Ukrainian steelmaker Zaporizhstal has stated that it supports the legislative initiative of deputies of the country’s parliament (Verkhovna Rada) to introduce a temporary export duty on scrap for three years at a rate of €35/mt.
According to Zaporizhstal’s statement, raising taxes on the export of scrap metal will restrain export of scarce raw materials from Ukraine. This step will increase the production of steel products and will increase revenues of the state budget.
The company’s director general Rostislav Shurma said that scrap is currently the scarcest raw material in the domestic market, being scarcer than coal and limestone. In the first two months of this year, the country’s scrap production halved, while its steel output remained stable, both year on year, and in the same period scrap metal collection decreased by 30 percent compared with the first two months of the previous year.