MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Ukrainian polycarbonate (PC) market totalled only 273 tonnes in January 2015, up by 10% year on year, according to MRC DataScope report.
Ukrainian PC market is totally dependent on foreign shipments because there are no production capacities in the country. Most supplies are from the European region. Importers have had difficulties with the foreign currency purchasing recently because of the crisis in the country. The extremely inconsistent policy of the financial government and inability to manage the hryvnya exchange rate brought the economy to a pre-default state.
Major converters continued their operations, despite the currency devaluation and high inflation. Most produced quantities are aimed to foreign markets. Buying activity was very weak in the domestic market.
January consumption of PC granules in the injection moulding sector remained unchanged year on year and totalled 167 tonnes.
Shipments in the sheet extrusion segment were suspended until spring because of the absence of demand in the domestic market.
The bottle grade PC market was also stable in January and did not change year on year, it totalled 70 tonnes. Market players said they intend to maintain the last year's consumption because most of the contracts for shipments of products from PC to foreign markets were extended to 2015.
Market expansion was mainly due to stronger demand for PC/ABS, which was 34 tonnes versus 2 tonnes in January 2014. PC/ABS is a high strength material and is used for moulding automotive components.
MRC