In January-March of this year Ukrtruboprom has increased pipes production by 5.9% in comparison with the same period of the last year – up to 126.5 thousand tons.
According to the Association, this January they produced about 30 thousand tons of tubes (44.9% of January-2022), in February – 39.5 thousand tons (80.4% of February-2022), in March – 57 thousand tons (1631.4% of March-2022).
It is to be noted that the pipe companies showed multidirectional dynamics in the first quarter. In particular, “Interpipe Niko Tube” and NPO with IP “Ukrtruboizol” increased the production of seamless tubes by 21.6% and 7.7%, respectively, while “Trubostal” decreased by 73.3%, “Centravis” – stainless steel tubes by 23.7%, “Interpipe NMTZ” – electric-welded pipes by 89.1%. Oskar pipe production dropped by 16.7%.
Georgiy Polskiy, director general of Ukrtruboprom, noted that the results of the first quarter of 2023, although they look positive at first glance, are deceptive when viewed in more detail: most companies showed a decline in production, and the final 6% increase is only the result of a low comparison base.
“Let me remind you that last March the industry virtually came to a halt due to the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. In any case, we cannot speak of pre-war production volumes in the pipe industry. However, due to the stable conjuncture of foreign markets (although there is a certain slowdown in consumption with some regional changes), the output of pipes is growing every month,” said the general director.
According to him, in this light, the situation with scrap metal supply for seamless pipes producers in Ukraine, who use scrap metal as the main raw material, is of great concern.
Thus, the first quarter of 2023 was characterized by a strong shortage of scrap in Ukraine, the volume of which reached 20% in the MMC as a whole.
“Obviously, this factor led to losses in production at pipe enterprises. Moreover, the situation remains tense, as Ukraine has been experiencing a strategic shortage of scrap for more than 20 years, and there are now no tools to increase scrap production. Exacerbate the situation is a record amount of exports of scrap metal, which is exported from the country without paying duty through non-transparent schemes, which causes damage to the state budget, “- said Polish, quoted by the press service.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Ukrtruboprom enterprises in 2022 reduced the production of pipes by 37.9% compared to 2021, to 449.7 thousand tons. Last year all plants showed negative dynamics. “Interpipe Niko Tube” and “Trubostal” decreased the production of seamless pipes by 31.1% and 61.6%, respectively, “Centravis” – stainless steel pipes by 38.3%, “Interpipe NMTZ” – electric-welded pipes by 67.1%. Oskar pipe production dropped by 20%, and only Ukrtruboizol, an NGO with a CI, reached the output level of the year before last. The Dnepropetrovsk pipe plant is idle and is in a state of liquidation.
