In the January-March period this year, Ukraine’s total steel production amounted to 1.34 million mt, compared to 1.44 million mt in the same period of 2025, according to the data released by the Ukrainian Steel Association Ukrmetallurgprom. About 820,000 mt or 61.1 percent of total steel production was exported, while 521,000 mt or 38.9 percent was consumed by the domestic market. In the January-March period of 2025, 908,000 mt or 63.3 percent of total steel production was shipped overseas, with domestic sales amounting to 527,000 mt or 36.7 percent of total steel production. As a result, total steel exports fell by 9.7 percent, while total domestic steel sales decreased by 1.1 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In the given period, flat steel exports dropped by 1.6 percent to 426,000 mt, while semi-finished steel exports amounted to 324,000 mt, up by 8.4 percent, both on year-on-year basis. In the January-March period, long steel exports came to 70,000 mt, moving down by 60.2 percent from the same period of last year.
The share of semi-finished products in exports in the first three months was 39.51 percent, which is slightly higher than the 32.93 percent recorded in the same period of 2025, while the share of flat steel products in exports came to 51.95 percent, rising above 47.69 percent recorded in the same period of the previous year. Additionally, the share of long products dropped to 8.54 percent from 19.38 percent recorded in the January-March period of 2025.
Meanwhile, in the same period, domestic steel consumption increased by 3.4 percent year on year to 892,400 mt, of which 371,400 mt or 41.61 percent was accounted for by imports. However, in the January-March period of 2025, domestic steel consumption was 863,400 mt, of which 336,100 mt or 38.93 percent was met through imports.
In the January-March period, Ukraine’s total steel imports came to 371,400 mt, up by 10.5 percent year on year. In particular, Ukraine imported 233,800 mt of flat steel, down by 12.8 percent year on year, while its long steel imports grew by 59.6 percent compared to the previous year to 96,700 mt. The country’s semi-finished steel exports in the first three months amounted to 40,900 mt, compared to 7,300 mt recorded in the given period of 2025.
In the meantime, the share of flat steel products in imports in the same period was 62.95 percent, compared to 79.80 percent recorded in the January-March period of 2025, while the share of long steel products rose to 26.04 percent, from 18.03 percent recorded in the same period of the previous year.
The main export markets for Ukraine in the January-March period of 2026 were the EU-27 (77.9%), other European countries (12.5%) and the CIS (6.1%), while the main import suppliers to Ukraine were other European countries (49.7%), Asia (22.0%) and the EU-27 (18.2%).