According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2025-2026/Q3 2025 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), total steel imports into the EU, including semis, decreased by three percent year on year in the second quarter of 2025. During the same quarter, the EU’s imports of flat steel fell by nine percent year on year, while imports of long steel decreased by two percent and imports of finished steel products moved down by seven percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In the second quarter, Turkey, South Korea, China, India and Ukraine were the main countries of origin for finished steel imports into the EU. The first five countries accounted for 57 percent of total EU finished steel imports in the first six months. Turkey became the leading exporting country to the EU, with a share of 21 percent, followed by South Korea with 12 percent, China with nine percent, and Ukraine and India each with eight percent.
In the April-June period, imports of finished products from Ukraine rose significantly by 44 percent, while imports from Turkey and China went up by 41 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Imports from India, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, on the other hand, decreased by 50 percent, 40 percent, 17 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
According to the EUROFER report, imports have been volatile throughout 2024 and 2025, following fluctuations from the previous four years. After declining from late 2022 to mid-2023 due to weak demand, imports rebounded in 2024. It is too early to assess the impact of US tariffs from available 2025 data, and increasing trade uncertainty has made patterns highly unpredictable. Despite this volatility, imports remained at historically high levels through the second quarter of 2025, representing 25 percent of consumption and widening the trade deficit with third countries.