Agro Kar (Kropyvnytskyi) plans to start assembly-line production of tractors for agriculture in September this year in a new 2,000 sq m workshop currently under construction, said Dmytro Kysylevskyi, deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development.
“The Made in Ukraine economic policy gives birth to new plants. Companies that previously only imported or repaired equipment are becoming manufacturers thanks to government programs,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
The total investment in the project is about UAH 100 million.
Kysylevsky said that Agro Kar has already invested UAH 30 million in launching tractor production – post production involves the production of each tractor at a separate site.
He noted that to implement the project of launching a new workshop, Agro Kar raised UAH 30 million under the 5-7-9% affordable loan program. Another UAH 8 million will be received as a state grant for the processing industry to purchase a laser machine.
“If the company reaches the required degree of localization, it will be able to join the program to compensate 25% of the cost of Ukrainian-made agricultural machinery,” Kysylevsky notes.
He specifies that domestic manufacturers of spare parts and components will be involved. In particular, Agro Kar purchases hydraulics and distributors for tractors from Hydrosila (Kropyvnytskyi), radiator blocks from Promtransenergo (Sumy), lubricants from JV Yukoil (Zaporizhzhia), control cables from Technoprivod (Rivne), high-pressure hoses – Motorimpeks (Kalush), batteries – Ista-Center (Dnipro), glass – Safe Glass Factory (Berdychiv), polymers and rubber seals, tanks – Poly Plast, wires and harnesses – Mac Farmer (both Kropyvnytskyi).
In addition, negotiations are underway to adapt the production of Rosava tires (Bila Tserkva) and Consima wheels (Dnipro) to the requirements of the company.
“Currently, the production volume is 12 tractors per month. After the launch of conveyor production, the company plans to increase production to 50 machines per month,” said Kysilevsky.
According to its website, Agro Kar has been operating since 2009. Currently, it repairs and modernizes agricultural machinery and supplies spare parts for agricultural machinery, including John Deere, Wil Rich, Case, DMI, Great Plains, Kinze, and Kraus.
“Agro Car also produces spare parts for agricultural machinery.
According to opendatabot, in 2024, the company doubled its net profit compared to 2023, to UAH 4.8 million, with revenue growing by 45% to UAH 74.4 million.
The company is owned by two local entrepreneurs, Andriy Teplyuk (60%) and Oleksandr Pustylnyk (40%).
Ukraine increased its production of total rolled products by 3.3% in January-March 2025 compared to the same period last year to 1.435 million tons, according to Ukrmetallurgprom.
In March, the company produced 478.4 thousand tons of rolled products, slightly higher than in February (476.9 thousand tons).
In 2024, the company produced 6.222 million tons of rolled products (+15.8% compared to 2023), 5.372 million tons (+0.4%) in 2023, and 19.079 million tons in 2021. In 2022, production decreased by more than 70%.
The Experts Club Information and Analytical Center has recently presented a video analysis of the top 20 steel producing countries – https://youtube.com/shorts/j7Yev2HCS4o?si=lfmGJ5jrx8036z1U
In January-March 2025, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises increased pig iron production by 7.2% year-on-year to 1.702 million tons. This was reported by Ukrmetallurgprom.
In March of this year, the company produced 563.2 thousand tons of pig iron, while in February it produced 544.4 thousand tons.
For comparison: In 2024, Ukraine smelted 7.090 million tons of pig iron (+18.1% compared to 2023), and in 2023 – 6.003 million tons (-6.1% compared to 2022). In 2021, the volume was 21.165 million tons.
The Experts Club Information and Analytical Center has recently presented a video analysis of the top 20 steel producing countries – https://youtube.com/shorts/j7Yev2HCS4o?si=lfmGJ5jrx8036z1U
In January-February 2025, Ukraine produced 0.9 million tons of milk, which is 3.5% less than in the corresponding period of 2024, according to Infagro, an industry information and analytical agency.
In February, agricultural enterprises produced 1.7% more milk than in February 2024. Given that 2024 was a leap year, the annual growth in February was 5.3%, analysts said.
Experts emphasized that as of March 1, there were 1.15 million cows in Ukraine, which is 8.4% less than on the same date last year. Official figures for the number of cows in agricultural enterprises showed a negative annual trend with a slight decrease of 0.1% by March 1, 2024.
“In April, we can expect stabilization of the milk market due to the growth of overall demand, which means that the rate of decline in purchase prices will slow down, price revisions will become pointwise,” Infagro emphasized.
At the same time, in March 2025, the purchase price of raw milk in Ukraine continued to decline, with prices returning to approximately the level of September 2024. The March price correction was more severe than in February. Competition for raw materials has resumed due to the projected growth in promotional sales of dairy products in the domestic market and increased European demand for Ukrainian goods, especially butter.
Analysts noted that the supply of raw materials in the domestic market continues to grow. New production facilities and new projects in the dairy industry are being launched. Therefore, the pressure on the price of milk is still there.
The average cost of raw materials in March 2025 in agricultural enterprises was 16.6 UAH/kg excluding VAT, which is 5.1% lower than in February, but 15% higher than in March 2024; the cost of raw materials from the population was 10.5 UAH/kg excluding VAT, which is 4.1% lower than in February, but 14% higher than in March 2024.
The range of milk prices at the end of March was mainly from agricultural enterprises – 15.8-17.0 UAH/kg excluding VAT, and from households – 9.5-11.0 UAH/kg excluding VAT.
“The estimated margin of milk production continued to decline in March. The average estimated operating margin in March amounted to 15%, which is 7 points less than in February and 29 points lower than in March 2024,” Infagro summarized.
Zaporozhkoks, one of Ukraine’s largest coke producers and a member of Metinvest Group, reduced its blast furnace coke production by 3% year-on-year to 209.7 thousand tons from 214.8 thousand tons in January-March this year.
According to the company, it produced 74.1 thousand tons of coke in March, while in the previous month it produced 61.2 thousand tons.
As reported, Zaporozhkoks increased its blast furnace coke production by 2.1% in 2024 compared to 2023 – to 874.7 thousand tons from 856.8 thousand tons.
“In 2023, Zaporozhkoks increased its blast furnace coke output by 16% compared to 2022, up to 856.8 thousand tons from 737.4 thousand tons.
“Zaporozhkoks produces about 10% of coke in Ukraine and has a full technological cycle of coke products processing. It also produces coke oven gas and pitch coke.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated mining group of companies. Its major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage the company.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In January-February, China reduced steel production by 1.5% year-on-year to 166.3 million tons, according to the country’s State Statistics Office.
Pig iron production decreased by 0.5% to 140.75 million tons.
The State Statistics Office traditionally publishes economic indicators for January and February together to avoid data distortion due to long holidays to mark the Lunar New Year, which can fall in both January and February.
In January-February, China exported 16.97 million tons of steel, up 6.7% year-on-year, according to the State Customs Administration.
As reported, in 2024, steel production in China decreased by 1.7% to 1.005 billion tons.
