Trade in metals is in collapse because of the war in Ukraine

To remove customs duties on imports of metals from countries outside the European Union in order to stabilise the disrupted supplies - this is what the association "Business for Plovdiv" insists on. Due to the increased prices of metals and their shortage on the market, there is a sharp increase in prices in the construction sector.

The closure of the Black Sea to supplies and the European Union sanctions against Russia are creating market shortages and direct losses for Bulgarian companies.

"At the moment, for example, the ports and Nikolaev and Odessa are not working. There are dozens of arrested ships. These are colossal losses for colleagues and for the whole industry. Tens of millions of dollars, not to say hundreds. We're just in the eye of the perfect storm, so to speak, right now, prices have gone up 60 to 100 percent in one week," said Kirill Vassilev, owner of a metals manufacturing and trading company.

Demand for iron for the construction industry, sheet metal and metal profiles cannot be met because factories in Ukraine and Russia are the country's main supplier. And there is not enough availability in the EU countries:

The solution for the industry is to immediately lift the metal trade quotas from Turkey to avoid the 25 percent duty after the quotas are exhausted. Otherwise, construction prices in the country will continue their upward trend.

The increase in the prices of sheet metal at European suppliers from 900 euros per tonne before the crisis to 1,800 euros and of crude steel from 740 to 1,230 euros is only the beginning of the crisis, metal traders predict.