Ukraine descends coke output
Ukraine's coke production fell 12.6 percent year on year to 1.58 million metric tons in January due to the descending demand from the country's steel mills. Ukraine's coke association Ukrkoks expects the country's coke demand to pick up in March. Ukraine is expected to produce 19-20 million metric tons of coke in 2006. If the coke exports increase, coke production may excess the expected figure. However, the other unfavorable factor is the high freight costs, said Ukrkoks. Ukraine's coke production amounted to 18.86 million metric tons in 2005, down 14.3 percent from a year earlier.