Cement production in Ukraine in 2022 decreased by 51% compared to 2021 – to 5.4 million tons, while its consumption was 35% of the indicator of the previous year, according to the association “Ukrcement”.
“Eight enterprises of the Association in 2022 produced cement strategically important for the country, which was primarily used on important construction sites of defense value. The decline in cement consumption led, respectively, to a decrease in production. At the same time, January 2022 was a record for cement production in the last six years”, – said Liudmila Krypka, executive director-head of the scientific and technical information department of the association “Ukrcement”.
According to her, export of products to the European Union helped slow down production decline. For example, cement exports for the year decreased by only 3.7% and amounted to 935 thousand tons, while imports decreased 14.8 times to 39 thousand tons.
In the structure of imports last year, 46.5% were ordinary cements, 41.6% – white cements, 10.9% – other hydraulic cements, 1% – alumina.
“The dynamics of cement exports 2022 indicates that the Ukrainian producers have fully provided the domestic market and continued to support their production with deliveries to other countries, mainly to the EU,” – said the expert.
In turn, Ukrainian companies in 2022 produced 16 types of cement, among which the most popular were cements with slag. At the same time manufacturers continue searching for ways to increase the efficiency of Portland cement while reducing the share of clinker, which is one of the main factors of reducing CO2 emissions, emphasizes Krypka.
The association is also considering using shredded construction waste from demolished buildings (linoleum, carpets, polyethylene, rubber, wood, plastic, roofing felt etc.) to burn in cement kilns as an alternative fuel, which can reduce the need for energy.
Last year “Ukrcement” in cooperation with SE “GosdorNII” published “Album of standard designs of rigid road clothes”, which contains information on variants of road clothes taking into account the category of roads, region, soil, technology.
“Road construction is a material-intensive production with a high proportion of the cost of raw and basic materials. Lack of bitumen forces us to switch to the best practices and domestic construction materials. Detailed characteristics of each construction are collected in the album, as well as technologies of restoration or strengthening of road with cement concrete”, – points out the executive director of the association.
Association “Ukrcement” was created in January 2004 by reorganization of Ukrainian concern of enterprises and organizations of cement and asbestos cement industry “Ukrcement”.
Cherkasy-based Azot, part of Ostchem’s nitrogen holding company, produced 235,000 tons of mineral fertilizers in January-February 2023, up 23% from January-February last year, Group DF press service said Wednesday.
“Production in February 2023 was 123,700 tons of products per month, the highest since the start of the all-out war,” the release specified.
According to it, urea was the key product, due to which the company showed an increase in production volumes in January-February 2023. Its production for two months increased almost three times – up to 67.4 thousand tons.
UAN production also increased by more than 10%, from 50.9 thousand tons to 56.2 thousand tons, while the volume of ammonium nitrate production slightly decreased – by 2%, to 102.2 thousand tons.
“This year, because of military risks, farmers delayed until the last moment the decision to buy mineral fertilizers, there was a significant deferred demand. As a result, in January-February demand for our products increased significantly. It is logical that the company increased its capacity utilization to 70-75%,” Vitaliy Sklyarov, Cherkasy Azot’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
According to him the enterprise is not reducing loading in March because the agrarians continue to actively buy fertilizers and many have not formed the stocks enough for the spring sowing campaign.
Sklyarov stressed that in March and April the company will continue to work at 70-80% of its capacity, “as long as there will be a high demand from the side of farmers”. He specified that today all basic fertilizer production facilities of ammonia, ammoniac acid, ammonium nitrate, urea and UAN are operating at the plant.
“The catalyst for the sharp increase in demand in 2023 was a decrease in selling prices for mineral fertilizers during the ‘hot’ season, which was possible due to lower prices for gas, the main raw material for the production of fertilizers,” also noted the head of the board.
According to him, the growth of demand is limited by the financial capabilities of fertilizer consumers: on the one hand, the support of farmers by the state has a significant effect, but on the other hand, access to finance for small and medium agrarians is still very limited.
It is reported that since the beginning of 2023 Nitrogen Holding Ostchem reduced the cost of urea by 9 thousand UAH – to 29 thousand UAH/ton, ammonium nitrate – by 8.5 thousand UAH, to 28.5 thousand UAH/ton, UAN – by 4 thousand UAH, to 29 thousand UAH/ton.
Ostchem enterprises produced 1.75 million tons of mineral fertilizers in 2022, of which Cherkassy Azot produced 1.117 million tons.
In January-February 2010, the Tripolskij packaging plant (TUK, Ukrainka, Kyiv oblast), a subsidiary of the Rubizhne carton and packaging plant (Lugansk oblast), produced UAH 430.11 mln worth of products, which is 48.7% more than during the same period in 2022.
According to Interfax-Ukraine agency statistical data provided by UkrPapir association, during this period the mill produced 22.97 mln. sq. m of corrugated packaging, which is 29.8% more, which is the second result by volume of production after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (35.45 mln. sq. m).
In total, the main enterprises of the industry, which provided the data to the association UkrPapir, in January and February, produced 78.5 million square meters of carton packaging – 0.6% less than during the same period, which was almost before the war in 2022.
Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Rubizhne carton factory together with TUK predominantly led the market of corrugated packaging manufacturers in Ukraine – in January-February 2022, both companies produced more than 28 million square meters of corrugated packaging (including TUK – 19.2 million square meters), and the total production volume in money terms was UAH 667 million.
After the destruction the plant in Rubizhne stopped, and the legal entity PJSC Rubizhne CPC was re-registered in Kiev.
TUK produces a wide range of corrugated products.
According to the resource opendatabot, PJSC “RKTK” owns 99.96% in LLC “TUK”, and the ultimate beneficiary is the general director of Rubizhansky KTK Hennadii Minin, who since September 2022 has also managed Tripoli packing plant.
In January-February the Papir-Mal cardboard and paper mill (Malyn, Zhytomyr oblast) produced output for 76.94 mln UAH, which is more than 2.5 times higher than in two months of 2022.
According to statistics from UkrPapyr Association, the increase of production was caused by a 2.5-fold growth in output of containerboard (including paper for corrugation) to 11.76 thousand tons, while production of base paper for sanitary products decreased by 21.3% to 0.69 tons and toilet paper rolls – by 26%, to 2.63 million pieces.
Thus, the total output of paper and paperboard increased 2.2-fold to 12.45 thousand tons.
As reported, last year the mill put into operation the second cardboard machine (KDM) with a production capacity of 800m/min (twice more than the first), which allowed “Papir-Mal” to reach a positive total dynamics of paper and cardboard production by the end of the year, despite a drop in paper output by 37%.
With the beginning of a full-scale military aggression of Russia against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 the mill completely stopped production and postponed the launch of the second paper machine, but in March it resumed production.
The production volume of the company in 2022 decreased by 4.7% against 2021 – to 247 mln hryvnia.
Centravis Production Ukraine PJSC (Centravis Production Ukraine), part of Centravis Ltd holding, has invested more than UAH 50 mln in its Uzhgorod branch, officially opened in late February and plans further expansion.
According to the company’s Wednesday press release, the new production facility in Uzhgorod specializes in tool pipes for the world’s leading car brands (Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, and Chevrolet).
The total investment amounted to more than UAH 50 million, about 100 employees work at the new plant, but this year it is planned to expand and build the second stage.
“Our team has been nurturing the idea of a new plant for a long time, but the war became the driver of this process and we quickly moved from design to action. The overall goal is to strengthen our position in the global market and strengthen the sustainability of the company,” explains Centravis CEO Yuri Atanasov, who is quoted by the press service.
According to his words, the management was considering different locations for new production – in Ukraine and abroad, but in the end it was decided to start the work in Uzhgorod. Main reasons – desire to invest in their country during hard war time, create jobs for Ukrainian employees and proximity to the western border, which in its turn would help to deliver orders to “Centravis” customers even faster.
Head of production in Uzhgorod Sergey Shadsky noted that this is only the first phase of the plant, and immediately after the opening work on its expansion began. Production in Uzhgorod will not depend on cold production in Nikopol, because the first deformation run can be carried out on the relocated mill KhPT-55 cold rolling directly on the production site in Uzhgorod, but the branch will still receive semi-finished products from the hot production of the main site in Nikopol.
“We plan to complete the works on the second stage of construction by summer, and we are already planning the third stage. We have ambitious plans. We want Uzhgorod to be known as one of the world centers for the production of pipes for cars, “- summarized the head of the new production “Centravis” in Uzhgorod.
As it was reported, official opening of new Centravis’s production site of specialized production of instrument tubes for cars was held in Uzhgorod on February 28.
Also reported that the holding Centravis Ltd re-registered its parent company in Switzerland, replacing the Cypriot location, which is expected to help improve credit rating and attract longer and cheaper money to develop production in Ukraine.
“Centravis was founded in 2000 and is among the ten largest manufacturers of seamless stainless steel tubes in the world. Its main production capacities are located in Nikopol (Dnipropetrovsk region). In 2022 the company has realized a number of large-scale orders for such world companies as Benteler Automotive, LINSTER Edelstahlhandel, Rohr Mertel, Buhlmann Group, Webco, MRC. The company employs more than 1400 people.
Holding Centravis Ltd. was created on the base of Nikopol Stainless Tube Works CJSC, service and trade companies Industrial and Commercial Enterprise Yuvis Ltd. Its shareholders are members of the Atanasov family.
Centravis Ltd. owns 100% of shares of Centravis Production Ukraine PJSC.
In January-February, Poninkivska Cardboard and Paper Mill-Ukraine (PCPM-Ukraine, Khmelnytsky region), a major Ukrainian corrugated cardboard producer, increased its output of corrugated packaging by almost 30% compared to the same period in 2022, to 12.41 million square meters.
According to Ukrpapir Association statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, the mill is still among the top three producers of corrugated packaging after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill and Trypillia Packaging Mill, and is still the fastest growing.
As reported, according to data collected by the association from the industry’s major enterprises, a total of 78.5 million square meters of cardboard boxes were produced in Ukraine over two months, down only 0.6% from the almost pre-war January-February period last year.
According to UkrPapir, Poninkivska KBF-Ukraine produced a total of UAH 417.44 million worth of products in two months, up 27.9% year-on-year.
In physical terms, paper production also increased by 21.6% to 107 tons and production of containerboard by 12.4% to 11.54 thousand tons.
Poninkivske Mill (formerly Poninkivske Cardboard and Paper Mill), once the largest producer of school notebooks, now has one main production line – paper and cardboard, producing mainly corrugated cardboard and corrugated packaging, as well as wrapping and waste paper.
The mill is part of the United Cardboard Company-Ukraine (UCC, Lutsk), whose production assets include, among others, Lutsk KBF-Ukraine (Volyn region), which produced 8.8 thousand tons of cardboard in January-February (according to Ukrpapir), up 18.7%, including 5.76 thousand tons of containerboard (+8.2%).
As reported, in 2022, Poninkivska KBF-Ukraine produced products worth UAH 2 billion 446 million, up 6.5% year-on-year.
