24 November 2023, Friday, 19:40

Polish border blocking real "stab in the back" for Ukrainian pipe exporters - Ukrtruboprom

Tetiana Herasimova

The Ukrtruboprom association says that if the strike at the borders with Ukraine expands, pipe plants in frontline regions can stop production from mid-December.

This is stated in the message of the Ukrtruboprom association, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The real "stab in the back" for Ukrainian exporters, in particular steel pipes, was the blockade of the Ukrainian-Polish border, which began in early November. The European direction is the only one left for our business after the outbreak of a large-scale war. Many trucks with pipes are still in a traffic jam, all delivery times to European customers have been disrupted. But there is a threat of expanding the strike to other eastern European countries. If this happens, almost all pipe plants located in the frontline regions will have to stop production facilities from mid-December," said Heorhii Polskyi, director general of the Ukrtruboprom association.

At the same time, according to him, according to the results of 9 months of this year, the pipe industry of Ukraine demonstrated positive dynamics, despite the constant shelling of production sites located in front-line zones, in particular, in Nikopol.

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So, the enterprises included in Ukrtruboprom in January-September 2023 increased the production of pipes compared to the same period last year by 5.1% to 376,100 tons.

"For 9 months, pipe companies have demonstrated a diverse dynamics. In particular, Interpipe Niko Tube and Ukrtruboizol increased the production of seamless pipes by 8.8% and 26.2%, respectively, while Trubostal reduced by 54.5%. Centravis increased production of stainless pipes by 12.9%, while Interpipe NMPP reduced electric welding pipes by 62.9%. Production of pipes by the Oscar production association decreased by 25%," the report said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on November 6, Polish carriers launched a strike on the border with Ukraine in order to block the movement of Ukrainian freight transport.