Ukrainian enterprises in January-July this year increased imports of nickel and nickel products by 2 times compared to the same period of 2023 – up to $16.980 million (in July – $4.026 million).
Ukraine for 2023 decreased imports of nickel and products by 74.2% compared to 2022 – to $15.391 million.
Nickel is used in the production of stainless steel, for nickel plating. Nickel is also used in the production of batteries, in powder metallurgy and in chemical reagents.
Enterprises and organizations of Ukraine in 2020 reduced their pretax profit from ordinary activities by 41%, to UAH 264.4 billion (in 2019 it was UAH 446.9 billion), the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to the State Statistics Service, last year Ukrainian enterprises that worked profitably received UAH 602.3 billion in profit, which is 2.9% less than in 2019.
At the same time, 29.2% of enterprises saw losses. Their losses in 2020 grew by 94.6% compared to 2019, to UAH 337.9 billion.
Some 39.3% of representatives of Ukrainian enterprises believe that their enterprises have significantly/insignificantly benefited from the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, according to a poll by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting.
According to a poll presented at an online presentation on Friday, in 2020, the largest number of enterprises assessed the impact of this document positively, since in 2018 this figure was 28%, in 2017 – 31.6%, and in 2016 – 28%.
At the same time, 50.7% of the respondents believe that the agreement did not affect their enterprise, and 5.6% believe the enterprise has lost significantly/slightly.
The lowest level of positive assessments of the impact of the agreement is among exporters. Some 22.7% of exporters indicated that the enterprise won, 62.4% that the document did not affect the enterprise, and 4.7% indicated that the enterprise lost.
Among the importers, 44.4% of the respondents believe that the enterprise won, 47.9% that the agreement did not have impact on the enterprise, and 3.8% that the enterprise lost. Some 45.1% of exporters and importers have positive expectations, 45.9% do not expect the impact of the agreement, and 4.9% expect a loss.
Big business feels more of the positive impact of the agreement. Among the representatives of large enterprises, 46.5% note that the enterprise won, 44.2% that the agreement did not have the impact on the enterprise, and 3.5% that the enterprise lost. The positive impact of the agreement is also indicated by 36.6% of the surveyed medium-sized enterprises, by 39.2% of small and by 39.4% of micro enterprises. The level of positive ratings increased among businesses of all sizes compared to 2016. The fact that the agreement did not have the impact on the enterprise is indicated by 50.9% of medium-sized, 49.5% of small and 52.7% of micro enterprises. Some 5.4% of the respondents of medium-sized enterprises said that the enterprise has lost. The same opinion is shared by 4.8% of respondents of small and 3.8% of micro enterprises.
The trade sector felt the greatest positive impact of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement (43.2%), and the least number of positive assessments was among the agricultural enterprises (21.7%). At the same time, in the service sector, there is the highest share of respondents who point to a loss caused by the agreement (10.4%). Compared to 2016, the share of positive assessments of industrial and trade enterprises increased by almost 1.5 times, at the same time, the level of positive assessments of agricultural and service enterprises almost did not change.
The leader among the positive assessments of the impact of the agreement is Lviv region, where 55.1% of the respondents indicated that their enterprise benefited from it. Almost every second respondent gave positive assessments in Rivne (48.3%), Ternopil (48%) and Chernivtsi (47.6%) regions. The smallest number of positive assessments is in Kherson region (18.2%), where only every fifth respondent indicated a benefit from signing an agreement.
In Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Donetsk, Sumy and Vinnytsia regions, there are no respondents who felt a negative impact on their enterprise. In more than half of the regions, negative assessments of the impact of the agreement are less than 4%. And in Kherson region, there is the highest share of respondents who believe that their company has lost from the agreement (13.6%).
Some 44.9% of the respondents believe that their company will benefit from the agreement within the next five years, 24.3% that it will not have impact, and 5.6% that the company will lose.
The least positive expectations are among enterprises that are engaged only in export (34.1%). Almost every second representative of import enterprises (48.1%) or simultaneously export and import (48.6%) has positive expectations. Among the exporters, there is the highest proportion of respondents who do not expect the impact of the agreement on the company (28.2%).
The highest expectations of a positive impact of the agreement are in Cherkasy (62.5%), Lviv (60.3%), and Ternopil (60%) regions. The smallest number of enterprises that expect positive results are in Kirovohrad (30%), Zaporizhia (31.7%), and Chernihiv (34.5%) regions.
The poll was conducted in 2020 by the project “Support for the Public Initiative for Fair and Transparent Customs” with the support of the European Union, the International Renaissance Foundation and Atlas Network. More than 1,000 representatives of enterprises were surveyed from micro to large enterprises, engaged in export and/or import. Most of the respondents are micro and small enterprises, representatives of industry and trade.
Ukrainian enterprises increased imports of copper and copper products in terms of money by 22.2% in January-May 2019 compared with January-May 2018, to $43.232 million. Exports of copper and copper products decreased 47.5% over the year to $39.288 million, according to customs statistics released by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine.
In May, copper and copper products were imported to the tune of $7.22 million, and copper exports were estimated at $10.171 million.
In addition, Ukraine in January-May 2019 increased imports of nickel and products made of it by 0.4%, to $39.061 million (imports in May were estimated at $8.952 million), while imports of aluminum and products made of it increased 10.8%, to $159.035 million ($36.524 million). Imports of, lead and products made of it rose by 23.8%, to $5.289 million ($1.039 million) and imports of tin and products made of it decreased 33.5%, to $1.42 ($0.403 million). Imports of zinc and zinc goods decreased 30.5%, to $26.458 million ($6.775 million).
Exports of aluminum and products made of it decreased 29% in January-May 2019, to $41.995 million ($10.135 million in May alone), while shipments of lead abroad decreased 32%, to $10.949 million ($3.112 million). Exports of nickel fell by 20.1%, to $2.519 million ($0.847 million in May).
Zinc exports in January-May 2019 amounted to $0.332 million (some $0.101 million in May) compared to $0.061 million in January-May 2018.
Exports of tin and products made of it in January-May 2019 were estimated at $0.027 million (some $0.004 million in May) compared to $0.268 million in January-May 2018.
Ukrainian enterprises in January-May 2019 decreased exports of ferrous scrap metal by 85.7% compared to January-May 2018, to 36,515 tonnes (250,984 tonnes in January-May 2018). According to customs statistics released by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, exports of scrap metal in monetary terms fell by 88.1%, to $9.983 million ($83.484 million a year ago).
Some 8,086 tonnes of scrap metal was exported in May, 8,791 tonnes in April, 8,246 in March, 8,252 tonnes in February and 3,140 tonnes in January.
At the same time, in January-May 2019, the country increased imports of scrap metal in kind by 38.4% compared to January-May 2018, to 28,710 tonnes. Imports in monetary terms decreased 10.9%, to $14.792 million.
Imports of scrap metal in January-May 2019 arrived mainly from Russia (49.09% of deliveries in monetary terms), Turkey (43.71%), and South Korea (3.13%); and major exports were shipped to Turkey (88.76%), the Netherlands (6.26%) and Germany (3.42%).
Ukrainian metal companies in January-May 2018 and January-May 2019 did not import 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.
As reported, Ukrainian enterprises in 2018 decreased exports of ferrous scrap metal by 33% compared to 2017, to 327,547 tonnes. Exports of scrap metal in monetary terms fell by 13.3%, to $105.646 million.
Enterprises and organizations in Ukraine in 2018 raised profit from ordinary activities before taxation by 23.6%, to UAH 353 billion, while in 2017 the figure was UAH 285.6 billion, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
According to the service, in 2018, profitable Ukrainian enterprises received UAH 579.96 billion of profit, which is 4.1% more than in 2017.
At the same time, 22.9% of enterprises posted a negative financial result. Their losses in 2018 decreased by 16.4% compared to 2017, to UAH 227 billion.
