According to preliminary data issued by the Ukrainian Association of Ore-dressing Enterprises (Ukrrudprom), in January-April this year the Ukrainian mining companies increased their iron ore supplies to the domestic market by 29 percent year on year to 11.7 million mt, with shipments to domestic steel producers rising by 23 percent year on year to 11.1 million mt.
As of mid-May this year, about 1.88 million mt of unsold iron ore products were accumulated at warehouses of Ukrainian mining companies, of which about 775,000 mt were products of Sukhaya Balka, an iron ore subsidiary of Russia's Evraz Group, which could not be shipped due to a rail transportation conflict with Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Industrial Complex (KRZhK).
In January-April 2010, Ukraine's imports of iron ore increased by 31 percent year on year to 1.172 million mt. The reasons for the growth of imports are the attractiveness of foreign markets for the national distributor, as well as the continuing conflict between mining companies and their consumers.
On the other hand, in January-April this year Ukraine has also increased its iron ore exports by 38.7 percent year on year to 9.962 million mt, which caused a slight weakening of the volume of domestic offers. Particularly, during the period in question, Ukraine's exports of iron ore concentrate increased by 40.3 percent year on year to 4.236 million mt, its exports of pellets went up by 14.7 percent to 3.445 million mt, while its exports of sintered ore climbed by 47.6 percent to 1.715 million mt. In addition, in January-April this year Ukraine also shipped for export 566,400 mt of agglomerate, of which there were no exports during the same period last year.
According to Derzhzovnishinform (DZI), the Ukrainian national research and information center for monitoring international commodity markets, in late April-early May in the Ukrainian market, as was expected, there was a strong iron ore price increase, by an average of 58-62 percent, due to global trends, including growth of quotations in neighboring Russia. These price trends have led to the increase in the cost of steel products in the country, and this is why it is not surprising that the steelmakers continue to fight for the prolongation of crisis benefits under the memorandum of understanding between the Ukrainian government and the metallurgical companies, which could be canceled by the end of the second quarter of the current year.