According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2022-2023/Q1 2022 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), total EU imports of steel products from third countries increased by 45 percent year on year in the third quarter last year, amid the improvement in steel demand across the EU.
In the third quarter last year, the EU’s imports of flat products increased by 52 percent and imports of long products rose by 24 percent, year on year. In the given quarter, imports of finished products from Ukraine increased by 107 percent, while imports from Turkey and Russia increased by 15 percent and seven percent, respectively, all year on year. Imports from South Korea fell by eight percent year on year.
In the first eleven months this year, the EU’s steel imports surged by 39 percent year on year, while imports of flat products increased by 43 percent and imports of long products rose by 25 percent, all year on year.
EUROFER said that Turkey, Russia, South Korea, India and Ukraine were the largest finished steel import sources for the EU market in the first eleven months. These five countries accounted for 56 percent of total EU finished steel imports in the given period. Turkey and Russia were the largest import sources of finished products for the EU with shares of 15.5 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively, followed by India with 11.9 percent, Ukraine with 8.3 percent and South Korea with 7.4 percent.
According to the EUROFER report, in the first eleven months this year flat product imports accounted for 79 percent of finished product imports and long product imports accounted for the remaining 21 percent.