REUTERS
The parties agreed on arranging international industry forums and conferences for leading market experts to exchange experience.
Ukrainian steelmakers' association Ukrmetprom and U.S.-based World Steel Dynamics signed a memorandum of cooperation in Kyiv on April 24.
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This agreement can make Ukraine an international platform in Europe for industry representatives from around the world. The parties intend to introduce the practice of international industry forums and conferences for leading market experts to share experience.
The cooperation opens up new opportunities for Ukrainian steelmakers for obtaining information, expertise, and valuable skills, Ukrmetprom President Oleksandr Kalenkov said. The move is an opportunity for Ukrainian companies to discover new promising markets and sectors.
"The situation in metallurgy is extremely competitive in the global market. Our enterprises compete not only on production costs. We hope that in future it will involve not only production costs, but also relationship with customers, the quality of products, which is still quite high, and access to new markets. This would considerably support not only our metallurgy, but the industry as well," Kalenkov said.
According to him, the agreements reached are also part of Ukraine's export strategy that can have a significant impact on the sector, which provides for 28% of the country's foreign currency revenue.
"Each such event gives a chance to boost our exports by 10%, 20%, and 50%," he stressed. "But most importantly, it can transform the situation our metallurgy finds itself now into the one when it can develop, exist, and compete in the medium term."
World Steel Dynamics is the world's leading steel information service, which regularly holds conferences and other events in the industry for more than a decade.