Ukrainian metal companies started increasing output after a considerable fall last year, but new challenges appeared.
In particular, this concerns scrap supplies.
It is expected that in the next few months the shortage will increase.
For a couple of months now, scrap stocks at enterprises have not been exceeding 20-25 thousand tons, while in December 2022 they were on the critically low level – 10-15 thousand tons.
As a result of Q1, scrap shortage could amount to 100 thousand tons.
One of the reasons is the increase in scrap export. In January, it totaled 8.3 thousand tons, while in February it almost doubled to 15.8 thousand tons. In March, exports could exceed 20 thousand tons.
Metallurgists fear that even with zero export, they would still feel scrap shortage in Q2. (Ukrainian metal)