According to the data released by metal trading enterprise Ukrainian Mining and Metallurgical Company (UGMK), during the first eleven months of 2009 Ukraine's imports of steel products registered a decline of 61.1 percent year on year to about 649,000 mt.
Compared with July this year when the country's steel product imports reached a peak monthly volume for the year so far, the import of steel products in November fell by 36.8 percent to 57,300 mt, which is 9.1 percent less than in October. However, due to the beginning of the crisis in October 2008 and also due to the sharp decrease of steel product imports in November 2008, steel imports in November this year increased by 13.1 percent compared to the same month last year.
Accordingly, in January-November this year, the biggest decreases year on year in imports in the Ukrainian steel market were registered by shaped sections; imports of channels dropped by 85.9 percent, imports of angles fell by 84 percent, while imports of beams went down by 71.2 percent. The next biggest decreases in imports were recorded by flat steel products; HRC imports dropped by 84.8 percent, CRC imports fell by 60.6 percent, and galvanized steel imports went down by 45.2 percent. All comparisons are with the same period last year.
In January-November 2009, imports of steel products in Ukraine were as follows:
Product |
Jan-Nov 2008 (mt) |
Jan-Nov 2009 (mt) |
Change (mt) |
Change (%) |
Rebar |
102,256 |
50,073 |
-52,183 |
-51.0 |
Beam |
25,162 |
7,236 |
-17,927 |
-71.2 |
Wire rod |
19,965 |
7,462 |
-12,503 |
-62.6 |
Rounds |
82,635 |
61,287 |
-21,349 |
-25.8 |
HRC |
692,721 |
105,315 |
-587,406 |
-84.8 |
Galvanized steel |
163,457 |
89,510 |
-73,946 |
-45.2 |
CRC |
195,971 |
77,155 |
-118,816 |
-60.6 |
Pipes |
75,378 |
32,931 |
-42,447 |
-56.3 |
Angle |
21,034 |
3,372 |
-17,663 |
-84.0 |
Channel |
16,956 |
2,394 |
-14,563 |
-85.9 |
Tubular billet |
190,866 |
198,007 |
+7,141 |
+3.7 |
Other |
83,953 |
14,504 |
-69,449 |
-82.7 |
Total |
1,670,356 |
649,246 |
-1,021,110 |
-61.1 |
In the January-November period, Ukraine's main importer of steel was the pipe sector, which increased its share of overall steel imports into the country to 41.4 percent, from 29.5 percent in the same period of the previous year; meanwhile, the local metal trade sector has continued to see a decrease in its share of steel imports, from 31.5 percent to 19.6 percent year on year, according to the UGMK report.