Ukraine’s iron & steel industry restored its export positions in 2024

In 2024, Ukrainian iron & steel companies continued to expand their presence in foreign markets, adapting to the war. Exports grew for all items except ferroalloys, where key companies faced prolonged downtime and almost complete suspension of shipments at the beginning of the year.

Traditionally, iron ore accounts for the largest export volumes. Last year, iron ore shipments increased by 89.8% compared to 2023, to 33.7 million tons. This was facilitated by the resumption of supplies to distant markets, namely China, which amounted to 15.09 million tons (1.44 million tons in 2023), thanks to the opening of sea exports for iron & steel cargoes at the beginning of the year. A significant part of the products was also shipped via land border crossings to the EU countries – to Poland, 5.09 million tons (+53.9% y/y), and to Slovakia, 4.97 million tons (+1.5% y/y).

Last year, exports of semi-finished products increased by 56.7% y/y – to 1.89 mln tons. Key destinations included: Bulgaria – 595 thousand tons (+30% y/y), Egypt – 356 thousand tons (27 thousand tons in 2023), and Turkey – 216 thousand tons (73 thousand tons in 2023).

In 2024, shipments of Ukrainian pig iron abroad showed the lowest growth rate, down 3.4% y/y – to 1.29 million tons. Most of the products were shipped to the United States – 940 thousand tons (153 thousand tons in 2023), Turkey – 102 thousand tons (14 thousand tons in 2023), and Italy – 93 thousand tons (+61.9% y/y). In 2023, Poland and Spain were the largest consumers of such products, which stopped imports in 2024.

Last year, exports fell in the ferroalloy industry, in particular, due to downtime from the fall of 2023 to the end of spring 2024. Thus, at the beginning of the year, shipments dropped to historically low levels (0.1 thousand tons), but since the second half of the year, the operation of plants has resumed at minimum levels, which allowed exporting 77 thousand tons of products at year-end (344 thousand tons in 2023). Key consumers: Poland – 21 kt, and Turkey – 15 kt.

Deliveries of ferrous scrap for the year reached 293 kt, up 60.7% y/y. The bulk was shipped to Poland – 249 thousand tons (+54.8% y/y), and Greece – 34 thousand tons (13 thousand tons in 2023).

Exports of flat products amounted to 1.64 million tons (+36.1% y/y), and exports of long products amounted to 614 thousand tons (+17.2% y/y). The key destinations for flat products were Poland (623 thousand tons), Bulgaria (392 thousand tons) and Turkey (216 thousand tons), while long products were shipped to Romania (121 thousand tons), Poland (214 thousand tons) and Moldova (82 thousand tons).

In 2024, Ukraine’s pipe industry exported 510 thousand tons of products, up 43.1% compared to 2023. The United States accounted for 93 thousand tons of supplies (+45.5% y/y), Poland – 86 thousand tons (+23.4% y/y), and Germany – 50 thousand tons (+39.7% y/y).

Last year was marked by a local peak in steel and iron ore exports from Ukraine. In 2025, the figures are expected to decline, in particular, due to the deteriorating price situation and a wave of tightening import restrictions around the world. Read more about the industry’s prospects for the current year in GMK Center’s article.