Ukrainian enterprises in 2019 decreased exports of ferrous scrap metal by 87.2% compared to 2018, to 42,182 tonnes.
According to customs statistics released by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, exports of scrap metal in monetary terms fell by 88.9%, to $11.781 million.
In 2019, the country increased imports of scrap metal in kind by 17.2% compared to 2018, to 49,934 tonnes. Imports in monetary terms decreased 6.4%, to $34.254 million.
Imports of scrap metal for the mentioned period arrived mainly from Turkey (62.55% of deliveries in monetary terms), Russia (28.45%), and the Netherlands (2.23%); and major exports were shipped to Turkey (85.88%), the Netherlands (6.27%) and Germany (5.37%).
Ukrainian metal companies in 2019 imported 2,502 tonnes of ferrous products obtained by direct reduction of iron ore (HS code 7203) – hot briquetted iron (HBI), which is a substitute for pig iron and scrap metal for $811,000. The HBI was imported from Russia for a total value of $810,000 and China for $1,000.
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship has supported the new “metallurgical law” initiated by the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko, which proposes raising the current export duty on scrap metal from EUR 42 per tonne to EUR 54 per tonne for three years. According to a press release of the parliamentary committee, citing its chairman Viktor Halasiuk, this bill, due to the increase in export duties, will eliminate the shortage of raw materials for steel mills and keep jobs for Ukrainians.
At the same time, it is noted that starting from 2016, thanks to the adopted laws on increasing and extending the export duty on scrap metal from EUR 10/tonne to EUR 30/tonne, and then to EUR 42/tonne, positive trends are observed in Ukraine in the provision of metallurgical plants with these raw materials. For the third year in a row, the volume of domestic scrap metal supplies has been growing, the scrap metal deficit decreased from 850,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes. Today, this resource provides 98% of the needs of the metallurgical industry.
