Ukraine’s scrap exports grew by 5.7 times in Q1

In January–March 2021, Ukraine’s scrap export revenues hiked by 5.7 times to $16.6 million compared to the same period of the previous year.

In physical terms, exports grew by 4.3 times to 49.1 thousand tons. In March, Ukrainian companies exported 18.9 thousand tons of scrap, according to the customs statistics of the State Tax Service of Ukraine.

Turkish companies were the main importers of Ukrainian scrap (92.4%), followed by Lithuania (1.86%) and Germany (1.83%).

Importantly, Ukraine’s scrap exports have been reducing since 2018. At that time, the export trends were influenced by the sanctions against Moldova Steel Works and the increase in the scrap export duty from €30 per ton to €42 per ton.

Earlier, some scrap consumers in Southeastern Asia expected a short-term recovery of Ukraine’s scrap exports, as reported by Taiwan company Yieh. Corp. Scrap prices in the global market have been growing since the beginning of 2021, which makes Ukraine’s scrap exports economically feasible even given the export duty is €58 per ton.

Scrap imports in Q1 grew by 2.5 times to $9 million. In physical terms, imports grew by 85.2% to 5.6 thousand tons compared to the previous year. Ukrainian companies purchased more than a half of scrap from Turkey (61.9%) and the rest from Russia (27.2%) and the U.S. (4.52%).

In 2020, Ukraine’s scrap exports dropped by 47.1% to 26.4 thousand tons. In monetary terms, exports declined by 24% to $26.03 million.