In the first quarter of 2019, Ukraine’s wholesale turnover of basic metals (iron, pig iron, steel and ferroalloys) increased by 23.2%, up to UAH 25.15 billion, compared to the same period of the previous year. Turnover of metals sold to other wholesalers grew by 51.6%, up to UAH 11.95 billion, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
Wholesale turnover of non-ferrous metals (aluminum, lead, zinc, tin, copper and others) amounted to UAH 1.2 billion in the first quarter, 32.2% down from the same period of the previous year.
According to Maksym Zhuravlyov, the Head of Metinvest’s Operational Marketing and Price Control Department, the capacity of the Ukrainian market of flat products declined by 8–9% in the first quarter. At the same time, consumption of hot-rolled steel sheets almost remained the same. The market capacity declined because of a drop in the consumption of hot-rolled plates, as well as cold-rolled and galvanized sheets.
“The decline in demand in the first quarter is partly due to the fact that in the same period of the previous year, the main retail chains, expecting a rise in prices, began to replenish product stocks before the traditional start of the season. This year, the price situation was more stable and there was no such need,” Maksym Zhuravlyov explained.
The market situation was also strongly influenced by a ban on import of certain types of Ukrainian goods to the Russian Federation, imposed in late 2018. This affected some engineering and agricultural equipment plants that exported their products to Russia. Besides, the Ukrainian market responded to the beginning of the electoral campaign. Some investors postponed their projects until the end of the campaign.
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