Imports of steel products to Ukraine grew by 18.6% y/y over 10 months

Imports of steel products (long/flat rolled products, pipes) to Ukraine in 2025 continue to grow at double-digit rates. In January-October, supply volumes increased by 18.6% compared to the same period in 2024, reaching 1.24 million tons. Currently, this figure has already exceeded the total import volume in 2024 – 1.26 million tons (+6.4% y/y). Turkish and Chinese suppliers control the key share of the market.

Flat rolled products

Imports of flat rolled products increased by 12.7% over 10 months compared to the same period last year, reaching 928,190 tons. The most popular products include: coated flat products (HS code 7210) – 456.5 thousand tons (+17.1% y/y), hot-rolled flat products (HS code 7208) – 298.79 thousand tons (+5.5%), cold-rolled flat products (HS code 7209) – 84.29 thousand tons (+19.5%). Turkey exported 557.06 thousand tons of flat rolled products to Ukraine (+30% y-o-y), China – 104.29 thousand tons (+17.5%), Poland – 64.58 thousand tons (+1.4%), Slovakia – 56.46 thousand tons (-27.1%). Thus, Turkish products accounted for 60% of the flat-rolled steel market, and Chinese products accounted for 11%, while in 2024 these shares were 52% and 11%, respectively.

Long products

Imports of long products to Ukraine increased by 69.5% y-o-y to 238.02 thousand tons. These volumes already exceed last year’s total imports by more than 66 thousand tons.

The key part of imports is accounted for by angles, shapes, and special profiles (HS code 7216) – 95.65 thousand tons (+48.3% y-o-y), other bars and rods of carbon steel, not further worked, twisted (HS code – 7214) – 63.94 thousand tons (+108.1%), and hot-rolled bars and rods made of carbon steel, in coils (HS 7213) – 36.94 thousand tons (+188% y/y). Significant growth was also recorded in the segment of other bars and rods, angles, shapes, and special profiles made of corrosion-resistant steel (HS 7222) – 10.4 thousand tons (3 thousand tons in January-October 2024), and hot-rolled bars and rods, in coils, of other alloy steels (HS 7227) – 1.58 thousand tons (0.2 thousand tons).

The bulk of long products was imported from Turkey – 136.27 thousand tons (+57.8% y/y), China – 53.14 thousand tons (+616%), Poland – 13.86 thousand tons (-5.5%), and Bulgaria – 7.26 thousand tons (+46.4% y/y).

Pipes

Imports of pipes to the Ukrainian market in the first 10 months of 2025 decreased by 9.1% y/y to 75.42 thousand tons. Among the most imported products were other pipes, tubes, and hollow profiles made of ferrous metals (HS – 7306) – 49.05 thousand tons (-9.9% y/y), and seamless hollow pipes, tubes, and profiles made of ferrous metals (HS code 7304) – 20.11 thousand tons (-10.8%). In general, a decrease in imports was recorded in all pipe segments except for “Other pipes and tubes of circular cross-section, with an external diameter exceeding 406.4 mm, made of ferrous metals” (HS 7305) – an increase of 18.3% y/y, to 4.45 thousand tons.

The key suppliers of pipes are:

• Turkey – 36.35 thousand tons (-10.5% y/y);
• China – 14.7 thousand tons (-32.9%);
• Poland – 6.83 thousand tons (+28.9%).

In the pipe segment, there has been a gradual increase in demand for European-made products, in contrast to the situation with flat and long rolled products, where Turkish and Chinese companies are displacing EU suppliers due to cheaper production, which allows them to offer competitive prices and dump the market.

Overall, key trends in the import structure show Ukraine’s growing dependence on foreign suppliers, primarily Turkey and China, which are aggressively increasing their presence in the Ukrainian market and displacing European and local producers.

Turkey already accounts for 58.8% of the Ukrainian market for imported steel products (rolled products, pipes), with deliveries in January-October amounting to 730.27 thousand tons, which is 32.5% more than in the same period of 2024. During this period, China increased its supplies of relevant products to Ukraine by 45.8% y/y, to 172.12 thousand tons, occupying 13.9% of the market. Against this backdrop, the share of Ukrainian steel products in domestic consumption, along with the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers, is declining.

Taken together, these processes indicate a systematic increase in competitive pressure on the Ukrainian steel industry from external players. In the absence of a targeted state policy, in particular protectionist instruments, anti-dumping measures, and stimulation of domestic demand, imports will continue to increase their share, displacing domestic production. This creates risks of reduced capacity utilization at domestic steel enterprises, a decline in investment activity, and a loss of competitiveness in a strategically important industry.

Overall, without systematic support for the sector, Ukraine may face a growing imbalance between domestic production and imports, which in the long term will not only weaken the position of domestic steelmakers, but also increase the country’s dependence on external supplies of critically important products.