Ukraine will supply the entire crop of the 2023-2024 marketing year and the remnants of last year’s harvest to world markets by mid-to-late May, Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskov said at the Forbes Ukraine Exporters Summit in Kyiv on Friday.
“It is my opinion that somewhere between mid-May and the end of May, at most, the entire harvest of the current year and the remnants of the previous year will be exported,” he said, adding that prices of terminals for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products in Ukrainian ports will not decrease.
Mr. Vaskov also reminded that the state has several mechanisms to guarantee export transportation through the Black Sea. The first of them is compensation from the state budget in case of a possible attack on civilian vessels.
The second mechanism is the Unity program from Marsh McLennan and the Ukrainian government with the involvement of English clubs, to which Ukraine has also contributed, so that ships transporting agricultural products receive insurance with a premium of 1% or less.
The Deputy Minister also said that a meeting was held in London a few weeks ago. Ukraine has already received confirmation that ships carrying other cargoes, such as iron ore, metal products, and others, will be insured on similar terms.
“Ukraine has also raised the issue of container shipping insurance and received London’s consent to provide attractive conditions for shipowners,” Vaskov summarized.
As reported, thanks to the UNITY insurance instrument, insurance rates in the commercial market of transportation by Ukrainian sea have been halved, while the rate for agricultural products insurance is now 0.75%.
The UNITY insurance instrument is available to all international brokers who can be contacted by ship owners and Ukrainian exporters.
The UNITY program, which aims to provide affordable insurance against military risks for the supply of grain and other important food products around the world, was launched in November 2023. UNITY offers hull hull insurance and separate protection and indemnity (P&I) against war risks at significantly reduced premiums compared to standard market prices.
In January-February of this year, ferrous scrap companies increased scrap supplies to Ukrainian steelmakers by 71.4% year-on-year, up to 206 thousand tons from 120.2 thousand tons.
As reported in the operational information of the Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals (UAVtormet) on Thursday, scrap metal procurement in the first two months of this year increased by 70% compared to the same period last year – up to 258.7 thousand tons from 152.2 thousand tons.
At the same time, exports of scrap metal for the period amounted to 40.4 thousand tons compared to 24.8 thousand tons in January-February 2023 (an increase of 62.9%). At the same time, imports of scrap amounted to 0.02 thousand tons, while in January-February 2023 – 0.05 thousand tons.
As of March 1, 2023, the level of scrap stocks at Ukrainian steelmakers was estimated at 20-30 thousand tons.
As reported earlier, ferrous scrap companies may increase their scrap procurement by 17-33% year-on-year in 2024, to 1.5-1.7 million tons.
According to UVTORMET’s forecast, Ukraine will produce 6.8-7 million tons of steel in 2024 (6.228 million tons in 2023 and 6.263 million tons in 2022), procure 1.5-1.7 million tons of scrap metal (1,277.3 thousand tons in 2023 and 996.7 thousand tons in 2022), and steel companies will consume 1,277.3 thousand tons (1,277.3 thousand tons in 2023 and 996.7 thousand tons in 2022). tons in 2023 and 996.7 thousand tons in 2022). tons), steelmakers will consume 1.2-1.4 million tons of scrap (1 million 34.7 thousand tons in 2023 and 895.7 thousand tons in 2022), export 250-300 thousand tons of scrap (182.5 thousand tons and 53.6 thousand tons, respectively), increasing the export of strategic raw materials for steelmakers by 37-64% compared to last year.
In January-February this year, Ukrainian companies increased imports of copper and copper products by 66.8% in value terms compared to the same period last year, to $29.125 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine on Wednesday, exports of copper and copper products decreased by 23% to $10.896 million over the period under review.
In February, the country imported copper worth $12.292 million and exported it for $5.617 million.
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 2022, Ukrainian companies reduced imports of copper and copper products by 64.3% year-on-year to $65.370 million, while exports decreased by 56.3% to $90.245 million.
In January-February 2024, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises increased their exports of steel products by 3.7% to $152.383 million. In February, they were exported for $88.056 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, imports of metal products increased by 33.4% to $144.769 million. In February, these products were imported for $72.123 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 in 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.
In January-February of this year, Ukrainian steelmakers increased revenues from exports of ferrous metals by 46.3% year-on-year to $522.519 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Wednesday, ferrous metals accounted for 7.67% of total export revenues during this period, compared to 5.53% in January-February 2023.
In February, revenues from exports of ferrous metals amounted to $248.443 million.
At the same time, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 35.6% to $221.529 million in January-February this year. In February, the country imported products worth $112.114 million.
PrJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which has taken over management of Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipro region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyr region), has started selling titanium raw materials to Italy, Spain, Germany and is systematically expanding its exports.
According to the company, despite the difficulties and risks of wartime, it shipped more than 102 thousand tons of products in 2023. The planned supply volumes for 2024 are 200 thousand tons.
Yegor Perelygin, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of UMCC, quoted in the information, noted that due to effective approaches and communication with potential buyers, the company signed contracts for the supply of approximately 80 thousand tons in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.
“We were able to attract a series of subscriptions for finished products from stable market players and open new ways to supply world-class end users. We have integrated the coordination and logistics management functions in the commercial unit, become more flexible and focused on an individual approach to strategic customers. As a result, we have opened the UMCC brand to well-known end users in Italy, Spain and Germany,” he explained.
Mr. Perelygin added that by the end of the second quarter of this year, UMCC’s rutile and zircon may become absolutely regular and key components in the raw material portfolios of major processors in Italy, Spain and Germany.
At the same time, companies in the United States and the Czech Republic remain strategic partners for UMCC’s ilmenite concentrate. We are also launching export deliveries of Irshansky GOK’s ilmenite to one of the largest end users in North America. The company plans to sell about 60 thousand tons in the near future. The company emphasizes that the supply chain and end users of these products are strictly controlled by the company and law enforcement agencies.
“Our success is due to our large team. These are more than 4,000 professionals who work in the NONstop mode. Together, we have made a good start for 2024 and are moving step by step towards our strategic goal of producing value-added products and significantly curtailing the aggressor’s influence in the markets of critical minerals and strategic materials,” summarized Perelygin.
The United Mining and Chemical Company started its actual operations in August 2014, when the Ukrainian government decided to transfer the property complexes of Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipropetrovska oblast) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyrska oblast) to its management. Previously, these plants were leased to Firtash’s structures. Then the company was transformed into a PJSC and then into a PrJSC.
In August 2016, the government included UMCC in the list of companies to be privatized in 2017. Its deadline was postponed several times, and the tender was disrupted twice.
UMCC used to sell its products to more than 30 countries and was one of the world’s largest producers of titanium raw materials, accounting for 4% of the global market. The company mines titanium ore.
