The main pipe enterprises of Ukraine in January-June 2019 increased production of pipes made of ferrous metals, according to recent data, by 4.3% compared to the same period of 2018, to 564,200 tonnes, while in June they manufactured 87,900 tonnes.
The Ukrtruboprom association told Interfax-Ukraine, in particular the enterprises of the union for January-June 2019 raised production of pipes by 5.8%, to 426,200 tonnes, and in June the output was 66,900 tonnes.
At the same time, Khartsyzsk Pipe Plant (Donetsk region), which is located in the territory not controlled by Ukrainian authorities, is standing idle this year, just like last year.
During this period, the output of pipes at Interpipe Nyzhniodniprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant decreased by 7.9%, to 136,400 tonnes (in June some 24,300 tonnes), at Interpipe Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant increased by 5.9%, to 53,900 tonnes (8,100 tonnes). Interpipe Niko Tube raised production by 14.9%, to 209,600 tonnes (30,700 tonnes).
Dnipropetrovsk Pipe Plant increased production of pipes by 38.8%, to 13,600 tonnes (in June some 1,700 tonnes). Centravis increased output by 12.9%, to 11,400 tonnes of stainless pipes (1,900 tonnes).
Ukrainian coking plants reduced production of metallurgical coke with 6% moisture content 3.3% year-on-year in H1, 2019, to 5.189 million tonnes.
The Ukrkoks association of coke enterprises told Interfax-Ukraine that 769,000 tonnes of coke was produced in June and 917,000 tonnes in May.
Ukrkoks Director General Anatoliy Starovoit said coke production had fallen in recent months due to lower supplies of coking coal from Russia.
“There wasn’t enough coal. Most of all this affected Dniprokoks, a division of Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant, formerly Evraz-DMZ and now part of Oleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group. The plant used to be owned by Russians and it got all its coke from Russia. Now it has changed ownership and the Russian government’s recent decisions to limit coal shipments to Ukraine have affected this enterprise above all, and to some extent Zaporizhkoks,” Starovoit said.
Also, some steel plants have stopped capacity for maintenance and repairs, so demand for coke has fallen.
According to Ukrkoks, coking coal imports from Russia fell year-on-year in H1 2019, to 2.9 million tonnes.
“Since the beginning of the year, coal shipments from the United States have increased only slightly, by 100,000 tonnes, while coal production at Ukrainian mines is practically unchanged compared with the same period of last year,” Starovoit said.
Regal Petroleum Plc with assets in Ukraine in the second quarter of 2019 increased its average daily production of hydrocarbons on the Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska (MEX-GOL), Svyrydivske (SV), and Vasyschevskoye (VAS) gas condensate fields by 44%, or 1,244 barrels of oil equivalent (boepd) compared to the second quarter of 2018, to 4,073 boepd. According to a report by Regal on the London Stock Exchange’s website, in particular, the average daily production of hydrocarbons in April-June of this year on MEX-GOL and SV deposits amounted to 3,113 boepd (up by 40.2% compared to Q2, 2018), on VAS some 960 boepd (57.6% more).
The total average daily production of natural gas on the three fields in April-June 2019 amounted to 521,023 cubic meters (41.5% more), condensate some 97.9 cubic meters (58.9% more), and liquefied natural gas (LPG) some 40.5 cubic meters (47.3% more).
“At the MEX-GOL field, the drilling of well No. 119 is continuing, having reached a depth of approximately 4,789 meters. The well has a target depth of 4,850 meters, with drilling, completion and testing operations planned to be completed by the end of September 2019 and, subject to successful testing, production hook-up during the fourth quarter of 2019,” the statement reads.
In 2018, Regal increased its average daily production 67% at the first two fields (to 2,717 boepd) and 11.2% at the third one (to 674 boepd).
Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises in May 2019 increased steel production by 7.8% compared to the same period in 2018, to 1.827 million tonnes, stepping down from 12th place to the 13th in the ranking of 64 countries, the major global manufacturers of these products, compiled by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel). An increase in steel production in most of the top ten countries, except for Japan, Russia, Germany, and Turkey was recorded in May.
The top ten producer countries in May are as follows: China (89.091 million tonnes, an increase of 10%), India (9.196 million tonnes, an increase of 5.1%), Japan (8.676 million tonnes, a decline of 4.6%), the United States (7.653 million tonnes, an increase of 5.4%), South Korea (6.371 million tonnes, an increase of 2.2%), the Russian Federation (5.95 million tonnes, a decrease of 2.7%), Germany (3.47 million tonnes, a drop of 6.2%), Turkey (3.063 million tonnes, a decrease of 8%), Brazil (2.751 million tonnes, an increase of 2.9%), and Iran (2.235 million tonnes, an increase of 3.8%).
They are followed by Italy (2.215 million tonnes, a growth of 1.1%), Taiwan (China, 2.04 million tonnes, a decrease of 2.6%) and Ukraine (1.827 million tonnes, an increase of 7.8%).
In May, 64 countries produced 162.744 million tonnes of steel, which is 5.4% more than in May 2018.
In January-May 2019, 64 countries produced 764.072 million tonnes of steel, which is 5% more than in the same period last year.
Private joint-stock company Weidmann Malyn paper factory (MPF, Zhytomyr region), the only producer of electrical insulating board for power engineering machines in Ukraine, increased production by 8.6% in January-May 2019 compared with January-May 2018, to UAH 294.48 million.
According to the UkrPapir association, in kind the factory’s production remained unchanged – 2,790 tonnes, while transformer board output grew by 29.7%, to 2,190 tonnes.
MPF Weidmann is a member of the WICOR international group, the only company in Eastern Europe that can supply almost all kinds of electrical insulating paper and cardboard meeting regional and international standards.
In 2018, the factory increased production of commodity goods by 7.7%, to almost UAH 636.46 million.
Grain production in Ukraine in the 2019/2020 MY (marketing year, July-June) will increase to 94 million tonnes (in the 2018/2019 MY the figure was 92 million tonnes), President of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) Mykola Horbachev has said at a press conference. “We expect 94 million tonnes of grain. Any overproduction will be in demand in the foreign market. Over the next three to four years, we expect production to increase to 100 million tonnes, and exports to 70 million tonnes,” he said.
According to him, areas under grain crops in Ukraine are stable, and the volume of production depends on the climate. Western regions of Ukraine are leading in production, and this trend will continue.
The expert also stressed that in the current season the maximum monthly volume of grain transshipment was 6 million tonnes, which dispels doubts whether the country will be able to increase exports to 70 million tonnes of grain in future.
