Ukraine Increases Steel Production, Surpasses Brazil

Kyiv, July 23, 2012. Ukraine contributed 2.87 million tons of steel into the global steel production in June of 2012. This allowed the country to outrun Brazil and score the ninth spot on the list of the top ten steel producers in the world. Earlier, Ukraine occupied the tenth position on the ranking by the World Steel Association (WSA).

Original WSA report for June 2012 crude steel production is available here.

While the global steel production dropped in June 2012 by 0.1 percent (compared to June 2011), Ukraine boosted its steel production by 3.4 percent. WSA also reported that Ukraine increased steel production volume by 14.1 percent in June 2012 compared to June 2010.

Overall, in the first six months of 2012 Ukraine provided nearly 17.2 million tons of steel. Comparably, Italy produced 14.8 million tons of steel over the same period, while neighboring Poland only made it to 4.6 million tons. Such top world steel producers as China (357.2 million tons), Japan (54.1), the USA (46.3), India (38), Russia (35.7), South Korea (35), Germany (21.9), Turkey (17.9), and Brazil (17.4) preceded Ukraine on the WSA top ten global steel producers rating in 2011.

In January 2012, WSA released a steel industry year-end roundup. World’s top ten steel producers list for 2011 looks as follows: China, Japan, the USA, India, Russia, South Korea, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, and Turkey.

Ukraine produced 35.3 million tons of steel in 2011, demonstrating the 5.7 percent growth of the steel production. As a result, the country progressed from the tenth position in the WSA rating to ninth, and later – to eighth. Iron and alloys (including steel) export amounts to 27 percent of Ukrainian export, according to rbc.ua.

Traditionally, Ukraine remains one of global leaders of steel production. It inherited a network of steel-producing factories from the Soviet Union. Most of the country’s steel manufacturing facilities are located in the eastern and central regions of the country. Ukrainian steel industry provides almost a third of the country’s GDP. Ukrainian export of steel is the fifth largest in the world (data for 2011), informs ISSB.co.uk.