Exclusive Ukraine reduced pig iron exports by 27% y/y in January

The EU and the US accounted for the bulk of Ukrainian product consumption

In January 2026, Ukrainian steel companies reduced their exports of commercial pig iron by 27.1% compared to the same period in 2025, to 93.79 thousand tons. This is evidenced by GMK Center calculations based on data from the State Customs Service.

Compared to the previous month, shipments in January decreased by 62%. This is the lowest figure since February last year.

During the month, 80.83 thousand tons of pig iron were shipped to the US, which is 29.9% less y/y and 68.6% more m/m, to Italy – 10 thousand tons (-94.5% m/m; 0 thousand tons in January 2025), and 1.79 thousand tons to Poland (-60% y/y; -80.4% m/m).

Revenue from pig iron exports in January decreased by 61.7% month-on-month and 32.5% year-on-year, to $34.81 million.

It should be noted that in 2025, Ukrainian steel companies increased their exports of commercial pig iron by 53.5% compared to the same period in 2024, to 1.98 million tons. Revenue from pig iron exports for the year amounted to $759.88 million, up 51.9% y/y.

During the period, 1.33 million tons of pig iron were shipped to the US, up 41.6% year-on-year, 416,310 tons to Italy (+346.3% year-on-year), 61,370 tons to Poland (-2.7% year-on-year), and the Netherlands – 52.03 thousand tons.

In Q4, pig iron exports increased by 35.7% compared to the same period in 2024 and by 11.9% compared to the previous quarter, reaching 579,470 tons, which is the highest quarterly figure since the start of the full-scale invasion.