Buying pipes from Ukraine (Market overview)

General overview.
According to our estimations, financial indicators of Ukrainian metal producers this year will be much higher than they had last year. In this sector pipes` production is booming with substantial growing of sales volumes for two years in succession.
Export of steel pipes has risen 33%, and income – 64% up to $800 million.
Previous year the volume of produced pipes in Ukraine was 2,759 million tons: Seamless pipes 1,334 million tons.
2 years ago - 2,398 million tons: Seamless pipes 1,190 million tons, so production rose +13%.
For comparison, at the end of 80-s Ukraine, being part of the USSR, annually produced around 7 million tons of pipes. Domestic market growth gives pipe producers possibility to be less dependent on exports. Currently steel and pipes prices in Ukraine are gradually growing and we expect that in 2-3 years they’ll reach global level.

Market share.
Ukrainian market of pipes is almost evenly divided between 2 main players. All other players possess roughly 5-8%.

Export statistics.
Export of Ukrainian pipes by types can be represented by the following chart:
50% - seamless pipes;
30% - large-diameter welded pipes;
20% - small and medium-diameter welded pipes.

Export of Ukrainian pipes by geographical region can be represented by the following chart:
60% - Russia and other CIS countries (Byelorussia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan);
25% - EU-27;
15% - other buyers (Arab countries, Asia, USA, Canada).
Around 50% of all pipes were sold to Russia, mainly for new gas and oil pipelines. In recent years, Russia’s demand in high-quality pipes will increase 25-35% and Ukrainian pipe producers won’t lose this opportunity. Except for oil and gas industry, pipes are also widely used in construction, machine building, military-industrial complex, etc.

Advantages of Ukrainian pipes:
Availability of raw materials (many Ukrainian steel works);
Geographical proximity to main sale areas (Russia, EU);
Cheap workforce, raw materials, electricity and gas.
Higher world prices for pipes due to global energy price surge.