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.
Electric steelmaking complex Interpipe Steel of the international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company Interpipe (Dnipro) in January-October this year increased steel production, according to recent data, by 23.9% compared to the same period last year, to 793,000 tonnes.
As the company told Interfax-Ukraine, 63,000 tonnes of steel were produced in October, while in September – 97,000 tonnes.
According to the information of the enterprise, the reason for a decrease in production volumes was the annual overhaul, which ended on November 1 after 12 days of repair work.
“In addition to traditional replacements of parts and assemblies, which are carried out regularly or periodically in each overhaul, during this time, five sections of a water-cooled gas duct, a bearing on an arc steel-making furnace, and technological axes were set on both continuous casting machines. We have completed all the planned work in full,” the company said in a statement.
Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial company, a manufacturer of seamless pipes and railway wheels. The company’s products are supplied to more than 80 countries of the world through a network of sales offices located in the key markets of the CIS, the Middle East, North America and Europe. In 2020, Interpipe sold 662,000 tonnes of finished products, including 192,000 tonnes of railway products. Sales of railway products are carried out under the KLW brand.
The sale of agricultural products and residues of its production for the operation of biogas plants can become a guarantor of the state’s energy security, the agricultural sector can significantly strengthen NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy from the point of view of energy independence. As reported on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Tuesday with reference to Minister Roman Leshchenko, the adoption at the final reading bill No. 5464 on amendments to the law of Ukraine on alternative fuels regarding the development of biomethane production by the Verkhovna Rada last week gives Ukraine every chance to become a center for the production and supply of biomethane, as well as a source of energy security for Europe.
“In the conditions of very expensive energy resources – gas and electricity, not only food security, but also energy security is impossible without the agricultural sector,” Leshchenko said.
He said that the development of the biomethane market will allow Ukrainian farmers to obtain an alternative source of energy from waste and residues of their own production, and as a result, use biomethane instead of natural gas for the production of heat and electricity, as well as fuel for transport and raw materials for the chemical industry.
Biosphere Corporation (Dnipro), the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of household and hygienic products, plans in 2022 to launch production of starch-based biopolymers, which will be completely decomposed, founder and CEO of Biosphere Andriy Zdesenko said at the 2021 International Mayors Summit in Kyiv.
“It will be in Dnipro, where we have a plant and a large production cluster. Our task is to make vertical integration,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the summit, specifying that production of biodegradable bags started by the corporation in early 2020 is carried out from purchased raw materials.
Zdesenko at the summit noted the readiness of Biosphere to supply such biopackages from biopolymers to municipalities for pets. “Only 1% of the total number of owners constantly use packages and clean up after their pets,” the head of the corporation said.
Rostyslav Vovk, CEO and co-owner of Kormotech, a large Ukrainian producer of cat and dog food, added that the company is ready, together with Biosphere and municipalities, to implement projects to collect this waste in parks.
Zdesenko also noted that the corporation is aimed at direct cooperation with cities to build a circular economy “you give us garbage – and we give a finished product.”
“The idea is that we can receive sorted waste not through a network of intermediaries […] but directly from the city. So that we receive the sheeting, make large-size garbage bags out of it for municipal needs and deliver it to the city directly from the factory, also bypassing all the chains of intermediaries, at the most competitive price with the correct dimensions and technologies,” he explained.
According to him, he is conducting such negotiations with mayor of Lviv, “the most advanced city in terms of waste management,” Andriy Sadovy and mayor of Dnipro Borys Filatov.
Zdesenko pointed out: despite the development of the market, today high-quality waste in Ukraine is expensive and in short supply. According to him, a tonne of polyethylene waste of various grades in Poland, the Czech Republic or Lithuania costs about EUR 200, while in Ukraine, which is now practically deprived of the opportunity to import it from Europe due to EU restrictions, it is “EUR 350, or even EUR 400”.
“Buying this raw material, processing it, I, in fact, am not capable of producing a competitive product for export,” he said.
In this regard, Biosphere begins to involve a large number of international companies in the overall waste collection project, in particular, it started the first project with McDonald’s, and the project with PepsiCo is at the start.
Biosphere Corporation has been operating in Ukraine for over 20 years. Its products are presented in the markets of 30 countries in Europe and Asia. The product portfolio includes more than 2,000 items under 13 trademarks.
Sales of meat for slaughter (in live weight) in Ukraine in January-August 2021 decreased by 2% compared to January-August 2020, to 2.1 million tonnes, milk production – by 6.2%, to 6.04 million tonnes, eggs – by 14.5%, to 9.87 billion pieces, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to its data, as of September 1, poultry numbers in Ukraine decreased by 1.5% compared to the same date last year, to 240.1 million birds, pigs – by 1%, to 6.09 million animals, cattle – by 6.4%, to 3.18 million animals, sheep and goats – by 5.6%, to 1.34 million animals.
The sale of poultry for slaughter by agricultural enterprises in the first eight months of this year decreased by 1.9% against January-August last year and amounted to 438.4 million birds, the sale of pigs increased by 11.6% – to 3.38 million animals, cattle – decreased by 10.3%, to 211,400 animals, sheep – by 23.3%, to 31,800 animals.
Agricultural enterprises for the same period sold 22.9% fewer eggs – 4.57 billion pieces.
The State Statistics Service clarified that in January-August 2021 the leaders in production of eggs became Kyiv region with 1.75 billion pieces (more by 0.5% against January-August 2020), Khmelnytsky – 344.4 million units (less by 35.5%), Kherson – 333.7 million units (less by 28.6%) and Dnipropetrovsk regions – 325.7 million units (less by 5.5%).
According to the statistics department, in the eight months of 2021 the most milk was produced by enterprises of Poltava – 260,700 tonnes (less by 2% compared to January-August 2020), Cherkasy – 190,400 tonnes (less by 7.3%), Kharkiv – 165,600 tonnes (more by 0.5%) and Chernihiv – 153,900 tonnes (less by 6.3%) regions.
JSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia begins to use a new technology for Ukraine’s basin analysis and modeling of hydrocarbon systems for prospecting and exploration of hydrocarbons, the company’s communications department said.
“Basin modeling is another step towards reducing risks, primarily drilling. Thanks to this technology, we will be able to improve the accuracy of risk assessment both for individual promising objects and for large geological structures in order to increase the resource base and production of Naftogaz,” Director of the Naftogaz Exploration and Production Division Oleksandr Romaniuk said, whose words are quoted in a press release on Thursday.
The company explained that based on the analysis of spatial dynamic 4D models of hydrocarbon systems, the company will predict risks, calculate the cost of projects and make decisions on production plans, in particular, drilling new wells.
The company plans to use basin analysis to assess the oil and gas potential of the Black Sea areas, prospect for hydrocarbons in the Carpathian fold belt and additional exploration of licensed areas in the Dnipro-Donetsk basin, the report says.
In UkrNDIGas, a research division of Naftogaz, the new direction is headed by Felipe Rodriguez, who has over 20 years of experience in the basin analysis industry and has worked on the development of oil and gas deposits in a number of countries, in particular, in BP, Repsol and Cepsa companies.
As the company said, the technology of basin modeling is actively used by the leading international oil and gas companies ExxonMobil, Shell, BP for forecasting and planning exploration and development processes.
