In the January-May period this year, Ukraine’s total steel production amounted to 2.34 million mt, compared to 2.51 million mt in the same period of 2025, according to the data released by the Ukrainian Steel Association Ukrmetallurgprom. About 1.48 million mt or 63.2 percent of total steel production was exported, while 860,000 mt or 36.8 percent was consumed by the domestic market. In the January-May period of 2025, 1.54 million mt or 61.5 percent of total steel production was shipped overseas, with domestic sales amounting to 966,000 mt or 38.5 percent of total steel production. As a result, total steel exports fell by four percent, while total domestic steel sales decreased by 11.0 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In the given period, flat steel exports dropped by 3.2 percent to 695,000 mt, while semi-finished steel exports amounted to 610,000 mt, up by 19.1 percent, both on year-on-year basis. In the January-May period, long steel exports came to 175,000 mt, moving down by 43.7 percent from the same period of last year.
The share of semi-finished products in exports in the first five months was 41.22 percent, which is significantly higher than the 32.23 percent recorded in the same period of 2025, while the share of flat steel products in exports came to 49.96 percent, slightly rising above 46.59 percent recorded in the same period of the previous year. Additionally, the share of long products dropped to 11.82 percent from 20.18 percent recorded in the January-May period of 2025.
Meanwhile, in the same period, domestic steel consumption increased by 2.2 percent year on year to 1.59 million mt, of which 732,400 mt or 45.99 percent was accounted for by imports. However, in the January-May period of 2025, domestic steel consumption was 1.56 million mt, of which 591,800 mt or 37.99 percent was met through imports.
In the January-May period, Ukraine’s total steel imports came to 732,400 mt, up by 23.8 percent year on year. In particular, Ukraine imported 457,200 mt of flat steel, rising by 0.5 percent year on year, while its long steel imports grew by 66.2 percent compared to the previous year to 208,900 mt. The country’s semi-finished steel exports in the first five months amounted to 66,300 mt, compared to 11,400 mt recorded in the given period of 2025.
In the meantime, the share of flat steel products in imports in the same period was 62.42 percent, compared to 76.83 percent recorded in the January-May period of 2025, while the share of long steel products rose to 28.59 percent, from 21.23 percent recorded in the same period of the previous year.
The main export markets for Ukraine in the January-May period of 2026 were the EU-27 (78.6%), other European countries (11.7%) and the CIS (6.9%), while the main import suppliers to Ukraine were other European countries (47.8%), Asia (26.6%) and the EU-27 (16.0%).