Ukrainian galvanized steel producer Unisteel said it plans to switch to the export markets due to the coming off-season in the Ukrainian domestic market.
The company said that from late November to February it expects a seasonal decline in demand for galvanized rolled steel products in Ukraine. Therefore, a priority task for it is the reorientation of sales to export markets, mainly to CIS countries, in particular to Georgia, Armenia, southern Russia, as well as to Middle Eastern countries. This month, Unisteel plans to ship the first batches of galvanized products to Azerbaijan, while previously a minor amount of this production was exported to Moldova.
Since it commissioned its new 100,000 mt annual capacity HDG line in late July this year, Unisteel has been delivering its products mainly to the domestic market; however, this winter it plans to deliver more than 30 percent of its output to the export markets.
Unisteel's new HDG line is designed to produce galvanized coils of 0.3-2.0 mm in thickness and of up to 1,250 mm in width and with zinc coating thickness in a range of 90-400 g/m2. At present, the plant mainly produces galvanized coils of 0.3-0.5 mm thickness from cold rolled coils mostly supplied from Russian steelmaker Severstal. In the near future, Unisteel plans to develop production of thicker galvanized coils (1-2 mm).