Business news from Ukraine

Ukraine cuts imports of nickel ores by 98%

Ukraine in January-April of this year reduced the import of nickel ores and concentrates in physical terms by 97.5% compared to the same period last year – up to 7.238 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), in monetary terms, imports of nickel ores decreased by 98% to $257,000 during the period.
Imports were from Guatemala (100% of shipments in monetary terms).
Ukraine did not export or re-export this product in January-April, both this year and last year.
As it was reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced the imports of nickel ores and concentrates by 71.9% in physical terms compared to the previous year – up to 346.719 thousand tons. In monetary terms, imports of nickel ores decreased by 73.8% to $15.428 million. Imports were from Guatemala (100% of deliveries in monetary terms).
For 2022, like in 2021, Ukraine did not export or re-export this product.
Ukraine imports nickel ore from Pobuzhsky Ferronickel Plant (PFK, part of Solway Group).
PFC processes about 1.2 million tons of ore per year.

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Import changes in % to previous period in 2021-2023

Import changes in % to previous period in 2021-2023

Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news

Import of goods in jan-feb 2023 on most important positions and in relation to Jan-Feb 2022

Import of goods in jan-feb 2023 on most important positions and in relation to Jan-Feb 2022

Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news

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Ukraine renews 5-year record for lower pork imports

Total supplies of fresh, chilled and frozen pork meat in April 2023 were 16% lower than in March and amounted to 424 tonnes, the association Pig Breeders of Ukraine said.
In monetary terms, Ukraine imported $1.03 million worth of pork in April, the industry association cited data from the State Customs Service on Wednesday.
According to analysts, the April figure was the lowest since 2018.
“In contrast to previous years, low import activity has created an atypical lever of support for domestic prices in the pork market, because raw materials from abroad are not yet creating competition to domestic ones,” the association noted.
Analysts explain this trend by the continuing increase in pork prices in the EU, which has lasted since January and, although it slowed down a little in April, but did not stop.
“It is more difficult for domestic importers to find affordable commodity items for the Ukrainian market,” – stated in the association, noting that the average cost of imported pork in April rose to $ 2.4 per kg compared to $ 1.88 per kg in March.
Overall, in January-April 2023 Ukraine received 3.58 thousand tons of chilled and frozen pork meat, which is 4.5 times less than during the same period in 2022.

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Ukraine in January-March cheese exports doubled

Ukraine exported 2.082 thousand tons of cheese in January-March 2023, which is 2.04 times more than during the same period of 2022. According to customs statistics, in monetary terms, exports were $10.212 million, which is 2.3 times more than a year earlier.

At the same time, the volume of cheese imports was 24.9% less – 7.084 thousand tons in January-March this year. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 8.5% to $43.520 million compared to the same period in 2022.

In this case, the main export of cheese was carried out in Kazakhstan (54.17% of supplies in monetary terms), Moldova (23.86%) and Jordan (5.39%), imports – from Poland (42.39%), Germany (21.23%) and the Netherlands (8.96%).

Ukraine imported 33.818 thousand tons of cheese in 2022 (a decrease of 38.7% compared to 2021), while exporting 8.989 thousand tons (an increase of 29.8%). Exports of butter rose by 29.9% to 14.104 thousand tons last year, while imports fell by 8.21 times to 1.128 thousand tons. Exports of milk and cream (condensed) amounted to 26.696 thousand tons (+19%), while imports – 1.214 thousand tons (a 6.4-fold decrease).

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Ukraine reduced banana imports by 11% in January-March

Ukraine in January-March of this year reduced banana imports by 10.9% compared to the same period last year – up to 53.128 thousand tons.

According to customs statistics, in monetary terms imports of these products increased by 49% – to $56.303 million.

At the same time, imports were carried out mainly from Ecuador (60.50% of supplies in monetary terms), Costa Rica (20.29%) and Colombia (9.27%).

In 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of bananas by 40.6% year-on-year to 194,969 thousand tons and citrus fruits by 24.9% to 275,034 thousand tons.

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