subject to licensing.
The foreign company responded to the State Customs Service’s request and denied the information about the purchase of Ukrainian wheat in a letter. For its part, the Italian customs also officially confirmed that there are no declarations in their database related to the Italian company that bought the goods.
“Two reports on violation of customs regulations under Part 1 of Article 483 of the Customs Code of Ukraine were drawn up against the head of the Kharkiv company for submitting documents containing false information about the recipient of the goods. The sanction of the article provides not only for the imposition of a fine in the amount of 50 to 100% of the value of the offense items, but also for their possible confiscation,” the State Customs Service emphasized.
In January-March this year, Ukraine’s metallurgical enterprises increased their revenues from ferrous metal exports by 28.9% year-on-year to $752.5 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), ferrous metals accounted for 7.48% of total export revenues in this period, compared to 5.66% in January-March 2023.
In March, revenues from exports of ferrous metals amounted to $230.184 million.
At the same time, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 23.9% to $322.788 million in January-March this year. In March, products worth $101.233 million were imported.
In addition, in the first three months of 2024, Ukraine reduced exports of metal products by 5.6% to $230.009 million. In March, they were exported for $77.626 million.
Imports of metal products increased by 33.9% to $233.253 million over the same period. In March, these products were imported for $88.481 million.
As reported earlier, in 2023, Ukraine’s steelmaking companies reduced revenues from exports of ferrous metals by 41.59% compared to 2022, to $2 billion 647.722 million, with ferrous metals accounting for 7.32% of total revenues from exports of goods during this period, while in 2022 the share was 10.26%. At the same time, in 2023, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 37% to $1 billion 307.046 million.
In addition, last year, Ukraine reduced exports of metal products by 16.6% year-on-year to $877.916 million. At the same time, imports of metal products increased by 40.3% to $902.565 million during this period.
In 2022, Ukraine decreased revenues from ferrous metal exports by 67.5% compared to 2021, to $4 billion 533.088 million. During this period, ferrous metals accounted for 10.26% of total revenues from exports of goods, compared to 20.49% in 2021. At the same time, in 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of similar products by 38.3% to $954.387 million.
In addition, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of metal products by 18.6% to $1 billion 52.512 million. Imports of metal products fell by 42.9% to $643.162 million over the year.
Mining enterprises of Ukraine in January-March this year increased exports of iron ore raw materials (iron ore) in physical terms by 2.5 times compared to the same period last year – up to 9 million 4,370 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), foreign currency earnings from iron ore exports increased by 2.1 times to $863.315 million for the period.
Exports of iron ore were mainly to China (43.02% of shipments in monetary terms), Slovakia (17.02%) and Poland (12.41%).
In the first three months of 2024 Ukraine imported $67 thousand worth of iron ore in the total volume of 245 tons, while in January-March 2023 it imported $22 thousand worth of iron ore in the total volume of 36 tons. Imports were made from the Netherlands (31.82%), Norway (19.70%) and Italy (18.18%).
As reported, Ukraine in 2023 reduced exports of iron ore in physical terms by 26% compared to 2022 – to 17 million 753.165 thousand tons, foreign currency earnings from iron ore exports amounted to $1 billion 766.906 million (down 39.3%). Exports of iron ore were mainly exported to Slovakia (28.39% of shipments in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (19.74%) and Poland (19.56%).
Last year Ukraine imported iron ore products worth $135 thousand in the total volume of 250 tons. Imports for this period were made from Norway (34.81%), Italy (28.89%) and the Netherlands (28.89%). Whereas in 2022, $65 thousand worth of iron ore was imported in a total volume of 101 tons.
Ukraine in 2022 decreased its iron ore exports in physical terms by 45.9% compared to 2021 – to 23 million 984.623 thousand tons, while foreign currency earnings decreased by 57.8% – to $2 billion 912.974 million. The iron ore exports were mainly to Slovakia (19.23% of shipments in monetary terms), Czech Republic (17.32%) and Poland (16.49%).
In 2022, Ukraine imported iron ore products worth $65 thousand in the total volume of 101 tons, while in 2021 – $184 thousand in the volume of 1,202 tons. Imports were made from Norway (36.92%), the Netherlands (27.69%) and the UK (16.92%).
In January-March this year, Ukrainian companies increased imports of copper and copper products by 47.4% in value terms compared to the same period last year, to $42.018 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, exports of copper and copper products decreased by 16.9% to $18.138 million over the period.
In March, the country imported copper worth $12.893 million and exported it worth $7.242 million.
In addition, in January-March 2024, Ukraine increased imports of nickel and nickel products by 2.4 times compared to the same period in 2023, to $7.697 million (in March – $2.267 million), aluminum and aluminum products by 20%, to $98.535 million (in March – $38.102 million). At the same time, the country increased imports of lead and lead products by 30.1% to $281 thousand (in March – $140 thousand), imports of tin and tin products decreased by 4.3% to $620 thousand (in March – $113 thousand), and increased imports of zinc and zinc products by 55.6% to $11,860 (in March – $5,454 million).
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in the first three months of 2024 increased by 1.2% compared to the same period a year earlier to $23.387 million (in March – $7.769 million), lead and lead products decreased by 36.1% to $2.834 million (in March – $1.076 million), nickel and nickel products amounted to $94 thousand (in March – $45 thousand), while in January-March 2023 it was $92 thousand.
Zinc exports for the first three months of this year amounted to $44 thousand (in March – $24 thousand), while in January-March 2023 it amounted to $46 thousand. Exports of tin and products amounted to $81 thousand (in March – $47 thousand) against $48 thousand in the same period a year earlier.
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine increased imports of copper and copper products by 2.2 times compared to 2022 – up to $140.795 million, while exports decreased by 20.1% to $72.078 million.
In addition, in 2023, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and products by 74.2% compared to 2022, to $15.391 million, and increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 7.7%, to $366.463 million.
At the same time, it reduced imports of lead and lead products by 65.2% to $989 thousand, imports of tin and tin products by 23% to $2.728 million, but increased imports of zinc and zinc products by 18.8% to $45.966 million.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products last year increased by 0.7% compared to 2022 to $97.616 million, lead and lead products increased by 23.5% to $14.778 million, and nickel and nickel products amounted to $532 thousand, while in 2022 it was $1.268 million.
In 2023, the company exported $130 thousand worth of zinc, compared to $1.331 million in 2022. Exports of tin and tin products amounted to $159 thousand against $424 thousand in 2022.
In 2022, Ukrainian enterprises reduced imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 64.3% compared to the previous year to $65.370 million, while their exports decreased by 56.3% to $90.245 million.
In addition, in 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 49.9% compared to 2021, to $59.754 million, and aluminum and aluminum products by 33.4%, to $340.398 million. At the same time, it reduced imports of lead and lead products by 66.6%, to $2.839 million.
Imports of tin and tin products fell by 33.5% to $3.312 million, and imports of zinc and zinc products decreased by 58.7% to $38.690 million.
In 2022, exports of aluminum and aluminum products decreased by 42.7% compared to 2021, to $96.972 million, lead and lead products – by 68.7%, to $11.970 million, and nickel and nickel products – by 73.9%, to $1.268 million.
Zinc exports in 2022 amounted to $1.331 million, while in 2021 they amounted to $550 thousand. Exports of tin and products in 2022 amounted to $424 thousand, compared to $346 thousand in the previous year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) raised the forecast of wheat exports from Ukraine in 2023/24 marketing year by another 1.5 mln tonnes to 16.5 mln tonnes.
According to the April report of the U.S. agency, at the same time, the estimate of carry-over stocks at the end of the MY was reduced from 3.28 mln tonnes to 1.58 mln tonnes, domestic consumption – from 7.7 mln tonnes to 7.3 mln tonnes, and carry-over stocks at the beginning of the MY – from 3.5 mln tonnes to 2.9 mln tonnes.
As for Ukrainian corn, the forecast of its exports after increasing by 1.5 mln tons in March, in April was kept at the same level – 24.5 mln tons.
At the same time, the overall forecast for Ukrainian feed grains was increased by 0.1 mln tonnes to 26.97 mln tonnes due to the same reduction of carry-over stocks at the end of this MY to 4.08 mln tonnes.
In general, the updated global wheat harvest forecast for 2023/24 MY has been improved by 0.66 mln tonnes to 787.36 mln tonnes, while the forecast for global wheat exports has been increased by 1.34 mln tonnes to 213.47 mln tonnes. On the contrary, experts revised the forecast of wheat ending stocks in the world downward by 0.56 million tons to 258.27 million tons.
As for corn, the forecast for its global production in April was reduced by 2.38 million tons to 1 billion 227.86 million tons, while exports were reduced by only 0.47 million tons to 200.59 million tons. The USDA also lowered its estimate of carryover stocks by 2.35 million tons to 318.28 million tons.
As reported earlier, Ukraine attributed the improvement in grain export estimates for this marketing year to the increase in the volume of grain transportation through the new sea corridor under the control of the Ukrainian Navy.
In January-March 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) increased export transportation to ports by 2.4 times compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 15.347 million tons, while reducing the volume of transportation through land crossings in export traffic by 11.9% to 8.041 million tons, according to an analytical note of the company following the meeting of the Exporters’ Office.
In total, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 44.69 million tons of cargo in the first quarter of this year, which is 28.7% more than in the first quarter of 2023. Export transportation accounted for 52.3%, or 23.9 million tons, up 50.6% year-on-year.
In January-March, the company’s export transportation volume of iron and manganese ore increased 2.4 times year-on-year to 9.89 million tons, grain cargo – by 18.4% to 9.9 million tons, and ferrous metals – by 13% to 1.19 million tons.
In addition, the volume of vegetable oil transportation in export traffic in January-March increased by 7.5% to 424.2 thousand tons, construction materials – by 1.8 times to 545 thousand tons, cement – by 49.2% to 277.8 thousand tons.
Earlier, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Vice Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure (Ministry of Reconstruction), said that in March 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 16 million tons of cargo in all directions, which is a third more than in March 2023 and 10% more than the record figures for February 2024, when the volume of traffic reached 14.5 million tons.
