According to the data issued by the Ukrainian Association of Metal Traders, in the first quarter of 2010 the country registered an 8.8 percent increase year on year in its rolled steel products consumption to approximately 1.196 million mt.
Accordingly, in Q1 this year Ukrainian pipemaking companies increased purchases of domestic and imported rolled products by 3.2 percent to 330,664 mt, local construction companies cut purchases by 36.8 percent to 10,427 mt, while hardware producers raised their purchases by 55.7 percent to 111,081 mt, all compared to the same period last year. Furthermore, Ukrainian steel traders, including the smaller companies, increased their purchases of domestic and imported rolled steel products by 14.3 percent to 362,768 mt, machine building companies raised their purchases by 72.1 percent to 237,182 mt, while mining and metallurgical companies decreased their purchases by 45 percent to 111,135 mt, all compared to Q1 2009.
In the first quarter of this year, traders' share in the total rolled steel consumption volume in the Ukrainian domestic market amounted to 30 percent, the share of pipemaking companies amounted to 28 percent, the share of machine building companies reached 20 percent, the share of mining and metallurgical companies amounted to nine percent, the share of hardware producers was also nine percent, the share of construction companies stood at one percent, while the share of other companies amounted to three percent.