RUSSIAN METALS: Ukraine’s 2012 steel exports to fall by 6%, analyst says

Exports of rolled steel from Ukraine are expected to fall by 6% this year to 22.6 million tonnes on weak demand, delegates to the Russian Metals Market conference in Moscow heard on Monday November 12.

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Vladimir Vlasyuk, head of Ukrainian research and consulting company Ukrpromzovnishexpertyza, said that the country’s crude steel production is expected to reach only 32.5 million tonnes, down from 34.7 million tonnes last year.

The consultancy also expects steel imports to increase in Turkey, India and the Middle East countries in 2013.

“We generally don’t expect the situation in steel markets to improve in any significant way next year,” Vlasyuk said. “Prices will continue to be pressed downwards by excess capacities and lower raw material prices.”

The consultancy calculates global excess steelmaking capacity at 470 million tonnes next year, down from around 490 million tonnes in 2012.