The production of metal structures in Ukraine by the end of 2021 may grow by 4-5%, this forecast was announced by Executive Director of the Ukrainian Steel Construction Center (USCC) Viacheslav Kolesnik in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“The first half of 2021 was good: the production of metal structures amounted to about 76,000 tonnes. The third quarter was slightly worse in terms of dynamics: at that moment the price began to fall, many believed that buying metal on a downtrend was not always justified. The situation has stabilized. We still expect that in 2021 we will get results somewhat better than last year – growth of 4-5%,” he said.
According to Kolesnik, the metal structures market is currently in a downtrend in metal prices. “The rise in energy prices halted the downward trend – since October, prices have frozen. We hope that the trend of growth in energy prices will not last long, by the end of winter the situation will stabilize and the downward trend in metal prices will continue,” he said.
According to the expert, fluctuations in metal prices do not have a significant impact on exports, but on the local market they are significant from the point of view of the competitiveness of metal structures in comparison with other structural materials.
Kolesnik noted one more factor that may affect the final results of the year. “Significant volumes of metal are used for road construction, in particular for road fencing. Payments are practically suspended there in October-November. If payments to road fence manufacturers are not resumed, this segment will sag by 25-30% year-over-year,” he said.
