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kraine’s non-ferrous metallurgy is characterized by the diversity of enterprises, technological schemes and processes. The industry numbers over 70 enterprises with different types of ownership, they employ over 50,000 persons. By kinds of products it embraces the aluminum, titanium-magnesium, copper, lead-zinc and hard-alloyed sectors as well as gold mining, production of rare metals, semi-conductors, processing of secondary metals, etc.
The peculiarity of the Ukrainian non-ferrous metallurgy is that not a single metal is produced within the complete production cycle, i.e. from raw materials to finished products. This is the consequence of the industry’s operations in the Soviet epoch: during that time it was just one of the links in the gigantic centralized economy and it was fulfilling orders, mainly, from the military industrial complex. Later, the industry fell a "victim" to it suffering from mistakes and difficulties of the chaotic conversion of the defense industry. Besides, producers of non-ferrous metals were procrastinating for some time in hopes for "re-conversion" and were not active enough in adapting to new conditions of operations in the domestic and foreign markets.
Today, the favorable conditions in world markets, above all, contribute to improving the situation. Since the main kinds of non-ferrous metals are trading on stock exchanges, they are influenced not only by quotation growth on LME but also by increasing activity of investment funds. During such periods these funds hoping for further price increases start acting more often as stock exchange players and buy non-ferrous metals for a subsequent profitable resale. Thus, the phenomenon close to rush demand takes place.
Frankly speaking: since 85% of products by Ukraine’s non-ferrous metallurgy are exported today, the situation, when you can "play soccer" at storage facilities of non-ferrous metals, whether in London, New York or Tokyo, cannot but make Ukrainian producers happy. Especially those, who have already occupied their niche in the relevant markets. In 2003 export shipments of non-ferrous metals provided Ukraine with $636 million in receipts and there are all the reasons to believe that in the current year currency proceeds will be considerably higher taking into account both the ongoing growth of prices and increase of production volumes. It is noted that prices are going up precisely for those kinds of products, which are made and supplied by Ukrainian enterprises: unprocessed aluminum and aluminum alloys, alumina, bars, copper ingots and sections, raw copper in anodes and ingots, ferronickel, titanium raw material, etc.
The industry achieved a steady pace of growth. By the results for 9 months of 2004 the indicators are as follows: the aluminum production volume is 71,000 tons (the rate of growth is 107.3%), the alumina production volume is 1,161 thousand tons (110.2 %), the ilmenite concentrate production volume is 278,000 tons (116.9 %), the spongy titanium production volume is 5.6 thousand tons (108.7 %), the crystalline silicon production volume is 6.2 thousand tons (105.5 %), the volume of manufacturing semi-finished products made of copper and copper alloys is 24.3 thousand tons (146.8 %).
The Ukrainian government is seeking to encourage enterprises and companies to invest additional funds, which have been received as a result of favorable pricing conditions, in technical re-equipment and modernization of their production facilities. In July 2004 the Cabinet adopted the State program of developing and reforming the mining-and-metallurgy complex for the period till 2011, which provides for the support of the most important projects.
Among them are the projects to develop production of aluminum rods and coiled bars at the Zaporozhsky Integrated Aluminum Mill, to construct the second-stage facilities for production of aluminum strip and reconstruct the electrolysis shop with the use of baked anodes and gas cleaning system of the "dry" type.
The modernization is going on at the Nikolaevsky Alumina Plant. With changes in investment obligations taken into consideration the production of alumina will reach there 1.6 million tons a year. In order to solve ecological problems and, at the same time, to reduce the existing shortage of iron ore raw material the plant commissioned capacities (their production volume amounts to 200,000 tons a year) to prepare and ship iron-containing red sludges.
In the last years investments have been made in the Artemovsky Non-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant. The copper rod production line with the capacity of 60,000 tons a year and technological line to produce copper from scrap and wastes by the method of igneous refining have been put in operation, the technical re-equipment is being prepared at the shop that makes copper tubes and bars.
Reprocessing of copper scrap and making of high-quality products have been arranged also at the enterprise Pankom Yum (Odessa) and the Zaporozhsky Non-Ferrous Alloys Plant. Today, products by these enterprises are in high demand in the domestic market that is experiencing a certain shortage of copper products.
The Zaporozhsky Integrated Titanium-Magnesium Mill has resumed production of spongy titanium. The enterprise has commissioned a new unit of restoring and refining spongy titanium, which, in fact, is the leading model for future re-equipment of all the production facilities. It should be noted that at present spongy titanium is in demand in the Ukrainian market. It is used for making titanium ingots at the Titan Scientific and Industrial Center of the E. Paton Institute of Electric Welding and Kiev-based company Antares. Therefore, prerequisites for forming the complete titanium metallurgical cycle are taking shape. Operations of the titanium-pipe producing enterprise have been stabilized: this enterprise has been founded as a result of restructuring on the basis of one of the shops at the Nikopolsky Yuzhno-Trubny Plant.
The Zaporozhsky Semi-Conductors Plant has preserved production capacities for making the whole range of silicon products and now this enterprise has good prospects for its development.
The rapid growth of solar energy in the world has led to an increased demand for single-crystalline silicon of the so-called "solar" grades. Ukrainian producers have not missed the opportunity and have used it so as to mark their presence in the promising market. Unfortunately, as a feedstock they all use imported polycrystalline silicon scrap only but the shortage of this raw material is getting more apparent with every passing year. Through restoring the silicon technological chain Ukraine will be able to overcome its dependence on silicon import shipments and even become a monopolist in the CIS, since the Podolsky Chemical-and-Metallurgical Plant (the Moscow region), the only producer of polycrystalline silicon in the CIS member countries, has abandoned its production for some reasons.
Renewing the cooperation of the three Ukrainian enterprises in making silicon products looks quite well-founded. These enterprises are the Zaporozhsky Semi-Conductors Plant, Donetsky Chemical-and-Metallurgical Mill and Svetlovodsky Fine Metals Plant.
New shareholders of the Pobuzhsky Ferronickel Plant have also decided to resume its operations after a long stoppage. It is obvious that their investments will be quickly recouped in the present pricing conditions, when prices for nickel are reaching $15,000 to $16,000 a ton.
And these are just some examples of restoring operations of the non-ferrous metallurgy, which, as we think, will be a growing and highly profitable sector of the Ukrainian economy in the foreseeable future.