In January-November 2023, Ukraine exported $730 million worth of furniture, which is 3.2% less than in 2022, Oksana Donska, a board member of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAFM) and coordinator of furniture cluster development, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The main reason for the drop is the blocking of the Polish-Ukrainian border. Trucks with furniture stood in line at the border for weeks in November 2023, and a small share was delivered by vehicles with a carrying capacity of up to three tons. It is expected that the pent-up demand of November and the lifting of the border blockade with Poland will allow us to ship orders and reach the export level of $810 million in 2023 and significantly increase exports next year,” Donska said.
In particular, JYSK buys Ukrainian products for sale in all its international networks. “If we compare the volume of JYSK’s purchases in Ukraine in 2023 with 2021, the company has increased the volume of purchases in physical units, and in monetary terms by almost 20% in euros,” said Iryna Romanchuk, purchasing manager at USK Ukraine LLC.
According to her, JYSK is ready to further increase the volume of purchases if Ukrainian producers are ready to switch to European standards and implement environmental and social initiatives at their production facilities.
Overall, the share of furniture exports in total exports of goods from Ukraine amounted to 2.2% in 11 months of 2023.
From 2009-2021, exports of Ukrainian furniture (product group 94) grew annually by an average of 13.5% from $0.2 billion to a record high of $1.1 billion in 2021. In 2022, Ukrainian furniture producers managed to keep exports at $0.8 billion, of which 91.1% were to the EU.
Donska noted that in 2023, the structure of exports by partner countries changed. Thus, compared to the same period in 2022, the share of exports to Poland decreased from 35.1% ($264.6 million) to 29.5% ($215.2 million). At the same time, the volume of exports to Germany increased significantly by 17%, from $129.3 million to $151.3 million, with the corresponding changes in the share from 17.2% to 20.7%.
The Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAFM) unites more than 70% of the furniture industry.
In January-November this year, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium ores and concentrate in physical terms by 96.2% year-on-year to 11.063 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, exports of titanium ores and concentrate decreased by 84.5% to $18.474 million in monetary terms.
The main exports were to Turkey (38.05% of supplies in monetary terms), Japan (17.38%) and India (6.44%).
Ukraine imported 1 ton of such ore from the Netherlands for $2 thousand in the period under review.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium ore and concentrate in physical terms by 41.8% compared to the previous year to 322.143 thousand tons, and in monetary terms by 19.6% to $130.144 million. At the same time, the main exports were made to the Czech Republic (47.91% of supplies in monetary terms), the United States (11.94%) and Romania (9.75%).
In 2022, Ukraine imported 196 tons of similar products from Senegal (70.41%) and Turkey (29.59%) for $115 thousand.
In Ukraine, titanium ores are currently mined mainly by the United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which manages Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipro region) and Irshansk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (Irshansk, Dnipro region). ) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyr region), as well as Mezhirichinsky GOK and Valky Ilmenite (both based in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region). In addition, Velta (Dnipro) has built a mining and processing plant at Birzulivske deposit with a capacity of 240 thousand tons of ilmenite concentrate per year.
In addition, Velta, a Dnipro-based industrial and commercial company, has built a mining and processing plant at the Birzulivske deposit with an annual capacity of 240 thousand tons of ilmenite concentrate.
In January-November this year, Ukraine reduced pig iron exports in physical terms by 3% compared to the same period last year, to 1 million 190.442 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), pig iron exports in monetary terms amounted to $450.576 million in the period under review (down 25.2%).
At the same time, exports were carried out mainly to Poland (53.49% of supplies in monetary terms), Spain (22.4%) and the United States (9.95%).
In the first eleven months of 2023, Ukraine imported 79 tons of pig iron worth $132 thousand from Germany (50.38%) and Brazil (49.62%), while no pig iron was imported in November. In the same period last year, 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand were imported.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of processed pig iron by 59% in physical terms compared to the previous year – to 1 million 325.275 thousand tons, and by 61.1% in monetary terms – to $638.774 million.
In 2022, Ukraine imported 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand, while in 2021 it imported 185 tons of pig iron worth $226 thousand.
Exports were made mainly to the United States (38.47% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (32.91%), and Turkey (8.12%), while imports were made from Germany (100%).
In January-November this year, Ukraine increased exports of ferroalloys in physical terms by 7.2% year-on-year to 341,674 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, exports of ferroalloys decreased by 44.6% to $295.068 million in monetary terms.
The main exports were to Poland (53.17% of supplies in monetary terms), Turkey (13.58%) and the Netherlands (8.51%).
In addition, in the period under review, Ukraine imported 7.819 thousand tons of these products, which is 61.5% less than in January-November 2022. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 58% to $29.693 million.
Imports were carried out mainly from India (21.16%), Armenia (17.14%) and China (16.31%).
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of ferroalloys in physical terms by 47.7% compared to the previous year – to 349,560 thousand tons, in monetary terms by 46% – to $564.136 million. At the same time, the main supplies were made to Poland (53.25% of exports in monetary terms), the Netherlands (13.13%) and Romania (5.66%).
In addition, last year Ukraine imported 20.546 thousand tons of these products, which is 65.5% less than in 2021. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 59.1% to $72.705 million. Imports were carried out mainly from Norway (22.67%), China (15.60%) and Kazakhstan (14.10%).
The business of the Stakhanov and Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plants (SZF and ZZF) was organized by PrivatBank (Kyiv) before the nationalization of the financial institution. Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant is controlled by EastOne Group, established in the fall of 2007 as a result of the restructuring of Interpipe Group, and Privat Group.
In January-November this year, Ukraine reduced exports of carbon steel semi-finished products in physical terms by 39.5% year-on-year to 1 million 104,735 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), exports of carbon steel semi-finished products in monetary terms amounted to $562.108 million in the period (down 51%).
The main exports were made to Bulgaria (37.01% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (23.19%) and Italy (9.89%).
In January-November, Ukraine imported 96 tons of semi-finished products from China (98.26%) and Turkey (1.74%) for $172 thousand, in September-November 2022, imports amounted to 5,558 thousand tons of such products.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine decreased exports of carbon steel semi-finished products in physical terms by 72% compared to the previous year – to 1 million 899.729 thousand tons, and in monetary terms by 70.9% – to $1 billion 191.279 million. The main exports were made to Bulgaria (26.55% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (13.97%) and Italy (12.13%).
In addition, Ukraine imported 5,558 thousand tons of similar products in 2022, which is 85.7% less than in 2021. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 86% to $3.634 million. Imports were carried out from the Russian Federation (96.92% of supplies before the war), China (1.84%), and Romania (1.21%).
In January-November of this year, Ukrainian companies increased exports of ferrous scrap by 3.84 times compared to the same period last year, to 161,025 thousand tons, including 14,098 thousand tons of strategic raw materials exported in November.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), in monetary terms, scrap metal exports amounted to $46.406 million in the period under review (up 2.93 times).
At the same time, the export of scrap metal has been growing since March: in January, about 8.28 thousand tons of scrap were exported, in February – 16.5 thousand tons, in March – 15.45 thousand tons, in April – about 16.19 thousand tons, in May – 21.5 thousand tons. tons, in May – 21.003 thousand tons, in June – 14.6 thousand tons, in July – 9.567 thousand tons, in August – 15.849 thousand tons, in September – 13.7 thousand tons, in October – 15.796 thousand tons, in November – 14.1 thousand tons.
Scrap metal was formally exported to Poland (85.87%), Greece (8.07%) and Bulgaria (2.35%).
In the first two months of the year, the country did not import scrap metal; in March-November, it imported 987 tons of scrap worth $383 thousand (48.04% from Slovakia, 22.45% from Poland, 7.31% from Estonia).
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 pointed out that exporting raw materials directly to customers would cost EUR180 in export duty, and the Ukrainian budget has already lost UAH 350 million.
According to him, the State Bureau of Investigation has already taken an interest in such export schemes.
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 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.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of ferrous scrap by 11.5 times compared to the previous year to 53,557 thousand tons, while in monetary terms it decreased by 12.4 times to $19.271 million. At the same time, last year the country reduced imports of scrap metal in physical terms by 12.6 times to 1,824 thousand tons. tons, compared to the previous year – to $19.271 million tons, in monetary terms by 12.9 times – to $3.488 million. Imports of scrap metal in 2022 were mainly from Turkey (78.92% of supplies in monetary terms), the Russian Federation (13.25%) and Cyprus (5.08%); exports – to Turkey (38.97%), Poland (34.25%) and Greece (10.12%).
