Polish producers no longer complain that they are expensive, but they are expensive No steel at all. – The problem lies not only in the high prices, but also in the acquisition of materials. Hard to arrange deliveries at all. Shortages can lead to reduced production. This is what we are most afraid of today, because the danger of slowing down work in factories due to lack of ingredients is very real. In such a case Price hike is inevitable – says Wojciech Konecki, President of the Association of Home Appliance Employers APPLiA and Vice President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce.
The construction industry notices similar problems for manufacturers of home appliances. – Prices for sheets, bars and profiles, which were stored in warehouses, increased in two weeks by 50-60%, and the few offers of sale with a fixed price expire after a day or two – notes Damian Kamereczak, chief economist of the Polish Association of Construction Employers. If this situation lasts longer, at least Some construction sites will simply be completed. – Maintaining the continuity of the construction process in some contracts is in serious danger – adds Kaźmierczak.
The alloy is missing even if part of the automobile industry, which has traditionally been an important recipient, has been frozen. If you dealt with the lack of chips and wanted to increase production, the competition for steel would have been greater.
The shortage of steel is largely due to the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Domestic producers are shutting down their ovens, and Belarus and Russia are under sanctions. According to the Polish Association of Steel Distributors, these three countries are responsible for 25 percent. Import to Poland. – Domestic distributors completely cut off the supply of steel products from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Damian Kamericzak says such a loss of steel in the Polish construction market would be very difficult to make up for in the short term.
According to the Central Statistical Office, last year Poland received approximately 1.43 million tons of steel from Russia and 1.42 million tons from Ukraine.
The loss will not be covered by domestic production. The new problems with imports overlapped with the earlier problems of domestic steel mills – mainly higher energy prices linked to rising costs of carbon dioxide emissions. “Many steel producers have decided to restrict production or production only during the hours when energy rates are low, and in some cases until production stops completely, for example, to speed up planned maintenance work” – this is indicated in the PUDS information.
According to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, in February Steel production in Poland decreased from 650 thousand up to 645,000 tones, rang. In the world, the decline occurred even before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. As the World Steel Association noted this week, production in February fell 5.7%. lower than the previous year. It also decreased compared to the previous two months.
The most significant decline was recorded in China. There the result was up to 10 percent. worse than last year. This is the result of problems on both the supply and demand sides – on the one hand, Chinese coke stocks are shrinking, and on the other hand, the industry is affected by demand difficulties in the construction industry in crisis there. But in February, production also fell in other countries – in Asia and Oceania altogether, it slowed down by 5.8%. In the European Union, there was a decrease of 2.7%.
There are many indications that global production will remain low in the coming months, also due to the pandemic. On Tuesday, Tangshan, the largest mining complex in China, accounted for 13 percent. Production nationwide, announced the closure. The city advised residents to stay at home, and suspended public transportation.
A large part of Ukrainian factories will not return to production quickly. The country was the 12th largest steel producer in the world. Last weekend, Ukrainian officials said it is located in the besieged Mariupol The Azovstal smelter was severely damaged. Earlier, global businessman ArcelorMittal announced the closure of Europe’s largest steel plant in Kryvyi Rih.
Grzegorz Kowalczyk
Dzinique Gazzetta Browna
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