The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine has published a draft decree of the Cabinet of Ministers on a temporary - until the end of 2022 - ban on the export of scrap metal from the country, which the Ukrmetallurgprom association has recently insisted on.

"The provision of domestic metallurgical enterprises with scrap metal, which was formed on the territory of Ukraine, is of strategic importance for uninterrupted production and supply of metal products for the needs of the domestic military-industrial complex, mechanical engineering, infrastructure restoration", - noted in an explanatory note to the document. It points out that taking into account international agreements, the ban will not apply to exports to the EU, the UK and Northern Ireland, the CIS (except Russia), Israel, Canada, Montenegro and the EFTA countries.

Ministry of Economy says that each ton of recycled scrap saves 1.5 tons of CO2, 1.4 tons of iron ore and 740 kg of coal, and requires only 1/3 the energy compared to the production of steel from primary raw materials. Referring to experts, the department states that the annual volume of scrap metal procurement in Ukraine in 2007-2020 almost tripled - from 8.26 to 2.92 million tons - due to a decrease in metal stock by 68 million tons, or 12%, and a reduction in the proportion of readily available scrap. "Projected annual volumes of scrap metal procurement in Ukraine in the next four years will be 2.3-2.5 million tons per year," the document says. According to it, over the year the price of scrap metal has almost doubled - from $265 per ton in May 2020 to $499 per ton in May 2021. As a result, exports of scrap in January-August 2021 reached 410.43 thousand tons for $157.14 million, or 29.5 times and 19.9 times more than the same period last year, respectively.

Ministry of Economy expects steel production in Ukraine to increase to 22 million tons in 2021, up to 23 million tons - in 2022 and up to 24 million tons in 2023 in conditions of rising global demand for steel. This will require an additional 300,000 tons of scrap steel in 2021 and 200,000 tons each in 2022-2023, increasing demand to 3.6 million tons - 24% more supplies in 2020. The ministry points out that the possible growth of scrap exports to 1 million tons per year or more may prevent such an increase in production.

 

Source: http://www.fixygen.ua/news/20211001/minekonomiki.html