SUMMER LIMESTONE INDUSTRY CONFERENCE 2021 took place in Kyiv
On 09 July 2021, SUMMER LIMESTONE INDUSTRY CONFERENCE 2021 took place in Kyiv.
The conference was attended by the representatives of government institutions, enterprises and organizations of various industries and spheres, including: manufacturers of limestone products and lime, suppliers of specialized equipment, manufacturers of building materials, logistics, financial, legal and other companies. The high level of the conference was evidenced by the participation of people’s deputies – Vadym Ivchenko and Oleh Tarasov, the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotskyi, Head of the Geology Department of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine Serhii Kasianchuk.
GC “GALVAPNO” became the general partner of the conference. The conference partners were the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the Institute of Agrarian Economics, PrJSC “Ternopil Quarry” and GMK Center.
Conference partners
The key topics of the meeting: development of a promising and important for the country eco-direction of limestone products, protection against illegal imports of dolomite mining powder and analysis of factors in the development of the market of limestone products. According to the results of the conference, the beginning of the formation of the state program of soil deoxidation was announced, the development of which was supported by the Verkhovna Rada deputies present at the conference and representatives of the Ministry of Agro-Industrial Development, and implementation of a set of actions to counter the import of dolomite limestone from Belarus.
photo by NADRA.info
In his welcoming speech, Mykhailo Korylkevych, the President of ULIA, informed about the development of the association members and close implementation of major projects in 2021 – new lime plants by GALVAPNO and Kovalska Group, a plant for the production of mineral powder by PrJSC “Ternopil Quarry”, creation of new products and development of new markets. The ULIA President introduced an updated plan of events organized or supported by the association in the current year: conferences, round tables, demo shows of specialized equipment. In particular, ULIA is a partner of InvestForum UA in Tenerife, which will take place in September 2021.
LIMESTONE PRODUCTS MARKET / NEW PROJECTS AND PROSPECTS
Roman Hladunenko, CEO of ULIA, presented the results of the limestone industry in the first half of the year and the forecast of development until the end of 2021. Taking into account the trends, a moderate increase in both limestone and lime is expected this year – about + 3%. Among the main features of the year are returned growth of limestone imports and a significant increase in production by some small/medium-sized companies. In general, there are signs of some market saturation and intensification of the competitive environment. In this situation, preference is given to companies that implement modern technologies and management practices and invest in strategic development.
Andrii Hlushchenko, GMK Center analyst, added optimistic expectations about the world metallurgy market, which should have a positive impact on domestic metallurgy. In particular, record highs of steel and iron ore prices are evidenced, which is due, among other things, to the shortage of production capacity in the world.
Illia Marchevskyi, an investor of GC “GALVAPNO”, presented a project for a new lime kiln plant in the Stryhanetskyi Quarry in Ivano-Frankivsk region, which is scheduled to be launched in three months. The lime plant was designed by the famous Italian company QualiCal involving leading European and Ukrainian suppliers. According to the investor’s expectations, the plant’s products will meet the highest characteristics of the first grade of lime and will be able to replace portion of import on the Ukrainian market, including due to the consistent quality. Also, GC “GALVAPNO” plans to make good use of its geographical location and become the first Ukrainian manufacturer to offer systematically its products on the markets of European countries under the GALVAPNO brand. Currently, Mr. Marchevskyi emphasize the plans to export up to 40% of the lime produced.
photo by NADRA.info
Volodymyr Krot, a Technical Director of LLC “Ukrainian Locomotive Construction Company”, spoke about an investment project to establish the production of Ukrainian locomotives, which can cover the huge market demand for the renewal of the locomotive fleet. Today, the locomotives are worn out and does not meet the requirements of consumers. According to Volodymyr Krot, the new production will be created in Dnipropetrovsk region, and the investors are intended to organize production by the end of 2022.
Of particular interest was the story of creation of a granular limestone brand GRANTER by PrJSC “Ternopil Quarry”, which was presented by the company’s marketer Mariana Senyk. The conference participants got acquainted with the practical case of branding, from the history of product creation, to the stages of naming, logo development and implementation of the promotion program. In a short time, the company managed to enter successfully a new market of granular limestone products and gain recognition among consumers.
COUNTERING DESTRUCTIVE IMPORTS OF DOLOMITE POWDER
An important topic of the conference was consideration of the situation with the uncontrolled growth of imports of dolomite powder produced by LLC “Dolomite” (Belarus). Most of these products are used in Ukraine in road works, while ГОСТ 16557-2005 (Belarus), according to which it is manufactured, do not meet the requirements of the Ukrainian standard ДСТУ Б B.2.7.-121: 2014. Therefore, the quality of road works carried out with the use of imported dolomite powder is of great concern. And this occurs with sufficient capacity of domestic producers of limestone powder, which, meanwhile, are deprived of opportunities for development, payment of wages to employees and payment of taxes at all levels. From 2016 to 2020, the supply of dolomite powder by LLC “Dolomite” increased from 48 thousand tons to 163 thousand tons, in the first half of 2021 the powder was delivered in the amount of 113 thousand tons, which exceeds the corresponding period last year by 144% – so, the market pressure becomes more acute.
In furtherance of the issue, Dmytro Vidsota, a Managing Partner of the law firm Robinson Patman, spoke about possible actions to protect the domestic market from threatening imports. Among the recommended options is the initiation of an anti-dumping investigation. This requires starting with the formation of a common position of key domestic producers of mineral powder, and this proposal has already been supported by the conference participants. It was also decided to provide the initial publicity of the problem by submitting relevant letters on behalf of ULIA to the relevant authorities and institutions, including: the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Coordination Council for the implementation of the program “Large Construction”, the EBRD and others. The Ukrainian Lime Industry Association will make every effort to address the issue of proper use of imported dolomite powder.
ECO-DIRECTION
The final part of the conference was devoted to a detailed consideration of the topic of eco-direction development – the use of limestone products in soil deoxidation and water remediation. The issue of neglect of soils and reservoirs is extremely important – their scale is impressive, and it affects the health of all people in Ukraine. According to various estimates, there are already more than 10 million hectares of land with more or less high acidity, and they all need help. Fresh water resources are also characterized by significant pollution, and the issue of their systemic remediation is becoming more acute.
photo by NADRA.info
Olha Khodakivska, a Deputy Director of the Institute of Agrarian Economics, reported on the preparatory work carried out in cooperation with the ULIA, which resulted in the creation and submission to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of an analytical note on soil acidification with a proposal to create a state program. Appeals and talks elicited response, and directly at the conference, representatives of the Ministry, represented by the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotskyi and Bohdan Khmara, expressed readiness to establish a working group and further develop a state program to support soil deoxidation. The People’s Deputies Oleh Tarasov and Vadym Ivchenko, who were present at the conference, also expressed their readiness to support this initiative at the level of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. So, the program is going to be launched!
The development of a new direction – use of limestone products in the remediation of fresh water was presented by the authors of a joint project of business and science – Oleh Misiuk, Head of LLC “Nadrabudinvest”, and Yuliia Trach, Associate Professor of NUWEE. In a short time, significant results were achieved: the positive effect of limestone products in the rehabilitation of reservoirs was studied and practically tested, the relevant technical conditions were developed and the Certificate of Conformity was obtained. The plans include further development of the project and approval of the state program of remediation of fresh water reservoir of Ukraine with limestone and glauconite ameliorants, the working draft of which has already been developed.
The conference ended with a traditional festive buffet full of lively discussions, the participants were filled with positive emotions, which for us are the best reward and motivation for the next events of the association.
