Ukraine issues steel industry data

According to the data presented by the Ukrainian Ministry of Industrial Policy, during the January-September 2006 period Ukraine recorded an eight percent year on year increase in finished steel products output, with a total production of 25.6 million metric tons. However, Ukraine's exports of steel products saw a decrease in September. According to the data issued by the Ukrainian State Customs Service, in September 2006 exports of finished steel products decreased by 2.82 percent year on year to about 700,000 metric tons. Although, the export volume decreased, the revenue collected from exports rose due to the increase in world steel prices during the period in question. The biggest importer of Ukrainian steel products in September of the current year, as last year, remained Turkey - with a 27.5 percent share of overall exports. The Russian Federation has retained second position. Pakistan was the country which saw the most noticeable increase in imports of Ukrainian steel products in September. Also in September 2006, Ilyich, Zaporizhstal and ISD retained their leading positions as exporters, sharing 77 percent of export deliveries. As far as imports of steel products to Ukraine are concerned, the statistical data released by the Ukrainian State Customs Service recorded a decrease in import deliveries during both the January-September 2006 period and September 2006 alone. In particular during the first nine months of the current year, Ukraine saw a decrease in finished steel products imports by 15 percent year on year. As was the case a year earlier, in the January-September 2006 period the main exporters of steel products to Ukraine were the CIS states. In particular, the Russian Federation exported about 16,000 metric tons of finished steel products, occupying about 37 percent of overall Ukrainian imports during the period in question.