Velta US Inc (the United States), the parent company of Production and Commercial Company Velta LLC with assets for the extraction of titanium containing ores in Novomyrhorod, Kirovohrad region, from January 31 this year began a series of multi-round negotiations with American partners to develop a roadmap for interaction between the Ukrainian supplier of titanium raw materials and U.S. companies and institutions that are consumers of titanium.
In 2022, supplies to the North American market will account for 65% of Velta’s total production, according to a company press release. Such growth is dictated by the shortage of high-quality titanium raw materials in the United States, as well as the high level of American interest in Ukrainian titanium, which is fixed in the law on the budget for national defense.
It is especially important for Velta to start negotiations with American partners right now, Matthew Murray, a member of the advisory board of Velta US inc. and moderator of the talks, believes.
National Defense Authorization Act No. 6505 for Fiscal Year 2022 requires the U.S. Department of State within 180 days to draw up a report on reducing America’s dependence on titanium supplies from China and Russia, including by increasing supplies from Ukraine, the press release says.
“We are firmly convinced that the new stage of negotiations will help find new points of intersection between Velta and our American partners in the titanium industry,” Andriy Brodsky, the CEO of Velta, stated.
As reported, Velta US Inc intends to increase supplies of ilmenite concentrate to the U.S. by 15-23% in 2022. At the same time, in January, Velta held a meeting of the advisory board, formed in October 2021, to discuss further expanding the company’s presence in the U.S. market, taking into account the analysis of signed contracts for 2022.
Exports of sunflower oil from Ukraine in quantity terms decreased by 15.2% in 2021 compared to 2020, to 5.13 million tonnes, while in monetary terms exports increased by 20%, to $6.38 billion, according to preliminary data published on the website of the Ukroliyaprom association on Thursday.
According to preliminary information, in general, in 2021, Ukraine exported oil and fat products worth $8.56 billion (19.6% more compared to 2020), which is 12.6% of total exports of goods from Ukraine and 30.9% of its exports of agricultural and food products.
In the structure of exports of oil and fat products, vegetable oil accounted for 74.6% of the total supply, sunflower meal – 14.9%, soybean oil – 3.4%, soybean meal – 3.0%, rapeseed oil – 2.6%, and margarine – 1.1%.
According to Ukroliyaprom, the main importing countries of Ukrainian sunflower oil in 2021 were the EU countries, where 32% of total exports were supplied, as well as India (30.5%), China (15.3%), and Iraq (5.1%). Among the EU countries, the Netherlands (10.6% of total exports), Spain (7.4%), Italy (5.0%), France (3.0%) and the UK (2.7%) imported the most Ukrainian vegetable oil.
Export of Ukrainian agricultural foods to the countries of the European Union in 2021 grew in monetary terms by 33% compared to 2020, to $8.3 billion due to an increase in the supply of agricultural products to foreign markets and its rise in price, according to a posting on the website of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) on Wednesday.
According to UCAB, the peak months for the export of agricultural products from Ukraine to the EU were December ($1 billion), October ($0.98 billion) and November ($0.97 billion). The lowest export rates were recorded in July ($0.48 billion), April ($0.49 billion) and March ($0.5 billion).
In 2021, nine quotas for duty-free exports to the EU have also been fully used, namely for honey, cereals, flour, starch, processed starch, processed tomatoes, grape and apple juice, chicken eggs, poultry meat (parts), and processed cereal products.
“Compared to 2020, the situation has changed with the use of quotas for the supply of sugar and corn to the EU, or rather with their incomplete use. As for sugar, last year the quota was used by 87% due to a shortage in the domestic market of this product. At the same time, the quota for corn was used by only 5% due to increased demand for this type of grain and the availability of more attractive export channels for Ukrainian farmers,” UCAB said, quoting its analyst Svitlana Lytvyn.
In addition, UCAB said that as of January 18, 2022, Ukraine has fully used the first-quarter quotas for the export of eggs and poultry meat to the EU, as well as the annual quota for the export of honey.
As reported, Ukraine in 2020, within the framework of a free trade area (FTA) agreement with the EU, fully used 11 quotas for duty-free export of agricultural products, while in 2019 there were 12 of them.
Ukraine has sufficient resources and capabilities to launch the first hydrogen projects and start exporting hydrogen to Germany by 2024.
President of the Ukrainian Hydrogen Council Oleksandr Repkin said this in a comment to the Green Deal portal, sharing the details of a meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
“Annalena Baerbock is responsible for the entire German climate dialogue in the foreign arena, so the topic of hydrogen is very important for her. At the meeting, we told her that at this stage Ukraine has enough resources and opportunities to launch the first and start exporting hydrogen to Germany projects by 2024,” he said.
Repkin specified that hydrogen will be transported in a mixture with natural gas through the existing gas transmission system.
“We are already ready to transport 10% concentration of hydrogen mixed with natural gas via the GTS. By 2024, subject to modernization, the percentage may be higher. The main thing is to choose an entry point, a place where you can connect to the GTS, and then it will be possible to transport the mixture,” he said.
Earlier, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba also spoke about the plans to start exporting “green” hydrogen to Germany from 2024, but with a caveat “according to the optimistic scenario.”
At the meeting with the head of German diplomacy on January 17, Kuleba once again spoke about Ukraine’s plans to become a key supplier of “green” hydrogen to the EU.
“Ukraine is actively developing renewable energy, in particular, it plans to become a key supplier of “green” hydrogen to the EU. We are strengthening energy partnership with Germany and developing a number of major projects in the production and transportation of “green” hydrogen,” the foreign minister said.
Metallurgical enterprises of Ukraine in 2021 increased revenues from the export of ferrous metals by 81.4% compared to 2020, to $13.951 billion.
According to the updated statistics released by the State Customs Service on Friday, ferrous metals accounted for 20.49% of total merchandise export earnings over this period, compared to 15.63% in 2020.
In December, proceeds from the export of ferrous metals amounted to $1.34 billion.
At the same time, Ukraine increased imports of ferrous metals by 48.8% in 2021, to $1.547 billion. In December, this figure was $140.660 million.
In addition, in 2021, Ukraine increased the export of metal products by 43%, to $1.293 billion. In December, metal products for $128.729 million were delivered.
Imports of metal products over the past year grew by 28%, to $1.126 billion. In December, metal products for $116.609 million were imported.
As reported, Ukrainian steel enterprises in 2020 reduced revenues from the export of ferrous metals by 12% compared to the previous year, to $7.69 billion. At the same time, Ukraine in 2020 reduced imports of ferrous metals by 17%, to $1.04 billion.
In addition, Ukraine in 2020 reduced the export of metal products by 13.2%, to $904.533 million. Over the year, imports of metal products fell by 20%, to $879.687 million.
