According to the preliminary data, in the first nine months of 2008 Ukraine registered a one percent decline year on year in both its finished steel product and crude steel outputs, to 28.017 million metric tons and 31.618 million metric tons respectively.
During the given period, Ukraine saw a six percent decrease in its steel pipe production to 1.926 million metric tons, a 36 percent drop in its ferroalloy production to 1.926 million metric tons and one percent reduction in its pig iron production to 26.463 million metric tons. On the other hand, the country's production of metallurgical coke went up by seven percent year on year to 16.181 million mt during the first nine months of 2008.
In its iron ore segment, in January-September 2008 Ukraine produced 60.479 million metric tons of iron ore - up five percent compared to January-September 2007.
During the period in question, scrap supplies to the Ukrainian steelmakers went up by two percent year on year to 5.2 million mt.