Ukrainian metals consumption plummets 36%, import - 67% in 11 mths
KYIV. Dec 15 (Interfax) - Metal consumption in Ukraine fell 36.3% year-on-year in January-November to 4.809 million tonnes and imports plummeted 67% to 577,288 tonnes, Andriy Fedoseyev, president of the Ukrainian Metal Traders Association, told Interfax.
Fedoseyev said Ukrainian pipe mills bought 1.397 million tonnes of locally produced and imported roll and feedstock, down 31.9% from January-November last year. Construction firms bought 68,170 tonnes, down 70%, rail producers - 102,715 tonnes, up 49.1%, and metalware producers - 387,243 tonnes, down 28.6%.
Traders, including small firms, bought 1.275 million tonnes of metal, down 48.9%, mining and metallurgical companies - 548,069 tonnes, up 40.4%, and machinery plants - 523,732 tonnes, down 62.2%.
Metal traders accounted for 27% of domestic market steel consumption in January-November, pipe mills - 29%, machine-building plants - 11%, mining and metallurgical companies - 19%, metalware producers - 8%, construction firms 1%, railway enterprises - 2% and others - 3%.
Metals consumption in Ukraine fell 16.5% in 2008 to 7.89 million tonnes, but imports grew 6.6% to 1.766 million tonnes.