Bloomi LLC (Odesa), a manufacturer of sanitary and hygienic paper products under the Snow Panda brand, produced products worth UAH 330.3 million in January-October, up 10.3% compared to the same period in 2023.
According to statistics provided by UkrPapir Association to Interfax-Ukraine, in physical terms, in particular, the production of toilet paper increased by 14.2% to 42.1 million rolls.
As reported, over the past 10 months, Ukraine’s major sanitary paper producers produced a total of 533.34 million rolls of paper, up 6.3% year-on-year.
Bloomi, which was registered in 2014, produces pulp-based sanitary products (toilet paper, napkins, towels) from imported base paper. The products are manufactured at the facilities of Omega Brokers PE, one of the leading Ukrainian manufacturers of detergents, disinfectants and sanitary products.
In 2023, the company almost doubled its production volume by 2022 to UAH 367.3 million.
The company is co-owned equally (25% each) by four Odesa-based entrepreneurs.
In January-October 2024, Kokhavyno Paper Mill (KPM, Lviv region), which produces sanitary paper products, increased its production by 78.3% year-on-year to UAH 1 billion 711.5 million, according to statistics from UkrPapir Association.
As reported, in the first nine months of the year, the mill’s production growth was 75.1% compared to the same period in 2023, and in the first eight months it was 67%.
According to the association’s statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, in physical terms, the production of the base paper for sanitary products at the factory increased by 39.5% to 48.2 thousand tons during this period.
The output of toilet paper in rolls amounted to 113.5 million units, having increased slightly in January-October 2023. KPF confidently ranks second in terms of its output after Kyiv CPP.
As reported, in October last year, Kokhava Pulp and Paper Mill put into operation a paper machine for the production of cellulose base paper (previously, it produced only waste paper). To organize such production in 2021, the mill attracted a EUR 13.8 million loan from the EBRD.
Kokhava Pulp and Paper Mill, which has been operating since 1939, produces base paper for sanitary and hygiene products, as well as toilet paper and paper towels. Before the new machine was put into operation, the mill had two paper machines with a total capacity of 40 thousand tons of base paper per year.
In 2023, the factory increased its production by 18% compared to 2022, to UAH 1 billion 151.2 million, and its net profit increased 2.7 times to UAH 137 million.
Plastic production in Europe in 2023 decreased by 8.3%, according to the industry organization Plastics Europe. According to its managing director, Virginia Janssens, the decline was stronger than expected.
At the same time, global plastic production grew by 3.4%, in particular due to the scale-up of production in China and the United States. According to S&P Global, China accounted for 60% of the growth in petrochemical capacity last year.
The share of European suppliers in the global market will decline to 12% in 2023 from 28% in 2006. In addition, due to declining demand, the volume of mechanical plastic recycling in Europe last year fell for the first time since 2018, Plastics Europe noted. This is the most common recycling method in the region.
In October, the industry organization Plastics Recyclers Europe pointed out the alarming nature of the downward trend in the European plastic recycling market, which is why many companies are leaving it. Among other things, the market is under pressure from an oversupply of virgin plastic outside Europe.
Businesses are also dissatisfied with European legislation aimed at achieving ambitious climate goals. According to the companies, it is “stifling growth,” the FT writes. American ExxonMobil (SPB: XOM) and Saudi Arabia’s SABIC this year announced their intention to close petrochemical plants in Europe. LyondellBasell, Versalis, and Trinseo are also going to close their sites or revise their plans for them.
In January-September 2024, Kokhavyno Paper Mill (KBF, Lviv region), which produces sanitary paper products, increased its production by 75.1% compared to the same period in 2023, to UAH 1 billion 502 million, according to statistics from UkrPapir Association.
As reported, in the first eight months of the year, the mill’s production growth was 67.4% compared to the same period in 2023, and in the first seven months it was 61%.
According to the association’s statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, in physical terms, the production of the base paper for sanitary products at the factory increased by 39.6% to 43.2 thousand tons over the nine months.
The output of toilet paper in rolls increased by 1.5% to 102.5 million units. KPF is confidently ranked second in terms of its output after Kyiv CPP.
As reported, in October last year, Kokhava Pulp and Paper Mill put into operation a paper machine for the production of cellulose base paper (previously, it produced only waste paper-based products). To organize such production in 2021, the company attracted a EUR 13.8 million loan from the EBRD.
In October of this year, according to the company, the line of cellulose sanitary products was expanded with four-layer toilet paper “Gold” with lamination and perforation of the roll.
Kokhavynsk Pulp and Paper Mill, which has been operating since 1939, produces the base paper for sanitary and hygiene products, as well as toilet paper and paper towels. Before the new machine was put into operation, the mill had two paper machines with a total capacity of 40 thousand tons of base paper per year.
In 2023, the mill increased its production by 18% compared to 2022 to UAH 1 billion 151.2 million, while net profit increased 2.7 times to UAH 137 million.
Source: https://rebuild.news/
Rivne Azot, a part of Group DF’s nitrogen business, has resumed operations and reached 100% capacity at its basic fertilizer production shops, the company’s press service reports.
“The forced shutdown of the basic shops a month ago was caused by damage to the energy infrastructure in the region during the shelling. During the plant shutdown, we carried out maintenance and reconstruction of a number of production systems, including the power supply system at the enterprise. This will help reduce production risks and ensure stable operation of the plant’s basic shops during the season. We have successfully completed the commissioning of key units and launched the plant at full capacity to meet the growing seasonal demand for mineral fertilizers from farmers,” said Mykhailo Zabluda, Chairman of the Board of Rivne Azot.
According to the report, the plant has launched an ammonia shop (A-2), a nonconcentrated nitric acid shop and an ammonium nitrate shop. The capacity of the loaded ammonia line is 650 tons of ammonia per day and that of the non-concentrated nitric acid line is 1,000 tons of nitric acid per day. The ammonium nitrate shop will operate at the maximum capacity of the ammonia line, i.e. at least 40 thousand tons of nitrate per month.
Currently, the plant is focused on supplying fertilizers to the domestic market of Ukraine. The products are shipped to customers across the country under contracts.
As reported earlier, Group DF’s capital investments in Ostchem’s nitrogen business in 2024 will amount to about EUR86 million. The purpose of the CAPEX investment is to optimize cost coefficients, reduce losses of various types of energy and improve the cost of finished products.
On April 12, Group DF and Hyundai ENGINEERING CO signed an agreement to build a chemical hub in Rivne. The project envisages the construction of green ammonia and hydrogen plants based on renewable energy sources; new enterprises and production sites for nitrogen fertilizers and chemical derivatives.
Ostchem has launched a 300,000-tonne-per-year production facility for UAN at Rivne Azot. The project is primarily aimed at farmers in the western regions of Ukraine.
Ostchem is a nitrogen holding of Dmitry Firtash’s Group DF, which unites the largest mineral fertilizer producers in Ukraine. Since 2011, it has included Rivne Azot and Cherkasy Azot, as well as Sievierodonetsk Azot and Stirol, which are out of operation and located in the occupied territories.
Cherkasy Azot PJSC (Cherkasy, Ukraine) is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical enterprises. The design production capacity is 962.7 thousand tons per year of ammonia, 970 thousand tons per year of ammonium nitrate, 891.6 thousand tons of urea, and 1 million tons per year of UAN.
Rivne Azot is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical companies in Western Ukraine. On April 12, 2024, Group DF and South Korean Hyundai Engineering signed an agreement to build a chemical hub in Rivne. The project envisages the construction of green ammonia and hydrogen plants based on renewable energy sources; new enterprises and production sites for nitrogen fertilizers and chemical derivatives.
Ferrexpo plc, a mining company with major assets in Ukraine, produced 4 million 567.168 thousand tons of pellets in January-September this year, up 41.9% year-on-year (3 million 218.273 thousand tons).
According to a press release on Monday, Ferrexpo produced 1 million 269,727 thousand tons of pellets in the third quarter of this year, down 14.4% from the previous quarter (1 million 483,468 thousand tons).
At the same time, the total production of commercial products (pellets and iron ore concentrate) in the first nine months of 2014 increased by 47.5% compared to the same period in 2023, to 5 million 125.034 thousand tons from 3 million 474.860 thousand tons. In particular, the production of commercial concentrate amounted to 557.866 thousand tons against 256.587 thousand tons in January-September 2023.
In addition, it is specified that the company, in particular, produced 326.168 thousand tons of DR pellets in the first nine months of 2014 (it did not produce any in the first nine months of 2013), 3 million 780.610 thousand tons of premium pellets and 460.390 thousand tons of other pellets.
The press release notes that during the quarter, the Group successfully operated one or two pelletizing lines (out of four), with a focus on producing higher quality products. DR pellets production continued during the third quarter, with a total of three deliveries to two customers.
Commenting on the Group’s performance, Lucio Genovese, Interim Executive Chairman, stated that the third quarter was a very challenging operational and macroeconomic environment for the company.
“As we emphasized in our interim results, the requirement to import 80% of our electricity from our western neighbors remains in place, and the resulting high tariffs continue to have a negative impact on our costs. The situation is further complicated by higher shipping rates and additional costs for war risk insurance,” Genovese said.
According to him, to mitigate the pressure on profitability, the group’s strategy was to focus on selling higher quality iron ore products to customers in close geographical proximity. This involved expanding the customer base and selling premium DR pellets in the MENA region.
The top manager emphasized that the ability to quickly adapt to modern challenges is a testament to the flexibility built into the operating model. This allowed the company to slightly reduce the impact of both the aforementioned factors and lower iron ore prices, when the fall in the 65% Fe benchmark price briefly tested price support levels of $100/tonne during the quarter, bottoming out at levels last seen in 2022.
At the same time, Genovese emphasized some positive changes in the market at the end of the reporting period: prices began to recover amid improved sentiment caused by the announcement of economic stimulus measures in China.
For his part, Group CFO Nikolay Kladiev noted that the combined effect of much lower iron ore prices and higher production costs put significant pressure on earnings in the third quarter.
“The high electricity tariffs that I pointed out in the interim period continue to grow and increase our C1 costs compared to the initial period. This year we also continued to see higher freight rates and additional war risk insurance premiums. In response, we have sought to contain costs wherever possible and manage our cash position, which remained at around $100 million at the end of the third quarter,” explained the CFO.
He also said that in the last days of September, Chinese stimulus measures, including the lifting of restrictions on home purchases, provided long-awaited support for iron ore prices.
“The pessimism about iron ore prices seems to have subsided for now, but the recent volatility in the third quarter does not provide any assurance that prices will remain at this level or improve further. We will continue to maintain a vigilant approach to our financial and operational performance for the remainder of the year,” Kladiev concluded.
As reported earlier, Ferrexpo produced 3.845 million tons of pellets in 2023, down 36.5% from 2022.
Ferrexpo owns a 100% stake in Yeristovo Mining, 99.9% in Bilanivsky GOK and 100% in Poltava Mining.
