In January-March 2024, Ukrgasvydobuvannya JSC increased gas production by 12% compared to the same period in 2023, Naftogaz reports on its website without specifying the final figure.
“This is the result of the launch of new productive wells, as well as effective work with the old stock. Our goal is to maintain this trend and reach production growth by the end of the year,” Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshev said in a statement.
According to him, traditionally, the highest production rates are in the east of the country, but in the west and central regions, the plan was also exceeded.
“Every gas production department of Ukrgasvydobuvannya, despite the shelling and sometimes even the lack of electricity supply, is meeting the gas production targets for this year. At the same time, there are risks, we understand that there may be shelling. However, the company will do everything possible to continue to meet the country’s needs,” added the company’s CEO Oleh Tolmachov.
As reported, in 2022, UGV produced 12.5 bcm of natural gas (commercial), which is 3% less than in 2021. At the end of 2023, the company’s commercial gas production amounted to 13.224 billion cubic meters, which is 0.679 billion cubic meters more than in 2022.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine owns 100% of Ukrgasvydobuvannya shares.
The plants of nitrogen holding Ostchem produced 520.6 thousand tons of mineral fertilizers in the first quarter of 2024, which is only 1% more than in the first quarter of 2023 (515.5 thousand tons), the holding said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The growth in production of the Ukrainian chemical industry has stopped due to the uncontrolled growth in fertilizer imports from Poland, as well as Russia-friendly Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan,” the company said.
According to the company, in the first quarter of 2024, fertilizer imports increased by 35% to 701.2 thousand tons.
It is specified that Cherkasy Azot produced 404.3 thousand tons in January-March this year, while Rivne Azot produced 128 thousand tons of fertilizers.
According to the report, the production structure remains fairly stable: ammonium nitrate is the leader (246 thousand tons produced), followed by urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN) (123.8 thousand tons) and urea (123.5 thousand tons). Production of limestone-ammonium nitrate (LAM) increased slightly year-on-year to 15.8 thousand tons, and ammonia to 9.08 thousand tons.
Ostchem noted that it met its obligations in full during the spring sowing season, but in 2024 the negative industry trend intensified, with fertilizer imports significantly exceeding domestic production.
“In the first quarter of 2024, imports amounted to 701.2 thsd tonnes, exceeding domestic production by 35%. Imports continue to kill domestic production: four fertilizer producers have already been shut down – OPP, Dniproazot, Rivneazot and Sumykhimprom,” commented Oleg Arestarkhov, Head of Corporate Communications at Group DF.
It is noted that Ukrainian producers continue to lose ground in the Ukrainian market in most fertilizer segments, except for UAN.
“First of all, Ukrainian chemical plants are dramatically losing the urea market: in the first quarter, Ukraine produced 123.5 thousand tons of urea, while imports amounted to 181 thousand tons. 88% of all imported urea came from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, countries friendly to Russia,” Arestarkhov added.
According to him, Poland is also strengthening its position as the largest importer of fertilizers to Ukraine, as it is currently flooded with cheap Russian and Belarusian fertilizers that are not subject to EU sanctions, which is why all the excess fertilizers from the Polish market are being redirected to Ukraine.
According to Ostchem, in 2023, Poland imported 1.016 million tons of urea, of which urea from Russia accounted for 34% (345 thousand tons). At the same time, in the first quarter of 2024, Poland has already become the undisputed leader among importers of such fertilizers as ammonium nitrate (52 thousand tons out of 109.7 thousand tons of total imports), ammonium sulfate nitrate (7.9 thousand tons out of 9.4 thousand tons), UAN (17.4 thousand tons), and NPK (63.2 thousand tons out of 144.3 thousand tons) in the Ukrainian market.
In the first quarter, Ukraine imported 121.9 thousand tons of sulphate (China is the leader with 75.3 thousand tons) and 74.6 thousand tons of superphosphate (Bulgaria – 37.3 thousand tons and Greece – 27.4 thousand tons),
“Unfortunately, behind the loud slogans of Ukrainian government officials within the Buy Ukrainian campaign, there are no practical steps to reduce imports and protect the Ukrainian fertilizer producer,” Arestarkhov emphasized, recalling the specific proposals of the Ukrainian Chemists Union to protect the domestic market that were submitted to the government.
Ostchem is the 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 Severodonetsk Azot and Stirol, which are out of operation and located in the occupied territories.
Cherkasy Azot PrJSC (Cherkasy, Ukraine) is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical companies. Its 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.
Metallurgical enterprises of Ukraine in March of this year increased steel production by 15.8% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 611 thousand tons from 527 thousand tons.
At the same time, Ukraine took 21st place in the ranking of 71 countries – global producers of these products, compiled by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).
According to Worldsteel, in March an increase in steel production was recorded by March 2023 in most countries of the top ten, except China, Japan and South Korea.
The top ten steel-producing countries at the end of March are as follows: China (88.270 million tons, a decrease of 7.8% compared to March 2023), India (12.709 million tons, an increase of 7.8%), Japan (7.197 million tons , decrease by 3.9%), USA (6.906 million tons, at the level of March 2023), Russia (6.640 million tons, increase by 0.8%), South Korea (5.282 million tons, down by 9.5%) , Germany (3.510 million tons, up 8.4%), Turkey (3.202 million tons, up 18%), Brazil (2.787 million tons, up 5.6%) and Iran (2.774 million tons, up 2 %).
In total, in March 2024, steel production decreased by 4.3% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 161.190 million tons.
In January-March 2024, the top ten steel producing countries are as follows: China (256.550 million tons, a decrease of 1.9% compared to January-March 2023), India (37.327 million tons, an increase of 9.7%), Japan ( 21.452 million tons, down 0.8%), USA (19.936 million tons, down 1.6%), Russia (18.680 million tons, down 0.2%), South Korea (16.245 million tons, down 2 .5%), Germany (9.704 million tons, an increase of 6%), Turkey (9.533 million tons, an increase of 28.4%), Brazil (8.293 million tons, an increase of 6.2%) and Iran (7.616 million tons , higher by 16.3%).
In general, over the 3 months of 2024, steel production increased by 0.5% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 469.060 million tons.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 1.687 million tons of steel in 3 months of 2024, which is 36.6% higher than the volumes for the same period in 2023 (for 3 months of 2023 – 1.235 million tons). The country is in 22nd place based on the results of 3 months – 2024.
As reported, in 2023, China produced 1 billion 19.080 million tons at the level of the previous year), India (140.171 million tons, +11.8%), Japan (86.996 million tons, -2.5%), USA (80.664 million tons , +0.2%), Russia (75.8 million tons, +5.6%), South Korea (66.676 million tons, +1.3%), Germany (35.438 million tons, -3.9%), Turkey (33.714 million tons, -4%), Brazil (31.869 million tons, -6.5%) and Iran (31.139 million tons, +1.8%).
In total, 71 countries produced 1 billion 849.734 million tons of steel in 2023, which is 0.1% less than in 2022.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 6.228 million tons of steel in 2023, which is 0.6% lower than the volumes for 2022. The country is in 22nd place by the end of 2023.
At the end of 2022, the top ten steel producing countries looked like this: China (1.013 billion tons, -2.1%), India (124.720 million tons, +5.5%), Japan (89.235 million tons, -7.4 %), USA (80.715 million tons, -5.9%), Russia (71.5 million tons, -7.2%), South Korea (65.865 million tons, -6.5%), Germany (36.849 million tons , -8.4%), Turkey (35.134 million tons, -12.9%), Brazil (33.972 million tons, -5.8%) and Iran (30.593 million tons, +8%).
At the end of 2022, Ukraine took 23rd place with the production of 6.263 million tons of steel (-70.7%).
In total, in 2022, 64 countries produced 1 billion 831.467 million tons of steel, which is 4.3% less than in 2021.
Ukraine and Latvia are working to increase drone production, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.
During a joint press conference in Kyiv with Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, Kuleba noted the great potential of Ukrainian and Latvian companies to increase production of attack UAVs.
“I am very grateful to Latvia for its leadership in the Drone Coalition. We are now working together to increase this production – we need more drones. I believe that Ukrainian and Latvian companies can really do a lot in this direction,” he said.
The minister also noted Latvia’s decision to join the Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells and noted that the production of shells was one of the central issues during the bilateral talks.
Kuleba also thanked Braža for making her first visit in her new position to Ukraine, which is a sign of special respect for Ukraine and its defenders.
Ferrexpo plc, a mining company with major assets in Ukraine, produced 3.814 million tonnes of pellets in January-March this year, up twice year-on-year (0.901 million tonnes) and 2.9 times more than in the previous quarter (0.627 million tonnes).
“Our operations delivered exceptional results in the first quarter, with total production up 203% quarter-on-quarter to over two million tonnes of iron ore pellets and concentrate. This is our best quarterly result since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Executive Chairman Lucio Genovese said in a release on Tuesday.
It is specified that the total production of commercial products (pellets and iron ore concentrate) in the first quarter of this year amounted to 2.054 million tons, which is 2.1 times higher than in the first quarter of 2023 and 3 times higher than in the previous quarter. In particular, the production of saleable concentrate in January-March 2024 amounted to 241 thousand tons, compared to 53 thousand tons in January-March 2023 and 50 thousand tons in October-December 2023.
Genovese noted that Ferrexpo was able to export products from Ukrainian ports again during the quarter, which allowed it to supply larger volumes to Europe and resume sales to customers in the Middle East and North Africa and Asia.
According to him, the company is currently seeing an increase in the conscription of its employees: 669 Ferrexpo employees are serving in the army, which is the highest figure since the start of the full-scale invasion, while 67 employees have returned and a veterans’ reintegration program is underway.
“While we consider the level of risk acceptable given the ongoing war in Ukraine, we will continue to utilize all available export capacity to ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are supported,” Genovese concluded.
The Group also successfully operated two and sometimes three pelletizing lines (out of four) during the quarter, changing product quality depending on customer demand and expanding logistics capabilities.
Total sales for the quarter amounted to 1.992 million tons, producing only pellets with an iron content of 65%.
As reported, 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.
The company ended 2023 with a net loss of $84.8 million compared to a net profit of $220.0 million in 2022. Revenue for 2023 fell by 47.8% to $651.8 million, and EBITDA by 83% to $130.2 million.
Ruta, a major Ukrainian manufacturer of sanitary and hygienic paper products, whose management company is VGP JSC (Lutsk), produced products worth UAH 417.4 million in January-March, up 8.2% compared to the same period in 2023.
According to Ukrpapir Association’s statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, in physical terms, in particular, the production of toilet paper in rolls increased by 1.7% to 31.9 million units, which remains the third result in the industry after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (64.5 million units) and Kokhava Paper Mill (37.7 million units).
Thus, in the first quarter, the company slowed its production growth rate in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2023, which amounted to 13.8% in the first two months. The growth rate of production in physical terms also slowed.
The company produces cellulose-based sanitary products from imported base paper.
VGP’s brand portfolio includes napkins, toilet paper, paper handkerchiefs, and kitchen towels under the Ruta, Ruta Selecta, Fesko, Nosovic, Polotenchko, 100% paper, Servetta, and Ecolo brands. The assortment includes more than 180 items.
As reported, in 2023, the company produced products worth UAH 1 billion 611 million, which is 64.8% more than in 2022.
According to the Clarity-project resource, in 2023, the company received UAH 185.2 million in net profit, up from UAH 3.6 million a year earlier.
