The carrier is constantly consulting with the customer to increase transport volumes
PJSC Ukraine Danube Shipping Company (UDP) remains the only river carrier of Ukrainian iron ore to European steelmaker HBIS Serbia. This is stated in the UDP message.
In 2023, the shipping company resumed flights to the Middle Danube. Iron ore delivery continues this year.
«We are constantly consulting with our partners to increase volumes. There is no question of transferring these volumes to PSA. The only question is whether our customer needs additional volumes”, comments Vladislav Belakh, Executive Vice President of UDP.
Last year, HBIS Serbia shut down one of its two blast furnaces with a capacity of 900 thousand tons of pig iron. In January this year, the company said it would only restart it after the market recovered.
Overall, steel production in the EU fell by 7% last year and continued to decline at the start of this year. In Serbia, the decline was 34%.
“The demand for metal will grow and the supply of raw materials to steel mills will increase,” Belah added.
As previously reported by Compraço, UDP is looking to increase cargo transportation for the mining and metals industry. In the medium and long term, the carrier intends to increase iron ore transport to 1.5 million tons per year. In 2024, there are many factors that could affect transport volumes, including the situation in the cereal market, the energy market and other markets, the demand for steel products and the weather factor.
