According to Ukrainian Coke Producers' Association (UkrKoks), in September this year the country's coke output was unchanged month on month, amounting to 1.5 million mt.
"Although traditionally 95-98 percent of Ukrainian coke output is supplied to domestic steelmakers, in September Ukrainian coke output was unchanged month on month, while Ukrainian steel output was up 5.5 percent month on month. This was likely due to the use of inventories by domestic steelmakers and a reduction in coke exports by Evraz," analysts from Astrum Investment Management noted.
Accordingly, Metinvest's subsidiary Avddivka Coke, Evraz-owned coking plants (Bagleykoks, Dneprkoks and Dneprodzerzhinsk), and ISD's subsidiary Alchevsk Coking Plant were the growth leaders in September, boosting output by six, four and two percent month on month respectively. Zaporizhkoks posted the worst performance in the industry, seeing its output fall by nine percent month on month.
In the January-September period of the current year, Ukraine's coke output went up by seven percent year on year to 13.71 million mt.
Sept 2010 | Change m-o-m | Jan-Sept 2010 | Change y-o-y | |
Total | 1,504,000 | 0% | 13,713,000 | +7% |
Alchevsk Coking Plant | 212,000 | +2% | 2,228,000 | -14% |
Avddivka Coke | 316,000 | +6% | 2,467,000 | +21% |
ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih | 225,000 | -3% | 2,005,000 | +16% |
Azovstal | 179,000 | -3% | 1,590,000 | +8% |
Yasynivka Coke | 132,000 | -3% | 1,184,000 | +8% |
Zaporizhkoks | 97,000 | -9% | 924,000 | -1% |
Evraz's coke plants | 149,000 | +4% | 1,394,000 | +10% |
Others | 194,000 | -4% | 1,921,000 | +17% |
According to Astrum Investment Management, in October Ukraine is likely to see a two to three percent growth month on month in coke output, driven by the increase in demand for the coke of Alchevsk Coking Plant and the Evraz-owned coke producers.