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Ferroalloys

During January-February, Ukrainian ferroalloyers shipped 0.54 thousand tons of products abroad

For the second month in a row, Ukraine’s ferroalloy companies have been exporting record low volumes of products. In February, 0.3 thousand tons of ferroalloys were shipped abroad, up 29.8% compared to the previous month and 99.3% less than in February 2023. This is according to the State Customs Service.

Revenues of ferroalloy enterprises from exports in February amounted to $951 thousand, up 10.3% compared to January and 97.2% less than in January.

In January-February 2024, exports of ferroalloys amounted to 0.54 thousand tons compared to 96.83 thousand tons in January-February 2023 (-99.4% y/y). Export revenue fell to $1.81 million compared to $85.23 million a year ago (-97.9% y/y).

The bulk of products were shipped to Poland, accounting for 70.1% of total exports in monetary terms. Another 13.8% was exported to Uzbekistan and 6.5% – to the Netherlands.

The absence of exports, which have been gradually declining since August last year, is explained by the complete shutdown of Ukraine’s ferroalloy industry since November 2023, in particular due to proximity to the front line, falling prices for ferroalloys, high production costs and problems with reserving personnel from mobilization.

The combination of these factors led to a 57.4% decrease in ferroalloy production in 2023 compared to 2022. In 2024, according to Sergiy Kudryavtsev, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Ferroalloy Association UkrFA, the state of Ukraine’s ferroalloy industry will depend on three factors: shelling, logistics and affordable electricity.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Ukraine reduced exports of ferroalloys by 4.9% compared to 2022, to 344.2 thousand tons. Compared to the pre-war year of 2021, shipments of ferroalloys abroad decreased by 48.5%, or 324.4 thousand tons. Poland was the largest consumer of Ukrainian-made ferroalloys in 2023, accounting for 52.8% in monetary terms. Turkiye accounted for 14.1% of export shipments and the Netherlands for 8.5%.