In 2015 ferrous scrap procurement in Ukraine fell to 4.3 million tons, down by 1 million tons, or by 19% YoY.
“Last year average purchase price on the local market fell by $80, or by 32%, to $169 per ton, while region prices were even lower – $140-150, and this affected scrap flow to metal works”, said Ukrpromvneshexpertisa deputy director Yuri Dobrovolsky.
Under unfavorable market conditions, most scrap owners decided to postpone sales until prices increased.
Low scrap procurement resulted in scrap deficiency rise 4 times YoY, to 0.3-035 million tons.
“To cover this shortage metal companies had to increase pig iron consumption, as imported scrap was too expensive, as well as due to the prohibition to import scrap from Kazakhstan, a major supplier”, added Dobrovolsky.
At the same time scrap exports increased to 1.2 million tons, up by 0.27 million tons YoY. Turkey remained the largest importer of Ukrainian scrap with 77% of all 2015 exports. Moldova’s share was 21%, up by 11% YoY.
“We expect scrap deficiency to increase in 2016 to 0.4-05 million tons, with average prices on the local market falling to $115 per ton”, said Dobrovolsky. (Ukrainian metal)