In January-May this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased exports of ferrous scrap by 32.2% year-on-year to 102,366 thousand tons from 77,452 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service on Thursday, 14.952 thousand tons were exported in May, 26.153 thousand tons in April, 20.907 thousand tons in March, 23.194 thousand tons in February and 17.160 thousand tons in January.
In monetary terms, scrap metal exports increased by 42.7% to $32.872 million from $23.028 million.
In January-May, scrap metal was exported to Poland (85.33%), Greece (10.61%) and Germany (3.92%).
In the first five months of the year, the country imported 424 tons of scrap metal worth $217 thousand. Imports were carried out from Slovakia (48.61% in monetary terms), Turkey (32.87%) and Poland (9.26%), while in January-May 2023, 344 tons of scrap were imported for $138 thousand.
As reported, in 2023, the scrap collecting enterprise of Ukraine increased the export of scrap metal from the country by 3.4 times compared to the previous year – up to 182,485 thousand tons from 53,557 thousand tons. In monetary terms, exports increased 2.74 times to $52.723 million from $19.271 million.
Earlier, Ukrmetallurgprom President Oleksandr Kalenkov stated in a column on the Interfax-Ukraine website that scrap metal is exported through the European Union, which has a preferential export duty of EUR3 per ton, and from there the raw materials are redirected to real customers. He noted that exporting raw materials directly to customers would cost EUR180 in export duties, and the Ukrainian budget has already lost UAH 350 million.
The head of Ukrmetallurgprom called for a temporary ban on the export of ferrous scrap to provide steelmakers with strategically important raw materials in the face of the ongoing war. He also clarified that a ton of scrap metal processed into steel brings in 10 times more to the budget than the EU export duty, which is about $300 per ton.
In 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of ferrous scrap by 11.5 times compared to the previous year, to 53,557 thousand tons, and in monetary terms, it decreased by 12.4 times, to $19.271 million.
The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine have agreed on veterinary certificates with the competent authorities of Canada, so that Ukrainian egg producers will be able to export their products to Canada, the ministry’s press service reports.
“The systematic work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine together with the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection allows us to continue to open up new opportunities for Ukrainian products in the world. We realize how important it is to support Ukrainian exporters, especially during the war. That is why we are in constant negotiations with foreign partners in this regard and step by step we are opening new markets for Ukrainian companies,” said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
“The new market means economic stability for the national producer, preservation of jobs, especially during the war, and strengthening Ukraine’s competitiveness on the global trade arena.
Together with Ukrainian diplomats, we continue to work in this direction,” said Serhiy Tkachuk, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
The agency informed that the certificate forms have already been published on its official web portal in the “Export Certificates from Ukraine” section of the “International Cooperation” section. Explanations of the requirements of Canadian legislation are available in the section “Requirements of the countries of the world”.
“Exports of egg products to Canada are possible only if you cooperate with licensed importers in Canada,” the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection warned.
As of June 3, soybean exports from Ukraine slowed down and amounted to only 1500 tons, while significant stocks of 700-800 thousand tons remain in warehouses, according to the analytical cooperative “Start”, created within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council (AAC).
“The soybean market is now in the off-season period, when the activity is significantly reduced. The main liquidity is currently provided by processors who maintain a high level of demand for raw materials. The average purchase price from processors already exceeds 19 thousand UAH/ton, and further price growth can be expected. Soybean exports are expected to remain weak in the coming months. Most of the transactions are made for cash. This also affects the volume of supplies abroad. On the stock market of soybeans, we are likely to see the downward trend reversal and attempts of growth,” the analysts said.
The experts also added that despite the overall weakness of exports, there are positive signals from the Polish market.
“Polish companies are showing considerable interest in Ukrainian soybeans. On the border with Poland, soybean prices are $410-415/ton. In the ports, the conditional prices on CPT basis are about $435-440/ton,” the UAC stated.
The area under sugar beet has increased by almost 20% to 250 thousand hectares during the war, which has become a good diversification option for farmers who have switched from growing grain to this crop, said Yana Kavushevska, acting chairman of the board of the National Association of Sugar Producers Ukrtsukor.
“During the war, the industry demonstrated resilience and became an island of salvation for some farmers who managed to switch from growing grain to sugar beet in time,” she said at Grain Ukraine in Kyiv.
According to Kavushevska, in 2020, 216 thou hectares were planted with sugar beet in Ukraine. However, for two years in a row, the country has been allocating 250 thou hectares for this crop, which indicates an increase of almost 20%. This is due to the areas planted by independent farmers and agricultural companies that have made a conscious choice in favor of sugar beet and saw it as a profit opportunity.
The acting chairman of the board of Ukrtsukor explained the success of the industry by the favorable situation on the world market, where sugar prices have been among the highest since 2006. In addition, it was easier for Ukrainian producers to export sugar than grain.
“There were logistical problems. Of course, sugar producers, like grain producers, are interested in keeping the ports of Greater Odesa open and working properly. But exports by land were also quite active,” she stated.
Another positive factor for the revitalization of the Ukrainian sugar industry, according to the representative of the industry association, is duty-free trade with the EU, which Ukrainian producers have actively used and increased exports.
Speaking about the imposition of restrictions on Ukrainian sugar by the EU, Kavushevska noted that Ukrainian producers have resumed exporting sugar not only to the EU, but also to the Black Sea and West Africa.
“As of May, Ukraine exported 65% of sugar to the European Union, and 35% went to countries where our sugar is also in demand. In fact, in May, Ukraine set a record for monthly sugar exports: within 30 days, we exported 108 thousand tons of sugar,” the representative of the association emphasized.
Ms. Kavushevska also noted that sugar prices are currently being corrected on the global market. She admitted that the financial results for Ukrainian producers may not be as good as before. However, for the third year in a row, sugar beet will remain among the top three most profitable crops for Ukrainian farmers, which is a good alternative to grain.
The head of Ukrtsukr also emphasized the importance of cooperation with specialized European sugar producer associations, pointed out the need to integrate Ukrainian products into the EU and reminded that the industry counts on the support of the state and its trade representatives who will negotiate the revision of autonomous trade measures and the association agreement.
In January-May 2024, Ukraine exported 589.86 tons of organic honey, which exceeds last year’s figures, the OrganikInfo portal reported, citing data from the Organic Standard certification body.
According to the report, in recent years, the dynamics of growth in organic honey exports has been observed. Thus, in 2021, 269.33 tons of honey were exported abroad, in 2022 – 698.05 tons, and in 2023 – 702.9 tons.
“Organic honey is not among the top 10 products exported from Ukraine, but Ukraine remains one of the leading exporters of honey, including organic honey, and demand in the world is only growing,” said organic market analysts.
According to the data, in 2022, honey ranks 4th in terms of the volume of products imported to the EU and has a share of 9.2% of all organic imports.
Since August 2023, the sea corridor created by the Ukrainian Navy has exported 50 million tons of cargo, with 1,737 vessels handled in ports, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure (Ministry of Reconstruction) reports.
“50 million tons of cargo were exported through the Ukrainian sea corridor in 9 months. Despite constant attacks by Russians, Ukrainian port workers managed to handle 1737 vessels,” the Ministry said in a Facebook post on Saturday, while former Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Ministry of Recovery Oleksandr Kubrakov said that agricultural products accounted for 35 million tons.
Thanks to the combined efforts of the government, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, international partners and all port industry workers, it was possible to establish stable exports of Ukrainian agricultural products by sea, the report said.
The Facebook page of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reports that the Black Sea ports have reached a record volume of cargo handling.
“Starting with the first vessel Joseph Shulte, which sailed through the Ukrainian corridor on August 16, 2023, Ukrainian Black Sea ports have handled this record volume of cargo despite the enemy’s constant attacks on our critical infrastructure. This is 1737 vessels handled!” the USPA said in a statement.
Last Thursday, former Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskov announced that exports through the sea corridor had reached 50 million tons.
The head of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), Yuriy Lytvyn, said that the results of the Ukrainian “grain corridor” were almost one and a half times higher than the Black Sea Grain Initiative. According to him, the rate of grain cargo transportation for eight months is already 10% higher than the results of the grain initiative for the year.
