Once the single largest source of hard currency, accounting for 38% of Ukraine’s export revenues in 2011, steel, iron ore and other metal exports have plummeted 24.5% since Russia’s war on Ukraine began last year.
For the Ukrainian steel industry 2014 was the worst in the last 15 years, worldsteel data shows.
According to the World Steel Association, in December 2014 Ukraine went up to 11th position in the leading world steel manufacturers rating, leaving behind Italy that fell to the 13th place.
State enterprise Ukrpormvneshexpertisa forecasts Ukrainian steel output in 2015 on the level of 27 million tons.
In 2015 Ukrainian steel prices will continue falling due to manufacture cost price decrease and high competitions between manufacturers.
In November Ukraine produced 1824 thousand tons of steel, down by 5%, or by 97 thousand tons, MoM.
In 2014 Ukrainian metallurgical companies are expected to cut steel production by 16.8%, to 27.2 million tons, YoY, while in 2015 – by 0.7% compared to the forecast figures for this year, to 27 million tons.
