Agroholding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, in July will invest UAH 500,000 in the installation of a technological line for the production of inverted sugar syrup at Novoorzhytske sugar plant (Novoorzhytske, Poltava region), the release of the first batch of products is planned for August 2021, the company’s press service said.
“The main consumers of inverted syrup will be Ukrainian beekeepers. This product can be used to feed bees, since it allows you to preserve the offspring of bee colonies and increase their productivity. Our product will allow beekeepers to increase the efficiency of their apiaries, introduce modern technologies in this process and maintain a leading position in honey production in the world,” curator of the project Ivan Chepak said.
According to the company, inverted sugar syrup is also in demand in confectionery industry, and if the pilot project is successfully implemented, Astarta will expand its production and expand sales markets. Developing this project, the company is increasing the volume of products with a higher degree of processing, forming the added value of its products, the report explains.
As reported, Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes five sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares and dairy farms with 22,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC).
ASTARTA expands its product range and launches a pilot project on invert sugar syrup production. The initial batch is scheduled for August 2021.
The process of technological reequipment of the enterprise has already started. A special processing line will be installed at the Novoorzhytskiy sugar factory in the first half of July. The total investments are UAH0.5m.
– The main consumers of the first batch of inverted syrup will be Ukrainian beekeepers. This product can be used as feeding during the overwintering of bee colonies and helps to increase their productivity. It will also allow beekeepers to increase efficiency in their apiaries, introduce modern technologies and maintain a leading position in honey production in the world, – said project manager Ivan Chepak.
Invert sugar syrup is in demand with the confectionery industry as well. Therefore, in case of successful implementation of the pilot project, ASTARTA plans to increase the production of invert syrup and expand the marketing capabilities.
Thus, forming the added value of its products, ASTARTA increases the volume of products with a higher degree of processing, creates efficient production with a closed technological cycle and performs technical and technological reequipment of its enterprises.
Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises are expected to increase steel production by 5% by the end of 2021 compared to 2020, to 21.723 million tonnes.
As reported in the background documents of the Ministry of Economy, which are at disposal of Interfax-Ukraine, production of general rolled products will also increase by 5%, to 19.394 million tonnes, as well as cast iron – by 5%, to 21.521 million tonnes.
The forecast is based on production indicators for January-May of this year, summarized by the Ukrmetalurgprom association, the ministry said.
At the same time, the source of the agency said that if the existing trends continue, the supply of scrap metal to metallurgical enterprises in 2021 will increase by 13%, to 3.280 million tonnes.
Output of pipes in 2021 may increase by 9%, to 931,000 tonnes, coke – by 3%, to 9.928 million tonnes, and refractories – by 7%, to 235,000 tonnes.
The main pipe enterprises of Ukraine in January-May this year increased production of pipes from ferrous metals, according to recent data, by 15.8% compared to the same period last year, to 385,000 tonnes, including 96,900 tonnes produced in May.
According to a press release of the Ukrtruboprom association on Wednesday, in particular, the enterprises of the association during this period increased pipe production by 11.8%, to 249,500 tonnes, including 67,000 tonnes produced in May, having raised production by 53.3% compared to the same period last year and by 17.3% compared to April this year.
“Ukrainian pipe enterprises continue to increase production,” the press release said.
At the same time, it is specified that the positive dynamics is demonstrated by Interpipe Niko Tube, which over the five months has increased output of pipe products by 46.1%. At the same time, Centravis cut production by 8.6% and Interpipe Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant by 21.3%, while Trubostal kept pipe production at last year’s level.
At the same time, Dnipropetrovsk Pipe Plant continues to be idle.
General Director of Ukrtruboprom Heorhiy Polsky noted that the growth of production at pipe enterprises began in March and has continued for the third month in a row.
“The positive dynamics in May was mainly due to the continued favorable situation in foreign markets. The increase and subsequent stabilization of oil prices led to an increase in demand for oil and gas pipes, and the end of winter has intensified the consumption of pipe products for construction purposes. An important positive factor was also the removal in different countries of restrictions related to the spread of COVID-19,” the press release said, citing the General Director.
At the same time, Polsky noted that demand within Ukraine continues to stagnate: hydrocarbon production is falling, and the renewal of housing and communal services has stalled. In this regard, Ukrainian pipe manufacturers are forced to rely on export markets.
“It is also necessary to note the sharp rise in the price of Ukrainian strip, which affected the plants producing welded pipes. In the spring, prices for this metal product rose by almost half. As a result, the pipe enterprises were unable to quickly shift the growth of costs during pricing, that is why they lost orders and reduced production,” the head of Ukrtruboprom said.
A source in the industry, not a member of the Ukrtruboprom association, told Interfax-Ukraine that Mariupol-based Illich Iron and Steel Works over the five months of 2021 increased pipe production by 10.8%, to 64,500 tonnes ( in May – 14,300 tonnes), and Kominmet increased pipe production by 38.7%, to 71,000 tonnes (15,600 tonnes).
According to its information, which was confirmed by Interpipe, since April of this year, the pipe rolling production at Interpipe Nyzhniodniprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant has formally become a part of Interpipe Niko Tube.
Ukraine and Egypt are discussing the possibility of joint production between enterprises and export to the African market, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt Ayman Ahmed Mokhtar Elgammal has said in an exclusive interview to Interfax-Ukraine.
Egypt is a member of a number of free trade areas in African and Arab countries, he said. The official added that, for example, they invited the Ukrainian government to invest in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).
According to the ambassador, Ukrainian enterprises will be able to manufacture products in Egypt and benefit from Egyptian free trade agreements in the region.
This will also be the topic of a meeting of the intergovernmental technical committee in June, he added.
At the same time, he clarified that so far no proposals have been received from Ukrainian companies on investments in SCZone.
At the same time, various organizations in Ukraine, in particular Ukrmashbud and its member companies, have asked to open their representative offices in Egypt for the joint production of high-tech goods of heavy engineering, the ambassador said.
The production of cable and wire products in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 8.2% (by weight of metal) compared to the same period in 2020, the Ukrelektrokabel association reported on its website on Monday.
“Due to quarantine restrictions, a rapid decrease in demand, an uncontrolled rise in prices for raw materials and other unfavorable factors, in the first quarter of 2021 the enterprises of the association and the cable industry of Ukraine showed a decline,” the association said.
According to the analysis of the activities of the member enterprises, the processing of copper decreased by 12.1%, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) compounds by 13.1%, polyethylene by 8.5%, and insulating varnishes by 25.2%.
A significant decrease in production was demonstrated, in particular, by self-supporting insulated and protected wires by 30.1%; power cables with voltage up to 1 kV by 23.5%; electrical wires for power units by 27.7%, and lighting cords and wires by 18.1%.
The production of wires for industrial blasting operations fell even more significantly by 66.2% and radio frequency cables by 55%.
In addition, Ukrelektrokabel informs, in the first quarter, TF Cable Ukraine LLC (Chernihiv), a manufacturer of cable and wire products for energy distribution networks, has completely ceased production and 25% of the personnel were laid off.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, TF Cable Ukraine LLC with a charter capital of UAH 125.6 million was registered in 2008, and 100% of its shares are owned by the Polish company Tele-Fonika Kable.
According to Ukrelektrokabel, the negative events also included the forced reduction of 60% of the personnel at Cable Factory LLC (Kamianets-Podilsky), which produces installation cables and wires, as well as 15% of the personnel at Odesa-based Twomen Cable Factory (production of telecommunication copper and fiber-optic cables).
According to the data on the association’s website, it unites 18 manufacturers of cable and wire products, including large ones: Odeskabel, Pivdencable (Yuzhcable) plants (Kharkiv) and others.
