In the January-July 2026 period, EU-27 countries imported a total of 13.612 million mt of flat and long steel products, down 12.5 percent compared to the 15.561 million mt recorded in the same period of 2025. In terms of value, these imports amounted to €9.052 billion in the period under review, down 15.5 percent compared to €10.714 billion in the same period of 2025.
More specifically, imports of flat steel products amounted to 10.875 million mt in the period under review, down 7.7 percent compared to 11.780 million mt in the same period last year. The value of flat steel imports decreased by 12.3 percent to €7.185 billion, compared to €8.191 billion in the same period of 2025. The average value per metric ton also decreased, falling from approximately €695/mt in the first seven months of 2025 to €661/mt in 2026, down 5.0 percent year on year.
Import volumes of longs decreased by 27.6 percent to 2.737 million mt in the first seven months of the year, compared to 3.782 million mt of 2025. The value of these imports fell by 26.0 percent to €1.866 billion, compared to €2.522 billion in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the average value per metric ton increased by 2.2 percent year on year to approximately €682/mt, compared to €667/mt in the corresponding period of 2025.
Italy's top five flats extra-EU suppliers in the January-July period of this year:
| Country | Jan-Jul 2025 (mt) | Jan-Jul 2026 (mt) | Y-o-y change (%) |
| Turkey | 2,068,201 | 1,798,835 | -13.0% |
| South Korea | 1,898,069 | 1,566,814 | -17.5% |
| Indonesia | 806,570 | 1,163,356 | +44.2% |
| China | 579,195 | 1,008,979 | +74.2% |
| India | 1,081,332 | 1,002,236 | -7.3% |
Italy's top five longs extra-EU suppliers in the January-July period of this year:
| Country | Jan-Jul 2025 (mt) | Jan-Jul 2026 (mt) | Y-o-y change (%) |
| Turkey | 1,144,299 | 889,607 | -22.3% |
| China | 515,662 | 419,259 | -18.7% |
| Ukraine | 381,124 | 224,655 | -41.1% |
| United Kingdom | 309,058 | 219,041 | -29.1% |
| Norway | 175,178 | 185,079 | +5.7% |
SteelOrbis' analysis is based on Eurostat data on EU countries imports from extra-EU suppliers and cover HS categories 7208-7212 for flat steel products and HS categories 7213-7217 for long steel products.
