The production of metal structures in Ukraine by the end of 2021 may grow by 4-5%, this forecast was announced by Executive Director of the Ukrainian Steel Construction Center (USCC) Viacheslav Kolesnik in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“The first half of 2021 was good: the production of metal structures amounted to about 76,000 tonnes. The third quarter was slightly worse in terms of dynamics: at that moment the price began to fall, many believed that buying metal on a downtrend was not always justified. The situation has stabilized. We still expect that in 2021 we will get results somewhat better than last year – growth of 4-5%,” he said.
According to Kolesnik, the metal structures market is currently in a downtrend in metal prices. “The rise in energy prices halted the downward trend – since October, prices have frozen. We hope that the trend of growth in energy prices will not last long, by the end of winter the situation will stabilize and the downward trend in metal prices will continue,” he said.
According to the expert, fluctuations in metal prices do not have a significant impact on exports, but on the local market they are significant from the point of view of the competitiveness of metal structures in comparison with other structural materials.
Kolesnik noted one more factor that may affect the final results of the year. “Significant volumes of metal are used for road construction, in particular for road fencing. Payments are practically suspended there in October-November. If payments to road fence manufacturers are not resumed, this segment will sag by 25-30% year-over-year,” he said.
By the end of 2020, Ukrainian manufacturers of metal structures increased production by 6.5% compared to 2019, to 147,000 tonnes, according to a report of the Ukrainian Steel Construction Center (USCC).
“Key manufacturers of metal structures have increased production, and the number of metal imports to Ukraine has also increased. The influence of the commercial sector – nonresidential construction has decreased, but at the same time we note a significant increase in infrastructure construction. For example, in Poland, 50% of orders are exactly infrastructure, and we are going exactly in this direction,” Executive Director of the USCC Viacheslav Kolesnik said at the IX National Conference of Steel Construction Market Participants held in Kyiv on Tuesday.
According to him, quarantine restrictions did not significantly affect the results of the enterprises. Consumption of metal structures increased due to state-funded programs and projects Big Construction, Roads to Borders, Travel around Ukraine, Small Carpathian Ring, the program of restoration of bridges, etc.
“Shipments in the segment of road safety fence have significantly increased. More than 16,000 tonnes of metal were shipped to the Zaporizhia Bridge alone,” Kolesnik said.
At the same time, Ukraine follows the European trend of increasing the specific share of large manufacturers of metal structures – in 2020, the share of enterprises that produced more than 5,000 tonnes of products grew by 5% and amounted to 48% of the total.
