In Ukraine, the export of scrap metal is approaching pre-war levels

In January-July, the export of scrap metal increased by 46.9% compared to the same period last year.

Monthly export volumes in the scrap industry are approaching pre-war levels, GMK Center writes.

Thus, the export of ferrous metal scrap grew by 46.9% to 149.23 thousand tons. The main volume of exports goes to Poland – 127.31 thousand tons. 16.9 thousand tons of scrap metal were exported to Greece, and 4.76 thousand tons to Germany.

The average monthly export volume for January-July was 21.32 thousand tons against 14.52 thousand tons last year. During July, Ukraine exported 24.7 thousand tons of scrap metal (by 11.5% more compared to the previous month).

Currently, about 15% of the collected scrap is sent for export, the volumes consistently exceed 20,000 tons per month.

This happens in the conditions of complicated scrap collection due to military operations, since most of the scrap procurement enterprises before the war were located in temporarily occupied territories or in the war zone.

“An additional factor of pressure on the scrap market is the lack of sales of scrap from one of the main suppliers – JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”. The operator stopped selling scrap as early as September 2023, which had an extremely negative impact on the market. This situation creates risks for the activities of domestic metallurgists, since the partial unblocking of sea exports contributes to the increase in the utilization of plant capacities. The data on steel production for January-July – an increase of 33.6% y/y to 4.58 million tons – indicate the improved prospects for the industry,” the material says.

Revenue from the export of scrap metal increased by 60.4% y/y in 7 months. – up to $47.8 million.

It will be recalled that Ukrainian ports in the first half of 2024 increased transshipment of cargo by almost 70%. More than 63.5% of them are agricultural products, and already more than 36% are other (in particular, production of MMC).