PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) at its coke chemical division in January-July this year reduced production of metallurgical coke by 59.4% compared to the same period last year, to 696,700 tonnes.
A representative of the company told Interfax-Ukraine that in July the company produced 43,500 tonnes of metallurgical coke.
At the same time, in January-July 2022, production of 6% moisture gross coke at the plant amounted to 800,000 tonnes, including 51,000 tonnes in July.
Coke production at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih over seven months of 2021 increased by 11.9%, to 1.716 million tonnes, including 257,000 tonnes in July last year.
In January-July 2022, the company received 216,000 tonnes of domestic coal, 390,000 tonnes from Russia (before the war), 65,000 tonnes from Kazakhstan, 27,000 tonnes from Poland, 15,000 tonnes from the Czech Republic, 190,000 tonnes from the USA and 126,000 tonnes from Australia. In July, the plant delivered 68,000 tonnes of domestic coal, 32,000 tonnes from the United States, and 4,300 tonnes from Australia.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest producer of rolled steel in Ukraine. It specializes in production of long products, in particular rebar and wire rod.
Ukrainian industry is one of the sectors of the economy most affected by the war. Since February 24, many large enterprises, primarily in the east and south of the country, have lost their production capacities, and the staff was forced to evacuate. At the same time, individual production facilities were transferred to the western regions, where they are being restored on the basis of more modern industrial facilities, such as industrial parks that appeared shortly before the war.
The Open4business portal spoke about the future of Ukrainian industry and the prospects for the restoration of production with Igor Stakovychenko, an expert in the field of economics.
According to the expert, the production of goods with high added value should become a priority for the development of the economy for decades to come.
“Before the aggression, our industry worked mainly according to standards that were not particularly modernized in 30 years of independence. This is the so-called canonical model, when you have raw materials, workshops, shipping, logistics, and so on. And there must also be stable consumers who will always buy products. Many plants with such a system failed the market test and closed down. Mostly giants remained, who more or less adapted. After the war, it will definitely not be possible to rebuild production in the same form, a fundamentally new model is needed, ”Igor Stakovichenko is sure.
The expert noted that in the modern world, the modernization of production involves the introduction of new management methods, as well as the creation of more adaptive sites, such as industrial zones or parks.
“If you have a workshop for the production of one specific part, which is itself part of a complex and long chain for creating the final product, then the situation above is rather precarious in modern conditions since you depend on many factors: suppliers, market situation, current conjuncture. If you have, for example, a 3D printer that can produce any shape to order for a specific client, then the situation is more stable for you, since you can quickly reorient yourself when the market changes. In the modern world, the industry is striving for greater universalization,” explained Igor Stakovichenko.
According to him, the restoration of the industry should begin now and be based, firstly, on the creation of industrial parks in safe regions, and secondly, on the modernization of existing industries for new models. As an example, Stakovichenko cites the development of this concept in Poland or the Czech Republic, where industrial zones already provide up to 50% of GDP.
“The government is now acting in the right direction, providing tax incentives to such industrial zones, this will lay the foundation for the rapid restoration of the country’s industrial potential in the post-war period,” Stakovichenko summed up.
ECONOMY, IGOR STAKOVICHENKO, INDUSTRY, MARKETS, PRODUCTION, STAKOVICHENKO
Agroholding MHP, the largest producer of chicken meat in Ukraine, in July 2022 reduced chicken production by 8% – to 52.04 thousand tons, but increased its sales by 4% – to 56.54 thousand tons, the agricultural group on the London Stock Exchange on Friday.
It is noted that the operating activity of the holding is still below last year’s figures due to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine: in July 2022, chicken production amounted to 81% of July 2021, and its sales – 88%, respectively.
It is specified that in the domestic market in July 2022, chicken sales remained at the level of July 2021 and June 2022 – 25.56 thousand tons. Chicken export in July this year amounted to 30.98 thousand tons, which is still 20% less than in July last year, but 3% more than last month.
Thus, the share of chicken exports in July of this year decreased by 5 percentage points (p.p.) against July 2021, to 55% from 60%, but increased by 3 p.p. compared to June 2022.
The average selling price of poultry meat in July increased by 21% year on year – up to $2.1/kg, and by 2% compared to the previous month.
During the reporting period, MHP also reduced sales of meat products and semi-finished products by 49% compared to July 2021, to 2.5 thousand tons, but this figure was 1% higher than in June 2022.
According to the agricultural holding, in July 2022, sales of sunflower oil increased by 1.9 times compared to July last year and by 13% compared to June of this year, to 22.55 thousand tons. At the same time, sales of soybean oil decreased by 5.8 times by July 2021 and by 3.5 times by June 2022 to 1.16 thousand tons.
“Harvesting of winter crops (wheat, rapeseed, etc.) is being carried out on an area of about 69.7 thousand hectares. Rapeseed harvesting has been completed on about 27.5 thousand hectares with a yield of about 3.8 t/ha. Wheat harvesting continues on an area of about 40.7 thousand hectares, 85% completed, with a current yield of 5.5 t / ha,” the agricultural holding states in a stock exchange message.
According to him, spring crops are in good condition. In general, the weather conditions are also relatively favorable for a good harvest, apart from a number of regions with extremely hot and dry weather conditions.
MHP is the largest chicken producer in Ukraine. It is also engaged in the production of cereals, sunflower oil, meat processing products. On the European market, MHP supplies chilled half-carcasses of chickens, which are processed, including at its enterprises in the Netherlands and Slovakia. In February 2019, the agricultural holding completed the acquisition of the Slovenian company Perutnina Ptuj.
MHP generated $393 million in net profit in 2021 against a net loss of $133 million in 2020, while its revenue grew by 25% to $2.37 billion.
The founder, majority shareholder and head of the board of MHP is Ukrainian businessman Yuriy Kosyuk.
Cardboard and Paper Company LLC (Lviv), a major Ukrainian manufacturer of cardboard sleeves and sanitary and hygienic products, increased production by 44.7% in January-July compared to the same period in 2021 – up to 616, UAH 41 million
According to the statistics of the UkrPapir Association, provided to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, in this way the company slightly accelerated the growth rate of this indicator compared to the same period last year (according to the results of the first half of the year, it was 42%).
In pack terms, the company increased the output of base paper for sanitary products by 10.8% to 4.14 thousand tons, while increasing the output of toilet paper in rolls by 46.6% to 2.35 million pieces.
The output of cardboard products decreased slightly (by 1%) – to 15.31 thousand tons.
As reported with reference to UkrPapir statistics, the factory continued to work all months from the beginning of the year, reducing the production of paper and cardboard in March (compared to March 2021), but in April it already switched to positive dynamics, which it maintained in the following months.
Cardboard and Paper Company (until 2011 – Lvivkartonoplast) produces products and semi-finished products from recycled cardboard (cardboard sheets, corners, sleeves), cellulose and recycled waste paper (toilet paper, towels, napkins (TM Papero).
In 2021, the company produced products worth UAH 782.7 million, which is 46.7% more than a year earlier.
A major Ukrainian manufacturer of corrugated cardboard – Poninkovskaya Cardboard and Paper Factory-Ukraine (“PKBF-Ukraine”, Khmelnitsky region) in January-July produced products worth UAH 1 billion 238 million, which is 7.7% more than in the same period in 2021.
According to the statistics of the UkrPapir association provided to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, in physical terms, the factory reduced the production of containerboard (including corrugating paper) by 22% – to 40.19 thousand tons, and by 19% the production of corrugated boxes from it – up to 36.78 million sq. m.
At the same time, paper output increased to 327 tons from 64 tons a year earlier.
At the same time, in July, the production of corrugated packaging decreased by 5% compared to July 2021, to 6.8 million square meters. m, paper and cardboard – by 2.7%, up to 7.9 thousand tons.
The Ponikovskaya Factory (formerly the Ponikovsky Cardboard and Paper Mill), once the largest manufacturer of school notebooks, currently has one main production – paper and cardboard, mainly produces corrugated packaging, as well as wrapping, waste paper.
The factory is part of the United Cardboard Company-Ukraine (UCC, Lutsk), whose production assets also include Lutsk KBF-Ukraine (Volyn region), which reduced the production of cardboard by 22.6% in January-July – to 27.8 thousand tons.
As reported with reference to data collected by the association from industry companies, in January-July, taking into account the fact that a number of enterprises in the industry were either destroyed or damaged or located in the occupied territory, the production of paper and cardboard decreased by 46% – to 286.6 thousand tons, corrugated packaging – by 42.8%, up to 242.4 million square meters. m.
Despite the significant demand for windows to replace those damaged as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, their production volume fell three times compared to 2021, Oleksiy Bubnov, executive director of the Association of Window and Facade Market Participants (AUROF), told Interfax-Ukraine .
“According to our data, 150-160 thousand structures were produced in May, 170-180 thousand in June, 220-250 thousand in July. There is a positive trend, but compared to 2021, the volume of window production fell three times,” he said.
At the same time, the expert added that these data do not include the number of double-glazed windows that were produced to replace damaged windows, where the frames themselves survived.
“The industry will be able to operate at full capacity if there is glass and raw materials for the production of profiles. For other components of the window (accessories, components for double-glazed windows), everything is available and in sufficient quantity. And, of course, it will be necessary to select workers, because today all companies work in one shift,” Bubnov said.
Considering the acuteness of the issue of restoring the housing stock in the country, he proposes to consider the issue of granting a deferment from conscription to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for specialists in specialties that are critical for the window industry.
The expert named a number of other problems that need to be solved in order to launch the market at full capacity.
He, in particular, recalled that the only producer of PVC raw materials for the production of profiles, Karpatneftekhim (Kalush), has not been operating since the beginning of the war.
As reported, the Prosecutor General’s Office recently transferred the arrested corporate rights of Karpatneftekhim to the management of ARMA, but there is no information about the timing of the resumption of its work.
“The situation is absurd: national profile producers have to buy raw materials abroad and pay a protective duty of 12% on PVC raw materials, adopted in support of Karpatneftekhim. We propose to cancel it at this stage, at least until it is restored in full production,” says Bubnov.
About 80% of glass before the war was supplied from Russia and Belarus. “Since the beginning of the war, the window industry has refused any trade relations with the aggressor country and its accomplice. There remains the opportunity to buy glass in European countries, in Turkey and Azerbaijan,” he explained.
At the same time, Bubnov said, logistically, such deliveries are possible only by land, by special vehicles, the so-called “jumbos” (for transporting large-format glass), which go empty for loading, but are forced to stand in queues at customs.
The Executive Director of AUROF proposes to provide a simplified procedure – the “green corridor” – for vehicles following the glass on exit from Ukraine and at the entrance to the country.
The risk factor, the expert said, which could slow down the glazing of war-damaged buildings, is the alleged 10% tax on the purchase of foreign currency.
“Today, the cost of windows has increased by 70-80% compared to the pre-war period. Since glass is not produced in Ukraine, the introduction of this tax will automatically lead to an increase in the cost of double-glazed windows and windows. We believe that if a 10% tax on the purchase of foreign currency is introduced, it will should be canceled for contracts under which the currency will be used to purchase glass,” Bubnov believes.
Established in 2013, AUROF unites 29 market participants.
