In the January-September period of this year, Ukraine’s total steel production amounted to 4.84 million mt, compared to 4.82 million in the same period of 2024, according to the data released by the Ukrainian Steel Association Ukrmetallurgprom. 2.92 million mt or 60.3 percent of total steel production was exported, while 1.93 million mt or 39.7 percent was consumed by the domestic market. In the January-September period last year, 3.32 million mt or 68.9 percent of total steel production was shipped overseas, with domestic sales amounting to 1.50 million mt or 31.1 percent of total steel production. As a result, total steel exports fell by 12.2 percent, while total domestic steel sales increased by 28.5 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In the first nine months this year, flat steel exports dropped by 0.4 percent to 1.29 million mt, while semi-finished steel exports amounted to 951,000 mt, down by 39.1 percent, both on year-on-year basis. In the given period, long steel exports came to 676,000 mt, moving up by 45.1 percent from the same period of last year.
The share of semi-finished products in exports in the January-September period was 32.59 percent, which is significantly lower than the 46.98 percent recorded in the same period of 2024, while the share of flat steel products in exports came to 44.24 percent, significantly exceeding 39.0 percent recorded in the first nine months of last year. Additionally, the share of long products rose to 23.17 percent from 14.02 percent recorded in the January-September period of 2024.
Meanwhile, in the first nine months this year, domestic steel consumption advanced by 30.5 percent year on year to 3.16 million mt, of which 1.24 million mt or 39.17 percent was accounted for by imports. However, in the January-September period of 2024, domestic steel consumption was 2.43 million mt, of which 927,100 mt or 38.23 percent was met through imports.
In the same period, Ukraine’s total steel imports came to 1.24 million mt, up by 33.7 percent year on year. In particular, Ukraine imported 832,200 mt of flat steel, up by 13.1 percent year on year, while its long steel imports grew by 48.3 percent compared to the same period in the previous year to 263,800 mt. The country’s semi-finished steel exports in the January-September period amounted to 143,500 mt, compared to 13,400 mt recorded in the same period of the previous year.
In the meantime, the share of semi-finished steel products in imports in the January-September period was 11.58 percent, compared to 1.45 percent recorded last year, while the share of flat steel products and long products in imports dropped to 67.14 percent and rose to 21.28 percent, respectively, from 79.37 percent and 19.19 percent recorded in the first nine months of the previous year.
The main export markets for Ukraine in the January-September 2025 period were the EU-27 (79.9%), other European countries (8.9%), and the CIS (6.2%), while the main import suppliers to Ukraine were other European countries (50.3%), the EU-27 (22.5%), and Asia (20.7%).