According to the forecast made by Ukrainian state-owned market research company Ukrpromzovnishekspertyza, in 2009 Ukrainian steel mills are expected to work at 59 percent of their average yearly operating capacity. Currently, the Ukrainian steel mills are operating at 64 percent of capacity, up from 32 percent in the early days of December 2008.
In 2008, Ukrainian steel mills worked at 75.3 percent of their average yearly operating capacity, down from 96.2 percent in 2007.
According to the calculations of Ukrpromzovnishekspertyza, in order to restore the market equilibrium, in 2009 the Ukrainian steel producers have to decrease their steel output to 29 million mt. National steel output in 2008 amounted to 37.1 million mt, totaling 42.8 million mt in 2007.