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Metal production, in particular iron and steel industry, is the dominant heavy industry in Ukraine. Ukraine is the world's eighth largest producer and third largest exporter of iron and steel (2007). Ukrainian iron and steel industry accounts for around 2% of worldwide crude steel output, 5% to 6% of the national gross domestic product and 34% of Ukrainian export revenue (2007 data). In 2007 it employed 420,000 people – 10% of industrial labor and 2% of the total workforce. It has the highest, by a wide margin, revealed comparative advantage of all branches of the Ukrainian economy. The industry peaked at 42.8 million tonnes in 2007 but has been gravely affected by the financial crisis of 2007–2010 and declined to 29.8 million tonnes in 2009.
Contents
- Copper Age
- Iron Age
- Ancient period
- Middle Ages
- Early Modern
- Iron and steel industry
- Non ferrous metals
- References
Ukraine possesses substantial natural reserves of iron ore. Ore mining exceeds the demands of domestic steel mills, but export potential is weakened by high extraction costs. The Ukrainian iron and steel industry is concentrated in central (Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, Nikopol), southern (Zaporizhia) and eastern (Donets Basin, Mariupol) regions of Ukraine. There are 14 iron ore mining companies, 15 iron and steel mills, and three ferroalloy plants. Most of iron and steel is produced by large mills with annual capacity of between 4 and 7 million tonnes. As of 2006, 44.6% of Ukrainian steel was produced in obsolescent open hearth furnaces; modernization of plant and coping with rising energy costs are the main challenges to the future of Ukrainian steel. The Ukrainian steel industry has been privatized since the 1990s but the coal mines are still owned by the government and experience chronic financial problems.
Ukraine is also a significant producer of manganese, manganese ore and manganese ferroalloys and has 75% of the ore reserves of the former CIS. The aluminium industry concentrates in Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia but is limited by energy availability and costs. Ukrainian production of uranium in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast provides only 30% of domestic demand.
Copper Age
Metal production in Ukraine developed along the same lines as that of it near neighbours. The Stone Age and Copper Age boundary was unclear as most peoples retained Stone Age tools and used them alongside Copper Age tools.
The Trypilian culture began in East Ukraine and existed from 5400 to 2000 BC. It is named after a site in the Kiev (Kyiv) region near Trypilia uncovered by Vikentiy Khvoyka in 1898. In the West of Ukraine the Sredny Stog culture (4500-3500 BC) was the main influence along with the Catacomb culture (2800-2200 BC) and it is during these times that we see the earliest examples of copper technology in the form of fishing hooks and other implements around 2500 BC.
Iron Age
During the Iron Age there were several influences on metallurgy: the Dacians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, among other nomadic peoples. The Scythian Kingdom existed here from 750 BC to 250 BC.
Ancient period
The ancient Greek colonies founded in the 6th century BC on the north-eastern shore of the Black Sea, the colonies of Tyras, Olbia, Hermonassa, continued as Roman and Byzantine cities until the 6th century AD.
Middle Ages
4th century to 15th century
Early Modern
16th to 18th century
Iron and steel industry
In 2000-2007 ferrous metallurgy expanded owing to a global rise in demand and prices. In 2007 crude steel production peaked at 42.8 million tonnes. 78% of it was exported—mostly to Italy, Russia and Turkey. Primary pig iron and secondary steel production is dominated by seven large steel mills with an annual capacity of 4 to 7 million tonnes. The industry has seen a pattern of consolidation into vertically-integrated companies and their ownership changes with continuing mergers and acquisitions. Key players are Kryvorizhstal (ArcelorMittal), Evraz, the Industrial Union of Donbas, Midland Group, Privat Group and Metinvest (SCM Holdings).
Non-ferrous metals
Ukrainian manganese industry is controlled by Privat Group. Primary manganese smelting concentrates in the towns of Marhanets and Pokrov. Secondary manufacturing of ferroalloys and silicomanganese is spread between Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant, controlled by Interros, and lesser plants in Zaporizhia, Stakhanov, Kostyantynivka, Kramatorsk controlled by Privat. Total production of ferroalloys in 2007 reached 2 million tonnes.
Ukrainian aluminium industry consists of an alumina refining plant in Mykolaiv and the ZALK aluminium smelting plant in Zaporizhia, which is controlled by RUSAL. Annual capacity is estimated in excess of 1 million tonnes of refined alumina. Only a fraction of it is processed domestically, with a fairly constant production of 0.11 million tonnes of primary aluminium (2003–2007), or 0.3% of global output. Development and the very existence of aluminium smelting depends on securing sources of affordable energy. In 2007 ZALK coped with a 24% increase in electricity prices; in 2008 it faced a 45% price increase and shut down some of its electrolytic smelters.