Ukraine ups imports and exports in Jan 2007

According to the data issued by the Ukrainian State Customs Service, in January 2007 the country increased its exports of steel products by 13 percent year on year to 681,287 metric tons. During the month in question the main importers of Ukrainian-origin steel products were Turkey with 228,749 metric tons, Russia with 83,518 metric tons and Syria which registered 45,146 metric tons. In addition, during the first month of 2007 Ukraine increased its iron ore exports by 13.2 percent year on year to 1.61 million metric tons. In particular, Ukraine exported 223,000 metric tons of iron ore concentrate- up 13.2 percent, 610,000 metric tons of sintering ore- up 4.8 percent, and 733,000 metric tons of pellets – up 15.9 percent, all figures compared to corresponding period of 2006. Moreover, the country saw a 61.2 percent increase in its scrap exports year on year to 44,000 metric tons in January 2007. During the first month of the current year, Ukraine also increased its steel products imports by 20 percent year on year to 41,000 metric tons. The main exporters to Ukraine were Russia with 14,786 metric tons, Turkey with 3,892 metric tons and China with 1,949 metric tons.