Ukraine: domestic, export scrap supplies drop

In September 2006, scrap supplies to Ukrainian steel mills decreased by 5 percent, or by 30,000 metric tons month on month to 585,000 metric tons. The undersupply of scrap in September was caused by the delay in payment by Ukrainian mills for received scrap, as well as by the shortage of railway carriers. However, in the January-September 2006 period, the domestic scrap supplies rose by 9 percent year on year to 4.9 million metric tons. As for export dispatches, Ukrainian exporters indicated a 45.3 percent decrease in scrap exports to 580,200 metric tons in the first nine months of 2006. In September alone, Ukraine's scrap exports were only 70,100 metric tons.