In January this year, Ukraine’s total steel production amounted to 406,400 mt, compared to 480,200 mt in the same month of 2025, according to the data released by the Ukrainian Steel Association Ukrmetallurgprom. 300,800 mt or 74.0 percent of total steel production was exported, while 105,600 mt or 26.0 percent was consumed by the domestic market. In January 2025, 286,100 mt or 59.6 percent of total steel production was shipped overseas, with domestic sales amounting to 194,100 mt or 40.4 percent of total steel production. As a result, total steel exports grew by 8.1 percent, while total domestic steel sales decreased by 45.6 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In the given month, flat steel exports rose by 1.3 percent to 157,500 mt, while semi-finished steel exports amounted to 124,200 mt, up by 53.9 percent, both on year-on-year basis. In January, long steel exports came to 19,100 mt, moving down by 61.7 percent from the same period of last year.
The share of semi-finished products in exports in January was 41.29 percent, which is significantly higher than the 28.21 percent recorded in the same month of 2025, while the share of flat steel products in exports came to 52.36 percent, falling behind 54.35 percent recorded in the same month of the previous year. Additionally, the share of long products dropped to 6.35 percent from 14.70 percent recorded in January 2025.
Meanwhile, in the same month, domestic steel consumption dropped by 26.5 percent year on year to 218,500 mt, of which 112,900 mt or 51.67 percent was accounted for by imports. However, in January 2025, domestic steel consumption was 297,100 mt, of which 103,000 mt or 34.67 percent was met through imports.
In January, Ukraine’s total steel imports came to 112,900 mt, up by 9.6 percent year on year. In particular, Ukraine imported 85,600 mt of flat steel, down by 3.9 percent year on year, while its long steel imports grew by 25.2 percent compared to the previous year to 13,900 mt. The country’s semi-finished steel exports in the given month amounted to 13,400 mt, compared to 2,800 mt recorded in January 2025.
In the meantime, the share of flat steel products in imports in the same month was 75.82 percent, compared to 86.50 percent recorded in January 2025, while the share of long steel products rose to 12.31 percent from 10.78 percent recorded in January 2025.
The main export markets for Ukraine in January 2026 were the EU-27 (64.9%), other European countries (19.1%) and Africa (9.3%), while the main import suppliers to Ukraine were other European countries (42.1%), Asia (30.0%) and the EU-27 (18.8%).