According to the preliminary data issued by the Ukrainian Association of Metal Traders, in the first five months of 2009 Ukrainian large and medium sized steel traders registered a decline of 65.6 percent in their domestic purchases, imports and sales of rolled steel products to 388,741 mt, compared to the same period of 2008.
Accordingly, in January-May 2009 Ukraine's main steel traders reduced their imports of rolled steel products by 69.7 percent year on year to 45,376 mt. In May 2009, the companies in question purchased 70,522 mt of rolled products, of which 61,033 mt were purchased from Ukrainian steelmakers while 9,489 mt were imported.