The Ministry of Economy expects a 5% increase in Ukraine’s steel production in 2021

The Ministry of Economy forecasts growth in steel production by 5% to 21.7 million tons in 2021 compared to 2020, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Production of rolled products and pig iron production will grow by 5% each, to 19.4 million tons and 21.5 million tons respectively.

If the current trends remain, scrap supplies to steel companies will grow by 13% to 3.3 million tons.

Production of pipes will grow by 9% to 931 thousand tons, coke by 3% to 9.9 million tons, and refractory products by 7% to 235 thousand tons.

The forecast is reportedly based on Ukrmetallurgprom’s production results for January–May of the current year.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in January–May, Ukrainian producers ramped up steel production by 8.3% to 9 million tons against the same period a year earlier. Production of pig iron grew by 9.1% to 8.9 million tons, and rolled products by 8% to 8.02 million tons.

In 2020, companies of Ukraine’s mining & metals sector decreased steel production by 1.1% to 20.62 million tons compared to 2019, while production of pig iron increased by 1.8% to 20.42 million tons, and rolled products by 1.2% to 18.43 million tons.