Ferroalloy producers of Ukraine increased exports by 1.3% m/m in April

In April 2023, Ukrainian ferroalloy enterprises increased the export of ferroalloys by 1.3% compared to the previous month – up to 63.47 thousand tons. In the monetary equivalent, deliveries of ferroalloys abroad for this period increased by 36.6% m/m – to $54.77 million. This is evidenced by State Customs Service’s data.

Compared to April 2022, in April 2023 ferroalloy enterprises of Ukraine reduced revenue from product sales by 65.2%. It is impossible to calculate the difference in export volumes in natural terms due to the lack of data.

In January-April 2023, Ukraine exported 208.02 thousand tons of ferroalloys worth $180.1 million, which is 5.5% and 53.9% less, respectively, compared to the same period in 2022.

The main consumer of Ukrainian ferroalloys in the first four months of 2023 was Poland (69.06%). The share of Italy in the total volume of exports was 6.1%. In the third place is Turkiye – 5.51%.

In the first quarter of 2023, ferroalloy enterprises of Ukraine reduced production by 2.7 times compared to the same period last year – to 70,000 tons.

Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure at the end of 2022 significantly worsened the situation for the ferroalloy industry, which depends more than others on stable energy supply. As a result of these strikes, the enterprises of the industry temporarily stopped their work partially or completely.

According to the executive director of UkrFA Sergiy Kudryavtsev, ferroalloy plants of Ukraine in 2022 worked at 30% compared to pre-war indicators.

The Pobuzhsky Ferronickel Plant was forced to shut down due to power outages. In addition, the company depends on imported raw materials, so it cannot count on its stable flow due to the blockade of the ports.

Currently, the situation with energy supply has stabilized, therefore ferroalloy plants are increasing production and export of products in accordance with demand.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2022 ferroalloys of Ukraine reduced exports by 47.7% compared to 2021 – up to 349.6 thousand tons. Revenue from the export of ferroalloys decreased by 46% y/y – to $564.14 million. In January-August 2022 plants of the industry produced 399.46 thousand tons of products, which is 32% less y/y.