The first deputy of Ukraine's Industrial Policy Ministry, Mr. Dmitry Kolesnikov, has announced that the country expects to sign a steel trade agreement with the European Union (EU) within a couple of days. The agreement will increase the Ukrainian steel quota for 2007 by about 30 percent to 1.31 million metric tons.
The temporary agreement currently in place provides the same conditions for trade in steel as in 2006. Under the terms of the agreement for 2005-6, the steel quota will be in effect as long as Ukraine has an export duty of €30/mt on scrap. If this duty is reduced, the quota will be increased accordingly. Is this duty is lifted, the quota will be raised by 43 percent.
In December of last year, Ukraine passed a bill promulgating a gradual decrease in its export duty on scrap from €30/mt to €10/mt upon the country's accession to the WTO.